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The Perceived Experiences of Children and Adolescents living with their Grandparents
... Some, however, are more likely to be specific to grandparent care. Worries about the carer's health and what will happen if they cannot carry on and awareness of the strain their carers are under may be more common, while age, health, isolation and financial constraints can limit a grandparent's ability to undertake activities with, or provide activities for, grandchildren (Council on the Ageing [COTA], 2003;Fitzpatrick, 2004;Hislop, Horner, Downie, & Hay, 2004). Children in the care of older grandparents describe smaller social networks than other children (Farmer & Moyers, 2008;Hunt et al., 2008). ...
... Indeed some children find themselves providing care for a grandparent (Hunt et al., 2008;Selwyn et al., 2013;Wellard et al., 2017) or worry that they may have to do so (Pitcher, 2002). Finally, children in several studies also refer to the generation gap (Aldgate & Mcintosh, 2006;COTA, 2003;Dolbin-Macnab & Keiley, 2006;Hislop et al., 2004;Mateos, Balsells, & Cruz, 2012) in terms, variously, of communication problems, being embarrassed and parenting styles/expectations. ...
... Many children in grandparent care will need help to overcome the consequences of their earlier life experiences and to deal with issues arising out of their family situationunderstanding why they are with grandparents; coping with feelings of loss, difference and stigma; adjusting to changed relationships and, in some cases, coping with family conflict (Hislop et al., 2004;Kelch-Oliver, 2008;Mateos et al., 2012). Contact with other children in kinship care can help to normalise their experiences and enable them to talk about their feelings and concerns (Downie et al., 2010;Hislop et al., 2004;Wellard, 2011;Wellard et al., 2017). ...
When children are unable to live with their birth parents it is typically their extended family, rather than the state, which steps in to take care of them, an arrangement commonly known as kinship care. Grandparents tend to form the largest single group of such carers. This paper provides an overview of what is known about these arrangements in the UK, examining their prevalence, the profile of carers and children, the outcomes for children and the impact on carers. Since UK research does not usually focus on grandparents as a distinct group of kinship carers, it will draw on both the generic UK literature on kinship care and the more extensive international research on grandparents bringing up grandchildren.
... Grandparents in both Australian and overseas studies have reported that parenting grandchildren is a rewarding experience, bringing joy into their lives and keeping them active, as well as giving them a second chance at parenting, a sense of pride and accomplishment and a new lease on life (Minkler & Roe 1993;Fitzpatrick 2004;Dunne & Kettler 2007). The existing evidence also suggests that being placed into the care of relatives or kin can also have significant benefits for the children (Crumbley & Little 1997;Hislop et al. 2004). These include feelings of safety, security and stability, as well as being able to maintain contact with their parents, siblings and other extended family members. ...
The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the experience of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren in New South Wales, Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 grandparents and their narratives transcribed and studied using paradigmatic analysis to reveal common themes among the stories told. Identity theory further informed the discussion of these findings. Woven throughout the grandparent narratives is a story of paradox – of experience simultaneously made up of pain/pleasure, myth/reality, inclusion/exclusion, being deserving/undeserving, visible/invisible and voiced/silenced. The findings signal a significant role-identity conflict for grandparents who are parenting grandchildren. This study points to the need for policy and practice that more closely reflects the complexity of experience associated with the grandparent-as-parent role.
Background: Evidence from population-level studies demonstrates that adolescent sexual health outcomes are associated with social exclusion, and that certain groups, including young people looked after by local authorities often experience poorer sexual health outcomes. The poorer sexual health outcomes observed for looked after young people has led to the Scottish Government recommending that looked after young people be prioritised for the delivery of sexual health and relationships education, and that residential carers, foster carers and social workers should play a key role in the delivery of sexual health and relationships information to looked after young people. This recommendation builds on existing policy initiatives that have emphasised that parents should be routinely talking to their children about sexual health and relationships. Despite a growing research interest in the health of looked after young people, there is currently little known about how sexual health and relationships discussions are undertaken within the care setting. This is because much of the research that has been published to date has focussed upon identifying barriers to communication rather than establishing how communications are shaped by the characteristics of carers, looked after children and the wider context of the care system. In this thesis I hope to address this research gap by exploring what factors shape communications about sexual health and relationships within the care setting, and examining the extent to which connectedness, monitoring and supervision — parenting factors identified as promoting positive sexual health outcomes for adolescents within the wider literature — mediate these discussions.
