Foster Parenthood: a Role Analysis

Foster Parenthood

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD A Role Analysis by DAVID FANSHEL

University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis

© Copyright 1966 by the University of Minnesota All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America at the Lund Press, Inc., Minneapolis Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-24532

PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN, INDIA, AND PAKISTAN BY THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, LONDON, BOMBAY, AND KARACHI, AND IN CANADA BY THE COPP CLARK PUBLISHING CO. LIMITED, TORONTO

FOREWORD

T HE study presented in this volume is a "portrait in depth" of one of the partners in the modern child care team. Foster parents are accepted throughout this country as one of the crucial human resources for the care of children who must leave their own parents, but too little has been understood about their dynamics and their specialness, about the ways in which they may differ from parents in general. This study is an exploration of their specialness, undertaken on the premise that more understanding would strengthen our ability to work successfully with them in caring for children. Necessarily such a study must concentrate on some particular group of foster parents. In this instance the group was composed of those parents who were partners with the Family and Childrens Service at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of which I was executive secretary when this study began. There is always the chance that unidentified differences existed between the residents of Allegheny County and Americans in other parts of the country which gave the men and women of this group unusual characteristics. There is also the chance that the standards of selection and the methods of work of this particular agency were so at variance with those of other agencies that the resulting foster parent group was a distorted one. We who were associated with the study do not believe that either of these possibilities is a reality but we realize that this study must be duplicated with other groups of foster parents before we can be sure that the resulting description reflects foster parents in general rather than a unique group in one setting. We hope that this study may stimulate other agencies to carry out similar studies and to publish their findings since all the child welfare field will benefit therefrom.

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One of the happy qualities of the human spirit is its capacity to tolerate pressure and demands beyond the normal pattern if those extra demands are recognized as necessary. In carrying out this study we have seen again that the whole child welfare team can take on participation in research as an additional activity if the approach is a planful and realistic one. In this experience, foster parents and caseworkers alike responded to the demands of interviews and rating scales and questionnaires in a way that supports the conviction that substantial research in the agency setting is both possible and practicable when one extra ingredient is available: research know-how adapted to agency practice. In the present instance this crucial ingredient, in the person of David Fanshel, was made available by a grant to the Family and Childrens Service by the Field Foundation for the specific purpose of carrying out this study. We wish to express our great appreciation to the Field Foundation for recognizing the importance of this particular aspect of child welfare work. In the decade during which I served as the executive of Family and Childrens Service, no other single endeavor of the agency demonstrated as well as this one the creative teamwork that is possible in the operating program of a casework service agency. It is to be hoped that the productivity of this experience will encourage other agencies to take the plunge into research activity, which is crucial to the development of more effective casework services. PERRY B. HALL National Study Service April 1966

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THIS research would not have been possible without support from many sources. Only a few of these can be listed: The generous financial support of the Field Foundation of New York and Chicago is hereby acknowledged with great appreciation. A major debt of gratitude is due Perry B. Hall, who was the executive secretary of the Family and Childrens Service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the time this study was initiated. He represented a tower of strength and support for this and prior research efforts at this social agency. His successor, Henry Freeman, was also intimately connected with the research effort as were Mary Ellen Hoffman, director of casework, and Clare Fagrie, formerly assistant director of casework. Warm thanks are due them for their friendship and assistance. Anne Schwartz and Grace Portman made strong contributions to the study as research interviewers. The caseworkers on the staff of the Family and Childrens Service were enormously helpful in a variety of ways, particularly in their participation in the rating procedures developed for this study. My association with them during a three-year residence in Pittsburgh constituted a most pleasant and fruitful professional experience. Considerable appreciation is, of course, due the foster parent subjects who generously consented to participate in this study. My respect for them and the vital role they play in the lives of deprived children is most profound. Consultation was available to me from many sources. The staff of the Child Welfare League of America and its executive director, Joseph H. Reid, were unstinting in their helpfulness. Professors William J. McGill and Alfred J. Kahn of Columbia University and Professor James Bieri of

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Brooklyn College gave me excellent technical advice. Ardyth Stimson and John Stimson performed most helpful functions in the machine analysis of the data. Dr. Edgar F. Borgatta of the University of Wisconsin gave valuable advice in interpreting the factor analysis of the rating instrument used in this study. Elissa Queyquep performed the arduous secretarial tasks in the production of several drafts of this manuscript. Her editorial skill and grasp of good writing style, in addition to her conscientiousness and efficiency, have considerably enriched this volume. I am also most appreciative of the help received from Marsha Kovarsky of the Child Welfare League of America and the staff of the University of Minnesota Press in the preparation of the manuscript for publication. Finally, I owe more than can be mentioned to my wife, Florence, and my children, Ethan and Merrie, for their support during the gestation period of this study when the outrageous demands of work on my time tended to make me a husband and father in absentia. DAVID FANSHEL New York City January 1966

CONTENTS

1

BACKGROUND FOR THE RESEARCH

3

2

SOME THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

10

3

THE PLAN OF THE STUDY

17

4

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS

21

5

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER FATHERS

45

6

DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

59

7

CHILD-REARING ATTITUDES OF FOSTER MOTHERS 82

8

THE FOSTER PARENT APPRAISAL FORM

9

CASEWORKERS' APPRAISAL OF FOSTER PARENTS

108

CORRELATIONS OF SELF-REVELATIONS AND RATINGS

124

11

INCENTIVES FOR FOSTER PARENTHOOD

137

12

FINAL PERSPECTIVES AND IMPLICATIONS

153

REFERENCES

169

INDEX

173

10

96

LIST OF TABLES

1. Percentage Distribution of Foster Homes by Median Ages of Children Cared for

22

2. Percentage Distribution of Foster Parents by Age Group at Time of Study

22

3. Percentage Distribution of Foster Parents by Length of Tenure with Agency

24

4. Percentage Distribution of Foster Parents by Number of Foster Parents' Own Children

24

5. Distribution of Foster Parents by Length of Marriage at Time of Study

25

6. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Circumstance during Year before Application to the Agency

29

7. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Expressed Preference for a Certain Stage of Childhood

30

8. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Evaluation of Experience

30

9. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Ranking of Foster Parent Role among Activities Giving Greatest Satisfaction

30

10. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Reactions to Own Children Becoming Foster Parents

31

11. Number of Foster Mothers Reporting Each Source of Role Satisfaction and Rank of Each Source by Frequency of Response

32

LIST OF TABLES

xi

12. Percentage of Foster Mothers Perceiving That Many, Few, or No Other Persons Had Certain Reactions to Them as Foster Parents

34

13. Percentage of Foster Mothers Evaluating Problems with Which Foster Parents Have to Contend as Easier, Harder, or Unacceptable

37

14. Percentage Distribution of Foster Homes by Maximum Length of Stay of Any Child in Each Home

39

15. Percentage Distribution of Foster Homes by Number of Children Cared for by Foster Parents

40

16. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Reactions to Separation from Foster Children

40

17. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Attitudes toward Agency Policy Discouraging Contact with Foster Children No Longer in Home

41

18. Percentage of Foster Mothers Taking Exclusive Responsibility for Tasks

42

19. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Attendance at Foster Parent Club Meetings

42

20. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Membership in Organizations

43

21. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Attitudes about a Wife Having a Paid Job Away from Home

43

22. Number of Foster Mothers and Foster Fathers Reporting Each Source of Role Satisfaction and Rank of Each Source by Frequency of Response

47

23. Percentage of Foster Fathers Naming Certain Contributions They Can Make to Foster Children

49

24. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Degree of Inconvenience Encountered in Care of Foster Children

50

25. Percentage of Foster Fathers with Certain Reactions to Casework Staff

52

26. Percentage of Foster Fathers with Certain Attitudes about Male and Female Roles and Relationships

53

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27. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Their Occupations and by the Occupations of Their Fathers and the Foster Mothers' Fathers

55

28. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Stability of Their Employment

56

29. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Their Education and by Education of Their Fathers

56

30. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Their Earnings at Time of Study and Five Years Earlier, with Comparative Percentage Distribution of Families in the United States

57

31. Intercorrelations of Scale and Index Scores and Age, Race, and Number of Own Children of Foster Mothers

75

32. Means and Standard Deviations of Scores Achieved on the PARI Scales by Pittsburgh Foster Mothers and a Normative Sample in Indianapolis

84

33. Intercorrelations of the PARI Scale Scores and Correlations with Age, Race, and Number of Own Children of Foster Mothers

87

34. Correlation Matrix of Scores Achieved by Foster Mothers on the PARI Scales and Other Scale and Index Scores

90

35. Number of Foster Mothers Known to Varying Degrees by Two Caseworkers

98

36. Number of Foster Fathers Known to Varying Degrees by Two Caseworkers

98

37. Interrater Reliabilities for 40 Ratings by Caseworkers on the Foster Parent Appraisal Form

100

38. Percentage of Foster Parents with "Good" and "Poor" Performance Ratings Showing Various Types of Behavior toward Caseworkers

104

39. Intercorrelations of Factor Scores and Age, Race, and Number of Own Children of Foster Mothers

125

40. Correlation Matrix of Factor Scores and Selected Scale and Index Scores Based upon Interviews with Foster Parents

128

41. Correlations between Factor Scores Based upon Caseworkers' Ratings and the PARI Scores Achieved by Foster Mothers

132

LIST OF TABLES

xiii

42. Correlations of Factor Scores with Global Rating of Performance of Foster Parents with Children under Their Care

135

43. Number of Foster Mothers Reporting Each Source of Role Satisfaction and Rank of Each Source by Frequency of Response, for High and Low Scorers on Factors I and II of the FPAF

139

44. Percentage of Foster Mothers for Whom Various Motivations toward Foster Parenthood Were Perceived by Caseworkers

142

45. Percentage of Foster Fathers for Whom Various Motivations toward Foster Parenthood Were Perceived by Caseworkers

143

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Foster Parenthood

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1
1 ODAY at any one time there are about 190,000 children in the United States living in foster family homes supervised by public or voluntary agencies. A half century ago most youngsters who for one reason or another could not be reared in their own homes lived in large, regimented "orphan asylums." There are still, on any given day, some 105,000 children on the rolls of institutions for dependent and neglected children.* But in recent years foster family living has clearly been the more prevalent way of caring for these disadvantaged children. As a publication of the Child Welfare League of America puts it: "Foster family care offers the child who otherwise lacks adequate parental care and who cannot remain in his own home a closer approximation to normal family living than other types of substitute care, and is particularly adapted to meet the child's normal developmental needs in a family-centered society" [12, p. 6]. This same publication goes on to set forth goals for this kind of child care: "The ultimate objectives of foster family care should be the promotion of healthy personality development of the child, and amelioration of problems that are personally or socially destructive. Foster family care is one of society's ways of assuring the well-being of children who would otherwise lack adequate parental care. Society assumes certain responsibilities for rearing and nurture of children which parents are unable to * The latest figures available are for 1964: 192,300 children in foster homes, 2000 in group homes, and 105,300 in institutions. See Child Welfare Statistics —1964 [reference 13], Table 1, p. 8.

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carry, and discharge those responsibilities through the services of social agencies and other social institutions. Foster family care should provide, for the child whose parents cannot do so, experiences and conditions which promote normal maturation (care), which prevent further injury to the child (protection), and which correct specific problems which interfere with healthy personality development (treatment)." [12, pp. 6-7] Clearly, the degree to which these objectives are met — and therefore the degree to which the well-being of a large number of children is assured — depends in great measure on the men and women who act as foster parents. Yet little attention has been focused upon them by researchers in the child welfare field.* What kind of people will accept the responsibility of caring for children not their own? Why do they do this — what are their motivations? Where do they come from — what sectors of society? What particular qualities distinguish those who are successful in taking care of very disturbed children? Such questions demand empirical answers if those charged with developing and administering foster care programs are to act purposefully instead of dissipating their time and energy in fumbling trial-and-error. But to date answers have not been established by any systematic investigation into the characteristics of an active group of foster parents. Axioms and assumptions, convictions and opinions, have too often substituted for facts. A brief review of the published materials on foster parenthood makes evident the rudimentary state of our knowledge. THE PRACTICE LITERATURE

One searches in vain in the literature of child welfare practitioners for well-conceived theoretical formulations about the nature of foster parenthood. What one does find is a few reports of studies of limited scope along with a good deal of thoughtful reflection by caseworkers on the character and problems of foster parents. Charnley, for example, writes: Many foster parents are lonely people. Often they live deep in the country, where in rough weather about the only cars that get through are their own model A's . . . These foster parents, with their socially uncomplicated lives, have not only an excess of emotional energy to give a foster child, * Considering the numbers of children exposed to the experience of foster care — several million each decade — the paucity of basic data on all aspects of foster home care is surprising. "The literature shows a dearth of formal research on foster home care," comment Meisels and Loeb [40, p. 239]. Among studies on foster care which should be taken note of although they are not focused directly on foster parenthood are those reported by Fanshel and Maas [18], Kadushin [25], Maas and Engler [35], Theis [60], and Weinstein [62].

