IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v140y2022ics0190740922002262.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The experience of invisibility among birth children of foster parents

Author

Listed:
  • Possick, Chaya
  • Doft, Yael
  • Binschtock, Dalit
  • Langental-Cohen, Merav

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the experience of birth children of foster parents. The study examines the retrospective narratives of 14 Israeli adults, ages 18–38, whose families fostered a child for at least one year in the context of the Israeli foster care system. In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed according to the grounded theory method. A central theme is the sense of invisibility that begins with the lack of involvement of the children of the foster parents in the decision to become a foster family and continues with the parents' and the social workers' intense attention to the myriad needs of the foster child, and ultimately may lead to the emotional distancing of the biological child and the foster child. In the discussion, the results are viewed through current approaches to foster care services as well as through Winnicott’s theory of the parent–child relationship to explain the lack of validation of the experience of the birth children of the foster parents, rendering them invisible. Possible interventions for helping foster parents and professionals view and treat the birth children of foster parents not only as objects in relation to the foster child, but as subjects in their own right, are presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Possick, Chaya & Doft, Yael & Binschtock, Dalit & Langental-Cohen, Merav, 2022. "The experience of invisibility among birth children of foster parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:140:y:2022:i:c:s0190740922002262
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106590
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740922002262
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106590?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antler, Joyce & Antler, Stephen, 1979. "From child rescue to family protection : The evolution of the child protective movement in the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 177-204.
    2. Huss, Ephrat & Englesman, Shimrit, 2017. "The self-defined experience of secular foster-care services for ultra-religious women in Israel: Using phenomenology to create cultural sensitive services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 471-477.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Findley, Erin & Praetorius, Regina T., 2023. "Points of foster parent stress in the system: A qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:140:y:2022:i:c:s0190740922002262. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.