Schwartz Ann
Concordia University Texas, Austin, Texas 78705, USA.
Child Welfare. 2008;87(2):77-97.
Attempts to address racial disproportionality in child welfare must include a focus on the benefits and challenges facing children in kinship care. African American children not only are overrepresented in the child welfare system, but also are placed disproportionately in kinship foster care. Using a sample of 18 African American adolescents ages 11 to 14, this article explores how the relational context of care experienced by adolescents in kinship foster care differs from that of adolescents in nonkinship foster family placements. Findings are presented regarding the stability of relationships as well as complex role dilemmas experienced by kinship youth as they relate to caregivers and birthparents in the child welfare context. Implications are given for practice with kinship families.
解决儿童福利中种族不均衡问题的努力必须包括关注亲属照料中儿童所面临的益处和挑战。非裔美国儿童不仅在儿童福利系统中占比过高，而且在亲属寄养照料中的安置比例也不成比例。本文以18名年龄在11至14岁的非裔美国青少年为样本，探讨了亲属寄养照料中的青少年所经历的照料关系背景与非亲属寄养家庭安置中的青少年有何不同。文中呈现了关于关系稳定性的研究结果，以及亲属关系中的青少年在儿童福利背景下与照料者和亲生父母相处时所经历的复杂角色困境。文中还给出了对亲属家庭实践的启示。
