BEING A PARENT OR O PROFESSIONAL? THE FOSTER CARERS DESCRIBING THE CHILD'S CARE EXPERIENCE
doi>10.24250/jpe/2/2021/AC
Keywords:
foster care; profession; competences; difficultiesAbstract
Maternal assistance is a form of special protection of the child
separated from the parents; A rich literature, evident from
everyday life indicates a higher quality level of child care in
this format than other forms of care. Insufficient number of
foster carers invites reflection; Too few studies investigate the
perception of foster carers about their work, the difficulties
they face or the needs they have during such a complex
process of caring for a child (Wilson, Sinclair, Gibbs, 2000).
We conducted 5 focus groups with 30 participants, nurses
aged between 29 and 58 years. We aimed to identify the way
they perceive and describe their experience / profession, what
are their grievances and what are the skills they must have in
order to be considered a good parent. The findings suggest
the existence of attitudes confirmed in other previous
specialized works, namely, dysfunctions of the protection
system, lack of support from social assistance structures,
failure to focus on the best interests of the child in making
decisions, etc. Dissatisfaction was reported regarding the
status of the foster parent profession. It is recommended to be
included in the DGASPC strategy, to increase the visibility of
the foster care profession as an objective, to inform and
sensitize the population about the specifics and complexity of
this profession. We suggest ensuring the provision of support
services, consultancy and counselling to maternal assistants
and improving their dialogue with the staff of the social
protection departments.
References
Blythe SL, Jackson D, Halcomb EJ, Wilkes L. (2012). The Stigma of Being
a Long-Term Foster Carer. Journal of Family Nursing;18(2):234-260.
Blythe, SL., Wilkes, L., Halcomb, EJ. (2014). The foster carer's experience:
An integrative review. Collegian: 21(1). 1322-7696.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2012.12.001
Carbone, JA., Sawyer, MG., Searle, AK., Robinson, PJ. (2007). The healthrelated
quality of life of children and adolescents in home-based
foster care. Quality of Life Research: An International Journal of
Quality-of-Life Aspects of Treatment, Care &
Rehabilitation, 16 (7) (2007), pp. 1157-1166
Dumitrescu, AM. (2016). The life quality of a child from a foster family in
Romania. International E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences, 2(4).
Humphreys, KL., Gleason, MM., Drury, SS., Miron, D., Nelson, CA., Fox,
NA., Zeanah,CH. (2015). Effects of institutional rearing and foster care
on psychopathology at age 12 years in Romania: follow-up of an open,
randomised controlled trial, The Lancet Psychiatry, 2 (7).
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00095-4.
Jones, G., Morrissette, PJ. (1999). Foster Parent Stress. Canadian Journal of
Counselling. 33 (1)
Kirton, D. (2001). Love and money: Payment, motivation and the fostering
task. Child & Family Social Work, 6 (3) (2001), pp. 199-208
Macdonald, G., Turner, W. (2005). An Experiment in Helping Foster-Carers
Manage Challenging Behaviour, The British Journal of Social
Work,35(8): 1265– 1282,
