Behavioral Observation and Analysis of Participants in Foster Care Visits

• Published date: 01 April 2021
• Author: María D. Salas,Isabel M. Bernedo,Miguel A. García‐Martín,María J. Fuentes
• Date: 01 April 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12430

M D. S, I M. B, M A. G-M,  M J. F

University of Malaga

Behavioral Observation and Analysis of Participants

in Foster Care Visits

Objective: To identify situations and behaviors

occurring during contact visits that are likely to

have an impact on a foster child’s well-being.

Background: It has been argued that contact

visits between foster children and birth parents

can help to maintain attachment bonds and sup-

port the child’s development. However, contact

continues to be a subject of controversy, and

evidence of both benets and drawbacks has

been reported in the literature. Few studies have

examined what actually occurs during such vis-

its, how parents and children interact, and what

role is played by those involved.

Method: We conducted an in-depth qualitative

observational analysis of the behavior of partic-

ipants in contact visits (birth parent, child, and

social worker), as well as of the characteristics

of the venue. Participants were 20 children in

nonkinship foster care and their birth parents.

Information regardingthe characteristics of vis-

its was provided by the child protection services

and the fostering agencies involved.

Results: The analysis revealed a large num-

ber of positive behaviors among parents, chil-

dren, and social workers, but also the need

for improvement in several areas (e.g., family

relationships, social/communication skills, and

presents).

Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación,

Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos S/N, 29071

Malaga, Spain (m.salas@uma.es).

Key Words: contact visits, foster care, parent–childrelation-

ships, research methods: qualitative.

Conclusions: This study highlights the need

to improve contact visits by developing inter-

vention strategies targeting all those involved.

Notably, the support and supervision provided

by social workers was not always adequate.

Implications: The results of this study could be

used to develop an instrument for assessing the

quality of contact visits and identifying aspects

that need to be improved.

In line with the current view that family fos-

ter care is one of the best options in terms of

children’s well-being, child protection legisla-

tion in Spain (Law 1/1996, Law 26/2015) priori-

tizes family foster care over other forms such as

residential care. As in other countries, child pro-

tection services (CPS) in Spain work to promote

placement stability, due to the implications this

can have for children’s optimal development.

Consequently, the majority of foster care place-

ments in our country are permanent (66.6%), as

all efforts are made to enable the child to stay

with the same foster family (Jiménez & Palacios,

2009; M. López, Montserrat, Del Valle,& Bravo,

2010). However,although permanent foster care

can provide greater stability and promote the

child’s well-being (McAuley& Trew, 2000; Sin-

clair, Baker, Lee, & Gibbs, 2007), the high pro-

portion of permanent placements also suggests

that children are less likely to return to their birth

families. In fact, research indicates that only

12.5% of foster children in Spain return to their

birth families (Bernedo, García-Martín, Salas, &

Fuentes, 2016). This could be due to a lack of

540Family Relations 70 (April 2021): 540–556

DOI:10.1111/fare.12430

Observation and Analysis of Foster Care Visits541

reunication programs or to the ineffectiveness

of existing ones (Del Valle, López, Montserrat,

& Bravo, 2008; M. López et al., 2010).

One of the key factors that inuences the pos-

sibility of children returning to their birth family

is contact visits. Indeed, studies suggest that con-

tact between child and birth family can make

a signicant positive contribution to the reuni-

cation process (Anouk, Vanderfaeilli, Damen,

Pijnenburg, & Van Holen, 2016; Cleaver, 2000).

Under Spanish law (BOE, 2015), foster chil-

dren have the right to maintain direct and reg-

ular contact with their biological parents unless

this would be contrary to their best interests

[Article 9.3, UN Convention on the Rights of

the Child (United Nations, 1989)]. The deci-

sion as to who is eligible for contact visits (as

well as visitdurationand frequency, and who

may attend) is made by the national CPS. In this

respect, it is worth noting that a considerable

number of foster children in Spain do not have

contact with either of their birth parents because

the CPS considers that visits might be contrary to

the child’s well-being (Bernedo et al., 2016; Del

Valle etal., 2008; Jiménez & Palacios, 2009).

Ofcial data for Andalusia, the region of Spain in

which the present study was conducted, indicate

that there are 2,720 children in family foster care

(2,259 in permanent care and 461 under tempo-

rary placement), of whom approximately a third

have contact visits with their birth family.

In addition to being a key factor in fam-

ily reunication, contact visits also provide an

opportunity to observe how parents and children

interact and to assess the extent to which the

encounter may promote the child’s well-being.

The characteristics and suitability of the contact

venue should also be considered in this respect.

A previous study by our group found that foster

children had a more favorable view of the emo-

tional relationship with their birth parents when

contact visits were characterized by a positive

communicative interaction and age-appropriate

play (Salas, Fuentes, Bernedo, & García-Martín,

2016). More specically, children rated contact

visits more highly when they were able to talk

and play with the birth parent, when the latter

showed warmth toward the child, and when the

birth parent expressed an interest in the child’s

relationships with friends, the foster family, and

school.

Given that the primary objective of family

foster care is to ensure the child’s well-being, it

is essential that any contact with birth parents

supports the child’s needs and does not under-

mine his or her development. With this in

mind, the theoretical approach used in the

present study is derived from research on human

needs (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Patrick,

Knee, Canevello, & Lonsbary, 2007; Ryan &

Deci, 2000), and specically from childhood

needs theory (F. López, 2008), which in turn is

closely linked to attachment theory (Bowlby,

1969). The main aim of childhood needs theory

is to offer a set of guidelines for promoting

children’s well-being; and to this end, this

theory proposesafunctionalclassicationof

factors that are important for a child’s optimal

development. More specically, childhood

needs theoryconsiders risk–protective factors

and the contexts that shape children’s psycho-

logical development (family, school, social

institutions, etc.), in conjunction with four kinds

of needs that enable these factors to be clas-

sied: physical/biological, cognitive/cultural,

emotional/affective, and social participation (F.

López, 2008). The ability to detect unmet needs

is, from this perspective, a primary goal.

As noted earlier, childhood needs theory is

closely linked to attachment theory, which con-

siders that people’s interpersonal experiences

vary in relation to the attachment models of

the individuals involved. These effects are most

intense in situations in which the attachment

system is activated (Pierce, Lydon, & Schinazi,

2001), as would be the case of contact vis-

its between foster children and their birth par-

ents (Boyle, 2017; Fahlberg, 2012). Importantly,

a recent systematic review shows that there is

considerable evidence of children reliving expe-

riences of rejection and insecure attachment

behaviors during contact (Boyle, 2017).

It is considered that contact visits serve to

strengthen parent–child attachment and also

help foster children to settle and adapt to their

placement. As such, contact can help to promote

the development of closer relationships and

satisfy the human needs of both children and

parents (GRISIJ, 2015; Guerrero, Andersen, &

A, 2018). Research by Schoeld and Beek

(2005, 2009) found that contact with the biolog-

ical family was one of the variables that helped

to establish secure attachments and promoted

the child’s well-being and identity development.

Neil and Howe (2004) argued that contact is

potentially valuable in terms of helping children

with issues such as separation, loss, knowing

about their past, and maintaining attachments.