Sijaisvanhemmuus nyky-Venäjällä - työtä vai rakkautta?

Artikkelissa tarkastellaan hoivan käsitteen kautta sijaisvanhemmuuden ammatillistumista Venäjällä meneillään olevan lastensuojelun sijaishuollon uudistamisen kontekstissa. Analysoimme, kuinka lapsikylässä asuvat sijaisvanhemmat näkevät ja määrittelevät oman roolinsa ja toimintansa tarkoituksen pohjaten viidessä eri venäläisessä lapsikylässä sijaisvanhempien parissa toteutettuihin fokusryhmäkeskusteluihin ja teemahaastatteluihin. Sijaisvanhemmuus ymmärretään dikotomisesti joko rakkautena tai työnä. Käsitys hoivasta rakkautena ymmärretään moraalisena velvollisuutena ja eettisenä arvona. Tällöin kiistetään mahdollisuus hoivan virallistamiseen ja sen alistamiseen säännöille ja byrokratian ja markkinavoimien sanelulle. Hoivan määritteleminen työnä puolestaan tekee sijaisvanhemmille mahdolliseksi rationalisoida omaa toimintaansa ja problematisoida sijaisvanhemmuuden statusta yhteiskunnassa. Tällöin sijaisvanhemmuuden ammatillistuminen nähdään ratkaisuna lukuisille ongelmille, joihin sijaisvanhemmat törmäävät, ja sijaisperheissä tapahtuvan hoivan aseman parantamisena. Foster parenting in contemporary Russia - work or love? The article explores the professionalisation of foster parenting in the context of the ongoing child welfare and so-called alternative care reforms in Russia through the concept of ‘care’. We analyse how foster parents who live in children’s villages see and define their role and the meaning of their activity based on focus group and thematic interviews with foster parents in five children’s villages in Russia. Foster parenting is understood through a dichotomy of ‘love’ and ‘work’. Seeing foster parenting as love is based on an understanding of it as a moral obligation and ethical value. In such a case, it becomes impossible to consider care as something official that exists under regulation and is led by bureaucratic and market principles. Understanding care as work, in turn, makes it possible for foster parents to rationalise their own activity and problematise their status in Russian society. In this case, the professionalisation of foster parenting is seen as a solution to multiple problems that foster parents face, and to the improvement of the status of this type of care more generally.

Addressing the dual role identity problem in foster parenting

<p>This thesis argues that the foster parent dual role identity problem is due to value conflict between two implicit models that currently inform contemporary understandings of the role. Both implicit models are outlined; the ‘parent’ model as an extemporaneous development of mid-19th century early modern foster care, and the ‘professional’ model as a formal response to changes in role demands in the mid-20th century. While neither model can independently account for exemplary foster parenting practices, a hybrid model that integrates aspects from both is problematic due to divergent sets of values that underpin each conceptualisation. In response to the dual role identity problem, this thesis proposes an alternative model that is informed by reflective practice and a relational ethics perspective. The aim of this procedural practice model is to support and explicitly guide foster parents through those practice dilemmas that are frequently underpinned by value conflict. In summary, this thesis will discuss the implications of this procedural model for practice and training programmes.</p>

Addressing the dual role identity problem in foster parenting

<p>This thesis argues that the foster parent dual role identity problem is due to value conflict between two implicit models that currently inform contemporary understandings of the role. Both implicit models are outlined; the ‘parent’ model as an extemporaneous development of mid-19th century early modern foster care, and the ‘professional’ model as a formal response to changes in role demands in the mid-20th century. While neither model can independently account for exemplary foster parenting practices, a hybrid model that integrates aspects from both is problematic due to divergent sets of values that underpin each conceptualisation. In response to the dual role identity problem, this thesis proposes an alternative model that is informed by reflective practice and a relational ethics perspective. The aim of this procedural practice model is to support and explicitly guide foster parents through those practice dilemmas that are frequently underpinned by value conflict. In summary, this thesis will discuss the implications of this procedural model for practice and training programmes.</p>

Keeping families afloat: Foster carer’s parenting experiences during COVID-19 in Ghana and implications for practice

