Graduation Date
1999
Document Type
Project
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Sociology
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Judith Little
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Ronald A. Fritzsche
Keywords
Sociology
Subject Categories
Sociology
Abstract
Fifty years ago, to be a good foster parent, all one needed was a lot of love and patience. As we approach the 21st century, foster parenting has become a complex career choice wherein the foster parent needs to have a multi-faceted background in order to adequately deal with children who have been traumatized by those who should have been protecting them. Oftentimes suffering severe psychological damage, these children can present an overwhelming challenge to particularly the novice foster parent, but also to the veteran foster parent who is finding that, with each year, the children are arriving with more extensive psychological and behavioral problems. The purpose of my handbook is to assist foster parents in the everyday responsibilities inherent in fostering, thus helping them avoid the frustrations of working with the foster care system. By reducing the overload placed on foster parents, and helping them to understand that their problems are also other foster parents' problems, each foster parent will be able to rise above the day-to-day catastrophes. The foster parent will have more positive energy to devote to the children, and will be less likely to burn out as a result of the "little" things that tend to overwhelm any parent. This will not only help to prevent children from being moved from one home to another, but will hopefully lower the rate of foster parent dropout.
Recommended Citation
Menzies, Patricia A., "The Shadow Children" (1999). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2474.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2474