| This study was undertaken to explore examples of strong kin-like relationships between natural mothers and foster mothers. Studies have shown that foster children suffer psychological deprivation because of inconsistent natural parent contact and uncertain long range plans, but that natural parents maintain a persistent interest in their children in spite of infrequent or discontinued contact.; Recently, there is an increasing awareness of informal helping networks, some of which approach the strength of kin-ship systems. This research focused on such "kin-like" relationships as a potential resource for maintaining continuity of psychological bonds between the natural mother and the child in foster care, with the ultimate goal of reducing drift in foster care and enhancing permanency for children who enter foster care. An exploratory approach gave emphasis to the basic description of sixteen examples of kin-like natural mother/foster mother relationships which were compared with twelve examples of non-kin-like relationships. Data pertaining to personal characteristics, types and patterns of contact, mutual aid activities, feelings, self appraisals, and expectations were collected. The findings reveal statistically significant differences on contacts, mutual aid activities, and positive feelings for natural parents and foster parents in kin-like relationships versus those in non-kin-like relationships.; The findings strongly indicated that kin-like behavior encourages and facilitates increased participation of natural parents. The findings support a reasonable expectation that a new kin-like model can serve as an alternative placement option. Whether kin-like relationships initiated by social agencies can work as well as these occurring naturally should be the focus of future research. |
