Beyond Institutional Boundaries: The Relationship Between the Personal Networks of Young People in Residential Care and Their Sense of Belonging

ABSTRACT A sense of belonging is a basic human need that relates to the feeling of social connectedness and closeness one has in one's social world. Moving to a residential care facility can have far‐reaching effects on young people's sense of belonging, as it usually causes a reconfiguration of their personal network. Therefore, this study examined how the personal networks of young people in residential care are associated with their sense of belonging. The sample of this cross‐sectional study consists of 393 young people from 94 residential care facilities in the German‐speaking part of Switzerland. The descriptive results indicate that a large share of the members of their network live outside the residential care facility. Random intercept model analysis showed that the network size, the number of supportive relationships and the frequency of contact with network members significantly predicted young people's sense of belonging. It can be concluded from the results that residential care staff should support young people in maintaining their personal network beyond the boundaries of the institution to ensure their sense of belonging.