A Critical Overview of the Significance of Power and Power Relations in Practice with Children in Foster Care: Evidence from an Irish Study

Abstract

This paper is based on findings from an Irish study of permanence and stability outcomes for children in long-term care which involved biographical narrative interviews with 27 children, young people, parents and foster carers. The study concluded that power and power relations featured significantly in the narratives of our interviewees. To advance guidance for practice, this paper aims to build on the findings of the study reported with an emphasis on the theorisation of power and power relations to inform practice. To do this, we use illustrative quotes from children, young people and their families to demonstrate how power markedly affected their experiences. The findings are considered in the context of an adapted version of Bronfenbrenner's ecological model with a focus on the interaction between the social work system and individual social workers (exo system) the young person and their wider family (micro-meso-system) as perceived by the latter. The wider impact of policy (macro system) and transitions and experiences over time (chrono-system) are considered in the context of this interaction. In the discussion, the need for more explicit studies of power and power relations within the context of an ecological model to f capture the complexity of layers and interactions of each child's social system is highlighted. The contribution and limitation of the research is discussed. We end with a commentary about the importance of promoting an increased voice for children and young people in the development and improvement of public child welfare services.

Exploring the multi-dimensionality of permanence and stability: Emotions, experiences and temporality in young people’s discourses about long-term foster care in Ireland

“…(2010) argue that parents and young people often encountered indifference and insensitivity from child protection staff in Ireland when domestic violence and acrimonious separation were involved. This broadly corresponds to McGregor et al. (2019) on the centrality of power gradients in social worker’s relationships with biological parents and young people, and international research documenting systemic factors, like social worker’s attitudes and organisational socialisation of care workers which negatively affects service users’ emotional wellbeing (cf.…”

Foster caring as ‘professional parenting’: A grounded theory of the relationships between parent and professional in long-term foster care

“…Social workers could have identified those who had specific or profound experiences or would be more likely to participate in the study. Potential power relations between foster carers and social workers (McGregor, Devaney and Moran, 2021) could have also influenced recruitment and participation.…”