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

Abstract

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.

‘I probably wouldn’t want to talk about anything too personal’: A qualitative exploration of how issues of privacy, confidentiality and surveillance in the home impact on access and engagement with online services and spaces for care-experienced young people

“…Their lives are often paradoxically characterised by high levels of state scrutiny (Shepherd et al, 2020) but chronically poor and inconsistent state social and mental health support (Evans et al, 2021). Alongside this, carers in the home are expected to play a dual role of emotional and familial caregiver as well as paid professional held to account by authorities (Schofield et al, 2013;Hollett, Hassett and Lumsden, 2022). Additionally, children and young people rarely occupy positions of power within the domestic arena, and this is particularly the case for those in care whose position within the 'family' and the 'home' can be precarious (Mannay et al, 2017;Ward, 2009).…”

Being a parent, but not: A grounded theory of home‐based care

“…Berrick and Skivenes (2012) used the term “Parenting Plus” to describe “the unique demands in parenting with the ‘foster’ component of their caregiving” (p. 1964). However, existing research findings regarding carer role perceptions are mixed: some carers primarily see themselves as fulfilling a parental role (Blythe et al, 2013; Borenstein, 2022; De Wilde et al, 2019; Riggs et al, 2009), others see themselves as primarily fulfilling a professional role (Hollett et al, 2022; Smyth & McHugh, 2006), and others see their roles as a hybrid of the two (Blythe et al, 2014; Farmer & Lippold, 2016) or report mixed results (Schofield et al, 2013). According to Sprecher et al (2021), relationships between foster carers and young people are diverse and should not be oversimplified into categories such as “parent” or “professional.”…”

Revealing the Profile of Foster Parents, Biological Parents, Foster Children and the Triadic Relationship amongst them

“…Firstly, although in foreign countries, and especially in Great Britain and USA, is very common the phenomenon of foster placement disruption and the replacement of children in second and third foster families, in Greece rarely the foster parents abandon the foster care children they have taken up. Secondly, abroad as far as the institutions of foster care and adoption are concerned, they consist of two distinct pathways, while in Greece is a common practice the long-term fostering to be evolved in adoption from the same foster care family (Hollett's et al, 2022;Baltsiotis & Farmakopoulou, 2023). This concept review paper examines the characteristics of foster carers and the dynamics of their relationships within the fostering institution in Greece, emphasizing the advantages and potential drawbacks of foster care.…”