Foster Care Family's Support to Foster Adolescents---A Qualitative Study of Shanghai,China.
详细信息
文摘
Since the 1990s, in the context of socialization of social welfare in China, the modern family foster care began to develop in China. This study is conducted in Shanghai, China. Qualitative research method is adopted. 16 foster adolescents and their foster families participate in this study. The aims of the study include exploring the support relationship between foster families and foster adolescents, researching the process of foster familys support to foster adolescents, finding the development of the support types, filling in the gaps of foster care study in China, expanding the study of social support in substitute family, advocating the foster care policy and services in China. Based on the review of literatures of foster care and social support, a preliminary theoretical framework is constructed. The important findings include: l) The support relationship between foster families and foster adolescents is influenced by foster care service center and the natural family information of foster adolescents. Different foster families have different affection boundary and responsibility boundary. The boundary of support is constructed differently. Four types of support relationship is found: Totally Inclusive Supporting, Totally Exclusive Supporting, Semi Exclusive Supporting, and Passive Supporting. 2) In the support relationship between foster families and foster adolescents, foster families mobilize all kinds of family resources and outer resources to provide support to foster adolescents in living care, education, eliminating discrimination, development plan. 3) The support type of foster family is changing continuously. If the affection boundary and the responsibility boundary do not match with each other, the support relationship is not stable, or conflict with each other, and even collapse. Based on the above findings and the preliminary theoretical framework, resource mobilizing and responsibility boundary is input to construct the support model of foster family. The characteristic of social support in substitute family is concluded. Recommendation about foster care policy and services is also provided.