Promoting constructive relations between children in foster care and welfare officials

The relation between children in foster care and ‘their’ welfare official has recently been accentuated on political level in Sweden. In the paper we will discuss how Honneths theory of recognition can be applied on this... [ view full abstract ]

The relation between children in foster care and ‘their’ welfare official has recently been accentuated on political level in Sweden. In the paper we will discuss how Honneths theory of recognition can be applied on this relation. It is a very complex one, not least because the role of the official is multi-dimensional. Besides ensuring official policy, law and regulation (the authority role) he/she shall represent the child vis-à-vis other actors’ and institutions involved (the advocacy role), and be a stable and trustful adult for the child to attach to socially/emotionally (the attachment role). The latter is now emphasized in Swedish law.
Recently, in the framework of an evaluation we interviewed children in foster care. When asked about how they experience “their” official most of them put the authority role in the forefront, i.e. someone controlling and administering their foster-home placement. However, those most positive of “their” official describe someone who differs from this picture, a deeper and more developed relation based on mutual trust. And, such a relation seems desired by most interviewed children. By Honnet’s theory of recognition we may reach deeper insights of how to develop a professional role that promotes such relations. It elucidates three types of recognition-relations needed for an individual to develop a positive identity: through primary relations of mutual emotional attachment self-confidence of importance for being able to articulate personal needs is developed. Through legal relations the individual is recognized as an adequate partner in interaction. This infuses self-respect. In complement to this – to care and legal recognition – the individual needs to be recognized for unique capacities and achievements via belonging to a community of shared values. The paper discusses if, how and what the welfare official can offer here on the basis of his/hers position in the welfare bureaucracy.