BACKGROUND FOR THE RESEARCH

5

but an eagerness to give it. Or perhaps they live in the heart of the city, but keep to themselves and live apart from their neighbors. Perhaps I should not call them "lonely," for they would never describe themselves as that. Perhaps I should have said that they seem lonely because of the limited number of friends and acquaintances they appear to have. A homefinder spots them quickly. Their references are often people who shared a duplex with them five years ago and who, when called upon, say, "They seemed awfully nice. They sort of kept to themselves, you know. We never knew them well. But yes, I think they'd be very kind to a child." [11, p. 146] One of the themes touched on frequently by social workers writing about foster families is that these families are invariably dominated by the female spouse. Foster mothers are described as the family decision-makers and as women with a need to mother not only many children but their husbands as well. Charnley makes the flat statement "Foster mothers tend to be the dominant members of their families" [11, p. 167]. At the same time, however, they are not seen to be self-centered tyrants, overriding the wishes of everyone else. Rather it is apparently an excess of energy that impels them to take over many of the routine aspects of family life. Passivity is frequently ascribed to foster fathers, although Charnley views the typical foster father as "a warm, giving, likeable man who makes an important contribution to the lives of foster children." However: Since the foster mother is usually dominant, it follows that he is usually somewhat retiring. He is not what the youngsters call a "mouse" or a weakling, but he is a man who has found it most comfortable to let his wife make many of the major decisions of the family. . . . Unlike his wife, he is not a fluent talker. He is a man of quiet. He rarely raises his voice excitedly. In an interview, the social worker has to make a special effort to draw him in. [ 11, p. 174] Some commentators have raised questions about the suitability of homes in which the husband is the weaker partner in the marriage relationship for children who have already suffered at the hands of inadequate parental figures. Markey and Noble in a study of 35 foster homes found the foster mother to be more "masculine" than the foster father in a large number of instances [37]. They expressed concern about the effect of this on the psychosexual development of children placed in these homes. The motivations of foster parents have been a subject of considerable interest to a number of investigators also concerned about psychological influences on the children in foster homes. Discerning the "true" motives of foster parents may be very difficult. Hutchinson has noted that foster

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parents themselves frequently do not question their own motives in taking children but seem to regard it as a natural kind of action [23, p. 8], Josselyn, a psychoanalyst, has pointed out that the reasons people do give for desiring to be foster parents often mask their underlying motives [24, p. 3]. But observations of workers in the field have led them to recognize at least some of the underlying motives that may be present. These sometimes reflect neurotic needs, as Kline and Overstreet comment: The choice of foster parenthood is usually an expression of varying degrees of mature capacity for parenthood, the capacity and need to give love to a child, to realize one's own maturity; this in turn may be attenuated by a variety of neurotic motives of varying degrees of severity. In some instances the choice may be determined almost entirely by narcissistic or neurotic needs, or defensive measures of maintaining psychic equilibrium. It is the crucial balance between the healthy and the neurotic motivations in the parental functioning that we strive to evaluate in our selection and use of foster parents. It is unrealistic to expect to find many foster parents entirely free from neurotic motivations and needs since the seeking of a foster child is usually, to some degree, the family's way of solving a conscious or unconscious problem. [30, pp. 9-10] Glickman points out a problem some children face if the foster mother has certain neurotic impulses: It is often found that foster mothers who like to control and direct, in their need to give and to keep busy to meet their underlying stresses, find that children in their natural helplessness lend themselves well to filling such needs. This behavior in the foster mother can meet the child's needs as long as she has warmth and flexibility. Some adolescents, however, who have a hard time maintaining their strivings towards independence do not fare well with such a foster mother, as she leaves no room for them to express themselves because of her need to control and direct. [19, p. 175] She goes on to note, however: The entire evaluation of the foster mother's suitability should not rest solely on one area of difficulty by itself. Other factors present may either compensate for or dilute the neurotic drives, leaving her valuable despite her problems. [19, p. 181] The task of distinguishing between "healthy" and "neurotic" motives and trying to anticipate the effect of a given psychological makeup in a potential foster parent on a given child is seen to be a heavy responsibility. Portnoy says: In the past we have thought of prospective foster parents as people with kind and generous impulses; people who wanted to take children into their

BACKGROUND FOR THE RESEARCH 7homes for homes for the love the children. Our increasing knowledge and understanding of psychiatry has brought us to realize that there were few kind, generous impulses per se — no "pure benevolence." We have become conscious that other motives influence people to board children, and that part of our job is to evaluate these motives for our purposes. . . . Our fears (as caseworkers) center about the motives of foster parents. We are, above all, fearful of making mistakes which will be harmful to the child. [45, pp. 320-24] Wolins has found that the reliability of child welfare workers' decisions on the suitability of applicants for foster children compares favorably with the reliability of decisions by clinicians in other fields: caseworkers seem to be fairly consistent in the criteria by which they judge whether or not to place a child with a family [68]. But his purpose was not to determine validity of the criteria so he made no attempt to evaluate the success of such placements by studying children exposed to such parents. The demanding nature of the role of foster parent has been generally acknowledged. The role is seen as very different from, and in many ways more difficult than, that of the biological parent. Very often the foster child has had injurious experiences before entering his foster home. The deprivations endured at the hands of inadequate and emotionally unstable parents have, more frequently than not, left the foster child with serious emotional problems. His behavior may cause difficulties with neighbors, school officials, even the police. But, says Pitts, "The real problem for foster parents is that a foster child actually does not and never can belong to them. Because of this they become caught in a struggle over how much of themselves they can involve and risk in this relationship." [42, p. 15] In the early years of foster home placement, foster parents often came to regard the children they took into their homes as their own. A followup study in the 1920's found that "practically all the children who were placed in their foster homes while they were very young came to feel that their foster parents were their own and became to all intents the families' own children" [60, p. 118]. In recent years, however, stress has been placed on foster home placement as a temporary arrangement, to be used for strengthening rather than weakening the relationship between the child and his natural parents. Wires notes that this increases the burden on foster parents: * * It also increases the burden on caseworkers, who not only have to help foster parents understand the problems of the children they take into their homes but also

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They can no longer look for the satisfaction of replacing the parent in the child's affections, or for the satisfaction of securing a child of their own. We are now calling on them to do something quite different: to accept not just the child, but his parents too, and all that this may entail. In fact, our goal of working toward restoring a child to his own family must become theirs too." [65, pp. 205-6] AIMS OF THE PRESENT STUDY

The literature reveals that child welfare practitioners have offered a number of suggestive hypotheses about foster parenthood. But however astute their observations would seem to be it is surely time to put them to the test of rigorous scientific investigation, to codify the bits and pieces of information available, and to work toward filling in the gaps in our understanding. The study to be reported in this volume was a modest attempt to begin this task. Its twofold aim was to inquire as thoroughly as possible into the motivations of a group of foster parents and to identify the psychological, cultural, and sociological attributes of those who functioned well in the role as contrasted with those who performed in less than adequate fashion. The basic importance of a systematic analysis of motivations and attributes of foster parents should be obvious. Agencies in all parts of the country are faced with a critical shortage of foster homes, particularly homes that can accept badly disturbed children. Even intensive recruiting campaigns have yielded a low return in new applicants. If we can better understand the motivations of those who have come forward we should be helped to make more effective appeals to others. At the same time it is essential that we know what types of persons are likely to be successful foster parents for children of various ages and with special problems. Foster children are not infrequently forced to leave one home after another, often because of the inability of the foster parents to tolerate their behavior. This moving can have serious consequences for the children [18,20]. The present study therefore seeks to explore these questions: What are the motives that prompt individuals to undertake the responsibilities of foster parenthood? What are their expectations upon aphave to act as a kind of buffer between the foster parents and the natural parents of the child. In another article Wires has discussed some of the problems of the caseworker [66],

BACKGROUND FOR THE RESEARCH 9

preaching the agency? How do these compare with their subsequent experiences? Are there any specific personality components that seem to make it possible for foster parents to be both accepting of and giving to a child under care and yet be able to give up the child without experiencing a devastating sense of loss? Can we establish definable classifications of types of foster parents with respect to particular characteristics of children needing placement? For example, are there foster mothers who can accept and relate only to infants? Are there foster mothers who can best relate to the retarded child? Are there types of foster parents who are definable according to past experiences with children —the grandmother type, the young childless couple who are ambivalent about adopting a child, the young couple with many children who don't mind adding to their brood, etc.? What kinds of children best fit into their homes? Can we identify those parents who can best cope with deviant behavior in foster children, ranging from children who act out their aggression to those who are extremely passive and withdrawing? Are there those who can tolerate bizarre behavior? Are there those who can deal effectively with meddling natural parents? What are the patterns of involvement of foster fathers as seen in the functioning of a group of foster families? Is there any pattern to the kind of marital nexus that foster parents present? The answers to be reported here came from research with 101 foster families at one agency, the Family and Childrens Service at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is hoped that this study will be a precursor for studies of greater breadth and depth — research encompassing many agencies in diverse geographical locations and large numbers of foster parent subjects. Only in this way will we acquire the wealth of data that will make possible analysis in depth of the role of foster parent and development of a sound theoretical foundation for practice.

2 < SOME THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

IT is the purpose of this chapter to set forth for the reader some of the "armchair" theorizing that preceded the actual gathering of data. Prior theorizing about "what makes foster parents tick" had to be cast in a rather fluid mold, since no tightly organized theoretical framework had emerged from the literature. But although any theoretical formulations would have to be tentative, it seemed useful to begin by exploring a few as guides to empirical research. The approach was interdisciplinary: it was deemed desirable to consider any potentially useful concepts whether they came from social work practice or from the social or behavioral sciences. Valuable theoretical leads were initially provided by the staff of the Pittsburgh Family and Childrens Service. Two years before the inception of the present study, caseworkers who worked closely with foster parents participated in an informal seminar under the leadership of the agency's psychiatric consultant. Over six weeks there were intensive group discussions about typical foster families, the purpose being to develop a psychosocial portrait of these families. After reviewing the histories of six families, a staff member summarized the group's conclusions: These homes were found to have common denominators. They are part of a clan. The average number of siblings for the foster parent is high. The foster mother is a central figure in the family. The foster father is almost a "moon" who reflects the foster mother. The foster mothers have a quality of earthiness; they are visceral people rather than motor and cerebral. They tend toward early marriages and toward a brief education. They are

SOME THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES 11 home-centered. They are not mobile. They have relatively little capacity for introspection or verbalization. They are soft people, feeling people. They tend to respond immediately to stimuli. (Therefore, if the foster mother is reasonably healthy, the child gets an immediate response appropriate to his behavior.) They have round bodies, are well fed, enjoy simple things, enjoy giving, had early responsibilities as little mothers. They need to satisfy a strong biological bent toward being mothers. It will be recognized that some of these observations have their echo in the professional social work literature on foster parents reviewed in Chapter 1. Beyond this, however, there are striking similarities to themes that may be found in the writings of certain scholars interested in social typology. One familiar with the work of Robert Redfield, for example, will readily recognize simplicity of life style, home-centeredness, spontaneity, earthiness, and a tendency not to be geographically or upwardly mobile as characteristics of members of the "folk society" he describes: Such a society is small, isolated, non-literate and homogeneous, with a strong sense of group solidarity. The ways of living are conventionalized into that coherent system which we call a "culture." Behavior is traditional, spontaneous, uncritical and personal, there is no legislation or habit of experiment and reflection for intellectual ends. Kinship, its relationships and institutions, are the type category of experience and the familial group is the unit of action. The sacred prevails over the secular; the economy is one of status rather than the "market place." [46, p. 294] Redfield's folk people resemble closely the "typical" foster parents described by the Pittsburgh staff. Although foster parents are of the modern world with respect to the physical amenities available to them (e.g., sanitation, transportation, medical care), they in many ways appear to represent an adherence to earlier modes of thought and living in the United States. It would not require much stretching of the imagination to see a close kinship between the typical foster mother known to many presentday child welfare agencies and the woman of pioneer days who played such a decisive role in the settlement of undeveloped land in the West. Home-centered, skilled in a variety of homemaker crafts, capable of strenuous physical labor, and relatively uninterested in "frills" — the pioneer woman was very different from the urban middle-class woman of our day hi her basic interests and in the manner in which she expressed her femininity. The typical foster mother seems much closer to the former than to the latter. Redfield's folk type has much in common with other sociological con-

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

structs, such as the bipolar Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft typology developed by Ferdinand Tonnies. Loomis has summarized the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft typology as follows: Tonnies designated as Gemeinschaft the "social order which — being based upon consensus of wills —rests on harmony and is developed and enabled by folkways, mores, and religion"; he gave the name Gesellschaft to the "order which —being based upon a union of rational wills —rests on convention and agreement is safe-guarded by political legislation and finds its ideological justification in public opinion." In the work teams, families, communities, societies and other collectivities which are Gemeinschaft-like, human relations are ends in themselves; intimacy and sentiment are expected among the actors; norms are traditional. . . . In the Gesellschaft-like associations, relations and actors are used instrumentally; interaction is impersonal; and affectively neutral; actors are not known in their entirety to each other; and norms are rational rather than traditional. [33, pp. 57-59] There was no attempt in the search for theoretical concepts that might be useful in the present research to force foster parents as a class into the mold of folk or Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft typology. But it was thought that the constructs of Redfield and Tonnies might well provide some theoretical guidelines to motivations, values, and life style that seem compatible with the demands of foster parenthood. For example, if a family is to become involved in almost perpetual child rearing through the acceptance of foster children in the home, it seems obvious that the mother person must be willing to stay at home. A familistic Gemeinschaft-like society would offer more support for such an orientation than its Gesellschaft counterpart, since Gemeinschaft-type women are strongly encouraged to play traditional roles and particularly to avoid the external work world to which their husbands have access, while women in a Gesellschaft-like society find it possible to enter the labor force in ever-increasing numbers. A corollary to this is the proposition that foster parenthood makes great demands upon time and energy and therefore can more easily be undertaken by families with few interests (perhaps only family and church) than by those with widely diffused interests. Thus the life style of Gemeinschaft-type persons would tend to be in greater harmony with the demands of foster parenthood than would the life style of Gesellschaft-type persons. The Gemeinschaft-type family would also seem better able to cope with

some the stresses of child rearing and the necessity of separation from a foster child when he is ready to move on to an adoptive home or return to his own home. In the rationalistic modem world, the rearing of children is often strongly influenced by ever-changing fads expounded by popular magazines, television, and the like; there is constant soul searching leading to changes in patterns of child rearing [67]. Parents in a Gesellschaftlike society expend much energy and suffer considerable anxiety in keeping up with new practices. In the Gemeinschaft-like society child rearing is often routinized and nonreflective, thus minimizing the mental and physical strains of caring for children. At the same time there is apt to be in Gemeinschaft-type families less intensive interaction between parents and children than is true in the Gesellschaft-type family, perhaps making the loss of a foster child in such a family less painful. Too, the traditional family would seem to derive its basic satisfaction in child rearing from day-to-day activities, while the urban-type family is oriented more toward the "final product" produced by their efforts. Put another way, the Gesellschaft-type family sees child rearing as contributing eventually to its upward social mobility. The idea of rearing a child without the prospect of this long-range reward, as is the case in foster parenthood, would probably appear to such a family as strange and perhaps incomprehensible. One other aspect of foster parenthood warrants attention in connection with the Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft typology, namely the matter of remuneration offered by agencies for the care of foster children. Although most professional child welfare workers have come to agree that payments to foster parents are a valid and necessary feature of the system of foster care, there is still some uncertainty about how important these payments ought to be in the motivations of potential recruits. It might be anticipated that the traditional values of the Gemeinschaft-type families would lead them to react negatively to money payments as a valid incentive for becoming foster parents, whereas money payments would not conflict at all with the value orientations of Gesellschaft-type families. In the preliminary examination of the small sample of foster parents that preceded this study, the staff of the Family and Childrens Service had noted that most foster parents appeared to originate from large families. Thus it would seem important to consider the size of the "nest family" of foster parents as a correlate of the over-all social framework within which a family operates. Here the work of Bossard and Boll seems very relevant.

