Psychological adjustment of same race and transracially placed African -American foster children and racial socialization practices of foster parents: An exploratory study

Few studies have attempted to identify the racial socialization practices of foster parents caring for African-American children. This qualitative study examined foster parents' attitudes and racial socialization practices. This study also explored the psychological adjustment of African-American children to same race and transracial foster placements.;Seven foster families participated in this study. Two foster parents were African-American, and five were non-African-American. Foster parents were included in this study if they cared for a child who was at least 50% African-American and between four and ten years old. Foster parents completed a demographic questionnaire, the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist, and a phone interview to discuss racial socialization practices and foster children's psychological adjustment.;Foster parents described a number of common issues in their foster children. These were low self-esteem, withdrawal, social problems, and academic difficulties. The African-American parents did not report as many problems as the non-African-American parents. In addition, four racial socialization styles of foster parents identified by the author were “active”, “color-blind”, “ambivalent”, and “experiential” socializers. Most of the foster parents, regardless of race, subscribed to more than one socialization style and frequently relied on experiential practices, such as utilizing popular media, entertainment, and school to educate their foster children.;Results suggested that foster families may not be receiving support from their family and community to racially socialize transracially placed foster children. This study therefore has clinical implications for ways in which social services and foster care agencies can assist foster families. Suggestions for future research include developing a measure to examine racial socialization, and confirming the racial socialization categories identified in this study. Larger scale quantitative studies should be employed to examine the relationship of same race and transracial placements to racial socialization and psychological adjustment. Finally, the relationship of African-American foster children's racial identity to foster parents' ethnic attitudes should also be explored.