Effects of growing up and aging out of the foster care system on political participation

Abstract

This study seeks to take a more in depth look at the role parents play in socializing their children to political activity. To get a better understanding of parent's role I looked at adults who grew up and aged out of the foster care system. Knowing that children who live in the foster care system experience a variety of parents based on education, income, and race. People who live in the foster care system can experience a multitude of different homes throughout their lifetime. Using already established political measurements, such as, education and income I hoped to find a better understanding between political participation and parental socialization. Using Facebook, I administered a survey to ask about each individual experience during their time in the system. This group is one of the most understudied groups in politics so looking at their life experiences can help us to gain better insight into how to fix this broken system.