Enduring relationships and commitment: Experiences of adolescent entrants to foster care and foster carers

青少年是英国照料系统中的一个重要且不断增长的群体，他们进出照料的旅程是社会工作和寄养政策和实践的一个关键领域。青少年入院者的定义是指因十岁或以上的虐待、疏忽和/或家庭破裂而进入或重新进入照料中心的年轻人。仍然缺乏充分的研究，认识到培养青少年入学者面临的独特挑战。关于寄养照顾者对青少年入学者的承诺的经验的研究尤其有限。这项拟议的研究建立在研究人员的MREs论文研究的基础上，该研究探索了寄养照顾者照顾青少年新生的经验。主要研究结果揭示了建立关系的重要性，并表明寄养照顾者往往对他们所照顾的青少年有很高的承诺。通过承诺建立一种持久的关系，这一点很明显，这种关系超越了最初的寄养安置，在某些情况下，包括在困难的中断之后继续下去。关于寄养照料者照顾幼儿或在寄养中长大的青少年(青春期毕业生)的经历，研究了持久关系和承诺的性质。寄养照料者和照顾青少年的寄宿照顾者之间的承诺水平的差异也在研究中得到了检验。然而，这些概念没有结合青少年入学和寄养照料者的经历进行具体审查。这项研究旨在发展概念和理论上的洞察力，了解青少年入学者和寄养照料者是如何经历关系和承诺的。将对10-15名青少年新生和相同数量的寄养照顾者进行半结构化面谈。虽然目的不是为了证实经验，但可能会采访一些配对的人。扎根的理论将用于分析，并从产生的数据中产生新的理论。这种对寄养实践中被低估和研究不足的领域的探索，将挑战当前的政策重点，即为儿童和在托儿童和年轻人提供组织和服务成果，这种政策将安置结束等同于关系的结束。相反，这项研究将通过承诺关系的视角来定位照顾和结果，从而帮助拓宽、重新构建和重新定义青少年入学者寄养的概念。

Adolescent entrants are a significant and growing population within the English care system and their journeys within and out of care are a key area of social work and foster care policy and practice. Adolescent entrants are defined as young people who enter, or re-enter care through reasons of abuse, neglect and/or family breakdown aged ten or above. There remains a lack of sufficient research acknowledging the unique challenges of fostering adolescent entrants. There is particularly limited research relating to the experience of foster carer commitment to adolescent entrants. This proposed research builds on the researcher's MRes dissertation research which explored the experiences of foster carers caring for adolescent entrants. Key findings revealed the importance of relationship-building and suggested foster carers often experience a high level of commitment to the adolescents in their care. Being able to 'stick' with the young person was evident through a commitment which enabled an enduring relationship which transcended the initial foster placement, including in some cases continuing beyond a difficult disruption. The nature of enduring relationships and commitment have been researched with regards to foster carers' experiences of caring for young infants, or adolescents who have grown up in foster care (adolescent graduates). The differences in levels of commitment between foster carers and residential care providers who care for adolescents has also been examined in research. However, these concepts have not been examined specifically in relation to the experiences of adolescent entrants and foster carers. This research aims to develop conceptual and theoretical insights into how relationships and commitment are experienced by adolescent entrants and foster carers. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 10-15 adolescent entrants and the same number of foster carers. Though the aim is not to corroborate experiences, some matched pairs may be interviewed. Grounded theory will be used for analysis and to yield new theory from the data generated. This exploration of an undervalued and under-researched area of foster care practice will challenge the current policy preoccupations with organisational and service outcomes for children and young people in care, which equate placement endings with the end of relationships. Instead this study will assist in broadening, reframing and reconceptualising the notion of foster care for adolescent entrants by positioning caregiving and outcomes through the lens of committed relationships.