Kate Wilson

‘A Life More Ordinary’: What Children Want from Foster Placements

Based on findings from their recent study, Ian Sinclair, Kate Wilson and Ian Gibbs discuss the criteria which foster care needs to meet if it is to fulfill the requirements of looked after children. Analysis of 150 postal questionnaires from foster children showed five main preoccupations: the care they received from their foster families; the relationship between their feelings for their foster and their birth families; their contact with and prospects of return to their birth families; the predictability of their care careers and their own say in them; and the ‘ordinariness’ or lack of it of their lives. Despite these common preoccupations, the children varied widely in what they wanted (eg whether they wanted to return home).

Can Foster Carers Help Children Resolve Their Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

Although foster care is generally seen as providing a positive experience for the children and young people for whom it caters, it is rarely conceived of as a place where the children are helped to address their emotional difficulties and modify their often difficult behaviour. Yet research evidence suggests that some foster carers are consistently less likely to have placements which break down, and that foster carers who show particular skills in parenting can make a difference to successful outcomes. The article draws on a large longitudinal study of foster care to argue that it is possible to learn from what these foster carers do in order to develop these skills in others. A model of successful foster care. developed from the main statistical part of the study is first described. Two cases from the qualitative, case-studies component of the research are then analysed to demonstrate a quality of responsive parenting. The model is further developed within the framework of the dynamic of attachment and interest sharing proposed by Heard and Lake (1997), to show how this can be used as a basis for future approaches to working with foster placements.

The Professionalisation of Foster Care

Recent developments in fostering services have led foster carers increasingly to identify themselves as professionals. Kate Wilson and Julia Evetts review some of the changes in the service which suggest that foster care arguably can no longer be seen as a voluntary activity and that the changes in the role now required can only be carried out successfully in the context of a fully professionalised service. However, the article draws on three sociological perspectives to argue that professionalising foster care may only be a means by which managers can increase control of the workforce ‘from a distance’. The article argues that although professionalisation can be a way of bringing proper recognition, status and standards of practice, carers and practitioners should view cautiously the managerial motivation in moves towards it.

Kinship and Stranger Foster Carers: How do they Compare?:

US research suggests that kinship foster carers are a valued resource but less well supported than carers who are strangers. Jennifer Sykes, Ian Sinclair, Ian Gibbs and Kate Wilson draw on data from their own large-scale study of foster carers to see if similar issues arise in England. The study suggests that kinship carers are a heterogeneous group. Some want to be treated as carers entitled to similar levels of financial reward, and in need of training. Others may see support from social services as ‘intrusive’ and regard themselves as qualified by experience to care as they do. On average fostering appeared to have a greater impact on the financial and housing situations of these carers than it did on those of others, and many of them reported conflicts with the birth families. Despite these difficulties they received on average less training, lower levels of financial reward and less back-up than other carers. The authors conclude that, in at least some authorities, more use could be made of kinship foster care but that it is not always an appropriate choice and more thought should be given to its support.

Developing partnerships in therapeutic work with children

This paper explores the application of the principles of partnership to the practice of therapeutic work with children within statutory settings. The discussion focuses on one particular method of ...

Towards the Disintegration of Child Welfare Services

This paper examines market issues in the provision of childrens services in the light of the changing role and practice of local authorities contracting for welfare services. In adult services, where there has been a legal requirement to reorganize on market lines, the services have had to modify some of their earlier contracting practices to take account of the complex requirements of health and welfare services and it is argued that relational contracting offers a more appropriate paradigm for these. Following the implementation of the Children Act 1989, although not a requirement of the Act, many of the organizational systems in relation to markets, originally developed for adult services, have been adopted for childrens services. Two areas of services for children, day care and fostering services, are discussed in order to demonstrate that these contracting systems are inappropriate and often dysfunctional for the children concerned. It is argued that there is a widening gap between contracting systems in adult and childrens services which needs to be addressed. In general, it is concluded that the philosophies of the market place are flawed when applied to childrens services.

Working with the sexually abused child: The use of non-directive play therapy and family therapy

Summary The experience of being sexually abused is always emotionally damaging for the child victim, and if not addressed therapeutically may result in long-term mental health problems. The paper argues that family therapy may be insufficient to address the needs of the child, and that because of the nature of the impact of sexual abuse in most instances individual therapy should be the preferred approach. The circumstances in which family therapy may be indicated are considered, together with the limitations of this therapeutic approach. The nature of the impact of child sexual abuse is explained using a framework of mental development derived from Piaget, and it is argued that a method of individual therapy which addresses the experience at different levels should be selected. Reasons for using one form of individual therapy, that of non-directive play therapy, are presented.

Adoption reform: Managing diversity and delay

While many aspects of current government policy on adoption are welcome, there is concern that some key issues in the adoption process are not adequately addressed in the Adoption and Children Bill, 2001, and that the use of quantitative targets will not necessarily support the good practice identified. In this article Margaret Bell, Kate Wilson and Marilyn Crawshaw consider, in particular, two areas of difficulty in the selection and preparation process: managing diversity and delay. Their study highlights the need for practitioners to be flexible and open in their approach to shared assessments, and for agencies to have robust formal and informal communication systems which are transparent and accountable to users.

Play therapy with emotionally damaged adolescents

Abstract Adolescence is a critical period of development for all individuals, but particularly for those who have suffered earlier emotional difficulties or abuse. If these problems go unresolved, patterns of behaviour which become established during this period may be more difficult to change later on. However, more traditional talk therapies may be resisted by adolescents. This article argues that non-directive play therapy, given age-appropriate adaptations, offers an approach which, since it encompasses both play and verbal communication, is well suited to addressing adolescent concerns, particularly those of early adolescence.This argument is illustrated by two accounts of therapy with a boy and a girl, both in early adolescence, which show how a more traditional non-directive counselling approach was combined with play therapy by the adolescents themselves, allowing exploration of emotional difficulties on all levels of mental functioning. The cases show how traumatic or painful early memories may be reworked on a bodily and emotional level, without the feeling of over-intrusion risked by a directive or interpretive stance.

The practitioner's guide to working with families

Introduction M. Bell and K. Wilson SECTION 1: THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND WELFARE CONTEXT FOR WORKING WITH FAMILES New Labour and Family Support C. Skinner Families, Social Change and Diversity B. Frost and B. Featherstone SECTION 2: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICE APPROACHES TO WORKING WITH FAMILIES Assessing Families: The Family Assessment: Assessment of Family Competence, Strengths and Difficulties L. Bingley Miller and A. Bentovim Using Extended Attachment Theory as an Evidence Based Guide when Working with Families D. Heard Theme Focussed Family Therapy: Working with the Dynamics of Emotional Abuse Within an Attachment and Systems Perspective U. McCluskey SECTION 3: WORKING WITH FAMILY GROUPS IN DIFFICULTY Working with Divorcing Partners C. Clulow and C. Vincent Working with Family Change: Re-partnering and Stepfamily Life J. Batchelor Working with Families Where There are Child Protection Concerns S. Petrie Working with Families Where There is Domestic Violence M. Bell Working with Families Who Neglect Their Children D. Iwaniec Foster Care: Policies and Practice in Working with Foster Placements K. Wilson and Ian Sinclair