Dissertation Research: Self and Social Construction of Identity Among U. S. Foster Mothers

这个项目资助康涅狄格大学一名学生的论文研究。 该项目检验的假设是，不论种族、民族、年龄或社会阶层如何，参加康涅狄格州资助的寄养方案的妇女都为她们所照顾的儿童创造了“母亲”的身份。这意味着将寄养儿童纳入其家庭的基础上的情感纽带，而不是生物或法律。 学生将选择120个人（60对夫妇）的样本进行广泛的民族志采访，了解他们作为养父母的经历。 基于这一知识，学生将构建和adminster意义的文化测试，在该地区的3个主要民族（欧洲裔美国人，非洲裔美国人和西印度群岛），细分为新手和有经验的养父母和私人或国家赞助的计划共360名妇女。 该项目将研究在儿童福利政策以“家庭”的法律的或生物学定义为基础的情况下，妇女是否、如何以及为什么会产生和保持一种自己是“母亲”而不是“养母”和“儿童”而不是“养子”的感觉，从而澄清导致养父母失望、疲惫以及最终辍学的情况。 项目所创造的知识将有助于形成更有效的儿童福利政策和做法。

This project funds the dissertatin research of a student from the University of Connecticut. The project tests the hypothesis that, irrespective of race, ethnicity, age, or social class, women who participate in Connecticut state-sponsored fostering programs create an identity of `mother` to the children in their care. This entails incorporating foster children into their family based on affective bonds, rather than biology or law. The student will select a sample of 120 individuals (60 couples) for extensive ethnographic interviews on their experiences as foster parents. Based on this knowledge the student will construct and adminster cultural tests of meaning to a total of 360 women in the 3 primary ethnic groups in the region (Euro-American, African-American, and West Indian), subdivided into novice and experienced foster parents and private or state-sponsored programs. By examining if, how, and why, in the face of child welfare policies premised on legal or biological definitions of `family,` women create and maintain a sense of themselves as `mothers` rather than `foster mothers` and `children` rather than `foster children,` the project will clarify the circumstances that lead to foster parent disillusionment, fatigue and, finally, drop-out. The knowledge created by project will contribute to the formation of more effective child welfare policy and practice.