"Airplanes crash, spaceships stay in orbit" : the separation experience of a child "in care"

There are few empirical studies of the subjective experience of separation from living parents in children who are removed from their families following abuse or neglect. The author presents the case of a child who spent most of his childhood in foster homes and treatment residences, including 7 years in which he had no contact with his natural family. The fate of his primary attachments and its influence on his capacity to form new ones are discussed, using material drawn from 6 years of individual therapy while he was "in care" and during the time that contact with his mother was renewed. Separation, loss, and attachment in a child welfare context and relevant clinical interventions are discussed.