On the bright side : Young people's most positive memories of family foster care

This study explored what contributes to successful family foster care from the perspective of young people by asking them about their most positive memory of family foster care. Forty-four Dutch adolescents and young adults (aged 16-28) participated in this study and shared their most positive memory in a short interview. Their answers were qualitatively analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, supplemented with an analysis of the structure of their memories. The thematic analysis resulted in the themes Belongingness, Receiving support, Normal family life, It is better than before, and Seeing yourself grow. The structural analysis showed that young people both shared memories related to specific events, as well as memories that portrayed how they felt for a prolonged period of time. In addition, young people were inclined to share negative memories alongside the positive memories. These results highlight that, in order to build a sense of belonging, it is important that of foster parents create a normal family environment for foster children and provide continuous support. Moreover, the negative memories shared by participants are discussed in light of a bias resulting from earlier traumatic experiences.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:26

Enthalten in:

Clinical child psychology and psychiatry - 26(2021), 2 vom: 05. Apr., Seite 544-555

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Steenbakkers, Anne [VerfasserIn]
van der Steen, Steffie [VerfasserIn]
Grietens, Hans [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Family foster care
Journal Article
Lived-experiences
Qualitative research
Success factors
Voices of youth

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 15.10.2021

Date Revised 15.10.2021

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1177/1359104520978691

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM318928302