Adoption & Fostering
Abstracts

Autumn 2001 - Vol 25 (3)

Editorial Malcolm Hill

Newspoints

Resilience and family placement: a lifespan perspective
Gillian Schofield

Many children who have suffered adverse childhoods of abuse, neglect and loss go on to thrive in family placements. Gillian Schofield argues that this process needs to be documented and understood with the help of developmental theory. She also suggests that there ought to be a lifespan perspective, given that children need a family for life and stable adulthood is inevitably a goal of family placement. In this paper, the concept of resilience is explored and then applied to selected cases from a qualitative study of 40 adults aged 18-30 who grew up in foster care. Connections are also made to attachment theory, since in family placement the role of relationships is an important factor in understanding outcomes. Implications for practice are then discussed.

Gillian Schofield is Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Psychosocial Studies, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Research on the Child and Family, University of East Anglia, Norwich

Narrative and fantasy in adoption
Amal Treacher and Ilan Katz

Adoption touches on basic personal and cultural narratives, emotions and fantasies surrounding the self and family. Amal Treacher and Ilan Katz explore the narratives of all those involved in adoption - both professionals and those with personal investments. They draw on contemporary theory of narrative and psychoanalytic theory of fantasy in order to explore and understand some of the issues arising in adoption. A central contention is that all identity, whether adopted or not, is multifaceted, inherently conflicted and constantly developing. The theoretical and emotional endeavour is to place this view of identity as a central backbone to understanding adoption. The authors argue that many narratives and fantasies function to pass over problematical feelings and fantasies. For example, life story books can silence the difficulties experienced for the adoptee and may not allow space for an exploration of troublesome feelings and fantasies. They contend that maturity is based on the capacity to face up to contradictions and conflict, and to allow for such complex narratives.

Amal Treacher is a Lecturer for the Centre for Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London

Ilan Katz is Director of Research and Development at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)

Rethinking the process of specialist assessments for looked after children
Debbie Hindle

The direct work integral to making assessments of looked after children is usually complex and may well require referral to specialist services. Debbie Hindle explores some key factors in facilitating such specialist assessments in the context of child and adolescent mental health services. Among issues highlighted are: the importance of understanding the context of the request for an assessment; thorough and sensitive preparation before each session, including the presence of a supportive carer; and the need for continuity and consistency throughout the assessment process. A case example, taken from a wider study of siblings in foster care, is used to illustrate the discussion.

Debbie Hindle is Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at the Scottish Institute of Human Relations, Glasgow

Placement choice in temporary foster care: a research study
Suzette Waterhouse and Edwina Brocklesby

This study examined 50 referrals for temporary family placement to assess the extent of choice and matching. The findings, discussed by Suzette Waterhouse and Edwina Brocklesby, revealed that three-quarters of the placements were made in a crisis-led and unplanned way. Such unplanned placements had negative consequences, particularly in terms of contact, lack of knowledge of the family and a need for a subsequent move. The lack of a child-centred focus in the process by which children came to be placed was notable. An acute shortage of carers meant that it was increasingly the norm for placements of children to be made outside of carers' approval criteria. In such circumstances carers did not receive compensating support to remedy the placement deficits. The authors conclude that fostering continues in a state of crisis without due recognition of the professionalisation of the service now being offered.

Suzette Waterhouse is a social work practitioner/researcher and guardian ad litem

Edwina Brocklesby is a social work consultant and Post Adoption Manager, Parents for Children, a voluntary adoption agency in London

The placement of looked after children in Wales: a 'top-down' perspective
Andrew Pithouse and Anne Crowley

Andrew Pithouse and Anne Crowley outline key findings and themes arising from an All Wales survey of local authority placements commissioned by the National Assembly for Wales. Their paper highlights the number and key characteristics of looked after children and the placements they occupied on a 'census date' in early 2000. The authors go on to discuss the ways in which needs and outcomes are typically understood by providers and comment on the pressing problems they face in this area. Finally they identify the main challenges to the looked after system in providing quality placements and comment upon the strategic issues ahead for local authorities.

Andrew Pithouse is Director of Social Work Studies, Cardiff University

Anne Crowley is an independent consultant and researcher in child and family services, Red Kite Consultancy, Cardiff

A service for children and a service for the courts
Annie Bourton and Jean McCausland

From 1 April 2001, guardians ad litem have been renamed children's guardians and operate within the new Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. In this article Annie Bourton and Jean McCausland outline research undertaken by The Children's Society between 1997 and 1999, which considered the process of investigation by guardians as well as the views of children. A decade after the implementation of the Children Act 1989, the research findings illustrate how this part of the system works and the impact guardians have on children's lives. The child-focused nature of the work from an independent base is seen as crucial.

Annie Bourton has worked as a guardian for 15 years, employed by The Children's Society at its Guardian ad Litem Project in Hessle.

Jean McCausland was employed by The Children's Society specifically to undertake this research. On its completion she returned to Australia to study for a PhD

Research for practice: 'Second time around' - a survey of grandparents raising their grandchildren
Alison Richards

Legal notes: England and Wales Deborah Cullen

Legal notes: Scotland Alexandra Plumtree

Legal notes: Northern Ireland Kerry O'Halloran

Medical notes: health issues for substitute carers Mary Mather

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