14

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

There is, in fact, an interesting parallel between what has been described as the nonreflective, routinized approach to living shown by the folk-type or Gemeinschaft-type person and what Bossard and Boll found in their study of families of six or more children. They comment: Seeing a succession of children grow up gives one a sense of perspective about their problems and the ways of dealing with them. Students of child development have shown that the young go through a series of stages, each with its own peculiar problems, many of which are temporary in character as incidental phases of growth. The same family parent encountering a particular problem but once tends to be greatly concerned about it and may rush the child into a clinic or to a professional practitioner in the child development field, thus complicating the problem by the very anxieties which are manifested. The mother of ten, on the other hand, having seen a similar problem develop, and pass, in at least eight of her children, comes to be not only more patient, but more understanding and reassuring. Other siblings, too, having been through the same stage also are more helpful in their own distinctive way. [6, p. 143] Bossard and Boll also note that crises in the large family tend to fall with particular heaviness upon the older children, many of whom they see as being sacrificed to the common need. The older siblings are put under unusual pressures from an early age, and they come to put themselves under pressure as they get older. Thus habits are formed that crystallize into patterns of responsibility. Older children serve as substitutes for the parents in many families. This is in accord with the suggestion of the Pittsburgh Family and Childrens Service seminar group that many of the foster mothers known to the agency appear to have been little mothers when they were children. Bossard and Boll feel that this is especially true when there are many brothers and sisters and their birth is extended over a long period of tune. Of particular saliency is the statement of Bossard and Boll that "parenthood in a large family tends to be extensive rather than intensive" [6, p. 310]. They do not mean by this that parents of large families love their children any less or are less concerned with their welfare than parents of smaller families. Rather they mean that there simply cannot be the concentrated care of the large-family child or the solicitous anxiety about him that may be true of the small-family child. The point is also made that in the large family emphasis is on the collectivity as opposed to the individual: "With large family living goes emphasis on the qualities of behavior that are group essentials. Conformity is valued above self ex-

SOME THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES 15 pression. Listening is the rule rather than talking; at least one learns to give and take turns in conversation." [6, p. 311 ] A related concept is that of "open" and "closed" family systems. Recent formulations in the Dutch sociological literature are illuminating. C. D.Saal has noted: In a paper read in 1950 for the "Netherlandse Sociologische Vereniging" I suggested making a distinction between the open and the closed type of family, which terms have since then been used frequently in the Dutch Sociological literature. Both types of families must be regarded as functions of certain community relations, in the sense that the more or less closed type of community as a rule correlates to the open family type and the mental development in the individual is unconsciously adapted to the demands of the whole. Conversely, modern open society has a decidedly closed or individualistic type of family and therefore makes a more varied development of the individual possible. [50, pp. 229-45] The modern urban middle-class family has been characteristically described as a compact nuclear group enclosed in a tight circle. The interdependence of the family members is often so intense that the children are not adequately prepared to leave the unit when they mature into young adulthood. * At the same time anybody who is not a member of the nuclear family is forbidden entrance, including grandma. By way of contrast, the foster family is open to complete strangers — the foster children coming under its care, as well as the casework staff, the natural parents of children, the adoptive parents, and so on. This openness is more characteristic of folk-type societies than of modern industrial societies. Redfield's concept of the folk society and Bossard and Boll's findings about the large-family system, as these relate to patterns of child rearing, might then be considered variants of a larger theoretical scheme applicable to foster parenthood. One formulation of a possible encompassing theory of the social origins of foster parents would run as follows: Foster parents are people who in their earlier lives were exposed to a concept of the family as being an open system (one could be grafted onto it or transplanted out of it) or who experienced a closed family system in which the internal relationships between parents and children were so diluted as to blur the perception of the family, particularly the parentchild relationship, as distinct from other social organisms. These were some of the theoretical perspectives brought to bear on the * Pollak has stated that a reasonably healthy family unit is one that helps prepare the child for separation from the family [44j.

16

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

problem of designing a study to identify critical characteristics of foster parents. The choice of many of the items included in the instruments developed for this study stemmed from the preliminary theoretical excursions. Other applications of the concepts mentioned in this chapter will be evident in the presentation of the study findings.

3 ' THE PLAN OF THE STUDY

1 HE agency at which this study of foster parents was conducted, the Family and Childrens Service, is the largest nonsectarian casework agency in the Pittsburgh-Allegheny County area of western Pennsylvania. It maintains offices in the center of Pittsburgh and hi several surrounding communities. The agency was created by a merger of three agencies, one family and two child welfare organizations, hi 1949. It provides general casework services to individuals and families, adoption services, homemaker services, and services to the aged as well as foster family placement for children. The professional staff at the time of the study comprised 60 graduates of professional schools of social work. The agency was well aware of the risks it was taking hi subjecting its precious pool of foster parents to the techniques of research. Intensive interviews, especially, might arouse anxiety among a group commonly regarded as nonreflective. There was a chance that some of the foster parents would feel so threatened by the demands of the researchers that they would no longer be willing to take children supervised by the agency. However, the agency staff had had earlier success in using the tools of research, including direct interviews in homes, in the course of a follow-up study of 50 couples who had sought help in their marital relationship. This experience encouraged agency administrators to have confidence that there would be no adverse consequences for the agency's foster care program as the result of the study on foster parenthood. Fortunately, there were no serious negative consequences of the research.* * In view of the number of agencies that are developing their own research departments it may be useful to note the procedure that was followed in introducing re-

18

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

It was decided to include in the study all the foster parents who were currently caring for children under agency supervision, as well as those who had recently cared for children and were awaiting placement of new children. For the period of data collection, 1958-59, there were 102 families on the agency's active roster. Participation in the study by the foster parents was voluntary. They were given a straightforward explanation of the purpose of the research, which emphasized that the agency wanted to learn more about various aspects of the foster parent role so as to serve them and the foster children better. The agency caseworkers were briefed about the study and asked to help the foster parents with whom they worked to understand the reasons for it. In addition the research director talked to a large group of the foster mothers at one of their meetings to stimulate their interest. Of the 102 foster mothers who were approached, only one refused to participate in the study. COLLECTION OF DATA

Data were collected by four means: interviews with foster mothers, interviews with foster fathers, administration of the Parental Attitude Research Instrument, and ratings by caseworkers of the role performance of foster parents. Foster Mother Interview. A 32-page interviewing schedule* combining open-ended and preceded questions was developed and pretested. The interviews were conducted in the foster homes, with the typical interview lasting about two and a half hours; the range was one hour and forty-five minutes to four hours. When an interview ran unusually long, the interviewer terminated it at a reasonable point and arranged to return for a second visit. Interviewing was done by four trained caseworkers, three of whom were employees of the agency in areas of service not related to the foster care program. search at this one agency. The research program at Family and Childrens Service began in 1955 when a director of research, the present writer, was hired. The first project to be carried out was an analysis of case records to provide data for a campaign to recruit Negro applicants for adoptive children [17]. The second involved the filling out by caseworkers of a rating instrument on all new clients coming to the agency over a four-month period [16]. The third was the follow-up study mentioned above and the fourth the study reported here. Thus there was a logical sequence of development, from relatively simple to more demanding projects. * A copy of the schedule is available from the author upon request. Write to Dr. David Fanshel, Columbia University School of Social Work, 2 East 91st Street, New York,N.Y. 10028.

THE PLAN OF THE STUDY

19

On the whole, the tolerance for the interviewing procedure appears to have been good, with only an occasional instance of serious irritability. Nevertheless, the interviewing staff almost uniformly saw the interview as very taxing for the respondents. One of the key problems facing the interviewers was the need to get beyond shallow, superficial responses to more straightforward reactions. In the training of the interviewers stress was placed upon using casework skills to reduce anxiety and to encourage candor in conflict-laden areas (for example, the foster parent's view of the agency, including its policies, practices, and staff; the nature of the foster parent's marriage; the relationship of the foster parent to any natural children). An attempt was made to keep the wording of the questions as simple as possible because of the limited educational backgrounds of most of the respondents. The interviewers were provided with a rating instrument for recording their impressions of the foster parent as seen in the interview situation. A notational system was also developed by which the interviewers could indicate topical areas in the schedule that elicited blocking, confusion, or anxiousness on the part of the foster parents or that elicited responses which seemed to be superficial or evasive. This permitted identification of items for which the reliability of responses might be low. Foster Father Interview. An 18-page interview schedule was developed and pretested. This was deliberately designed as a shorter instrument than the one for foster mothers, partly because foster fathers have generally been regarded as playing a subordinate role in foster care, and partly because it was anticipated that they would have less tolerance for lengthy research interviews than would their wives, who were already accustomed to extensive consultation with the professional staff of the agency. For both the foster fathers and the foster mothers, limited background information was made available to the interviewers to help them establish rapport. This material was prepared by the caseworker at the agency who knew each foster family best. Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI). This instrument has 23 five-item scales.* Its use was prompted by the recognition that childrearing attitudes and practices of foster parents are an extremely significant variable in foster care. It is one of the more impressive attempts in recent years to develop a valid and reliable method of evaluating childcare practice and attitudes. The instrument was still being validated at the * See the description of the PARI by its authors, Schaefer and Bell [52].

20

FOSTER

PARENTHOOD

time this study of foster parents began, but it showed enough promise of yielding valuable empirical data to justify its inclusion in the research design. Caseworker Ratings of the Role Performance of Foster Parents. The observations and judgments caseworkers make about foster parents in the course of carrying out their day-to-day responsibilities should provide much important material for the researcher. In order to obtain quantifiable data from them for this study an instrument called the Foster Parent Appraisal Form (FPAF) was constructed. The form required caseworkers to make 135 ratings on ten-point scales for each foster family. Rated were such things as the handling by foster parents of the children entrusted to their care, the patterns of child rearing in the foster home, the social characteristics of the foster parents, the quality of the family relationships, and the suitability of foster parents for various kinds of children. The agency staff was trained in the use of the FPAF at a two-hour session, followed by individual consultation with the research director. Case illustrations and definitions were provided so as to ensure as far as possible uniformity of criteria in the caseworkers' ratings. For 88 of the 101 foster families in the study it was possible to obtain independent ratings on the same family from two caseworkers (although they had supervised different foster children), thus permitting a check on the reliability of the instrument. CODING OF THE DATA

The interview schedules were coded by clerks, with a reliability check being made for 20 per cent of the material. Errors were found to be under 1 per cent and were randomly distributed. Responses to open-ended questions were coded by a professionally trained caseworker with substantial supervisory experience in child welfare. The reliability of her coding was verified by the research director.

4'INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS

DESPITE the length of the interview used and its potentially stressful nature, most of the 101 foster mothers who took part in the study appeared to be very cooperative. There were a number of questions that seemed to cause blocking or other kinds of defensive behavior, but the over-all impression gained in the course of the project was that the foster mothers were as straightforward as could be expected for a group who had both a fairly low level of educational achievement and no prior exposure to research procedures of this sort. It is not possible to present in full detail the responses of the foster mothers, since this would require a lengthy volume in itself. Many of the replies to the questions in the interview schedule were used in combination with other data for the purpose of constructing attitude scales and indices; we shall be concerned with this important use of the interview material in a subsequent chapter. Here the purpose is to present some of the highlights in the foster mothers' reports about themselves so as to provide a general picture of their orientation to the foster parent role. CLASSIFICATION OF THE SAMPLE INTO SUBTYPES

A basic dichotomy emerged in the study between those who cared primarily for infants and those who provided homes for older children. Although this finding will not surprise most child welfare practitioners — the care of infants and the care of older children would appear, a priori, to call for quite different skills and responsibilities — it is well to docu-

22

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

ment the characteristics and behavior that distinguish these two subspecializations. In this chapter, therefore, the responses of the two types of foster mothers will be reported separately. There were 62 foster mothers who had cared primarily for infants (referred to as having "infant homes") and 39 who had cared for older children (referred to as having "noninfant homes"). Table 1 shows the percentage distribution of the foster homes by the median ages of the children at the time they were first placed there. Table 1. Percentage Distribution of Foster Homes by Median Ages of Children Cared For Median Age of Children at Time of Placement

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Birth through 3 months 63% 4—6 months 18 7-1 1 months 19 12-23 months 2—4 years 5-7 years 8-10 years 1 1—13 years More than 14 years New homes (children not yet assigned) . Total . 100

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

21% 33 13 5 15 3 10 100

Total Group ( N — 101) 38% 11 12 8 13 5 2 6 1 4 100

Table 2. Percentage Distribution of Foster Parents by Age Group at Time of Study

Age in Years

26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 Over 65 Deceased Total

Infant Homes (N = 62) Foster Foster Father Mother 2% 18 19 16 16 16 11 1 1 0 100

2% 10 15 13 18 15 13 2 6 6 100

Noninfant Homes (N = 39) Foster Foster Father Mother 0% 8 21 21 21 21 4 0 4 0 100

0% 3 15 28 5 31 0 5 3 10 100

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS 23 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOSTER PARENTS

Age. Table 2 presents the age breakdown of the foster mothers and foster fathers. At the time of this study, 39 per cent of the foster mothers caring primarily for infants and 29 per cent of the mothers caring for older foster children were 40 years old or under. Twenty-nine per cent of the former group were over the age of 50 compared with 31 per cent of the latter group. All in all, there is no sharp distinction between the foster homes based on the age of the foster mother. This is somewhat surprising, since one might have anticipated that, because of the physical demands of infant care, this would be a responsibility handled largely by the younger foster mothers. The older foster mothers who care for infants are unusual in that they continue to occupy a status position requiring a good deal of physical vitality at an age when many of their contemporaries are content to restrict their child-focused activities to those involved in being grandparents. It is striking to contrast the vocal complaints commonly registered by young mothers about the physical exhaustion they experience in caring for their infants and toddlers with the quiet aplomb shown by some gray-haired foster mothers who have cared for a parade of babies over the years. Race. There were 28 Negro families and 73 white families in the study group. Of the Negro foster families, 79 per cent cared for infants, a considerably larger proportion than the 55 per cent of the white foster families with whom infants had been placed. This difference may be partially explained by the fact that Negro children who came into care as infants born out of wedlock were more apt to remain in foster care all of their childhood years than their white counterparts, who could more easily be moved into adoptive homes. When a private agency such as Family and Childrens Service had reason to believe that a child was likely to spend many years in foster care, it tended to refer the child to a public agency, the Juvenile Court, which had better resources for subsidizing the longrange costs involved. Hence, older Negro children were less available at the agency for placement in Negro foster homes. Tenure with Agency. Table 3 shows that about four out of every ten foster families in the study population had been in service with the agency for less than three years. There was no significant difference between foster parents caring for infants and those caring for older children. Own Children. Table 4 presents data on the number of own children

24

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

reported by the subjects in this study. About one couple out of every four of the total group had never had children of their own. This is a surprisingly large proportion since prior experience in the care of children would seem a natural prerequisite for foster parenthood. Of further interest is the finding that childlessness was more characteristic of the foster families caring for older children than of those fostering infants, with 38 per cent of the former group reporting no own children as contrasted with 15 per cent of the latter. One might speculate that those who have never had any children of their own do regard the care of infants, at least, as something requiring experience. Another interesting finding is that those who had only one own child gravitated in much greater proportion toward the care of infants than toward the care of older children. For the most part, the families in the study did not have large numbers of own children; only 16 per cent had four or more children. As will be seen subsequently, the small Table 3. Percentage Distribution of Foster Parents by Length of Tenure with Agency Number of Years with Agency 1 or less 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-9 10-14 15-19 20 or more Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

