Child & Family Social Work最新文献

This article presents the findings of a study examining the resettlement experiences of displaced families in Norway, focusing on children's development opportunities and well-being. Through qualitative interviews presented as four ideal-typical families—Abdel, Elombe, Isaac and Amira—and guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory and Morgan's concept of ‘doing family’, the research explores how various ecological systems influence family dynamics and children's developmental trajectories. The findings show discrepancies in children's and parent's perceptions of past experiences. Further, challenges within the surrounding systems influence family interactions, illustrated by economic instability, school-related challenges and parents' unemployment. The study suggests a need for supportive practices and policies to promote successful integration and improve the development opportunities and well-being of refugee children.

In Türkiye, there are very few studies examining the outcomes of children's homes, which are institutional care services where children/young people in need of protection are cared for, in terms of independent living. This study was designed in line with the question of how young people who have left these homes experience independent living and based on data obtained through in-depth interviews with a total of 20 young people, 10 men and 10 women, aged between 18 and 24. The young people had experienced children's homes for at least 3 years and had left the children's homes at least 1 year ago. The findings of this research are presented through three main themes: ‘leaving care’, ‘receiving social support’ and ‘receiving public support: employment’. As a result of the research, it was revealed that care leavers may face some problems in aftercare in terms of their age and experiences and may need social support mechanisms and healthy socialization experiences.

When a child enters a foster family, it weaves an intricate web that profoundly changes the relationships and bonds of all involved, making it difficult to define ‘family’ using predefined criteria. Despite the far-reaching impact on all involved, no previous study has systematically reviewed and qualitatively analysed how parents, foster carers, children of foster carers and foster care workers in kith, kinship or nonkinship care understand family. This study examines the characteristics of studies examining stakeholders' family understandings, how stakeholders define family and whom they consider family. Following PRISMA guidelines, 18 studies were included and analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis. Results show a plurality of family meanings, encompassing perceptions of family in the context of care and support, biological and legal dimensions of family, emotional and relational aspects of family and family as a site of stability and transition. These meanings also involve intricate aspects, such as the thin line between devotion and duty in kith and kinship caregiving. Who stakeholders considered family could be categorized as ‘blood relatives as ‘natural’ family members’, ‘legally bounded family membership’, ‘chosen family’, ‘differing views on who is family’ and ‘reconciling all family perspectives in the foster care system’. Implications for research, practice and policymaking are discussed.

This study explores experiences of authentic care among practitioners and young people at The House Project, an organization supporting young people leaving care in the United Kingdom. We conducted observations, interviews and focus groups with a total of 41 practitioners and 37 young people in multiple local projects over the course of 2 years. The study offers three main findings. First, practitioners and young people place significant value on relationships of authentic care and perceive these as characterized by mutual self-disclosure, genuine emotional investment and practitioners' willingness to ‘go above and beyond’ in their work. Second, the provision of authentic care in a professional setting is subject to several challenges for practitioners: managing the heightened emotional impact of caring authentically for young people, maintaining balance and boundaries between work and home lives and navigating career transitions. Third, practitioners responded to these challenges through what we call ‘flexible boundary setting’ and by cultivating networks of support. Further research is needed to determine how to best support staff in the provision of authentic care.

Existing empirical evidence supports the close relationships between parent–child interactions and child well-being outcomes. Internet and mobile phone–mediated communication has facilitated interaction between children and their family members, which can be related to increased family social capital for the welfare of children. The objectives of the present study were to examine the associations between parental–child online interactions, family social capital and child well-being in rural China and to investigate the moderating role of parental migration in these associations. A sample of 1384 secondary school students (47.6% girls, mean age = 14.14 years) participated in the survey and answered questions about their interaction with parents, family structure and relationships and well-being. A series of regression analyses showed that parent–child online interactions were positively associated with child well-being by increasing children's family social capital at three parental migration patterns. Furthermore, there is no significant difference in the moderating mediating effect between non–left-behind children and children whose one parent migrated. The findings provide evidence for the potential beneficial effects of parent–child online interactions on child well-being and have implications for policies and practices that support the use of the Internet and mobile devices among children living in disadvantaged situations.

There is a shortage of foster carers in many countries, which means that, in addition to retaining active foster carers, social services must strive to recruit new ones. This study examines how great the interest in becoming foster carers is amongst the general public and what characterizes people who express such an interest. Data were collected through a survey responded to by 2106 members of the Swedish citizen panel, aged 25–64, and recruited on a probability basis. Due to its hesitant approach to placing many children in the same foster home, Sweden is perhaps even more dependent than other countries on the recruitment of new foster carers and therefore serves as an interesting example. The analysis focuses on the small group of respondents, who say that they are likely to apply to become foster carers in the future, the reasons for why they have not done so already and on the factors that might further increase their inclination to become foster carers. Conceptualizing fostering as a hybrid between work, family life and voluntary services, we discuss the implications of the fact that 50% of these respondents express an interest in fostering as an alternative to employment and the fact that almost as many rated a lasting relationship with the child as important for their inclination to foster.