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Ambivalences: a challenge to permanency for children.
Child Welfare
|July 1, 1991
Summary
Understanding parental ambivalence is crucial for permanent child placement plans. Agency policies and resource limitations can unfortunately worsen parental ambivalence during the placement process.
Area of Science:
- Child welfare
- Psychology
- Social work
Background:
- Determining permanent placement for children is complex.
- Parental ambivalence significantly impacts the parent-child relationship during placement.
- Previous research has not fully explored the interplay between parental ambivalence and agency factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify indicators of parental ambivalence in child placement cases.
- To examine how agency policies, working conditions, and resources influence parental ambivalence.
- To inform strategies for successful permanent child placement.
Main Methods:
- Case study analysis within a public child welfare department.
- Review of case files to identify patterns of parental ambivalence.
- Qualitative assessment of agency practices and resource availability.
Main Results:
- Specific indicators of parental ambivalence were identified in parent-child relationships during placement.
- Agency policies, demanding working conditions, and insufficient resources were found to reinforce parental ambivalence.
- The placement experience itself can act as a stage for the enactment of parental ambivalence.
Conclusions:
- Addressing parental ambivalence is essential for achieving permanent child placement solutions.
- Agency-level factors require examination and potential reform to better support families.
- Interventions should consider both the parent-child dynamic and systemic influences.
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