When reunification works: A family strengths perspective.
Item
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Title
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When reunification works: A family strengths perspective.
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Identifier
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AAI9986314
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identifier
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9986314
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Creator
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Cordero, Antonia Elizabeth.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Irwin Epstein
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Date
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2000
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social Work | Sociology, Public and Social Welfare | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
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Abstract
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This qualitative research study examines the successful casework reunification efforts conducted at a voluntary agency. Interventions described are intended to promote and support the psychosocial strengths of families; that is, the Family Strengths Perspective. The study is based on an exploratory retrospective analysis of 18 foster/kinship records (9 foster and 9 kinship case records). The psychosocial stages of the helping process (exploration, assessment, intervention and termination) are used as a heuristic framework to identify patterns of family characteristics and casework efforts that were decisive in the reunification process of families, in which substance abuse, neglect or domestic violence were identified as reasons for placement by the court. A comparative examination of the helping process of the study's mandated subgroups yields a profile of similar and disparate reunification client and case characteristics.;Documented similarities among foster care and kinship care records during the stages of the reunification process included: (1) exploration of the placement precipitant, engagement efforts, maternal relations and dysfunctional behavioral family patterns; (2) assessment of the various family coping strengths (family bonds, supportive kinship/foster parent relations, therapy compliance); as well as, assessment of reunification barriers (compromised parental-child relations, placement separation anxiety, unplanned pregnancy/drug relapse patterns); (3) interventions designed to address the identified reunification barriers (repairing compromised parental-child relations, allaying placement separation anxiety, challenging domestic violence barriers, interruling unplanned pregnancy patterns and disrupting inconsistent substance abuse recovery); (4) termination characterized by reunification ambivalence and documented reviews of each family's reunification course during their final reunification stage.;The documented differences in client and case characteristics among the foster care and kinship care families included the extent to which children from the different mandated subgroups: (1) manifested placement separation anxiety and reunification ambivalence; (2) the degree to which extended family members were included in the casework assessment and intervention process; (3) the quality of case recording during the termination phase.;Overall, this study demonstrates that a qualitative retrospective analysis of successful foster care case records has the potential of identifying agency practices that promote client progress and family reunification.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.S.W.
