Skip Navigation


BJSW Advance Access originally published online on February 5, 2008
British Journal of Social Work 2009 39(5):789-806; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm156
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
39/5/789    most recent
bcm156v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Riggs, D. W.
Right arrow Articles by Augoustinos, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved

Negotiating Foster-Families: Identification and Desire

Damien W. Riggs, Paul H. Delfabbro and Martha Augoustinos

Dr Damien W. Riggs is an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr Paul H. Delfabbro is an Associate Professor. Dr Martha Augoustinos is a Professor. All authors are located in the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide.

Correspondence to Dr Damien W. Riggs, School of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia. E-mail: damien.riggs{at}adelaide.edu.au


  Abstract

Foster care systems across Australia are widely recognised as being ‘in crisis’. Problems of both supply (a lack of appropriate placements for children) and demand (increasing numbers of child protection notifications) are central to this crisis. Addressing these problems requires an approach to social work practice that encourages greater support for existing foster carers, and that in so doing, helps to attract new carers to the system. One of the ways in which this may be achieved is through an emphasis on foster care as a form of family based care that holds the potential to meet the needs not only of children, but of adults seeking to engage in familial relationships with children. Drawing upon a psychoanalytically-informed approach to social work, this paper presents and analyses data from a national research project examining existing Australian foster carers' experiences of care provision. The results demonstrate that despite considerable adversity (which often takes the shape of foster families not being recognised as such), foster carers continue to form unique, supportive families with children. Implications are drawn from this for a social work practice that acknowledges diversity in family forms and which validates the identifications and desires that circulate within foster families.

Keywords: Family support, Fostering, Qualitative methods, Recruitment, Social work and sociology


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.