ÜNİVERSİTE ÇALIŞANLARININ KORUYUCU AİLE UYGULAMASINA BAKIŞ AÇISI: BİR DURUM ÇALIŞMASI

Foster parent is a parent who brings up and undertakes the responsibility of children who can not be cared for by their biological parents. This research aims to investigate awareness and viewpoints regarding foster parenting by qualitative case study methodology. Semi-structured interview form has been used for gathering dataContent analysis has been carried out to analyze the data. As a result, it is found that participants are not familiar with foster parenting, and they confuse it with adoption and short-term entertainment of children as guests. Some participants are found to prefer institutionalized care to foster parenting due to participants’ recognition of possible risks and disadvantages related to foster parenting. Participants’ worries mainly stem from their understanding of “children in need of protection”. Besides, motivating factors are identified such as willingness to reintegrate children to society, feeling of empathy and compassion to the children and inability to have/not having a biological child. In conclusion, when participants’ lack of knowledge and misinformation regarding foster parenting are considered, awareness-raising activities are recommended.