12% 23 25 11 16 3 8 2 100

25% 29 10 10 8 10 8 0 100

17% 25 19 11 13 6 8 1 100

Table 4. Percentage Distribution of Foster Parents by Number of Foster Parents' Own Children Number of Own Children

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

15% 23 26 18 10 5 3

38% 8 18 23 10 3 0

24% 17 22 21 10 4 2

Total

100

100

100

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS

25

size of the foster families is in contrast with the foster parents' families of origin; this suggests that fostering agency children enables many of these families to compensate for what may be regarded as a handicap in family size. Also, later chapters will reveal that childlessness of foster parents bears a significant relationship to their child-rearing attitudes and their readiness for certain kinds of foster children. For two out of every three foster families with own children, it was reported that all of their own youngsters were currently at home. For the remainder, at least one of the children had grown up and left the family abode, and nine foster families reported that all their children had set up their own homes. Almost half of the group had own children under 18 years of age. In addition, it was reported by almost two families in ten that there were children of a prior marriage of one of the partners living in the home. Table 5. Distribution of Foster Parents by Length of Marriage at Time of Study Years of Marriage Less than 3 4-8 9-13 14-18 . 19-23 24-28

Number of Couples 3 7 8 19 17 19

Years of Marriage 29-33 34-38 39-44 More than 44 No information . . . total

Number of Couples 12 7 1 3 5 101

Duration of Marriage. Table 5 indicates the length of the current mar riage of the foster parents (undifferentiated for infant homes and noninfant homes because of the lack of contrast). Looking at the table, one is impressed with the fact that most of the foster parents had been married for a considerable period of time, with four out of every ten couples married for at least 24 years. Thus, the foster children were being exposed to families in which the marriage of foster parents appeared to be highly stable. At least one partner in a fourth of the sample had been previously mar ried. This was more often true of the foster mother than the foster father. For seven couples, both the man and the woman had been previously married. Family Background. The foster mothers, on the whole, came from very large families. For example, 18 of the group reported that their parents

26

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

had had ten or more children. Further, 33 of the foster mothers came from families in which there were from six to nine children, and 19 from families in which there were four or five children. Nineteen of the foster mothers came from families with three children, and 11 of the total group came from families having only one or two children. (Information was not available for one of the women.) The impression of many practitioners that foster families originate from large family units would seem confirmed by the study group reported upon here. Almost two-thirds of the foster mothers said that their fathers had come from rural areas or from small towns, and for the most part this was also true of their mothers. This rural background has potential significance in accounting for some of the attitudes and role adjustments discussed later in this report. For the white families, the major ethnic background appeared to be Anglo-Saxon or German, with only a few families having an eastern European or French, Italian, or Spanish background. Most of the families were Protestant. Very few of the parents of the foster parents were reported to be of foreign birth. The fathers of the foster mothers achieved only a modest education. Almost a third did not complete grade school, and two-thirds did not go beyond grade school. Twenty-five of the fathers of the foster mothers were described as miners, 15 as farmers, 14 as mill workers of various sorts. Thus, by and large, the foster mothers originated from families of rather low social status, if one applies any of the sociological indices that have been used to measure socioeconomic status in recent years. Most of the foster mothers described their parents as having been very religious and rather strict in their child-rearing patterns. It is interesting to note that a not insignificant number of the foster mothers in the study supplied evidence of impoverished childhoods or pathological elements of one kind or another in their family backgrounds. For instance, 14 of the foster mothers reported that their own fathers had been alcoholic, and another 24 reported other aspects of paternal behavior that had been upsetting to them. Some mentioned that desertion or other prolonged absences from the home had been a source of considerable pain to them as they grew up. For the group as a whole, however, such deviant behavior was not typical. Most of the foster mothers (54) identified themselves as having come from the upper working class; another 7 accorded themselves lower

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS

27

working-class status; and 37 placed themselves somewhere in the middle class. In 3 cases responses were coded as "other." Eighty-five of the foster mothers reported that in their childhood the family economic situation had been comfortable, whereas the remainder of the respondents spoke of their circumstances as having been meager or impoverished. Two-thirds of the foster mothers spent their early years in either rural communities or small towns, and from their reports it would seem that most grew up in homes that were more than ten miles from the nearest large city. Education and Work Experience. The educational achievement level of the foster mothers turned out to be somewhat higher than that of their own parents. Twenty-two of the subjects indicated that they had not completed grade school; 13 ceased going to school after they had graduated from grade school; 28 had some high school experience; and 29 had graduated from high school. Seven foster mothers reported some college training, but only one woman had completed college. (Information was not available for one of the women.) In the main, the foster mothers in this study had a somewhat lower level of education than the population at large. Seven of the foster mothers indicated that they had never worked before marriage. Sixteen said that they had previously engaged in paid housekeeping work. Fourteen reported that they had performed either farm labor or factory work. Thirty had been employed in clerical jobs or in sales work. Thirty-four had been engaged in miscellaneous jobs, most of which were of short duration. The large majority had abandoned employment at the time they were married. Other Descriptive Characteristics. Three out of every four of the foster families reported that they owned their own homes. Apartment living was infrequent for these families, who tended to rent houses when they did not own their own homes. Forty of the foster mothers reported they had been in their present residences for less than five years. Twenty-five reported they had been in their homes from six to ten years. Fourteen had been residing in their current abodes for twenty years or more. Three-fourths of the foster families had no other relatives living in the home. Of the remainder, six foster families reported grandparents in the home, four reported uncles and aunts, and seven reported children with various degrees of relationship. One foster family reported a nonrelated child, and six other families reported other nonrelated individuals.

28

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Almost half of the study group reported that they had neither taken care of foster children for another agency nor operated independent boarding homes for children. A surprisingly large number (46 families), however, had taken care of children independently. Four families reported that they had taken care of foster children for another social agency, and five foster families reported that they had cared for other foster children both for another social agency and on an independent basis. Obviously, then, for some of the foster parents their years of association with the Family and Childrens Service (as summarized in Table 3) do not adequately measure their experience. In relating how they had first become interested in foster parenthood, 26 foster mothers reported that they had seen publicity in the newspapers and another five had heard about the agency over radio and television. By far the largest group (48) had been told about the agency by a friend or neighbor. Five heard about the agency through their churches or other organizations, and 17 families heard about the agency from miscellaneous sources. It is of interest to note that two-thirds of the foster families reported knowing at least one other foster family before applying to the agency. In 83 cases, it was reported that the idea of taking in a foster child had originated with the foster mother. In 15 cases, both partners had come to the decision at the same time, and in three cases, the father was the one who first showed interest. It would appear that the initiative for assuming this status position had come very largely from the foster mothers. FOSTER MOTHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE FOSTER PARENT ROLE We shall now take a look at some of the more qualitative aspects of the subjects' adaptation to the foster parent status position as revealed in the research interviews. But first it is of interest to know whether foster parents make the decision to take on the fostering of children as a result of some specific occurrence hi their lives. In this group four out of every ten foster mothers indicated that nothing unusual had occurred in the year before they applied to the agency. As Table 6 indicates, this seemed to hold in about the same proportion for infant homes and noninfant homes. For the remainder, there were variously reported special circumstances in the preceding year that may have prompted them to apply.

29

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS

Table 6. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Circumstance during Year before Application to the Agency *

Circumstance

Infant Homes ( N = 62)

Nothing unusual happened (a typical year) . . Own children left home (marriage, college, etc.) Felt restless Learned she could not have own children. . . . Personal upset (death of child, relative) . . . . Other Total

40% 31 5 0 10 14 100

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group ( N = 101)

36%

38%

23 5 10 18 g

29 5 4 13 11

100

100

* The foster mothers were asked: "Was this a typical year for you?"

One other preliminary question that is relevant here is whether the foster mothers were caring for the types of children most appealing to them. Since the agency did not have an unlimited pool of children to place in its foster homes, it was not always possible to select a child who matched the foster parents' preferences in age, sex, and so on. In this connection, the foster mothers were asked to indicate what age in a child's development they found most pleasurable. Table 7 summarizes their responses. As might be expected, those who were already caring for infants tended to show a preference for this stage: hah0 of those caring for infants indicated that the newborn offered them the greatest pleasure, whereas this was true for only 10 per cent of the mothers from noninfant homes. Similarly, there were almost twice as many expressing a preference for the toddler stage among those caring for infants as among those from the noninfant homes. It is also of interest to find that 27 per cent of the subjects caring for older children expressed no preference for any particular age group. On the whole, it would seem that the subjects of this study were caring for children of an age that they found preferable. Role Satisfactions. The foster mothers were asked to indicate the degree and kinds of satisfaction they derived from being foster parents. One is impressed with the extent to which these women revealed themselves to be identified with the role. The data in Tables 8 and 9 make it obvious that the subjects derived a good deal of satisfaction from the rearing of foster children. There is a distinct difference, however, between the infant homes and the noninfant homes in the ranking of foster parenthood as one of life's greatest satisfactions: almost six out of every ten of the foster

Table 7. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Expressed Preference for a Certain Stage of Childhood * Most Enjoyable Stage in Child's Life

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

52% 21 19 0 2 0 0 0 6 100

10% 13 8 24 12 3 0 3 27 100

35% 18 15 9 5 1 0 1 16 100

Infancy (up to 1 year) Toddler (1-2 years) Infancy and toddler Preschool (3-5 years) Early school age (6-9 years) Preadolescence (10-12 years) Early adolescence (13-15 years) Late adolescence No preference Total

* The question to foster mothers was posed as follows: "Many women express different preferences for children at various stages of development. That is, they find that they have gotten their greatest pleasure out of children at various ages. What is the situation in your case? Which of the following stages in a child's development do you enjoy most?" Table 8. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Evaluation of Experience * Evaluation of Role as Foster Mother

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Much more satisfying than anticipated . . . . 20% More satisfying than anticipated 54 About as expected 15 Other responses 11 Total 100

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

34% 43 21 2 100

29% 48 19 4 100

* The foster mothers were asked: "All things considered, has your experience as a foster parent worked out as well as you anticipated?" Table 9. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Ranking of Foster Parent Role among Activities Giving Greatest Satisfaction * Ranking of Foster Parenthood First Second Third Not mentioned Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N = 101)

13% 16 32 39 100

10% 15 15 60 100

12% 16 26 46 100

* The foster mothers were asked: "Can you name three things that have given you the greatest satisfaction in life?" (Ranked by order in which responses were given.) 30

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS 31 mothers from noninfant homes failed to mention foster parenthood; this was true of only four out of ten of those caring for infants. It would appear that the foster mothers caring for infants had greater enthusiasm for the role and assigned it a higher priority in their lives. Another way of tapping the subjects' enthusiasm for the role was to ask the foster mothers how they would feel about their own children some day becoming foster parents. Their responses are shown in Table 10. Again, we see that more than half the group were very positive in their reaction. And again, there is a distinct difference in responses between the foster mothers in infant homes and those in noninfant homes, the former group showing more enthusiasm. Table 10. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Reactions to Own Children Becoming Foster Parents *

Reaction

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Strong delight ... 61% General approval . . . 24 Mild approval . .. 3 Mild disapproval . .. 2 Question inappropriate (childless) . .... 10 Total ,. . . 100

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

46% 31 5 0 18 100

55% 27 4 1 13 100

* The foster mothers were asked: "How would you feel about one of your own children some day becoming a foster parent?"

Satisfactions. The foster mothers were asked in the interview to select from a list of 16 role satisfactions (which had been culled from the agency's case records describing work with foster parents) the five that best applied to them. Table 11 presents the results. In examining the table, one finds a significant overlap in the items selected by the two groups of foster mothers.* There are, however, some interesting variations in sources of role satisfactions for the two groups that are sufficiently pronounced to warrant further investigation. To characterize in a general way the differences one could say that those caring for infants are more oriented toward private gratifications, whereas social gratifications are more characteristic of those caring for older children. For example, "I enjoy the presence of a cuddly little baby in our * The correlation between the rank orderings for the two groups was significantly larger than zero at the .05 level of significance (two-tailed test).

32

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Table 11. Number of Foster Mothers Reporting Each Source of Role Satisfaction and Rank of Each Source by Frequency of Response * Source of Satisfaction

Infant Homes (N = 62) Number Rank

I like putting my religious beliefs into action I enjoy the presence of a cuddly little baby in our home I like knowing that I am doing something useful for the community Since this makes my spouse happy, I am satisfied I like being able to add to the family income Being a foster parent helps me to continue to feel young It makes me feel like a whole woman .... It keeps me from becoming nervous for want of something to keep me busy.. It satisfies those strong motherly drives of mine I like helping the unfortunate, downtrodden people I like being able to meet the challenge of a difficult task I like being able to put my skills as a homemaker into action I like the affection I get from children.... I am fascinated watching children grow up I get satisfaction out of being associated with an organization such as Family and Childrens Service The respect of my neighbors is very gratifying

Noninfant Homes (N = 39) Number Rank

29

4

21

4

40

1

15

7.5

21

7

25

1

11

12

15

7.5

3

15

1

16

20 4

9 14

8 7

13 14

20

9

9

11.5

22

6

10

10

20

9

22

3

17

11

18

5

6 30

13 3

9 13

11.5 9

36

2

24

2

23

5

16

5

1

16

3

15

* The foster mothers were asked to select the five items on the list that represented the most important sources of role satisfaction for them. The item marked "1" in the Rank column was selected most frequently by the foster mothers in the group; the item marked "16" was selected least frequently.

home" was the item most frequently selected by the former group, but it tied for seventh ranking for the latter. By way of contrast, "I like knowing that I am doing something useful for the community" emerged as the highest ranked satisfaction for those foster mothers who cared for older youngsters; this item ranked seventh for those caring for infants. Similarly, "I like helping the unfortunate, downtrodden people" ranked third for the foster mothers of the older youngsters, ninth for those specializing in in-

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS 33 fant care. (This "benefactress-of-children" orientation of some foster mothers will subsequently be shown to be related to the negative social outlook measured by Srole's Anomie Scale and to seemingly pathogenic attitudes in child rearing as measured by the Parental Attitude Research Instrument.) The item "I like the affection I get from children" ranked third for foster mothers caring for infants, ninth by those caring for older youngsters. "It satisfies those strong motherly drives of mine" ranked sixth for the former group and tenth for the latter. (In a later section, it is reported that the unabashed expression of maternal feeling was positively correlated with superior performance ratings by caseworkers who had supervised children in the foster homes.) Finally, one other interesting contrast between the reported satisfactions of the two groups of foster mothers is with respect to the item "I like being able to meet the challenge of a difficult task," ranked fifth by those caring for older children but only eleventh by those caring for infants. For both groups, being able to add to the family income is listed at or near the bottom as a source of satisfaction. Thus, although there has been a good deal written in the professional social work literature about the legitimacy of earning income as a foster parent, this has not apparently been recognized by the foster parents themselves. Only one of the foster mothers caring for older children and only three of those caring for infants chose income as a source of role satisfaction. The Self-image of Foster Mothers. It seemed important to inquire whether foster mothers see themselves as a minority group and perhaps little understood by those who are not themselves foster parents. If foster mothers feel they are in some manner regarded as "oddballs," this might be a source of role strain. The subjects in this study were therefore presented with a series of reactions others might have to them as foster parents and asked to indicate whether they had experienced these reactions from many, few, or none of their acquaintances. Table 12 summarizes the revealing responses of these women. We find that eight out of every ten foster mothers reported that they received respect from most other people because the job they were doing was considered to be "morally right." There was a greater tendency for this to be reported by the subjects in infant homes than by those in noninfant homes, but the trend is strong for both groups. We also find that the foster mothers reported in substantial numbers that they had achieved the respect of others because they were physically able to handle such a responsibility; this was reported by two-

Table 12. Percentage of Foster Mothers Perceiving That Many, Few, or No Other Persons Had Certain Reactions to Them as Foster Parents Perception nf Other

Persons' Reactions

Infant Homes (N = 62) None Other * Many Few

They respect me for the job I am doing because it is morally right. 86% They respect me because I am physically able to handle such a responsibility 76 They don't understand why I should want to be a foster parent 35 They ask how I can stand separating from a child I have taken care of 87 They are amused at my attachment to children 37 They think I am doing it only for added income 3 They accept what I am doing as a perfectly natural thing 55 They are jealous of my ability to take care of children 2

8%

1%

Noninf ant Homes (N = 39) Many Few None Other Many

5%

72%

15%

10%

3%

Total Group (N=101) None Few

80%

11%

5%

Other 4%

10

12

2

46

13

8

33

65

11

11

13

44

19

2

15

54

26

5

28

47

22

3

8

2

3

54

28

10

8

74

16

5

5

21

31

11

31

18

46

5

35

20

36

9

19

77

1

3

33

62

2

3

25

71

1

26

18

1

59

21

13

7

56

24

16

4

19

74

5

8

13

79

0

4

17

76

3

* The item was regarded as not applicable or no response was given.

