Date of Award

Spring 2026

Thesis Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Department

Philosophy

Sponsor

Dr. L. Ryan Musgrave

Committee Member

Dr. Margaret McLaren

Committee Member

Dr. Ryan Putzer

Abstract

This thesis argues that the U.S. foster care system systematically undermines transition-age youth by failing to secure the capabilities required for genuine independence and a life of basic human dignity, particularly through aging-out policies that terminate support before these capabilities are fully developed. Using Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach as a normative foundation, it integrates classical American pragmatism (Jane Addams, John Dewey) and Maurice Hamington's contemporary care ethics to construct a context-sensitive framework for evaluating and reforming foster care. Pragmatism grounds normative assessment in lived experience and institutional context, while care ethics provides a relational account of moral practice structured around humble inquiry, inclusive connection, and responsive action. The thesis argues that care ethics is not only compatible with the capabilities approach but necessary for its practical realization, as it enables meaningful engagement with foster youth in shaping the conditions that affect their lives. Through applied thought experiments involving archetypal transition-age youth, it demonstrates how this combined framework yields insights into lived needs that are often obscured by standardized institutional procedures. The thesis concludes that the transition to adulthood should not be defined by fixed legal thresholds, but by whether individuals have substantively developed the capabilities required for independent functioning, and it calls for foster care reform oriented toward ongoing, empirically grounded, and participatory practices that sustain human dignity.

Rights Holder

Lindsey Scanlan

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