IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v31y2009i12p1229-1239.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ambiguous loss of home: The experience of familial (im)permanence among young adults with foster care backgrounds

Author

Listed:
  • Samuels, Gina Miranda

Abstract

Achieving a stable family context for foster children--permanence--is the philosophy within which nearly all child welfare policy and practice is embedded. Although debates endure over defining permanence and the ideal pathways through which it should be achieved, this discourse rarely includes foster youth perspectives. This article presents findings from an interpretive study of 29 young adults who transitioned from foster care into adulthood without legal permanence. Findings extend ambiguous loss theory to conceptualize participants' experiences as an ambiguous loss of home, highlighting three patterns in the strategies used to manage familial impermanence: (1) creating a self-defined permanence, (2) rejecting adoption--navigating multifamilial memberships and allegiances, and (3) building permanence after foster care. Recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are offered, including a shift toward a multisystemic framework of permanence attending to both legal and relational definitions of family among youth in foster care.

Suggested Citation

  • Samuels, Gina Miranda, 2009. "Ambiguous loss of home: The experience of familial (im)permanence among young adults with foster care backgrounds," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 1229-1239, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:31:y:2009:i:12:p:1229-1239
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190-7409(09)00121-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Freundlich, Madelyn & Avery, Rosemary Jane & Munson, Sara & Gerstenzang, Sarah, 2006. "The meaning of permanency in child welfare: Multiple stakeholder perspectives," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 741-760, July.
    2. Burrell Cowan, Alyssa, 2004. "New strategies to promote the adoption of older children out of foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(11), pages 1007-1020, November.
    3. Wright, Lois & Flynn, Cynthia C., 2006. "Adolescent adoption: Success despite challenges," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 487-510, May.
    4. Samuels, Gina Miranda & Pryce, Julia M., 2008. ""What doesn't kill you makes you stronger": Survivalist self-reliance as resilience and risk among young adults aging out of foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 1198-1210, October.
    5. Padgett, Deborah K., 2007. "There's no place like (a) home: Ontological security among persons with serious mental illness in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 1925-1936, May.
    6. Henry, Darla L., 2005. "The 3-5-7 Model: preparing children for permanency," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 197-212, February.
    7. Herrick, Mary Anne & Piccus, Wendy, 2005. "Sibling connections: The importance of nurturing sibling bonds in the foster care system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 845-861, July.
    8. Unrau, Yvonne A. & Seita, John R. & Putney, Kristin S., 2008. "Former foster youth remember multiple placement moves: A journey of loss and hope," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 1256-1266, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Avery, Rosemary J., 2010. "An examination of theory and promising practice for achieving permanency for teens before they age out of foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 399-408, March.
    2. Richardson, Sabrina M. & Yates, Tuppett M., 2014. "Siblings in foster care: A relational path to resilience for emancipated foster youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 378-388.
    3. Semanchin Jones, Annette & LaLiberte, Traci, 2013. "Measuring youth connections: A component of relational permanence for foster youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 509-517.
    4. Ball, Barbara & Sevillano, Lalaine & Faulkner, Monica & Belseth, Tymothy, 2021. "Agency, genuine support, and emotional connection: Experiences that promote relational permanency in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    5. Semanchin Jones, Annette, 2017. "Youth Connections Scale-Child Version pilot study: Adapted tool for children in out-of-home placement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 450-455.
    6. Hébert, Sophie T. & Lanctôt, Nadine & Turcotte, Mathilde, 2016. "“I didn't want to be moved there”: Young women remembering their perceived sense of Agency in the Context of placement instability," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 229-237.
    7. Blakeslee, Jennifer E. & Best, Jared I., 2019. "Understanding support network capacity during the transition from foster care: Youth-identified barriers, facilitators, and enhancement strategies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 220-230.
    8. Melkman, Eran & Mor-Salwo, Yifat & Mangold, Katharina & Zeller, Maren & Benbenishty, Rami, 2015. "Care leavers as helpers: Motivations for and benefits of helping others," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 41-48.
    9. Wojciak, Armeda Stevenson & McWey, Lenore M. & Helfrich, Christine M., 2013. "Sibling relationships and internalizing symptoms of youth in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1071-1077.
    10. Blakeslee, Jennifer E., 2015. "Measuring the support networks of transition-age foster youth: Preliminary validation of a social network assessment for research and practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 123-134.
    11. Wojciak, Armeda Stevenson & McWey, Lenore M. & Waid, Jeffery, 2018. "Sibling relationships of youth in foster care: A predictor of resilience," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 247-254.
    12. Havlicek, Judy & Curry, Ashley & Villalpando, Fabiola, 2018. "Youth participation in foster youth advisory boards: Perspectives of facilitators," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 255-270.
    13. Waid, Jeffrey & Wojciak, Armeda Stevenson, 2019. "Evaluating the impact of camp-based reunification on the resilience of siblings separated by foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 274-282.
    14. Colacchio Wesley, Bridget & Pryce, Julia & Barry, Johanna & Hong, Philip Young P., 2020. "Steadfast benevolence: A new framework for understanding important adult-youth relationships for adolescents in care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    15. Lee, Chris & Berrick, Jill Duerr, 2014. "Experiences of youth who transition to adulthood out of care: Developing a theoretical framework," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 78-84.
    16. Greeson, Johanna K.P. & Thompson, Allison E. & Ali, Samira & Wenger, Rebecca Stern, 2015. "It's good to know that you got somebody that's not going anywhere: Attitudes and beliefs of older youth in foster care about child welfare-based natural mentoring," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 140-149.
    17. Curry, Ashley, 2019. "“If you can't be with this client for some years, don't do it”: Exploring the emotional and relational effects of turnover on youth in the child welfare system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 374-385.
    18. Okpych, Nathanael J. & Courtney, Mark E., 2018. "The role of avoidant attachment on college persistence and completion among youth in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 106-117.
    19. Van Andel, H.W.H. & Post, W.J. & Jansen, L.M.C. & Kamphuis, J.S. & Van der Gaag, R.J. & Knorth, E.J. & Grietens, H., 2015. "The developing relationship between recently placed foster infants and toddlers and their foster carers: Do demographic factors, placement characteristics and biological stress markers matter?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 219-226.
    20. Harwick, Robin M. & Lindstrom, Lauren & Unruh, Deanne, 2017. "In their own words: Overcoming barriers during the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities who experienced foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 338-346.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:31:y:2009:i:12:p:1229-1239. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.