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS 35 thirds of the group. In this connection, there was a significant difference between foster mothers caring for infants and those caring for noninfants, 76 per cent of the former against 46 per cent of the latter. One might deduce that the care of infants is regarded by persons with whom the foster mothers associate as physically more demanding than the care of older children and therefore specially deserving of admiration. Along a more negative dimension, 28 per cent of the foster mothers reported that many people seemed puzzled about why they should want to be foster parents. This was more pronounced for those caring for infants (35 per cent) than for those caring for older children (15 per cent). Three-quarters of all the subjects also indicated that many people could not understand how they could bear to be separated from a child. Again, this response was more pronounced for those who cared for infants (87 per cent) than for those caring for older children (54 per cent). It is clear that although the mothers caring for infants seemed to derive a good deal of satisfaction from the role and generally appeared to be enthusiastic about what they were doing, they were also aware of much wonderment on the part of outside observers about their role. By and large, one is impressed with the fact that the foster mothers were able to be candid and did not need to rationalize away the questioning reactions of other persons about their motives or their wisdom in fostering other people's children. A third of the foster mothers reported many people to be "amused at my attachment to children." There was no statistically significant difference here between infant homes and noninfant homes. Very few of the group of foster mothers indicated that they felt their friends and neighbors were jealous of their ability to take care of children. Nevertheless, with respect to a number of issues identified in Table 12, some foster parents saw themselves as being viewed with puzzlement by others. The implications of this will be examined later in this report. Most of the foster mothers did not feel that other people thought they were fostering children for the purpose of adding to their income. For the study group as a whole, seven out of ten reported that nobody had ever attributed such a motive to them. There was some difference between the two types of foster homes in this respect. A third of those caring for older children report that a "few people" viewed them as being motivated by financial considerations as contrasted with a fifth of those caring for infants.

36

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

A majority of the foster mothers stated that most people seemed to accept what they were doing as a perfectly natural thing; this was reported by almost six out of every ten foster parents. Ability to Cope with Problems of Foster Children. Table 13 presents the foster mothers' views of problems with which foster parents have to contend. They were asked to consider 11 problems and to place each in one of three categories: easier, harder, or unacceptable. That is, to take the first item in the table, each subject was asked to indicate whether having a foster child who becomes very destructive was for her one of the easier problems she had to cope with as a foster parent, one of the harder problems, or a problem she would not attempt to cope with (i.e., she would not take a child who had such a problem). Two-thirds of the group regarded this as one of their harder problems, and one out of every ten of the foster mothers simply could not tolerate having a destructive child. Only two in ten of the foster mothers labeled this one of their easier problems. No appreciable differences emerged between those who cared for infants and those who cared for older children. This was surprising, since it might be presumed that the care of older children would involve dealing with the problem of destructiveness more often than would the care of infants. The lack of tolerance for such behavior might well account for much of the allegedly high rate of turnover for children in foster family care. The feeding of a newborn infant was, of course, regarded as one of the easier problems by those who cared for infants, with nine out of ten such foster mothers categorizing the task in this way. It was also considered a relatively easy problem for those who cared for older children, although 8 per cent of the subjects indicated that they could not accept such a responsibility. A third of the foster parents said that helping a foster child leave for an adoptive home was one of their easier problems, two-thirds of the group finding it one of the harder problems to cope with. There was a marked difference here between the two groups of mothers: more than eight out of ten of those who cared for older children found the separation process difficult, but only about half of those caring for infants reported this to be the case. The care of a very colicky foster baby was commonly regarded as being difficult by both those who cared for infants and those who cared for older children. Two-thirds of the sample regarded this as one of the more chal-

Table 13. Percentage of Foster Mothers Evaluating Problems with Which Foster Parents Have to Contend as Easier, Harder, or Unacceptable Infant Homes (N = 62) Problem Having a foster child who becomes . very destructive . Feeding a newborn infant Helping a foster child leave . for an adoptive home Having a very colicky foster baby . . . . . Having a foster child with a . severe physical handicap Having a foster child who is . slightly mentally retarded Having two newborn infants to take . care of at once Having visits from unmarried mothers . . Having a child who is extremely . withdrawn and won't talk Having a child who suddenly . becomes very ill Having an older child who pines for . his own home

Easier

Harder

Unacceptable

22% 90

68% 10

10% 0

47 31

53 65

24

Noninfant Homes (N = 39) UnacceptEasier Harder able

Total Group (N = 101) Unacceptable Harder Easier 22% 85

67% 12

0 8

36 30

64 65

0 5

63

10

26

61

13

21

64

15

15

62

23

13 4

18 79

44 21

38 0

45 83

32 16

23 1

74

2

36

64

0

29

70

1

55

45

0

67

33

0

60

40

0

21

77

2

13

77

10

18

78

4

21% 77

66% 15

0 4

18 28

82 64

61

15

27

11

61

28

63 85

24 11

24

13% 8

11% 3

38

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

lenging problems. Those who were already caring for infants voiced as dim a view of this kind of mothering situation as those who cared for older children. Similarly, caring for a foster child afflicted with a severe physical handicap was labeled one of the more difficult problems by almost twothirds of the foster mothers; only one in four reported it an easier problem. Again, there was no difference between the reactions of those rearing older children and those fostering younger children. The problem of mental retardation drew the strongest negative response the group of foster mothers gave in this section of the interview: 28 per cent of those who cared for infants and 15 per cent of those who cared for older children said that they could not accept a child who was slightly mentally retarded. As might be expected, there was a very noticeable difference between the groups of foster mothers with respect to having two newborn infants to take care of at once. Almost two-thirds of those caring for infants indicated that this was one of the easier problems they faced, whereas only 18 per cent of the subjects caring for older children expressed such an opinion. In the latter group, we also find that 38 per cent indicated that they could not accept such a task. This was true of only 13 per cent of those from infant homes. Having visits from an unmarried mother was commonly regarded by most of the foster mothers as not presenting any serious problem. More than eight out of every ten foster mothers indicated this was one of their easier problems. Having a child who is extremely withdrawn and won't talk was regarded as a more difficult problem by seven out of every ten of the foster mothers and, therefore, must be seen as one of the major problems with which foster families have to contend. There was some tendency for those who cared for older children to find the problem a little more acceptable; 36 per cent of the foster mothers caring for older children found this an easier problem compared with 24 per cent of those caring for infants. Having a child who suddenly becomes very ill was not seen as a formidable problem by most of the foster mothers; six out of ten in the total group considered this one of their easier problems. There was a greater tendency, however, for foster mothers in noninfant homes to be accepting of this kind of problem than for those in infant homes. Having an older child who pines for his own home was viewed as a decidedly difficult problem by almost eight out of ten of the foster mothers.

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS 39 There was less tolerance for this kind of problem among those who were caring for older children than among those with infants in their homes. Separation from Foster Children. A number of questions were designed to ascertain differing modes of adjustment to the experience of having to separate from foster children. It would seem probable that the longer the child had stayed in the home the more difficult it would be for the foster mother to see him leave. Table 14 shows the longest period of time any foster child remained in each foster home. Almost two-thirds of the foster mothers reported that at least one child had been in their homes for a minimum period of one year, and almost a quarter of the sample had had a child in their homes for a period of three years or more. Somewhat surprisingly infant homes and noninfant homes did not differ markedly on this dimension. There was a more rapid turnover of children in the infant homes: as shown in Table 15, two-thirds of these mothers had cared for five or more children during their careers as foster parents in contrast to two-fifths of the noninfant foster mothers. But even so a newborn infant would often remain in one home for a rather extended period. Hence those who cared for infants fairly often had to contend with the problem of relating to a child over a considerable period of time and then having to separate from him. The foster mothers were asked about the degree of pain they experienced in separating from the foster children; their responses are set forth in Table 16. Here a striking difference is apparent between the two groups of mothers. The foster mothers who cared primarily for infants more often reported that the experience had always or often been painful; 37 per cent of the sample so indicated, in comparison with only 10 per cent of those Table 14. Percentage Distribution of Foster Homes by Maximum Length of Stay of Any Child in Each Home

Length of Stay Less than 6 months 6—11 months 12-23 months 24-35 months 3—4 years 5—9 years More than 10 years Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

13% 26 29 13 11 3 5

10% 20 26 13 20 8 3

12% 24 27 13 15 5 4

100

100

100

40

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

who cared for older children. For the remaining subjects hi both groups, pain in separating from the foster children had been associated with the departure of a particular child or had been no more than moderate. It had been assumed that the greatest attachment would be directed toward the older foster children because they were presumably more capable of developing individualized and deep relationships with their foster parents, but this assumption was not borne out by the responses of the subjects. Another way of examining the foster mothers' reactions to separation from foster children was to ascertain whether the subjects approved or disapproved of the agency's policy of not permitting foster parents to have contact with foster children after they had left the foster homes. Their reactions are revealed in Table 17. Those who primarily took care of older children showed a somewhat stronger pattern of rejection of this policy Table 15. Percentage Distribution of Foster Homes by Number of Children Cared for by Foster Parents Number of Children 1 2 3 4 5-10 11-15 16 or more Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

8% 11 6 8 39 15 13 100

28% 13 10 10 24 5 10 100

16% 12 8 9 32 11 12 100

Table 16. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Reactions to Separation from Foster Children Reaction to Separation Always or often painful First experience painful; succeeding ones less so Painful with a particular child Moderately painful Mildly painful Other (did not experience separation or other responses) Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

37%

10%

27%

3 29 15 8

5 20 20

4 26 17

8 100

30 100

15 100

15

11

INTERVIEWS WITH FOSTER MOTHERS 41 Table 17. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Attitudes toward Agency Policy Discouraging Contact with Foster Children No Longer in Home Attitude toward Policy Approval Should be exceptions under special circumstances Disapproval Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group ( N = 101)

57%

41%

50%

27 16 100

41 18 100

31 19 100

than those caring for infants. This reaction is understandable when one realizes that infants, by and large, can be expected to forget fairly rapidly the persons with whom they have had their first experiences, particularly if they leave the foster homes at a very young age. There seems little question, though, that the older child does have continued awareness of the foster family after he separates from them, and it may well be artificial to cut him off completely from people he has known intimately. This is an area that would seem to warrant professional examination and further research to determine the effects upon the foster child of variations in this practice. LIVING PATTERNS OF FOSTER MOTHERS

Some additional findings about the foster mothers will help the reader to understand the varied ways in which these women responded to the foster parent role. Sharing of Tasks. It was of interest to the agency to determine the extent to which the foster fathers were involved in some of the activities inherent in the rearing of foster children. The foster mothers were asked to indicate whether they had exclusive responsibility in certain of the fostering tasks or whether these were shared with their husbands. A fairly considerable amount of sharing had been taking place, as reported by the foster mothers. While Table 18 shows that bringing the foster children to the medical clinic was the exclusive concern of 55 per cent of the foster mothers caring for infants and 46 per cent of those caring for older children, the decision to board a child at the agency's request proved to be less exclusively within the control of the foster mothers. Only 26 per cent of the mothers in infant homes and 13 per cent of those caring for older children had sole responsibility in this area. The difference between the two groups

42

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Table 18. Percentage of Foster Mothers Taking Exclusive Responsibility for Tasks

Task Bringing foster child to clinic Determining whether to board child at agency's request, Going to foster parent club meetings . . . . Raising problems with caseworker. . . . Handling visits of child's own parents . . ,. .

