En riktig förälder utan riktiga förutsättningar - En kvalitativ intervjustudie med familjehemsföräldrar om att stödja barn i umgänge och återförening.

Sammanfattning

The aim of this study was to understand how foster parents reason in their work to support foster children in their contact and process of reunification with their birth parents. The study was based on semi-structured interviews with six foster parents in Sweden which had at least one completed foster care placement. John Bowlby’s attachment theory and Aaron Antonovsky’s theory on KASAM (sense of coherence) were used as theoretical approaches when analyzing the data. The study declared several factors that affect the foster parents’ conditions to support the foster child, such as the collaboration with the birth parents and the social services, a continuous contact between the foster child and the birth parents and the attachment between the child and birth parents, as well as the foster parents. The study also unveils a number of difficulties linked to the role as a foster parent, such as a lack of cooperation between the foster parents and the birth parents, as well as the current legislation regarding foster care which prove to be detrimental to the foster child in contact with the birth parents. Furthermore, the study showed that the formal and informal support is crucial for the conditions linked to being able to successfully support the child in their contact and process of reunification with their birth parents.