| In an ideal society children are loved, reared, nurtured, grow and develop within their biological family unit. As the parent and child interact, meaningful human bonding and attachment relationships develop. Children who are victim of families who experience violence, drug abuse, parental death, and/or homelessness may not have the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with their biological parents. Often, these children are removed from the care of their parents and placed in foster care. These children may experience grief, separation, and loss of a relationship with their natural parents.; It was believed that children in foster care could distance themselves from their traumatic relationship with their biological parents and develop a successful relationship with a foster parent. This phenomenological study investigated the meaning of the human bonding and attachment relationship between a foster child and foster parent. Interviews were conducted in dyads with five exemplary foster parents and their respective five exemplary foster children. Qualitative methodology was utilized to analyze the data. A total of ten major themes and two sub-themes emerged from the data. Themes derived from the foster children's narratives included caring, patience, and resilience. Themes derived from the foster patents' narratives included protector, role model, and financial impact. Themes derived from both the foster children's and the foster parents' narratives included fidelity/commitment/longevity, meaningful relationships with biological family members, shared connectedness, and sense of family-coming home which contained two subthemes, personal identification, and bonding and attachment. The results showed that the foster children had a powerful desire to attain family membership and that specific foster parent characteristics, including displaying caring behaviors and patience in helping the foster children conform to house rules, contributed to the development of a meaningful attachment relationship between the foster child and the foster parent.; A model for the successful foster child foster parent relationship emerged from these data. The "damage" these foster children experienced prior to entering foster care and by multiple placements while in foster care was "repaired" within a successful foster child foster parent relationship and as the children attained family membership. However, these findings are in opposition to current foster care policies and practices concerning the goals of foster family home care and the length of time children currently remain in foster care. These findings suggest that policies and practices for the provision of foster care need further research and policy analysis. |