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group ( N = 101)

55%

46%

52%

26 26 60 47

13 26 42 28

22 26 53 40

Table 19. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Attendance at Foster Parent Club Meetings Frequency of Attendance Never . Seldom Occasionally Often or fairly often Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

24% 11 24 41 100

28% 22 28 22 100

26% 15 26 33 100

of subjects suggests that the care of older children more often requires the consent and involvement of the foster father. Obviously, the care of an infant could more easily be denned as the private activity of the foster mother if she chose to take this posture. In one out of four foster families attending meetings arranged by the agency was exclusively an activity of the mother. Also, the foster mother most often was the one to take the initiative in raising problems about the foster care arrangement with the caseworker. Attendance at Foster Parent Meetings. One measure of a foster mother's involvement in the role was her attendance at meetings of foster parents. Table 19 indicates that almost twice as many of the foster mothers who cared for infants attended the foster parent club meetings fairly often as did those who cared for older children. It had been assumed that the care of infants, being a highly personalized and somewhat private affair, was less apt to draw the mother into other aspects of the role than would the care of older children, that the care of older children would often carry with it a service orientation on the part of the foster parent. From the interview data, however, it appeared that the reverse was true, i.e., that in-

INTERVIEWS

WITH FOSTER MOTHERS

43

fant-carers were more involved in peripheral role activities. This might well be related to the over-all greater degree of enthusiasm expressed in the research interviews by those caring for infants. Outside Interests. In order to understand the place of foster parenthood in the lives of these subjects, it was deemed helpful to determine the degree to which they had interests that took them outside of their own homes. As one way of approaching this question, the foster mothers were asked to indicate the number of organizations to which they belonged (see Table 20). The group caring for older children tended to be much more involved outside of their own homes than were those caring for infants. Whether this was a correlate of being tied down with young babies or reflected a different style of living is not known. It was conjectured that a net effect of this insular pattern might be to make the foster parent role more central for those caring for babies. Comparison of these data with those of other studies suggests that these foster mothers maintained fewer organizational affiliations than is generally true of members of working-class groups [47]. Table 20. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Membership in Organizations Number of Organizations 0 1 2 3 4 5

Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

45% 33 13 3 3 3 TOO

36% 15 33 8 8 0 100

41% 26 21 5 5 2 100

Table 21. Percentage Distribution of Foster Mothers by Their Attitudes about a Wife Having a Paid Job Away from Home Attitude toward Working Wife Strong approval Mild approval Mild disapproval Strong disapproval Qualified response Total

Infant Homes (N = 62)

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

6% 29 24 34 7 100

8% 21 36 23 12 100

7% 26 29 30 8 100

44

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

One final way of looking at the degree to which these foster mothers were home-centered was to examine their attitudes about women working. When asked how they felt about a wife having a paid job away from home, the majority of the foster mothers said that they disapproved of such an activity (see Table 21). There was no statistically significant difference between those who cared for infants and those who reared older foster children. SUMMARY

The foster mothers who were the subjects of this research have been described with respect to their background characteristics, their experience with the agency, and some of their orientations to the foster parent role. The typical subject was a woman about 40 years old who had been married a decade or more and was apt to have had at least one child of her own. She had had two or more years of high school and came from a rather modest, almost rural background. She tended to be home-centered, having discontinued employment after marriage. She had been a foster parent for five years or more and had cared for an average of five to ten foster children. She tended to be enthusiastic about foster parenthood, seeing this as a very meaningful kind of activity. The motivations of the foster mothers who cared primarily for infants appeared related, in some respects, to private pleasures involving close association with infants; the group that cared for older children tended to verbalize a kind of social service orientation that manifested itself in an identification with deprived children.

5
JV1 ENTION already has been made of the fact that much of the professional child welfare literature portrays the typical foster father as a rather retiring, passive person who relies on his more energetic wife for leadership in family affairs. It must be admitted, however, that foster fathers are not particularly well known to most agency caseworkers, and such unflattering characterizations would seem to require more systematic study. Some observers have noted that although they are often described as being passive at home, they are also not infrequently described as adequate performers in the masculine work world. Many of the foster fathers in this study had leadership responsibilities in their places of employment as foremen or carried work assignments that demanded physical strength and dexterity. As indicated in an earlier chapter, it had been anticipated by the agency staff that as lengthy an interview as had been conducted with the foster mothers might be too demanding for some of these men. A number of the foster mothers also voiced concern about their husbands and objected to their being subjected to a long interview. The interviewing schedule with the foster fathers was therefore tailored so that it could be completed within an hour or an hour and a half. Despite this concession, special procedures were required in the training of the interviewers in order to enlist the cooperation of the foster fathers. Eighty-one of the foster fathers were interviewed, seven refused to be interviewed because of alleged circumstantial factors (e.g., illness, work hours), and four refused outright to be in-

46

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

terviewed.* This made a refusal rate of 12 per cent compared with 1 per cent for the foster mothers. Nevertheless it was considered that a high level of cooperation had been achieved in view of the reputation of these subjects among caseworkers as persons with whom it is difficult to establish communication. In the four cases in which outright refusals were encountered and in some of those in which the foster fathers were said to be unable to participate in a research interview because of circumstantial factors, the research interviewers thought that the resistance to being interviewed was directly related to the intractable attitudes of the foster mothers. These women appeared to be saying: "Look, this is my job; he has nothing to do with it!" The relationship with the foster child in these cases seemed one in which the foster mother had a need to clutch the child to her bosom to the exclusion of her husband and all others.

FOSTER FATHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE FOSTER PARENT ROLE As a group these men expressed positive feelings about being foster parents; this came through in a striking way, as demonstrated by the following findings: Nine out of ten of the foster fathers felt that foster family care was a good system for rearing children who could not live in their own homes, and they felt it to be superior to institutional care for these youngsters. Seven out of ten of the foster fathers believed that foster parents could adequately make up to a child for the loss of his own natural parents or their inadequacy. The foster fathers uniformly expressed the view that the children who had come into their homes had been helped and "given a right start." Seven out of ten felt that the role of foster parent was just as important to them as it was to their wives. They indicated that they had been actively involved with the foster children in a variety of tasks. Two out of three indicated that they expected their homes to be used "indefinitely" for the care of foster children. They set no time limitation upon their service except as ill health of the foster mother might force them to give it up. Although few had themselves initiated the idea of becoming foster parents, these foster fathers evidently had become rapidly identified with the role, so that one out of every three indicated it had been much more satisfying than anticipated and almost one out of every two indicated it had been more satisfying than anticipated. * Nine foster families consisted of widowed women who continued to serve as foster mothers after the deaths of their husbands.

INTERVIEWS

47

WITH FOSTER FATHERS

Table 22. Number of Foster Mothers and Foster Fathers Reporting Each Source of Role Satisfaction and Rank of Each Source by Frequency of Response Source of Satisfaction

Foster Mothers ( N = 101) Number Rank

I like putting my religious beliefs into action I enjoy the presence of a cuddly little baby in our home I like knowing that I am doing something useful for the community Since this makes my spouse happy, I am satisfied I like being able to add to the family income Being a foster parent helps me to continue to feel young It keeps me from becoming nervous for want of something to keep me busy It satisfies those strong parental drives of mine I like helping the unfortunate, downtrodden people I like being able to meet the challenge of a difficult task I like the affection I get from children.... I am fascinated watching children grow up The respect of my neighbors is very gratifying I get satisfaction out of being associated with an organization such as Family and Childrens Service I like being able to put my skills as a homemaker into action (or doing things only a father can do)

Foster Fathers (N = 81) Number Rank

50

3

31

6.5

55

2

34

5

46

4

31

6.5

26

12

39

2

2

14.5

4

14.5

28

11

13

10.5

29

10

13

10.5

32

9

2

14.5

42

6

41

1

35 43

8 5

10 36

12 4

60

1

25

8

4

14.5

7

13

39

7

24

9

18

13

37

3

Satisfactions. It had been anticipated that the foster fathers would have experienced different role satisfactions from those their wives had found. This was confirmed in the research interviews. In Table 22 the selections the men made from a list of satisfactions are shown, along with the responses of the foster mothers for contrast.* Some striking differences between the male and female subjects emerge when the rankings achieved by the items they selected are compared. The foster fathers indicated an almost philanthropic orientation in * Like their wives, the foster fathers were asked to select the five items on the list of reported satisfactions that most closely reflected their feelings.

48

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

choosing the statement "I like helping the unfortunate, downtrodden people" more frequently than any other; this item achieved a ranking of only sixth hi the choices of the foster mothers. Similarly, although the foster mothers dramatically demonstrated their child-centeredness by most frequently choosing the statement "I am fascinated watching children grow up," this ranked only eighth hi the choices of the foster fathers. The latter's altruistic orientation is further supported by their giving the statement "Since this makes my spouse happy, I am satisfied" second ranking; it ranked only twelfth for the foster mothers. This would appear to confirm the widely held view that the foster parent role does not have quite the same personal intensity for foster fathers as it does for foster mothers. For the foster fathers, the statement "I like doing things only a father can do" (e.g., engaging in athletics, hunting) ranked third among their choices; for the foster mothers "I like being able to put my skills as a homemaker into action" ranked only thirteenth. "It satisfies those strong parental drives of mine" and "I like being able to meet the challenge of a difficult task" emerged as more important sources of satisfaction for the foster mothers than for their husbands. The same held true for the item "I like putting my religious beliefs into action," which ranked third for the foster mothers and tied for sixth for the foster fathers. All in all, suggestive differences became apparent between foster mothers and foster fathers with respect to the sources of satisfaction derived from the foster parent role.* For the women, direct contact with the child loomed high as satisfaction; for the men the desires to serve a worthy cause and to provide a masculine model for the foster child appeared to be the most prominent themes. Contributions. Table 23 summarizes the responses of these subjects to a question about their own potential contribution to foster children. Among those who cared for older youngsters, disciplining of foster children was mentioned by two in ten; this was rarely mentioned by foster fathers in homes caring for infants. That the former also maintained more intimate relationships with their wards was demonstrated by the fact that 55 per cent of the foster fathers in the noninfant homes mentioned "Giving love and comforting foster children" as a basic contribution they could make, as contrasted with only 34 per cent of the foster fathers in the infant homes. Similarly, it was found that foster fathers in noninfant homes * The rankings of items selected by the foster mothers and the foster fathers did not show a significant difference when tested by Spearman's rank-order correlation.

Table 23. Percentage of Foster Fathers Naming Certain Contributions Table 23. Percentage of Foster Fathers Naming Certain Contributions They Can Make to Foster Children*

Contribution

Infant Homes (N = 52) Noninfant Homes (N = 29 ) Not MenNot MenMentioned tioned Mentioned tioned

Disciplining of foster children Giving love and comforting foster children Providing father image for children Engaging in masculine activities with foster children (hunting, sports) Acting as teacher, adviser to foster children (on moral issues, being decent) Acting as adviser to foster mother and children Sharing physical chores (housekeeping, baby sitting, etc.)

8%

92%

21%

79%

34

66

55

45

35

65

38

62

19

81

28

72

35

65

59

41

25

75

31

69

14

86

7

93

* The foster fathers were asked: "What do you see as some of the contributions that foster fathers can make to foster children?"

tended, more than those caring for younger children, to place emphasis upon their role as teacher and adviser to foster children on moral issues (59 per cent of the former as contrasted with 35 per cent of the latter). On the other hand, there was a slightly greater tendency for foster fathers in infant homes to mention physical chores as a basic responsibility, although neither group mentioned this frequently. Inconveniences. In asking these men about any personal inconvenience in fulfilling the role of foster parent, the research interviewers were particularly careful to set a permissive tone in order to reduce any tendency of the subjects to withhold negative comments. The hazard of encountering a social desirability response set is commonly seen as a real one with subjects of low education. Table 24 shows the distribution of the foster fathers' responses to a series of questions about the inconveniences they had encountered. It should be noted that the discomforts mentioned are generally moderate in nature, since hardly any of the foster fathers reported that an item cited caused "much" inconvenience. Several areas were noted, however, where "some" inconvenience was experienced. These modest complaints seem worthy of attention in view of the desire of

50

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Table 24. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Degree of Inconvenience Encountered in Care of Foster Children (N = 81) * Degree of Inconvenience Kind of Inconvenience Sleep interrupted by newborn baby Privacy interfered with by visits of relatives of foster children Home atmosphere made hectic and noisy by the presence of children Social activities (going out) restricted because of being tied down by children Privacy interfered with by visits of agency and staff members Necessity of making trips to town (hospital clinics, etc.) Wife unable to care for foster father's needs . . . Physical fatigue from care

Some

None

Not Applicable

21%

52%

27%

12

59

29

9

77

14

21

77

2

4

96

0

38 2 2

48 79 60

14 19 38

* The question was posed to the foster fathers as follows: "Anyone who has taken care of foster children knows that their care is not without problems. Despite the fact that foster parents enjoy giving and doing for foster children, there are inconveniences involved. This is a fact that all foster parents have faced. In your particular experiences as a foster father, how much inconvenience have you felt?"

most agencies to reduce stresses in the role in order to retain the support and commitment of foster families. Two out of ten foster fathers spoke of having their sleep disturbed by the presence of a newborn baby. In almost all cases, this was not presented as something that had serious negative ramifications for the subjects. A similar proportion admitted that their social activities were restricted because they were tied down with children. The leading source of inconvenience, however, was the necessity for foster parents to bring a foster child to the heart of the city to be seen by the agency's physician at a clinic conducted in the local children's hospital. When one considers that many of the foster families lived considerable distances from the downtown metropolitan area, it is understandable that the need to make frequent visits to the clinic was a source of irritation. The traffic snarls and the dearth of parking facilities that characterized the central area of Pittsburgh at the time of the study could particularly test the nerves of foster parents traveling with infants or toddlers. To meet some of the problems mentioned above, a number of child welfare organizations are providing foster families with a babysitter allow-

Interviews with foster

51

ance so that they can have brief respites from their demanding tasks. To meet the problem of traffic congestion, some agencies are attempting to introduce greater flexibility into their medical programs so that foster parents can make more use of the services of physicians in their own communities. These very practical measures may prove helpful in meeting the problem of recruiting and retaining foster families.* When asked to indicate what inconvenienced their wives, the foster fathers most frequently mentioned the problem of bringing the foster children to the clinic and the need for the foster mothers to get up in the middle of the night to feed newborn infants. The tone that prevailed in almost all the interviews, however, conveyed the impression that these inconveniences were minor compared to the satisfactions that were being derived from the role. Attendance at Foster Parent Meetings. A third of the foster fathers indicated they had never attended a foster parent club meeting, and an almost equal proportion indicated they seldom attended. There was a somewhat greater tendency for those with older foster children than for those with infants to attend meetings. The foster fathers of infants frequently reported that they served as babysitters so that their wives could attend the meetings. A substantial number of foster fathers also reported that their hours of employment interfered with attendance at the meetings. Although these reasons for failure to attend are very practical, the remarks of many of the fathers seemed to indicate that they regarded foster parent meetings as primarily female affairs. Separating from Foster Children. A third of the foster fathers reported that they found the departure of foster children a decidedly painful experience. As one reported to the interviewer, "When they leave, it hits you right in the guts!" A similar proportion reported the experience to be somewhat painful; this tendency was found to be greater among foster fathers of infant children than among those caring for older children. A third of the foster fathers reported that their wives were visibly upset at having to separate from the foster children, a fourth reported their wives to be slightly upset, and a fourth reported them to take the separation in stride, with little apparent upset. Relating to Caseworkers. Table 25 sets forth some of the reactions of * One agency in New York City recently decentralized its medical services and has reported a marked spurt in the number of persons applying to be foster parents.

52

FOSTER PARENTHOOD Table 25. Percentage of Foster Fathers with Certain Reactions to Case work Staff (N = 81)

Reaction I tend to think of caseworkers as having more to do with my wife than with myself I generally find that caseworkers show respect for me as a person I think that caseworkers are women who don't know much about life I find the discussions with the caseworkers interesting I have generally found the caseworkers I have met to be likable people I find caseworkers "talk in circles" and it is hard to follow them I think my wife enjoys her contact with the staff more than I do Caseworkers should be more direct in coming out with whatever is on their minds I get the feeling that the caseworkers are afraid that we aren't taking proper care of the foster children I find that I have very little I want to say to the caseworkers

Usually Feels This Way

Sometimes Feels This Way

Never Feels This Way

63%

10%

27%

96

2

2

2

12

88

74

22

4

94

6

0

4

22

74

63

15

22

31

17

52

0

3

97

22

20

58

the foster fathers to the casework staff. Almost two-thirds of the foster fathers reported that they usually thought of caseworkers as "having more to do with my wife than with myself." A similar proportion candidly conceded that they thought their wives enjoyed their contacts with the casework staff more than they did. On the whole, the foster fathers felt they had been treated with respect by caseworkers, and, in turn, they reported them to be likable people. At the same time, however, one in four indicated that they occasionally found that caseworkers "talked in circles" and that it was hard to follow them. In addition, almost half of the foster fathers said that they usually or sometimes felt caseworkers should be more direct in coming out with whatever was on their minds. The over-all picture is one of the foster fathers being pleasant and positive in their reactions toward the casework staff, but also content to remain on the periphery. There was also a feeling of puzzlement, and perhaps slight amusement in a good-natured sort of way, about some of the content of their discussions with the casework staff.

