Foster caring as ‘professional parenting’: A grounded theory of the relationships between parent and professional in long-term foster care

Whilst it has been suggested that fostering involves being both a parent and a professional, little is known about how foster carers manage these roles. This study aimed to develop an explanatory theory and model of the processes involved in fostering looked after children and the relationship between the roles of parent and professional. Ten foster carers offering intended long-term placements to looked after children and five social care professionals who provide support to foster carers were interviewed. Data were analysed using grounded theory. A preliminary model was developed which suggested that the relationship between the two roles changed over time. Many described initially identifying with the parental role before experiencing challenges that necessitated also taking a professional one. Over time, these separate roles appeared to blend and become interconnected, such that foster carers became ‘professional–parents’. These findings extend our understanding of the complexity of the foster carer role and may link to existing role theories. They may also have important clinical implications for the support and training of foster carers, particularly in the early stages of the fostering journey. Further research, including the use of more diverse samples, is needed to extend these findings

“They needed the attention more than I did”: how do the birth children of foster carers experience the relationship with their parents?

Research has demonstrated that there is more likely to be a disruption to the placement where foster carers have birth children living at home. Given the limited presence of the birth children of foster carers in research and the importance of the retention of carers, it seems relevant to policy and practice to investigate the parent-child relationship in this context. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how the birth children of foster carers experienced their relationship with their parents. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse semi-structured interviews with eight young people (aged 14-16 years) who were the birth children of foster carers. Three superordinate themes emerged: 1. ‘relational processes that give value to my role in the family’, 2.‘threats to our relationship’ and 3.‘making sense as a way of managing the threats’. Each superordinate theme contained subthemes and whilst there were consistent patterns of experience, there was also individual variation. The findings suggest that the processes of ‘making sense’ and ‘feeling valued’ serve to buffer the impact of potential threats to the parent-child relationship. Theoretical implications include the application of a model that has been developed to elucidate the relationship between the themes. This has clinical implications for further understanding and informing the way services support both foster carers and their children

Motor neuron pathfinding following rhombomere reversals in the chick embryo hindbrain

Motor neurons are segmentally organised in the developing chick hindbrain, with groups of neurons occupying pairs of hindbrain segments or rhombomeres. The branchiomotor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve occupies rhombomeres 2 and 3 (r2 and r3), that of the facial nerve r4 and r5, and that of the glossopharyngeal nerve r6 and r7. Branchiomotor neuron cell bodies lie within the basal plate, forming columns on either side of the ventral midline floor plate. Axons originating in rhombomeres 2, 4 and 6 grow laterally (dorsally) towards the exit points located in the alar plates of these rhombomeres, while axons originating in odd-numbered rhombomeres 3 and 5 grow laterally and then rostrally, crossing a rhombomere boundary to reach their exit point. Examination of the trajectories of motor axons in odd-numbered segments at late stages of development (19–25) showed stereotyped pathways, in which axons grew laterally before making a sharp turn rostrally. During the initial phase of outgrowth (stage 14–15), however, axons had meandering courses and did not grow in a directed fashion towards their exit point. When r3 or r5 was transplanted with reversed rostrocaudal polarity prior to motor axon outgrowth, the majority of axons grew to their appropriate, rostral exit point, despite the inverted neuroepithelial polarity. In r3 reversals, however, there was a considerable increase in the normally small number of axons that grew out via the caudal, r4 exit point. These findings are discussed with relevance to the factors involved in motor neuron specification and axon outgrowth in the developing hindbrain

What do we know about the impact of stress on foster carers and contributing factors?

Whilst there are increasing numbers of children in foster care, there are decreasing numbers of foster carers. Research has highlighted the many challenges that foster carers face in caring for children who have experienced adversity. This review synthesises and evaluates the current empirical literature with the aim of exploring the causes and consequences of stress experienced by foster carers and what factors serve to lessen or increase this. PsychINFO, ASSIA, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched for relevant studies, which were chosen for review based on specific inclusion criteria. This search identified 15 papers. Factors identified as contributing to stress included managing the impact of wider systems, such as social services and the foster carer’s family, as well as the impact of individual factors such as the child’s behaviour. Consequences of stress included a direct impact on foster carer retention. Methodological issues identified related to sampling, research design and cultural variability. Future research could usefully include the perspectives of people in the system around foster carers, including social workers and the birth children of foster carers. Clinical implications include the promotion and provision of training and support, and the development of integrated ways of working with services and foster carers’ families

The Near-Infrared Extinction Law in Regions of High Av

We present a spectroscopic study of the shape of the dust-extinction law between 1.0 and 2.2um towards a set of nine ultracompact HII regions with Av > 15 mag. We find some evidence that the reddening curve may tend to flatten at higher extinctions, but just over half of the sample has extinction consistent with or close to the average for the interstellar medium. There is no evidence of extinction curves significantly steeper than the standard law, even where water ice is present. Comparing the results to the predictions of a simple extinction model, we suggest that a standard extinction law implies a robust upper limit to the grain-size distribution at around 0.1 - 0.3um. Flatter curves are most likely due to changes in this upper limit, although the effects of flattening due to unresolved clumpy extinction cannot be ruled out.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Inelastic neutron scattering study on the resonance mode in an optimally doped superconductor LaFeAsO0.92_{0.92}F0.08_{0.08}

An optimally doped iron-based superconductor LaFeAsO$_{0.92}$F$_{0.08}$ with $T_c = 29$ K has been studied by inelastic powder neutron scattering. The magnetic excitation at $Q=1.15$ \AA$^{-1}$ is enhanced below $T_c$, leading to a peak at $E_{res}\sim13$ meV as the resonance mode, in addition to the formation of a gap at low energy below the crossover energy $\Delta_{c}\sim10 meV$. The peak energy at $Q=1.15$ \AA$^{-1}$ corresponds to $5.2 k_B T_c$ in good agreement with the other values of resonance mode observed in the various iron-based superconductors, even in the high-$T_c$ cuprates. Although the phonon density of states has a peak at the same energy as the resonance mode in the present superconductor, the $Q$-dependence is consistent with the resonance being of predominately magnetic origin.Comment: 4 pages, 5 Postscript figure