ABSTRACT
Being in care, being "Looked After" is a complicated, and often painful process. In a recent major summary of post-Children Act research, it was found that children were expressing clear worries about their health and the risks to their educational attainment and their futures as a result of being in care. During adolescence, young people are expected to take greater responsibility for themselves, their possessions, and their work. This chapter presents three case studies that illustrate a range of different responses to different children in different contexts exhibiting violent and aggressive behaviour linked to their experiences of being placed in care, and demonstrate the intensity of work that is required to create contexts in which the adolescent is able to engage with adults in the process of healing. The evidence of parents being unable to care effectively for their children raises in all parents who are concerned about their parenting a relief that there are parents clearly worse than themselves.