53

INTERVIEWS WITH ATTITUDES ABOUT MALE-FEMALE RELATIONSHIPS

In view of the widely held image of foster fathers as passive men under the domination of their energetic, somewhat driving wives, it was decided to assess the attitudes of the male subjects in this study regarding the nature of male and female roles and relationships. Although an individual could verbally express a value system that supports a posture of male superiority and dominance while being passive in his actual role behavior, it was felt that the articulated views of the foster fathers about male-female relationships might provide valuable leads to their orientation to foster parenthood. The distribution of the responses of the foster fathers to a series of statements about male-female roles is set forth in Table 26. The majority of these subjects appeared reluctant to embrace views that could be labeled authoritarian or that reflected a hostile attitude toward women. Thus, only two foster fathers in ten described an all-male fishing or hunting vacation as "ideal." Similarly, only one in four foster fathers supTable 26. Percentage of Foster Fathers with Certain Attitudes about Male and Female Roles and Relationships (N = 81) Attitude about Role/Relationship Men going off together fishing or hunting without the womenfolk is my idea of an ideal vacation A man should "rule the roost" in the home.... A woman shouldn't be socializing much with the neighbors A husband ought to pay those little attentions to his wife that most women like (remembering anniversaries, etc.) Women have ways of getting what they want without men even knowing that they are being maneuvered Women ought to let their husbands decide on whom to vote for at election time A man should be able to support his family without his wife going to work A man shouldn't be expected to do household work such as cleaning There isn't anything wrong with a man spending many evenings at a bar socializing with his male friends Women probably have a better "head for business" than do men

Agree

Disagree

Undecided

19% 27

78% 59

3% 14

25

64

11

97

3

0

58

32

10

23

70

7

91

6

3

42

41

17

4

90

6

16

68

16

54

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

ported the opinion that a man should "rule the roost" in his home. An equally small proportion would restrict the wife to her homemaking chores by discouraging her from "socializing with the neighbors." Only one in four foster fathers held the view that women should allow their husbands to determine their votes on election day. A large proportion, however — four out of ten — viewed the demand that they participate in household cleaning chores as an infringement upon their masculine prerogatives. There was unanimity among the foster fathers concerning the need for a man to fulfill certain fundamental tasks, e.g., earning a living without the necessity of his wife going to work, and also concerning the importance of paying attention to such romantic aspects of the marriage as remembering anniversary dates. Some evidence of latent aggression toward females, or at least a feeling of helplessness in defending themselves against real or imagined feminine wiles, is seen in the fact that almost six out of ten of these foster fathers felt that "women have ways of getting what they want without men even knowing that they are being maneuvered." Fewer than two in ten, however, overtly conceded that women probably have a better "head for business" than do men. In the next chapter, some of these items will be combined into an Index of Masculinity and this measure will later be correlated with the role performance of the foster parents. SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOSTER FATHERS

Table 27 lists the current occupations of the foster fathers and compares these with the work their fathers and the foster mothers' fathers were engaged in for most of their lives. A third of these men were skilled workers or foremen in industry, and a somewhat smaller proportion had jobs requiring lesser skill, mainly in steel mills around Pittsburgh. The study group was thus predominantly engaged in blue-collar work. The fathers of these subjects, on the other hand, showed a somewhat different occupational pattern, with 22 per cent having been farmers or farm laborers, an occupation of none of the foster fathers. The earlier generation also had fewer mill operatives; this may be a reflection of the small industrial establishments that prevailed about 50 years ago in contrast with the giant plants located throughout the Pittsburgh area today. Many of the foster mothers' fathers also were farmers (23 per cent); in addition, a quarter of these men were coal miners.

INTERVIEWS

WITH FOSTER FATHERS55

Table 27. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Their Occupations and by the Occupations of Their Fathers and the Foster Mothers' Fathers (N = 81)

Occupation

Foster Fathers

Professional and technical Farmers and farm laborers Clerical and kindred workers Sales workers Craftsmen, foremen, etc Operatives, mill workers, etc Service workers Miners Other Unknown Total

5% 0 5 4 36 29 7 3 11 0 100

Foster Fathers' Fathers

Foster Mothers' Fathers

7% 22 6 4 28 10 1 9 9 4 100

6% 23 15 4 10 4 6 25 2 5 100

These foster fathers, then, had shifted away from the occupations of their fathers and their wives' fathers — farming and mining —to more widespread involvement in heavy industries. There was, however, only a slight increase in occupational mobility for the foster fathers; it was mainly reflected in the somewhat higher proportion of the foster fathers, compared with their immediate ancestors, who were skilled craftsmen or held jobs as foremen. It is also important to note that a shift away from agricultural jobs from one generation to the next does not necessarily entail a complete abandonment of the social attitudes that may be associated with this type of work. One other aspect of the employment pattern of the foster fathers bears scrutiny. In Table 28 we have the number of years the foster fathers had held their current jobs and, in addition, the longest period spent on any job (past or present). What strikes one is their unusual occupational steadfastness. Almost a quarter of the subjects had been in their jobs for 21 years or more. Another third had been at the same job for a period of 11 to 20 years. Only two in ten had been in their current employment for five years or less. More than half the foster fathers, moreover, had put in a stint of at least 16 years on one job even though this may not have been the current one. These would seem, therefore, to be men with considerable staying power who did not move around, occupationally, to any great extent. In Table 29, we again compare the foster fathers with their own fathers, this time with respect to the educational level achieved by both. We see

56

FOSTER PARENTHOOD Table 28. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Stability of Their Employment (N = 81) Years of Employment Less than 1 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 More than 25 Retired or unemployed Total

Current Job 8% 12 20 20 11 12 11 6 100

Any Job 0% 2 14 32 21 12 19 0 100

Table 29. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Their Education and by Education of Their Fathers (N = 81) Amount of Education Never attended school Some grade school Completed grade school Some high school Completed high school Some college Completed college Other (trade school, etc.) . . Unknown, no response Total

Foster Fathers

Foster Fathers' Fathers

0% 21 19 15 22 7 5 10 1

3% 40 17 5 3 3 1 9 19 100

.100

that there is a fairly large group of foster fathers — four out of every ten — who were unable to acquire more than a grade school education. Their own fathers, however, had even more limited educational opportunities: six out of every ten did not go beyond grade school. Despite these differences, it is probable that the higher educational level achieved by the foster fathers does not signify a trend toward upward social mobility, but rather reflects the greater emphasis that has been placed in the United States over the past five decades upon universal education, which has raised the educational level of the whole population. Further light is cast upon the social characteristics of the foster families by examining their income and comparing this with the income reported by the Bureau of Census for some 44 million families in the United States during the year of the study reported here, 1958 (see Table 30). Whereas

INTERVIEWS

WITH FOSTER FATHERS57

Table 30. Percentage Distribution of Foster Fathers by Their Earnings at Time of Study and Five Years Earlier, with Comparative Percentage Distribution of Families in the United States Foster Fathers (N = 81) At Time Five Years U.S. Families of Study Earlier (1958)*

Earnings Under $2000 $2001-$3000 $3001-$4000 $4001-$5000 $5001-$6000 $6001-$7000 $7001-$8000 More than $8000 Unemployed, retired, etc Total Median income

1% 2 10 17 30 19 12 4 5 100 $5563

1% 14 21 35 14 6 4 4 1 100 $4379

14% 10 11 13 14 11 8 19 100 $5087

* Source: Current Population Reports [7].

35 per cent of American families had an annual income under $4000 a year, this was true for only 13 per cent of the foster families. On the other hand, whereas 19 per cent of American families had incomes over $8000, this was true for only 4 per cent of the foster families. The median income in 1958 for employed subjects was $5563 compared with $5087 for the over-all family population of the United States. Thus, we have a picture of families who, although not affluent, appear to have a financial stabilit that is fairly impressive. Five years earlier, the median income of the foster fathers had been $4379 compared with a national median of $4233. PERSONAL BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOSTER FATHERS

On a simple descriptive level, some additional personal background characteristics of the foster fathers are of professional interest. Two-thirds of the foster fathers came from families of four or more children, and almost half originated from families of six or more children. Almost half were the oldest or next to the oldest in their families. Three-fourths of the foster fathers' fathers were native-born Americans and three-fourths originated from rural areas or small towns. Half of the foster fathers reported that their own fathers had been very religious, and a similar number reported them to be very strict. Almost two-thirds recalled then* fathers as

58

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

having been affectionate toward them. More than half, however, recalled things about their fathers that had been upsetting to them (e.g., ten foster fathers indicated that their fathers had been alcoholic). More than three-fourths of the foster fathers' mothers were native-born Americans. Two-thirds of the foster fathers reported that their mothers had been very religious. Almost nine out of every ten fathers reported their mothers to have been affectionate toward them. Half of the subjects reported that their mothers had been very talkative, and a similar sized group reported that they had been very strict. Almost two-thirds could not recall anything about their mothers that had upset them in any significant way. About a third of the foster fathers reported that their families had suffered substantial economic hardships during then: childhoods. About a third of the foster fathers reported that they had suffered the death of a parent before adolescence. About two-thirds of the foster fathers reported that they had had a considerable number of family chores to do as youngsters. Most of the foster fathers recalled themselves as having been relatively carefree and active as youngsters. Very few reported themselves as shy, troubled, etc. This completes the descriptive picture of the foster fathers. In the next chapter will be discussed the scales and indexes developed for this study, which were based upon the specific information provided by both the foster mothers and the foster fathers in the research interviews cited in this and the previous chapter.

6 DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AMD INDEX SCORES

IT is crucial for the advancement of research in the social and behavioral sciences that means be found for developing well-defined operational indicators of concepts and constructs used to describe individuals and groups. The schedules that were utilized in this study in the research interviews with the foster mothers and fathers were constructed with a view toward developing a number of scales that would adequately reflect significant attitudes and role orientations of these subjects. Simply put, the purpose of scale analysis and index construction is to combine attitudinal items into some kind of composite score. A number of variables appeared to have some relevance for a study of the motives and role adaptations of foster parents. For example, a central issue in the understanding of foster parents is the manner in which they deal with the problem of separating from the children placed in their care. It is commonly observed that one of the hazards in the placement of children in foster homes is that the parents will come to feel such strong attachments to these children that separating from them is a highly traumatic event, both for themselves and for the children. In the interview schedules, therefore, several questions were asked of the foster parents about the degree of stress they had experienced in separating from foster children and their manner of handling such stress. They were also asked about the reactions of their own children to the separation process. Altogether, six items were utilized to produce a composite score measuring stress in separation. Presumably this reduces the risk that responses will

60

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

not accurately reflect the feelings of the research subjects because of the ambiguous wording of a single question. A major area of interest for the researcher in attitude scale construction concerns the question of whether various items in a research schedule form what is called a unidimensional scale. A significant contribution in attitude-measurement technology was made during World War II by Louis Guttman, who developed a method for ordering items in a unidimensional scale using a technique called scalogram analysis. Guttman assigned numerical values to qualitative observations in a single-rank ordering [59, pp. 60-61]. The basic idea is that a group of attitudinal items can be arranged so that a person who agrees with or responds positively to a higher ranked item (e.g., a difficult item) also will agree with all items of a lower rank order (e.g., easier items). An example of a unidimensional scale might be one on the attitudes of a white person toward Negroes. One could ask in a social survey a host of questions relating to the willingness of white respondents to become intimately involved with Negroes — are they willing to live next door to Negroes, to work with them, to have their children go to school with Negroes, to marry Negroes, etc. In a Guttman scale if a white person indicated willingness to marry a Negro, it would be assumed that he would also be willing to live next door to Negroes, work with them, and so on. The development of Guttman scales in social research is, then, based on a priori assumptions of the investigator about what the rank ordering of responses chosen by research subjects will be. Although some investigators have attempted to develop scales on a grossly empirical basis, this is not in accordance with the method prescribed by Guttman. The Benefactress of Children Scale used in this study is an example of a unidimensional scale: it was assumed in advance that it would be possible to order the items so that persons who answered a given question favorably would have a higher rank than those who answered the same question unfavorably. In addition to this kind of scale a number of measures of some of the variables were developed for this study in which unidimensionality of items was not assumed. This was necessitated by the fact that some attitudinal measures did not take clear form until after the survey of foster parents had begun. These a posteriori measures are essentially multidimensional in that an effort is made to pull together items that reflect various aspects of a central issue. For example, in attempting to develop a

DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

61

measure of a family's religiosity, one could accumulate various pieces of evidence about the family's involvement with religion. In this particular sample, an attempt to find a unidimensional quality in the religious activity of the foster parents was not successful. On an a priori basis it had been anticipated that those subjects who were active in formal church work, such as serving on committees and teaching Bible classes, would also attend church regularly, express themselves as feeling that religion was the most important thing in their lives, and so on. It was found, however, that religion was such an important activity for so many of the foster parents that there was not enough variation in the sample to permit development of an adequate unidimensional scale. Therefore, items on this subject were simply grouped arbitrarily into a summated score, which we call an index. A majority of the indices developed in this study were assigned arbitrary weights based upon the intuitive judgment of the director of the research. The reason for this decision was that a number of investigators had found that arbitrary weights were often as efficient in prediction as weights carefully determined through more complex analysis methods. This is particularly true in a study such as the one reported here, where a clear prior picture of the interrelationship of variables was not available.* SCALES

Benefactress of Children Scale. A reading of case records indicated that some foster mothers derive a good deal of satisfaction from the ego enhancement that results from providing care for neglected children. Being a "lady bountiful" or a "defender of children" through serving in a socially approved role apparently enables these women to overcome long-standing feelings of inadequacy. The following items were included in the foster mother interview schedule to measure this quality: a. People who neglect or mistreat their children should be severely punished by society. [Seventy-two out of 101 agreed a great deal.] b. Being a foster parent requires a very strong love for children, which only a few people have. [Fifty agreed a great deal.] c. The money foster parents receive is very inadequate considering the service they are asked to perform. [Eighteen agreed a great deal and 26 agreed somewhat.] * Bush notes: "Many people, including myself, have used Fisher's elaborate computational procedure for finding the best set of weights for particular data, only to discover afterwards that the accuracy of prediction was low and that equal weights predicted almost as well" [8, p. 93],

62

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

d. Adoptive parents do not appreciate the contributions of the foster parents to the child's welfare. [Seven agreed a great deal and 16 agreed somewhat.] The coefficient of reproducibility of this scale is 90.6. The scale is somewhat tenuous, since only four items are utilized and the coefficient is not high. Two vignettes follow to give the reader an impression of the subjects of this study that is lifelike rather than a composite of statistical manipulation. First the interviewer's description of a high scorer on the Benefactress of Children Scale: Mrs. P. maintained a rather sanctimonious stance throughout the research interview. It was noted that she constantly referred to the lack of recognition that foster parents received from the adoptive parents with whom the children were placed. "You would think I would get a word of thanks after I gave the babies a good start." She also tended to speak in a derogatory fashion about the caseworkers who "only know about children from textbooks." She was quite unabashed in extolling her own skills and insights, which she felt enabled her to cope with foster children. She felt that few of the people she knew were blessed with the patience and understanding that she possessed. Mrs. P. stressed the fact that foster children could be hard to love so that their care required special kinds of people, like herself. Inspection of her responses on the PARI revealed a strong authoritarian orientation. I felt that there were only certain types of children—e.g., the compliant, somewhat withdrawn child —to whom she could respond on a nonpunitive level. In contrast, here is the interviewer's impression of a low scorer: Mrs. A. seemed extremely comfortable during the interview. A heavy, robust-looking woman, she was given to hearty gales of laughter as she recounted the mischievous behavior of the foster children that had been placed in her care. Her emphasis in the interview was upon the happiness foster children provided the A.'s rather than the contribution they had made to the children. She was matter-of-fact about her ability to provide care for these youngsters and conveyed the feeling that the rearing of children came easily to her. She did not view her work with these children as entitling her to any particular reward. The mere fact of then* presence in the home was more than adequate compensation for Mrs. A. She expressed a particular fondness for boys — "the more active the better." I felt that Mrs. A. had developed strong sensitivity to the needs of children as a result of her own deprived childhood. Motherless since the age of eight, she was able to identify with almost any child who, like herself, was denied the care of a mother.

