Moral Dilemmas in Foster Care Due to Religious Differences Between Birth Parents, Foster Parents, and Foster Children

Abstract

Many ethnoreligious-minority foster children in several western countries, including the Netherlands, are placed and permanently live with ethnically and religiously non-matched foster families (i.e., in trans-religious foster care). We examine whether and which moral dilemmas exist around the issue of how religion should be weighted in trans-religious foster care to provide ethnoreligious-minority foster children with healthy identity development. We applied a thematic analysis to 17 qualitative interviews (seven foster parent/foster child dyads and three foster parents) taken from two pre-existing datasets. We retrieved five moral dilemmas in trans-religious foster care placements, which are discussed in relation to the following ethical arguments: (1) pressure from birth parents and parents of foster children to abide by their religious praxis; (2) objections of the foster family to the faith of the birth family; (3) a switch to the faith of the foster family by the foster child; (4) challenges to the religious identity searches of foster children due to ethnoreligious boundary drawing between majority and minority groups; and (5) the impact of religious traditions on the bodily integrity of foster children. We argue that it is in the best interest of foster children to have a foster family who, when making (some) religious choices on their behalf, is sensitive to the particular child and their developing identity with regard to their religious ideas and beliefs. Foster families need support regarding religious reflection and religious self-determinism in their foster children.

Child of two worlds: How foster care workers perceive their skills in dealing with worldview differences in foster care

“…Figure 3 shows the worldview differences foster care workers meet in their daily practice. However, these differences do not necessarily cause dilemmas (as in Van Bergen et al, 2022), but are topics of conversation and potentially troublesome. These worldview differences correspond to those that foster parents reported in the same study (Van de Koot‐Dees et al, n.d.‐b).…”

“…President Erdogan stated that 'Muslim children should grow up in Muslim families' (Kouwenhoven, 2013). Along with the shortage of foster parents in general, trans-religious and trans-worldview placements are likely to occur (Van Bergen et al, 2022).…”

“…Previous research has focused mainly on cultural and ethnic or racial aspects of the foster child's identity, but the role of religion has often been overlooked (Collins & Scott, 2019;Hodge, 2022). In current studies, inspired by the work of Crenshaw, ethnicity and religion are not seen as separate elements but as intersecting identities (Collins & Scott, 2019;Crenshaw, 1991;Hodge, 2022;Van Bergen et al, 2022). For example, a Moroccan foster child shares the Islamic religion with her Turkish foster parents but not the same cultural and ethnic background (Van de Koot-Dees et al, n.d.-b).…”

“…In many countries, including the Netherlands, foster care organizations are confronted with a major shortage of foster parents, which means that foster care workers are limited in finding the best fit (Howell‐Moroney, 2014; Pleegzorg Nederland, 2020; Zeijlmans et al, 2018). This implies that many children reside in trans‐religious or trans‐ethnic foster care settings (Van Bergen et al, 2022). Foster care workers are responsible for accompanying and supporting the mutual relationships of foster children, their birth parents and foster parents, as well as in dealing with worldview differences in relation to the foster child's identity formation.…”

“…In trans‐religious placements, these relationships can be strained by tensions and dilemmas (Van Bergen et al, 2022; Van de Koot‐Dees et al, n.d.‐a). Previous research focussed more on cultural and ethnic differences, but the intersection with religion or worldview has not received much attention in foster care research (Collins & Scott, 2019; Degener et al, 2021; Van Bergen et al, 2022; Verkuyten & Fleischmann, 2017). Despite the formal responsibilities of foster care workers, not much is known about whether or how the birth family's worldview is integrated into the triadic collaboration surrounding the child.…”