Formal foster care is a relatively new phenomenon in Ghana. The practice is in conformity with international and national policy guidelines to deinstitutionalize and strengthen family-based care for children without adequate parental care. In addition to the known challenges of foster parenting in Ghana (stigma, financial challenges and emotional strain, inexperience of the foster parents), the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 restrictions may worsen caregivers’ burden and negatively affect children in care. This study explored how foster parents are meeting their caregiving demands during the COVID-19 pandemic in the face of existing and new challenges. Following a participatory practice research approach, a co-constructed interview guide by the researchers and a practitioner was used to conduct in-depth telephone interviews with 13 foster parents. Findings from thematic analysis of the interviews showed challenges, including increased cost of caregiving and multiple caregiving duties as challenges facing foster parents whereas children’s knowledge about the virus, informal support and religious beliefs collectively enhanced caregiving during the pandemic. The findings provide learning about ways to alleviate parenting challenges for foster parents during and after the pandemic. Specifically, interventions that view children as actors for change and strengthen community and religious bodies to deliver psychosocial services would be useful to improve foster parenting.

Norm Localization and Contestation: The Politics of Foster Children in Turkey

International norms do not diffuse linearly; they are localized, adapted and contested at every turn. Foster care systems have been enthusiastically promoted by international organizations to serve the best interests of children. This study explores the recent adaptation of foster care (Koruyucu Aile) in Turkey. This elite-driven norm change was institutionalized through comprehensive legislation, economic incentives and national campaigns, situated in the “politics of responsibility” arising from moral duty and national and religious ethics. These efforts faced early resistance, leading to slow cultivation of foster families, while over time, the foster system found unlikely allies among urban middle-class women. Using Zimmermann’s typologies of reinterpretation of norms through an analysis of narratives about foster parenting in 50 local and national TV productions, this article shows how the foster family system has evolved as a panacea for women’s empowerment in contemporary Turkish society. In parallel, Turkey has embarked on an intense criticism of the care of ethnic Turkish children in European foster care systems. However, this creative utilization of the foster system has come at the cost of the rights of biological parents and a permanency that has decoupled the Turkish foster care system from its counterparts around the world.

Hereditary diseases and child wish: exploring motives, considerations, and the (joint) decision-making process of genetically at-risk couples

Couples who are at risk of transmitting a genetic disease to their offspring may face difficult challenges regarding reproductive decision-making. Deciding if, and how, to purse their child wish can be a demanding process. This study aims to describe the reproductive joint decision-making process of genetically at-risk couples. A qualitative study was conducted with 16 couples (N=31) at risk of transmitting a genetic disease to their offspring and who received genetic counseling. Most couples were not aware of all available reproductive options in the Netherlands. A variety of motives was reported with almost all couples expressing a preference towards a reproductive option in which the child is genetically related to both parents. Only a few couples considered other options such as the use of donor gametes, adoption, and foster parenting. All couples indicated that they had multiple conversations to reach a mutually supported reproductive decision. Several carriers reported feelings of guilt and in some couples, the woman appeared to have a greater impact in the decision-making process as she should carry a pregnancy and should undergo medical treatments. This study provides insight in the extensive decision-making process of genetically at-risk couples and the role of both partners in this process. These findings can guide the development of genetic counseling (e.g., increase awareness of available reproductive options) and decision support for these couples.

Features of the Socio-Psychological Readiness of Substitute Parents to Overcome Difficulties in the Upbringing of Teenagers and Children Left Without Parental Care

The paper describes an empirical study of socio-psychological preparedness of foster parents for taking a child into a family. The motivational and personal, cognitive and activity components that form the structure of socio-psychological readiness for foster parenting are considered. The analysis of the received data allows us to correctly organize the process of support for a foster family.

Invariant and Variant Sociopsychological Characteristics of Successful Foster Mothers

As part of the development of tools for sociopsychological assessment of prospective foster parents, we conducted a factorization of the array of data obtained with a set of diagnostic techniques and identified the contribution of each component to the success of foster care. Invariant and variant characteristics of successful foster mothers are highlighted (N=128).Foster mothers were selected based on the expert opinion of the professional community and trained as coaches of foster families. It is shown that successful foster mothers have a number of characteristics that allow them to raise foster children over a long period of time. These characteristics should be considered as criteria for selecting potential reliable guardians. Among the invariant characteristics are: the viability of family, the dominance of motivation of altruism and self-realization in children, high levels of emotion management, extroversion, consciousness, emotional stability, parental competence. The variant characteristics are as follows: the experience of foster parenting, the intensity of motivation aimed at resolving family and personal crises, ‘replacing’ a child, solving demographic problems, filling an empty nest, as well as the level of emotional intelligence and its components (except emotion managment); personality traits (level of compliance, openness to experience); altruistic investment. The invariant-variant approach enables us to address the sociopsychological portrait of the foster mother in its integrity.