Methods: 54 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with looked after young people (aged 14-18), care leavers (aged 16-23), residential workers, foster carers and social workers in one local authority in Scotland between August and December 2011. Data were analysed thematically, with data collected from corporate parents and looked after young people used to compare and contrast experiences of talking about sexual health within the care setting.
Findings: The results presented in this study demonstrate that there has been a perceived shift in attitudes towards talking to looked after young people about their sexual health, and that residential carers, foster carers and social workers believe that talking to young people about sexual health and relationships should be a core responsibility of the corporate parent. Despite this, the results of this study demonstrate that talking to young people about sexual health and relationship is a subject that is fraught with tensions, with many of the corporate parents interviewed expressing difficulties reconciling their own views about the appropriateness of talking to young people about sexual behaviours with their professional responsibility to inform and protect looked after young people from risk. Looking specifically at how communications about sexual health and relationships were undertaken within the care setting, the results of this study show that talking to young people in care about sexual health and relationships is mediated by the impact or pre-care and care histories, in particular maltreatment and poor attachment security, upon young people’s understandings of relationships and their ability to trust other people and seek out help and support. Whilst corporate parents emphasised the need for training to help them identify strategies for talking to young people about sexual health and relationships, the results of this study show that corporate parents are already undertaking sexual health and relationships work that is tailored to the age and stage of the child, and is balanced by the provision of monitoring and supervision to minimise risk.
Conclusions: The results of this thesis show that discussions about sexual health and relationships need to be underpinned by a trusting relationship between corporate parents and looked after children. As such, an emphasis needs to be placed upon improving young people’s ability to trust other people. Improving permanency for young people in the care system, in conjunction with the development of attachment based sexual health practices, may result in the promotion of positive outcomes for looked after young people. Future policies and training relating to the provision of sexual health and relationships education within the care system should reflect this fact.
Kinship foster care is now being debated. Issues have emerged about the cost of this care, the suitability of the kinship home, and agency supervision. Little data exist, however, about the functioning of minors in kinship foster care. Data from a Los Angeles County study of 990 adolescents in foster family care are used to compare 352 adolescents in kinship care to 638 adolescents in non-relative foster family care. The two groups are compared on placement history, placement adjustment, and agency monitoring. In addition, 160 foster adolescents with legal guardians were studied. Results indicate that the kinship placement is more stable and that adolescents in a relative's care are less likely to have a serious mental health problem. Overall, kinship care teens are doing no less well than their counterparts in foster family care. Neither group, however, is problem free. The data on monitoring and legal guardianship do suggest that services should be supplied with equal vigor to the kinship foster care minors.
This study uses data from the 1988 National Children's Health Supplement (N = 17,110) to the National Health Interview Survey to examine the health and school adjustment of children raised solely by grandparents. We find that these children fare quite well relative to children in families with one biological parent present, a category which includes both single-parent and blended families. Furthermore, children raised solely by grandparents are not significantly different, except for academic performance, from children raised in traditional families where two biological parents are present.
Among 233 youths treated at a community mental health center, 51 were living with their grandparents. Youths who lived with grandparents were more likely to be male, African American, and younger. Frequent psychiatric diagnoses included oppositional defiant disorder, depressive disorders, and anxiety disorders. Common reasons for youths' placement with grandparents included parents' absence, substance abuse, or incarceration; abuse by parents; and death of parents. Caregivers were most often maternal grandmothers, and more than one-third of the grandmothers were age 62 or older. The findings highlight the need to develop treatment interventions for youths who are living with their grandparents and to create public policies to support grandparent caregivers.