Articles

Assessing the relationship between foster children and their families: A tool for research and practice

Authors

  • Teresa Díaz-Tártalo Abat Oliba CEU University Barcelona
  • Nuria Fuentes-Peláez University of Barcelona

Keywords:

foster care, early detection, family relationship, double belonging, loyalty conflict

Abstract

The objective of the article is to acquire in-depth knowledge of the nature of family relationships in foster placements by using analyses of illustrative cases from the Double Moon (DM-)test (Greco, 1999). The research focuses on the connections observed between attitudes of non-kinship foster families who facilitate the relationship between the foster children and their biological family, and the perceived well-being of the family relationships. This is a qualitative study based on three instruments: a socio-demographic questionnaire completed by the foster parents and the foster child, two semi-structured interviews, and finally the DM-test. The participants in this study comprised 26 children and 39 foster parents. The study results show that certain attitudes of foster parents can facilitate a child's integration within the foster family and assist with the creation of a calm relationship between the child and the biological family. The study also reveals that in cases where some level of hostility on the part of the foster family towards the child's biological family exists, the child has greater difficulties in adjusting to the foster family and the risk to future disruption increases. Implications for practice are discussed.

Author Biographies

Teresa Díaz-Tártalo, Abat Oliba CEU University Barcelona

Instituto CEU de Humanidades Ángel Ayala, Abat Oliba CEU University Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Nuria Fuentes-Peláez, University of Barcelona

Department of Methods of Research and Diagnosis in Education, University of Barcelona, Spain.

Published

2018-12-01

Issue

Section

Articles