Adoption & Fostering
Abstracts

Summer 2002 - Vol 26 (2)

Editorial Malcolm Hill

Newspoints

Making sense: the use of theory and research to support foster care Kate Cairns

Kate Cairns is a social worker and trainer who works as a trainer/consultant for BAAF’s Southern region

In this article, based on themes from her recent book, Attachment, Trauma and Resilience (BAAF, 2002), Cairns proposes that foster carers and adopters need theories and models drawn from or supported by research in order to make sense of their life with children who have experienced early adversity. A range of ‘great ideas’ are briefly presented and placed in the context of child development. Concepts drawn from attachment theory and affect theory are included, as well as issues of trust, shame and resilience, and ideas arising from research on brain development and traumatic stress.

Foster carers’ perspectives on permanence: a focus group study Mary Beek and Gillian Schofield

Mary Beek is Senior Research Associate, Centre for Research on the Child and Family, University of East Anglia, Norwich

Gillian Schofield is Senior Lecturer in Psychosocial Studies and Deputy Director of the Centre for Research on the Child and Family at the same university

There is undoubtedly a need to establish a firm legislative, policy and practice basis for adoption. At the same time, it is recognised that a range of permanence options is required to meet the needs of children for whom adoption is not appropriate, not achievable or against their wishes. Although the Prime Minister’s review of adoption recommended consultation on all aspects of the Adoption and Children Bill, it was not clear whether there would be mechanisms for consulting foster carers who currently offer permanent placements to children. As a result, the Nuffield Foundation funded a series of three focus groups to take place during the Bill’s passage through parliament, with a view to contributing to the debate on what might be needed to ensure the effectiveness of the range of permanence options sought by the Government. This paper is a result of that consultation exercise. However, the richness of the discussions in the groups allowed the authors to go beyond and behind the immediate question of legal options and explore how foster carers view their role in offering children a long-term commitment and a place in their families.

Is it worthwhile? Motivational factors and perceived difficulties of foster caring in South Australia Paul Delfabbro, John Taplin and Yvonne Bentham

Paul Delfabbro is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Adelaide, South Australia

John Taplin is Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Adelaide

Yvonne Bentham is a PhD candidate in the same department

Despite numerous anecdotal reports, very few Australian data are available concerning the characteristics of foster carers and the problems associated with foster caring. In this study 48 South Australian foster carers were interviewed and asked to provide details of their motivations, family structure and concerns. The results showed that intrinsic factors such as being interested in children’s well-being and future appear to be more likely reasons for caring than more extrinsic factors such as needing money or companionship. The carers’ main concerns related to their frustration with the foster care system, in particular, their inability to have a say in the child’s future, and the lack of support from agencies and social workers. Many also expressed significant concerns about children’s behaviour and the sadness associated with the child leaving. The implications of these findings for the retention of foster carers are discussed.

Kinship and stranger foster carers How do they compare?
Jennifer Sykes, Ian Sinclair, Ian Gibbs and Kate Wilson

Jennifer Sykes was formerly a visiting Marshall scholar at the University of York where, for part of her time, she took the lead in analysing data on kinship care in a survey of foster carers and placements. She is currently working in the non-profit sector in the USA

Ian Sinclair is Research Professor and Co-director of the Social Work Research and Development Unit at the University of York

Ian Gibbs is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of York where he is currently engaged in research on foster care and children’s homes

Kate Wilson is Professor of Social Work at the University of Nottingham

US research suggests that kinship foster carers are a valued resource but are also less well supported than carers who are strangers. The authors draw on data from their own large-scale study of foster carers to see if similar issues arise in England. The study suggests that kinship carers are a heterogeneous group. Some want to be treated as carers entitled to similar levels of financial reward, and in need of training. Others may see support from social services as ‘intrusive’ and regard themselves as qualified by experience to care as they do. On average fostering appeared to have a greater impact on the financial and housing situations of these carers than it did on those of others and many of them reported conflicts with the birth families. Despite these difficulties they received on average less training, lower levels of financial reward and less support than other carers. The authors conclude that, in at least some authorities, more use could be made of kinship foster care but that it is not always an appropriate choice and more thought should be given to its support.

Disability and adoption: how unexamined attitudes discriminate against disabled people as parents Michele Wates

Michele Wates is a disabled writer, researcher and mother. She is currently working on a rights and information handbook for Disabled Parents Network, based at the National Centre for Disabled Parents, London

For many years the author has been involved in developing peer support and a campaigning network of disabled parents in the UK. She considers that, while disabled children and adoption have been the focus of some debate, the issue of adoption has received far too little attention in relation to disabled adults. This article seeks to redress the balance by looking first at how children with disabled parents are over-represented in the looked after system. Wates goes on to discuss the ways in which disabled people are overlooked as potential adoptive parents. In conclusion she outlines the implications for practice regarding both these related areas of concern.

Post-adoption grief counselling
Evelyn Robinson

Evelyn Robinson is a social worker and counsellor/co-ordinator with the Association Representing Mothers Separated from their Children by Adoption (ARMS), South Australia

The author addresses the grief experienced by mothers who have lost children through adoption and suggests that their grief is disenfranchised. She explores the reasons for this and outlines methods for assisting mothers to integrate their experience of adoption loss into their lives, as practised in a self-help group, supported by government funding, which currently operates in South Australia. The article is based on the author’s personal experience, both as a mother who lost a child through adoption and as a counsellor/co-ordinator with the group under discussion.

Work in progress: adoption search and reunion: the adoptive and birth parents’ perspective
Julia Feast

Legal notes: England and Wales
Deborah Cullen

Legal notes: Scotland
Alexandra Plumtree

Legal notes: Northern Ireland
Kerry O’Halloran

Legal notes: European Court of Human Rights
Deborah Cullen

Medical notes: tobacco smoke - the impact on looked after children
Dr Tagore Charles and Dr Catherine Cosgrovre with Dr Cathy Hill

Book reviews

Abstracts

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