Abstract
Theorizing continues to be a challenge within the burgeoning field of care leaving. This article considers whether ‘social capital’ contributes to explaining the care‐leaving experience. Various views of what constitutes social capital are explored, and a three‐category typology is presented. Social capital theory is explored through the application of descriptive themes from a study undertaken across four African countries. The study adopted a resilience outcome‐oriented mixed method design, which included peer researcher data collection, with 45 participants purposively selected from young people preparing to leave or having left the care of an international NGO providing a service in each country. Thematic analysis identified a series of cross‐national dimensions. Framing these descriptive themes within social capital theory shifts the focus of understanding young people's experience away from their personal capacity to cope with the transition to adulthood. Instead, it highlights the types, range and quality of relationships that enable or frustrate their transition. This refocusing not only prompts an explicit relational understanding of care leaving but also suggests ways in which research, service design and practice might usefully be developed.