Abstract:
Care-dependent people are increasingly expected to actively participate in an accelerating society.
This metasynthesis provides insight into how contemporary society complicates the pathways
to self-actualization for disadvantaged young people. Giddens’ concept of self-identity was used
to analyze the experiences of disadvantaged young people in three participatory projects. These
initiatives enable network governance where young people and professionals work together,
to better match their care needs and support. Participants often feel that they need to magnify
their capabilities to get opportunities for self-actualization and to magnify their disadvantages so
they can be acknowledged as “care dependent”, a prerequisite to receive professional support.
They call upon professionals and policymakers to recognize their multilayered self-identities and
to provide a supportive environment that is adjusted to their own pace, so that they can belong
and genuinely participate as their true selves.