Att placera eller inte placera i släktinghem, det är frågan : En studie kring familjehemsplaceringar - lagstiftning, attityder och handläggning inom socialtjänsten
Examining the question of placement or not with relatives : A study of foster home placements - Legislation, attitudes and administration within the Social Service
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Summary, in English
In the licentiate thesis my starting point is the Social Service Act and specifically, chapter 6, paragraph 5 which directs one to primarily consider the suitability of placing a child with a relative or a person known to the family. The objective of the thesis is to examine how the topic concerning placement with relatives arose and how the regulation reflects on child care within social work. An additional objective is to further examine the social workers attitude towards placement with relatives. Interviews, mainly with social workers and a few key persons, were carried out and, in addition, studies of case files from four towns were made.
The regulation regarding the primary consideration of placement with relatives or known persons originates from a Parliament initiative in 1998. The Congress Parties demanded that a regulation should be introduced and referred to claims from the public and from International research findings that demonstrated the advantages from the child's perspective of placement with relatives.
Of the placements initiated during the year 2003, 15% of the placements of the children and youngsters were with relatives. In 2004 this figure was reduced to 14% including also placements with persons known to the child's family. According to the statistics there has been no significant increase in the number of children that have been placed with relatives between the years 1998 and 2003.
According to my research there is a positive attitude amongst the social workers interviewed to place the children with relatives. What the interviewees saw as a positive outcome of placements with relatives, was primarily that it is less difficult for the child to adapt to this familiar environment compared to the experiences when subjected to strangers. In addition, the placement with relatives gives the child a much greater opportunity for continuity. In contrast to this view some social workers were fearful that inherited harmful family patterns and behaviour could be experienced and a further view that such placement could more readily give rise to bad relations between the relative and the child's parents.
Despite the positive attitude of most social workers to placement with relatives, in practice, this option is not always considered. Approximately half of the social workers that were interviewed were not aware that they were obliged to give such a placement primary consideration in accordance with the legislation. One of the pre-requisites for evaluating the placement of a child with relatives is the collection of information about family network and one of the studies showed that social workers often have a lack of knowledge of the child’s’ family network. Such information is often inadequately described in case reports and journals.
The regulation regarding the primary consideration of placement with relatives or known persons originates from a Parliament initiative in 1998. The Congress Parties demanded that a regulation should be introduced and referred to claims from the public and from International research findings that demonstrated the advantages from the child's perspective of placement with relatives.
Of the placements initiated during the year 2003, 15% of the placements of the children and youngsters were with relatives. In 2004 this figure was reduced to 14% including also placements with persons known to the child's family. According to the statistics there has been no significant increase in the number of children that have been placed with relatives between the years 1998 and 2003.
According to my research there is a positive attitude amongst the social workers interviewed to place the children with relatives. What the interviewees saw as a positive outcome of placements with relatives, was primarily that it is less difficult for the child to adapt to this familiar environment compared to the experiences when subjected to strangers. In addition, the placement with relatives gives the child a much greater opportunity for continuity. In contrast to this view some social workers were fearful that inherited harmful family patterns and behaviour could be experienced and a further view that such placement could more readily give rise to bad relations between the relative and the child's parents.
Despite the positive attitude of most social workers to placement with relatives, in practice, this option is not always considered. Approximately half of the social workers that were interviewed were not aware that they were obliged to give such a placement primary consideration in accordance with the legislation. One of the pre-requisites for evaluating the placement of a child with relatives is the collection of information about family network and one of the studies showed that social workers often have a lack of knowledge of the child’s’ family network. Such information is often inadequately described in case reports and journals.
Department/s
Publishing year
2006
Language
Swedish
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Document type
Licentiate thesis
Publisher
Lund University