Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att ur ett retrospektivt perspektiv undersöka biologiska barns upplevelser av att växa upp i familjehem. Fokus var deras upplevelse av att ingå i en familj med fostersyskon, samt deras upplevelse av socialtjänstens stöd. Empirin grundades på enskilda intervjuer med fyra nu vuxna biologiska barn i familjehem. Vid analysen användes barndomssociologi, barnperspektivet samt Harts delaktighetsstege. Resultatet visade att informanterna upplevde att socialtjänsten inte involverade dem i familjehemsprocessen. Graden av delaktighet grundades istället på föräldrarnas agerande. Samtliga informanter upplevde tillgängligheten till sina föräldrar som bra, hälften hade dock önskat mer tid och uppmärksamhet. Majoriteten av informanterna beskrev att de tagit ett stort ansvar för sina fostersyskon, påtvingat eller på eget initiativ. Resultatet indikerar också att erfarenheten av att växa upp med fostersyskon utvecklat empati och förståelse för andra hos samtliga informanter. Resultatet visar också att majoriteten av informanterna upplevde stark samhörighet till sina fostersyskon, att de hade goda relationer till dem och tyckte om att ha fostersyskon. / The purpose with this qualitative study was to investigate biological children’s experience of growing up in private foster care homes. This was done through a retrospective perspective, and the purpose was to focus on the children’s experiences of being in a family with foster siblings, and the support they perceive that they received from the social services. The empirical data is based on four interviews with adults that during their childhood were growing up as biological children in private foster care homes. When analysing the result, the childhood sociology perspective, the child perspective, and Hart’s ladder of participation were used. The result showed that the interviewees did not perceive the social services incorporating them as biological children in the foster care process. The level of participation was instead determined by the parents’ intuition. The informants perceived their relationship to their parents as good, however, half of them had wished more time and more attention. The majority of the participants described that they took a great deal of responsibility for their foster care siblings, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Further on, the result indicated that the interviewees had, thanks to growing up with foster care siblings, developed empathy and a more profound understanding of others. Finally, the result showed that the majority of the informants felt a strong bond to their foster care siblings, had good relationships to them, and liked having foster care siblings during their childhood.

(in English) Thesis deals with biological children of parents, who have other kids in foster care. These kids are often neglected. In the theoretical part are described and defined terms such as a substitute foster family and its forms, family, siblings. It focuses also on selected foreing researches and contemporary Czech works on this topic. Practical part contains analyzes of interviews with respondents. The main aim was to find out what biological children of their parents in general think of foster care. How they perceive the situation in their own family and how it affects them.

Children, who grow up in families, where their parents have decided to take care of a foster child on a commission of the social welfare services, are not often given the possibility to tell about their experience of having foster siblings, in research and other studies. The aim of this study was to give biological children, in these families, a chance to tell their narratives of growing up with foster siblings, creating opportunities for families, who might have plans to take care of foster children in the future. They can get a picture of how it could be for the family´s own children. The biological children got the opportunity to tell their narrative stories including the relationships in their families and how they were looking forward into their own future and family life. The used theory takes part in systemic thinking, looking at the family as an organization and how identities are created in relationships and in communication. The method was interviews with six “children” and analyze of the text material. The result is presented in short summaries and quotation. The result shows that the children have been influenced in different ways by living with foster siblings and they have a large empathize for their parents and the situation. It also shows that the relations between the biological children and the foster children can be lasting for their future and the biological children can see the foster child as a “real” sibling. Communication and the feeling of participation were important for the children. All stories are individual but some conclusions appear. One is that the children is involved in everything that happens around them and they have own strategies to handle it.

The diploma thesis discusses the impact of foster care on biological children of foster parents from the perspective of foster parents, biological children of foster parents and experts in their work with the issue of foster care encounter. Aim of this work is to propose options for social work with biological children of applicants for foster care in the way they are not negatively affected. Key words: foster care, biological children of foster parents, accompanying foster families, preparing for foster care

Familjehemsvården i Sverige är utbredd, det är den vanligaste insatsen för barn som av olikaorsaker inte kan bo hemma med sina föräldrar. Trots att familjehemsvården är utbredd i Sverigefinns knapphändig forskning om dess påverkan på hela familjesystemet, och mer specifiktfamiljehemsföräldrarnas biologiska barn. Med grund i detta har vi fått ett intresse av attundersöka just biologiska barns egna upplevelser av att växa upp i familjehem. Syftet medstudien är att undersöka hur och om biologiska barn påverkas av att växa upp i ett familjehem.Därmed undersöka och analysera det biologiska barnets egen berättelse om dennes psykiskahälsa, relationer till föräldrarna samt det placerade barnet, för att utvärdera vilken effektfamiljehemsplaceringar har på deras liv.Studien baseras på en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer där 6 biologiskabarn som har växt upp i ett familjehem fått berätta sin historia. Det insamlade materialet haranalyserats med hjälp av tre olika teorier; KASAM, familjepraktiker samt Eriksonsidentitetsutvecklingsteori.Slutsatserna från studiens resultat tyder på att de biologiska barnen har en grundläggandepositiv syn på familjehemsvården. Däremot hade majoriteten av respondenterna önskat fåttstöd från professionell under sin uppväxt. De biologiska barnen upplever attfamiljehemsplaceringarna har medfört både positiva och negativa effekter. / Foster care in Sweden is widespread, it is the most common intervention for children who, forvarious reasons, cannot live at home with their parents. Despite the fact that foster care iswidespread in Sweden, there is almost no research on its impact on the entire family system,and more specifically the biological children of the foster parents. Based on this, we havegained an interest in investigating biological children's own experiences of growing up in fosterhomes. The aim of the study is to investigate how and if biological children are affected bygrowing up in a foster home. Thus investigate and analyze the biological child's own storyabout their mental health, relationships with the parents and the foster child, in order to evaluatethe effect foster care has on their lives.The study is based on a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews where 6biological children who have grown up in a foster home told their story. The collected materialhas been analyzed through three different theories; KASAM, family practice and Erikson'sidentity development theory.The conclusions from the results of the study indicate that the biological children have afundamentally positive view of foster care. In contrast, the majority of respondents would haveliked to have received professional support during their upbringing. The biological childrenfeel that the foster home placements have had both positive and negative effects on them.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate and analyze how social workers experience the work Social Services' do with children in foster homes. This study aims to identify what the positive and negative aspects are from working with this group and to determine what changes can be made to improve the services for children of foster carers. The data that was collected from interviews with eight social workers were analyzed through thematic analysis as well as Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. The analysis reveals that the work of Social Services' affects the children in foster homes on micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-levels. Based on the reports from the social workers the results indicate that their social service offices include home-staying children in the investigation phases. The children are less included during the initial process and at the ending of placements. Most social workers expressed that working with home-staying children is crucial to reduce the risk of placement breakdowns. Additionally, they emphasized the need for more frequent work with this group. Based on the results, this study suggests several possible service improvements to address the needs of home-staying children. Despite policy gaps, some municipalities actively engage with home- staying children.