Attachment style in foster parents to be

Secure attachment is considered a very important protective factor in human development. In many maltreating families both children and parents are insecurely attached.  Some taken into care. However, under certain... [ view full abstract ]

Secure attachment is considered a very important protective factor in human development. In many maltreating families both children and parents are insecurely attached.  Some taken into care. However, under certain circumstances there seems to be a possibility for change.  Literature has shown that both foster parent´s  own attachment significantly affects the development of a more secure attachment in children placed in their care. To measure attachment will therefore be essential in professional´s assessments. In Sweden there is limited knowledge about attachment in both foster parents and adoptive parents. A descriptive study was therefore conducted in order to investigate attachment in both groups of parents. To measure attachment the Attachment Style Interview (Bifulco, 2002) was used. The group under study consisted of 50 foster parents under assessment for approval. Following questions were investigated: how many of the foster parents had a secure attachment; how many foster parents where children already were placed, had a secure attachment; how many foster parents with secure attachment lived together with a more insecure partner. Results showed that just over half of the foster parents had a secure attachment. Accordingly almost half of them had an insecure attachment. Just over half of the foster parents had same level of attachment as their partners. Almost half of foster parents with secure attachment lived together with a more insecure partner. As we can see conclusively there are a substantial amount of foster parents with insecure attachment. As secure attachment in foster parents have been proven to be such an important factor for the development of their placed children the results highlight the need for the possibility to measure attachment as part of the assessment process. How this can be done and the importance for foster parents will be discussed. Key words: attachment, assessment, foster parents to be