Trajectories of academic performance among young children in care in England

Eran Melkman, Researcher, Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education, Department of Education, University of Oxford, United Kingdom  Trajectories of academic performance among young children in care in England Children in care are one of the lowest performing groups in terms of academic performance internationally. Nonetheless, little is known concerning stability or change in the developmental trajectories of […]

Could evaluation of babies’ relational withdrawal be a key to understand the effect of parental visitation for babies placed out of home?

Alexandra Deprez, Researcher, LPPS- PARIS 5, France Jacqueline Wendland, Researcher, LPPS- PARIS 5, France The question of parental visitation with children removed from parental care has gained interest in recent literature. However, considerable controversy and ambiguity remains with regards to the impact of such contact on children’s wellbeing. Importantly, the lack of appropriate measurements of […]

Continuity around schooling for children placed away from home: about consistency between educators in Children’s villages

Helene Join-Lambert, Researcher, Université Paris Nanterre, France  Benjamin Denecheau, Researcher, Université Paris Est Créteil, France  Pierrine Robin, Researcher, Université Paris Est Créteil, France  Sandrine Dottori, Chargée de mission, SOS Village d’Enfants, France Our presentation draws from a research conducted in 2016-2017 on Children’s Villages in France, which have implemented a program for better supporting children’s school education. Children’s Villages are specialized in looking after brothers […]

What is the role of carer involvement in predicting pupil engagement and school performance? A longitudinal analysis.

Aoife O’higgins, PhD student, University of Oxford, UK     The gap between the educational outcomes of children in care and their peers has been well documented in research (O’Higgins, Sebba, & Luke, 2015). But the risk and protective factors underlying this social problem are poorly understood and insufficiently modelled in order to be useful for interventions (Sebba et […]

Normative attachment and attachment disorders in non-parental care contexts in Chile

Andrès Fresno, Researcher, Universidad de Talca, Chile  Rosario Spencer, Researcher, Universidad de Talca, Chile  Patricia Bravo, PhD student, Universidad de Talca, Chile  Camila Espinoza,  Universidad de Talca, Chile  Normative attachment and attachment disorders in non-parental care contexts in Chile It has been reported that children in non-parental care have a higher prevalence of insecure, particularly disorganized attachment, and a higher frequency of attachment disorders (disinhibited or inhibited). However, it is not […]

Number of placement changes as a predictor of mental health in child sexual abuse victims

Marika Handfield, PhD student, Université de Montréal, Canada  Isabelle Daigneault, Researcher, Université de Montréal, Canada  Tonino Esposito, Researcher, Université de Montréal, Canada    Placement instability has been frequently associated with distrust and powerlessness, which have been linked to increased internalized and externalized problems in child sexual abuse victims (Hébert et al., 2016; Monette et al., 2008). Therefore, placement instability could predict internalised and externalised problems in […]

The education of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in care

Ellie Ott, Researcher, University of Oxford, Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education, UK  Aoife O’higgins, Phd student, University of Oxford, Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education, UK     European countries have seen a dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). In the most recent figures, the number of UASC in England have risen 54% (to […]

What Was It Like? – Care Leavers’ Accounts of Moving In and Between Care Placements

Mariela Neagu, PhD student, REES Centre, Dept. of Education, University of Oxford, United Kingdom This doctoral research is a qualitative study which looks at the life trajectories of 39 Romanian care leavers and adoptees in their 20s and it seeks to explore their experiences in different types of placement (foster care, residential and adoption) as they perceived them.   During […]

Disruptions and continuities in young peoples’ transitions to adulthood

Anna-Marie Herdtle, PhD student, University of Luxemburg, Luxemburg  The aim of this presentation is to reconstruct how young people in foster care experience continuities and/or disruptions during their transitions to adulthood. Combining an understanding of identity as an ongoing process aiming at the reconciliation between inner and outer exigencies which can be quite contradictory (cf. Keupp et al. 1999) […]

“Emotional Triangle”: Experience of Foster Parents in Their Relationship with Non-relative Foster Child and Biological Family

Ramuné Bagdonait-Stelmokien, PhD student, university Lithuania Vytautas Magnus, university Lithuania  The paper sets out to discuss the experience of non-relative foster parents as reflected in their relationship with a foster child and a child’s biological family. It presents the results of the qualitative research. The chosen analysis strategy is a constructive grounded theory developed by Charmaz (2006, […]