The meaning of biology in the foster family narratives of young adults

While biological relatedness has been an issue among anthropologists for some time, the topic has gained little interest in family sociology. Recent contributions exploring how genetic thinking – the process through which biological relationships are rendered meaningful in everyday family living – shapes family life, suggest that this is about to change. This article seeks to contribute to this area of research. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 26 young adults who grew up in kinship foster care, it examines when and how genetic thinking is made relevant in the young adults’ family narratives. Particular attention is paid to how ideas about biological relatedness has shaped their relationships with foster parents and biological parents. The paper gives insight into the more challenging aspects of genetic thinking. It also shows the importance of taking into account the variation in understandings of and emphasis on biological relationships and heritage for children, youth and young adults

Children’s relationships with birth parents in childhood and adulthood: A qualitative longitudinal study of kinship care

Accepted manuscript version. Published version available at https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325018784646.The topic of interest in this paper is the relationship between children who live in kinship care and their birth parents – through childhood and adulthood. The focus is on what meaning and content children themselves ascribe to such relationships and how this changes over time. To explore this question, we draw on a qualitative longitudinal data set, in which children who grew up in kinship foster care in Norway were interviewed over a 15-year period. We have selected three cases, where we follow two girls and one boy through their three interviews as children (T1: 11–12 years old), emerging adults (T2: 20–21 years old) and young adults (T3: 28–29 years old). Through the adoption of a methodological approach with similarities to biographical approaches, our analysis gives unique insight into the interviewees’ relationships with their birth parents – how they are expressed in each interview as their lives unfold and as circumstances change. More specifically, the analysis gives insight into different types of parent–child relationships and how they may change over time. However, it also shows that the interviewees have different resources available in managing such relationships. This is an issue rarely recognised in child welfare research or practice, yet it is essential if we want to understand the relationship between children who grow/grew up in foster care arrangements and their birth parents

Kontakt med foreldre fra barndom til voksenliv - en longitudinell studie av barn i slektsfosterhjem og andre fosterhjem

Previous research on parental contact for children in foster care shows that contact frequency is significantly related to parent’s gender and placement type. Yet very few studies have explored the impact of gender and type of placement on parental contact over time. Based on longitudinal quantitative data from kinship care and non-kinship care placements in Norway, we analyse contact between children and their birth parents at three timepoints: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The study shows different contact patterns for children’s contact with mothers and fathers. For most of the children, the possibility of contact with the mother was established from the first timepoint and contact occurred rather frequently throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Regular contact between fathers and children in childhood, on the other hand, was less common, and this could develop in different directions: either towards children coming into contact with their father later in life or not at all. From a longitudinal perspective, we can say that the most significant changes evolved around children’s contact with their fathers, while contact with mothers was more stable

Childhood in Kinship Care

Kinship foster care involves placing children who cannot live at home in foster care with other members of their family or close network. This book sheds light on different aspects of kinship care development and practice. Using a 20-year longitudinal research study from Norway, this book shows the historical development of kinship care in Norway, research on kinship care, and how family life and relations are negotiated and lived in the span between private and public sphere. It includes the perspectives of the children, their parents and their relatives who have functioned as foster parents. Recognising that kinship care is complex, and needs to be understood and studied from different perspectives, the book describes, analyses and discusses a number of subjects: kinship care in a child welfare historical context, families who are part of kinship care and their perspectives, the formal frameworks around kinship care, and research approaches which have dominated research into kinship care. This book will be of interest to all scholars, students and professionals working in social work and child welfare more broadly, both in the Nordic countries and in a wider international context

”Sårbare” barn som deltakere i kvalitativ forskning: Forskningsetikk og etisk forskning

Forskning som inkluderer barn berører forskningsetiske dilemmaer særlig knyttet til forholdet mellom beskyttelse og deltakelse. I denne artikkelen diskuteres dette i relasjon til forskningsetiske retningslinjer for samfunnsvitenskap og humaniora. Med bakgrunn i egen forskning innen barnevernfeltet og andres kvalitative forskning synliggjøres utfordringer knyttet til at bestemte grupper er forhåndsdefinerte som spesielt sårbare for forskningsdeltakelse. Forskningsetiske retningslinjer legger føringer for forskningsdesign og for inkluderingekskludering av utvalg, og dermed også for kunnskapsproduksjonen. Dersom barn og andre ”sårbare” grupper i større grad skal være representert i forskning må forskningsetiske retningslinjer legge til rette for dette

Childhood in Kinship Care

Kinship foster care involves placing children who cannot live at home in foster care with other members of their family or close network. This book sheds light on different aspects of kinship care development and practice. Using a 20-year longitudinal research study from Norway, this book shows the historical development of kinship care in Norway, research on kinship care, and how family life and relations are negotiated and lived in the span between private and public sphere. It includes the perspectives of the children, their parents and their relatives who have functioned as foster parents. Recognising that kinship care is complex, and needs to be understood and studied from different perspectives, the book describes, analyses and discusses a number of subjects: kinship care in a child welfare historical context, families who are part of kinship care and their perspectives, the formal frameworks around kinship care, and research approaches which have dominated research into kinship care. This book will be of interest to all scholars, students and professionals working in social work and child welfare more broadly, both in the Nordic countries and in a wider international context

