This systematic literature study examines the significance of contact visit on children who are taken care of and placed in foster care. The main purpose of this work is analyzing whether there are positive or negative consequences that may arise pertaining to a child’s mental health and experience of attachment, during contact visit with biological parents, with the child in focus. The results show that the child tends to easier adapt in their new foster home and the circumstances the foster home brings when given regular contact visit with their biological parents. They also show that the child’s risk of developing internal and/or external behavioural issues - such as anxiety, worry and problematic behaviour - is reduced compared to the children who are given irregular or no visits with their biological parents. The results also showed that the child could experience ambivalent emotions connected to contact visit with their biological parents relating to the experience of loss/grief, loyalty conflicts, anxiety, low self-esteem as well as difficulty bonding with people in their life. Professionals in social services as well as other adults in the child’s vicinity, must guide and support the child during the child’s stay in a foster home in order to develop the capability of attachment and better the child’s mental health. Through the method chosen in this study, a deep and nuanced picture is revealed around the child’s experiences in relation to contact visit with their biological parents focusing on mental health and attachment. In order to get the full picture of the subject matter, this has been achieved by including the child’s perspective as well as those of foster parents, biological parents, professionals as well as researchers. During this process, the complexity of the subject matter has come to light, in a research space that has been void of providing insights into the effects of contact visit on the child. This void has been present for the last 20 years, however as more empirical research is done it has been reduced. The understanding of the significance and effect of contact visit on the child is an important aspect within Child Protective Services (CPS). It has been applied more within the organization. Children who are taken and placed into foster homes can experience it as a trauma due to being unwillingly removed from the first people they have formed attachment to. Therefore, it is important that the child is given the opportunity to create a safe relation to their biological parents through contact visit where a thorough assessment of risk by professionals has been made, in order for the child to strengthen their identity, self-esteem as well as family background for an increased chance to reunite with their biological family. During the contact visit assessment, it is adequate for the child’s voice to be heard as first priority, as well as the wellbeing of the child. It is important to take into account that contact visit is for the child and not for the parents and should therefore be designed around that.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-68451 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Mohammad, Jasmin, Rolfsson, Filippa |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle (HS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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