Adolescents Living in “Nonfamily” and Alternative Settings

Descriptions of children and adolescents placed in foster care have indicated that they have behavior problems in excess of the general population, and that these problems are more severe in older children and adolescents. Support for examining structural and functional components of families in relation to various noncommunity settings is found in the conceptualization of numerous therapeutic programs designed for adolescents. Across the adolescent years, the role that the family plays for the youth may change. Many of the adolescents live in “substitute” families or have continuing fluid relationships with their families of origin and return intermittently to these families. In addition, these adolescents face a similar range of developmental challenges as do youth in more traditional families, and the social resources marshalled in these traditional homes may be created, re-created, substituted, or potentially lacking for adolescents in alternative living situations.