Skip to main content
Log in

Strengths of Aboriginal Foster Parents

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify the strengths of Aboriginal foster parents according to the foster parents themselves. A total of 83 Aboriginal foster parents participated in over the phone interviews that included the question “What are the main strengths you have as a foster parent?”. Responses to the questions were sorted by the participants and the sorted data were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Four clusters emerged from the responses to the question: (1) awareness abilities and skills, (2) cultural experience, (3) personal qualities, and (4) child as part of family. The clusters were compared and contrasted with available literature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aarons, G. A., Wells, R. S., Zagursky, K., Fettes, D. L., & Palinkas, L. A. (2009). Implementing evidence-based practice in community mental health agencies: A multiple stakeholder analysis. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 2087–2095.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, N. P., & Steffen, J. J. (2009). The recovery promotion fidelity scale: Assessing the organizational promotion of recovery. Community Mental Health Journal, 45, 163–170.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bahr, K. S. (1994). The strengths of apache grandmothers: Observations on commitment, culture and caretaking. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 25, 233–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baum, A. C., Crase, S. J., & Crase, K. L. (2001). Influences on the decision to become or not become a foster parent. Families in Society, 82, 202–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behar, L. B., & Hydaker, W. M. (2009). Defining community readiness for the implementation of a system of care. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 36, 381–392.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blackstock, C., & Trocme, N. (2005). Community-based child welfare for Aboriginal children: Supporting resilience through structural change. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 24, 12–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blashfield, R. K., & Aldenderfer, M. S. (1988). The methods and problems of cluster analysis. In J. R. Nesselroade & R. B. Cattell (Eds.), Handbook of multivariate experimental psychology (pp. 447–473). New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buehler, C., Cox, M. E., & Cuddeback, G. (2003). Foster parents’ perceptions of factors that promote or inhibit successful fostering. Qualitative Social Work: Research and Practice, 2, 61–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, J., O’ Campo, P., Salmon, C., & Walker, R. (2009). Pathways connecting neighborhood influences and mental well-being: Socioeconomic position and gender differences. Social Science and Medicine, 68, 1294–1304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, Y. (2000). The construction of aboriginal identity in people separated from their families, community, and culture: Pieces of a jigsaw. Australian Psychologist, 35, 150–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coakley, T. M., Cuddeback, G., Buehler, C., & Cox, M. E. (2006). Kinship foster parents’ perceptions of factors that promote or inhibit successful fostering. Children & Youth Services Review, 29, 92–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frideres, J. S. (1996). The royal commission on aboriginal peoples: The route to self-government? The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, XVI, 247–266.

  • Garret, J. T. (1993). Understanding Indian children, learning from Indian elders. Children Today, 22, 18–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrett, J. T., & Garrett, M. W. (1994). The path of good medicine: Understanding and counselling Native American Indian. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 22, 134–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habfoll, S. E., Jackson, A., Hobfoll, I., Pierce, C. A., & Young, S. (2002). The impact of communal-mastery versus self-mastery on emotional outcomes during stressful conditions: A prospective study of Native American women. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 853–872.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, I., & Hampton, M. (2000). Being Indian: Strengths sustaining First Nations peoples in residential schools. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 19, 127–142.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kane, M., & Trochim, W. (2007). Concept mapping for planning and evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacGregor, T. E., Rodger, S., Cummings, A. L., & Leschied, A. W. (2006). The needs of foster parents: A qualitative study of motivation, support, and retention. Qualitative Social Work, 5, 351–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick, R., & Wong, P. T. P. (2006). Adjustment and coping in Aboriginal people. In P. T. T. Wong & L. C. J. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping (pp. 515–531). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Minkman, M., Ahaus, K., Fabbricotti, I., Nabitz, U., & Huijsman, R. (2009). A quality management model for integrated care: Results of a delphi and concept mapping study. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 21, 66–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, K. W., Orme, J. G., Cox, M. E., & Buehler, C. (2003). Foster family resources, psychosocial functioning, and retention. Social Work Research, 27, 135–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shorkey, C., Windsor, L. C., & Spence, R. (2009a). Assessing culturally competent chemical dependence treatment services for Mexican Americans. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 36, 61–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shorkey, C., Windsor, L. C., & Spence, R. (2009b). Systematic assessment of culturally competent chemical dependence treatment services for African Americans. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 8, 113–128.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trochim, W. M. (1989). An introduction to concept mapping for planning and evaluation. In W. Trochim (Ed.) A special issue of evaluation and program planning, 12, 1–16.

  • Trocme, N., Knoke, D., & Blackstock, C. (2004). Pathways to the overrepresentation of aboriginal children in Canada’s child welfare system. Social Service Review, 78, 577–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, M., & Liebenberg, L. (2008). Resilience in action: Working with youth across cultures and contexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vicary, D. A., & Bishop, B. J. (2005). Western psychotherapeutic practice: Engaging aboriginal people in culturally appropriate and respectful ways. Australian Psychologist, 40, 8–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, K. L., & Simoni, J. M. (2002). Reconceptualizing Native women’s health: An “indigenist” stress-coping model. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 520–524.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whiting, J. B., & Huber, P. T. (2007). Significant stress and real rewards: The ecological and ambiguous experiences of foster parents. Relational Child & Youth Care Practice, 20, 9–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ypinazar, V. A., Margolis, S. A., Haswell-Elkins, M., & Tsey, K. (2007). Indigenous Australians’ understanding regarding mental health and disorders. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 41, 467–478.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the foster parents who took the time to share their expertise with us. We would like to thank Candace Seymour and Cathy Wiebe. We would also like to thank Brian Ridd and Claudia Ash-Ponce. Also, thanks to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their financial support for this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason Brown.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ivanova, V., Brown, J. Strengths of Aboriginal Foster Parents. J Child Fam Stud 20, 279–285 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9389-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9389-0

Keywords

Navigation