This text highlights the significance of school exclusion as a pivotal process that has long-term negative effects not just on the individuals themselves but also society as a whole. Drawing on individual accounts, the author demonstrates how aspects of the care system contribute to looked-after children being out of school. The book explores the reasons for the difficulties they experience, and argues that they need to be differently conceptualized. By drawing on both the personal accounts of the young people and on evidence gained from interviewing teachers and care professionals, she argues that exclusion is a social process. She stresses the importance of the young people's relationships with care givers and identifies a problematic gap between the care and education systems which contributes to their ongoing cycle of social exclusion.