Children sharing preferences on contact and residence arrangements in child-inclusive family mediation in Norway

Mediation is mandatory for all separating and divorcing parents in Norway with children under 16 years. The participation of children is voluntary. Living arrangement preferences presented by children attending child-inclusive family mediation in Norway (n = 346, aged 4–18 years) have been examined. 47.1 per cent of children gave a living arrangement preference, and older children were more likely to express a preference for living primarily with the mother compared to an equal time-sharing arrangement. Children very often gave reasoned explanations for their wishes. Children’s utilisation of the potential in their participation supports future inclusion of children in mediation processes. The best interests of the child needs to be examined on an individual basis as children present various preferences that is not in line with a presumption of fixed time-sharing following parental break-up

Placement stability and satisfaction with foster home as predictors of life satisfaction for young adults raised in foster care

This study examines how history of care, on one hand, and social support, on the other hand, predict satisfaction with life after leaving care by focusing on a sample of young adults raised in foster care in Norway. When aged between 19 and 29, youths answered questionnaires that mapped their past history of care, living conditions, social relationships and life satisfaction. Results show that the 70 respondents had experienced a relatively stable history of care (mean number of placements ± SD: 1.7 ± 0.9) and reported life satisfaction scores similar to those measured in the general population (23.3 ± 7.0, mean ± SD). Placement stability (P = 0.001) and a high satisfaction with foster home (P = 0.030) were related to a higher life satisfaction. Moreover, having good social support, that is, persons that you can count on in case of major personal problems (P < 0.001) and a good contact with the foster family (P = 0.005), was associated with a higher satisfaction with life. Several health-related variables and the working status were also linked to life satisfaction. Our work highlights the need to focus on promoting placement stability and a good relationship to the foster family in order to enhance well-being after leaving care

Placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care

The purpose of this study was to explore factors related to placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care in a Nordic country. The study included 136 children aged 4–13 years in kinship and nonkinship foster care in Norway in the year 2000, with updates for the year 2008. Placement and demographic information and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were collected from foster parents and youths. Generalized linear mixed model analysis was undertaken. A thorough literature review was done in order to study association between disruption and relevant variables. None of the predominant variables from previous literature were significantly associated with disruption for this sample of children in long-term foster care. Since long-term stable foster care (rather than adoption) is the preferred option in Nordic as well as some other European countries, there is a need to explore the processes of inclusion that give children a lifelong commitment to their foster familie

Slektsfosterhjem : offentlig tiltak i private hjem

Temaet for avhandlingen er slektsfosterhjem som offentlig barneverntiltak i Norge. Avhandlingen som består av fire artikler og sammenbindingskapittel har problemstilingen: Hvordan kan slektsfosterhjem som fenomen innen offentlige velferdstjenester forstås, og hvordan erfares slektsfosterhjem av fosterbarn? Det empiriske materialet består av offentlige høringsdokumenter samt kvalitative intervju med fosterbarn i slektsfosterhjem. Artiklene som inngår i avhandlingen tematiserer det verdimessige grunnlaget for etablering av slektsfosterhjem som offentlig velferdstiltak, hva preger familieforståelsene til disse fosterbarna og hva kjennetegner deres aktørskap i møte med barnevernet. Forskningsetiske spørsmål relatert til studier hvor fosterbarn og andre ”sårbare” aktører deltar, er tema for en av artiklene. Studien peker på at i de fleste fosterbarnas framstillinger av egen familiesituasjon er det normaliteten ved familiesituasjonen som vektlegges. Den formelle statusen som fosterbarn er nedtonet, det samme gjelder deres relasjon til barnevernet. Slektsfosterhjem kan betraktes som en arena hvor logikker og praksisformer fra det private og det offentlige konfronteres. Innlemming av slektsfosterhjem i barnevernet kan ses som en utvidelse av barnevernet som felt. Studien viser hvordan institusjonaliseringen av slektsfosterhjem som offentlig barneverntiltak refererer til tradisjonelle familieidealer og ideer om biologisk tilknytning. Institusjonaliseringen av slektsfosterhjem som barneverntiltak kan imidlertid også betraktes som en motvekt til de generelle profesjonaliseringstendensene av fosterhjemsinstitusjonen. I sammenbindingsdelen løftes noen sentrale temaer fra artiklene fram. Dette gjelder etableringen slektsfosterhjem i en barnevernhistorisk kontekst og slektsfosterhjem sett med familiesosiologiske begreper. Nøkkelord: slektsfosterhjem, familie, fosterbarns aktørskap, profesjonalisering, felt, offentlig – privat, forskningsetikk, velferds- barndoms- og familiesosiologi