DEVELOPMENT

OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES63

Anomie Scale. This scale was developed by Srole [57] for the purpose of tapping a sense of demoralization felt by persons suffering a phenomenon defined by Durkheim as "normlessness." People with an anomic condition are essentially not integrated in the larger social order and have very weak ties in their immediate communities. The scale consists of the following items, which were presented to the foster mothers: a. There is little use writing to public officials because they aren't interested in the problems of the average man. [Of 101, 16 agreed a great deal and 27 agreed somewhat.] b. In spite of what some people say, the life of the average man is getting worse, not better. [Fifteen agreed a great deal and 19 agreed somewhat.] c. It is hardly fair for young folks to bring children into the world with the way things look for the future. [Ten agreed a great deal and 12 agreed somewhat.] d. These days a person does not really know whom he can count on. [Thirty-two agreed a great deal and 23 agreed somewhat.] e. Nowadays a person has to live pretty much for today and let tomorrow take care of itself. [Twenty agreed a great deal and 17 agreed somewhat.] The reluctance of the foster mothers in this study to give anomic responses mitigated against any effort to develop a unidimensional order. A decision was therefore made to weight the responses for these items equally. Two points were assigned when the respondent agreed a great deal to an anomic statement, and one point was assigned when there was some agreement. The interviewer described a high scorer thus: Mrs. C. tended to have a rather dour view of the world. Her basic mistrust of people was strongly evidenced as she questioned the motives of public officials. Her attitude was best characterized by her remark, "Everybody is out for himself!" Mrs. C. strongly avoided involvement in any kind of community activity, expressing the pessimistic view that there was little people could do to change things. A low scorer: Mrs. A. maintained an attitude of optimism throughout the interview. Despite the fact that as a child she had suffered a hard life at the hands of a drunken father and a harsh, domineering mother, she had somehow come through the experience without feeling "down on the world." She felt lucky in having married a kindly, devoted husband who was all the things that her father was not. Her responses on the child-rearing questionnaire revealed a democratic orientation to family life and the absence of any sense of martyrdom about the woman's role in the family.

64

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Capacity to Cope with Problems of Foster Children. As indicated in an earlier chapter the foster mothers were presented with a listing of problems often encountered in caring for foster children and were asked to indicate whether they regarded such problems as among the easier problems they had to cope with, among the harder problems, or problems they could not accept. An attempt was made through scale analysis to determine whether there was a unidimensional ordering of these items. The following were found to form a scale with a reproducibility coefficient of .84, going beyond the lower bounds of an acceptable scale: a. Having visits from the unmarried mother of a child in your care. [Of 101,79 found this one of their easier problems.] b. Having a child who suddenly becomes very ill, e.g., with pneumonia. [Sixty found this to be one of their easier problems.] c. Having two newborn infants to care for at once. [Forty-six found this to be one of their easier problems.] d. Helping a foster child leave your home for an adoption home. [Thirty-six found this to be one of their easier problems.] e. Having a foster child with a severe physical handicap. [Twenty-six found this to be one of their easier problems.] f. Having a foster child who becomes very destructive. [Twenty-two found this to be one of their easier problems.] g. Having a foster child who is slightly mentally retarded. [Fifteen found this to be one of their easier problems.] A high scorer: There was an intrepid quality to Mrs. R.'s responses about the kind of children she felt she could absorb in her home. Most problems of children did not faze her. She explained that she had grown up in a household full of children — she had seven siblings and often cousins lived with them for various periods of time. She thus was exposed to a variety of problems of children and tended to accept these as a natural concomitant of foster parenthood. Mrs. R. obviously was a woman of great drive and vitality, and this seemed to go hand in hand with her ability to handle problems in children. Hard physical labor was something that she was long accustomed to, so that the care of physically sick children or emotionally upset children did not tend to drain her energies. In her child-rearing responses, Mrs. R. was not particularly oriented toward a democratic view of family relationships, and she was quite free in verbalizing hostility toward her husband. A low scorer: Mrs. N. restricted her foster parent role to the rearing of young infants. She found them easy to manage and smilingly commented upon the fact

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65

that "they don't talk back." She seemed to derive great pleasure in clothing the babies in attractive outfits and was obviously attracted to their dolllike qualities. Mrs. N. also indicated that she did not like it when the agency left the babies with her for too long a period, since she did not particularly enjoy chasing after active young toddlers. The Foster Parent as an Eccentric Scale. Questions were posed in the interviews with the foster mothers about the degree to which they felt other persons viewed their motives with suspicion or with some element of ridicule; the purpose was to determine whether these women regarded themselves as somehow "oddball." The following five-item scale proved to have a coefficient of reproducibility of 92.1: a. People ask me how I can stand separating from a child I have taken care of. [Of 101,75 indicated that many persons reacted this way.] b. People are amused at my attachment to children. [Fifty-five indicated that many or some people reacted this way.] c. People accept what I am doing as a perfectly natural thing. [Forty indicated that few or no persons reacted this way.] d. People think I am doing it only for added income. [Twenty-eight indicated that many or a few people reacted this way.] e. People are jealous of my ability to take care of children. [Twentyone indicated that many or a few people reacted this way.] A high scorer: Mrs. L. revealed some discomfort about being a foster parent. She was sensitive to alleged attitudes of her neighbors, many of whom she thought were jealous of her skills as a foster parent for young infants. She made an elaborate speech about the fact that money could not be a proper incentive for the care of foster children. "It was a calling from God to do His work." Mrs. L. seemed to derive great comfort from attendance at foster parent club meetings, since it was reassuring to have a chance to talk with people who "really" knew what foster care was all about. I noted that Mrs. L. assumed the posture of a minority group person in speaking about foster parenthood. A low scorer: Mrs. Q. was an outgoing person who regarded what she was doing as a commonplace kind of activity. She denied encountering any suspicions about her motives from her friends and neighbors. On the contrary, she was somewhat taken aback by the admiring accolades she received, although she did not regard these as fulsome. She loved to show off her babies and expressed great delight in being able to care for young children even though she was already a grandmother.

66

FOSTER PARENTHOOD INDICES

The remaining measures are index scores which were constructed on the basis of an arbitrary assignment of weights to relevant items. No effort was made to establish a unidimensional structure to the items used. Index of Religiosity of Foster Mother. This index was designed to provide a measure of the foster mother's religious orientation. The mean stanine score was 4.9, the standard deviation 1.70. The items that constitute the index are as follows: a. The satisfaction that people derive from being foster parents seems to vary according to the person. We have developed a list of some of the typical satisfactions mentioned to us by foster parents. We ask you to check the five items that best apply to you. [Dichotomized between those who chose "I like putting my religious beliefs into action," coded -f-2, and all others, coded zero.] b. We know that rearing children is a hard job. We are interested in the things foster parents do to relax. Which of the following do you do fairly regularly, occasionally, or not at all? [The item "Engaging in religious activities such as church work" trichotomized for "fairly regularly," coded as -f-2; "occasionally," coded as -f-1; and "not at all," coded as zero.] c. The following is a list of current and past popular television programs. Could you tell me which ones you've watched often, sometimes, hardly ever? [The program "Bishop Sheen" or other religious programs trichotomized for "often," coded as -f-2; "sometimes," coded as -)-l; and "hardly ever," coded as zero.] d. Was your father very religious? [Unqualified "yes" coded as -f-2, qualified "yes" coded as -f-1, "slightly" or "not religious" coded as zero.] Index of Religiosity of Foster Father. This index is based on items derived from the foster father interview schedule. The mean stanine score is 4.6, the standard deviation 2.39. The items are as follows: a. How important is religion in your life? Would you say it is the most important thing in your life [coded as -f-3], very important [-f-2], important [-f-1], not so important [zero]. b. How often do you attend religious services? ["At least once a week" coded as -|-4, "two or three times a month" coded as -f-3, "at least once a month" coded as -f-2, "three or four times a year" coded as -f-1, "rarely" or "never" coded as zero.] c. Aside from religious services, what other church activities do you take part in? [Activities such as those of minister, other church leadership position, men's club, choir, teaching Sunday school coded as -(-3, other activities coded as -f-1, no reported activities coded as zero.] d. With regard to the social activities you and your wife engage in,

DEVELOPMENT

OF SCALE ANDINDEXSCORES67

would you say they are exclusively connected with your church [coded as -j-4], largely connected [+3], moderately connected [-J-2], slightly connected [-f-1], or not at all connected with church [zero]? Index of Femininity of Foster Mother. This index was designed to provide a measure of the degree to which the foster mother invests herself in feminine concerns and activities and is committed to a traditional orientation to the female role. The mean stanine score was 5.2, the standard deviation 1.63. The items are as follows: a. We are interested in the kinds of activities our foster mothers do as women. We are also interested in some of the attitudes foster parents may have about such things as housework and social activities for women. We will read the following statements to you. For each statement please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the description: 1. I would describe my cooking as "plain" — nothing fancy but good, wholesome food. ["Agree" coded as -f-l» "disagree" as +2.] 2. I would describe my housekeeping as very spic and span; I keep my house polished at all times. ["Agree" coded as +2, "disagree" as +1-] 3. There isn't anything that a man can do around this house that I couldn't do just as well. ["Agree" coded as zero, "disagree" as +2.] 4. I like to keep up with the fashions in women's clothing. ["Agree" coded as -|-2, "disagree" as -fl.] 5. I probably have a better head for business than my husband. ["Agree" coded as zero, "disagree" as -J-2.] 6. I don't think women should be socializing much with the neighbors. ["Agree" coded as -f-2, "disagree" as zero.] 7. A woman ought to keep pushing her husband so that he'll have the ambition to make more money. ["Agree" coded as zero, "disagree" as+2.] b. Do you approve of a wife having a paid job away from home? ["Approve strongly" coded as zero, "approve mildly" coded as +1, "disapprove strongly" coded as-j-3.] Index of Sharing. This index was constructed for the purpose of measuring the degree to which foster parents share the various tasks associated with the foster parent role. The mean stanine score was 4.5, the standard deviation 2.07. The item was as follows: With respect to the foster care arrangements, how are responsibilities distributed for the following items of activity: (1) bringing the foster child to the clinic; (2) determining whether to board a child at the agency's request; (3) going to foster parent club meetings; (4) raising problems with the caseworkers; (5) handling the visits of the child's own parents; (6)

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

feeding the foster child; (7) clothing the foster child; (8) bathing the foster child. [Exclusive responsibility of the foster mother coded as zero, major activity of the foster mother coded as +1, equal responsibility of foster mother and father coded as -f-2, other responses coded as -(-!.] Index of Clan-Type Family. This index was devised to assess the degree to which a foster family is embedded in an extended family that tends to cling together. The mean stanine score was 4.7, the standard deviation 2.08. The items are the following: a. Do you see your uncles and aunts often? ["Often" coded as -f- 5, "fairly often" as -j-3, "sometimes" as +1, "hardly ever" as zero.] b. Do you see your cousins often? [Coded the same as (a) above.] c. Do you see your brothers and sisters often? [Coded the same as (a) above.] d. Many families go in for "meetings of the clan" — that is, they have big family affairs around weddings, funerals, and just for social purposes. Thinking of your over-all family, which of the following statements best describe your family: 1. We have huge weddings with people coming from all over. Or We have modest weddings of about average size. ["Huge weddings" coded as -j-5, "modest weddings" as -f-2, other responses as -{-!.] 2. The funerals in our family tend to be large ones with many people present. Or The funerals in our family tend to be modest in size. ["Large funerals" coded as -f-5, "modest funerals" as -f-2, other responses as-f-1-] 3. Our family goes in for huge social gatherings. Or Although we don't get together often, our family sticks together. ["Huge social gatherings" coded as -f-5, "sticks together" as -f-3, positive responses to both coded as -f-8, negative responses to both coded as zero, other responses coded as -f-1.] Index of Acceptance of Board Payments. This index was designed to measure the foster father's candor in accepting the legitimacy of foster parents receiving board payments for the care of children. The mean stanine score was 4.8, the standard deviation 2.39. The items are as follows: a. Do you happen to know approximately what the agency's basic board rate amounts to? ["Yes" coded as -f-3, "no" as zero.] b. Generally is it your impression that the current board rates are satisfactory or are they too high or too low? ["Satisfactory" coded as -f-1, "too high" as zero, "too low" as +3.] c. Considering the expenses involved in taking care of foster children, is it your impression that the family gains financially from these payments,

DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

69

comes out even, or suffers a loss financially? ["Gains financially" or "comes out even" coded as zero, "suffers a loss" coded as +2.] d. How do you think most foster parents, other than yourself, regard the basic board rate? ["Too high" coded as zero, "about right" as -\-l, "too low" as -4-3, "don't know" as zero.] e. If Family and Childrens Service were to increase the board rates substantially, do you think more people would be willing to become foster parents? ["Many more" coded as -f 1, "no" and "don't know" as zero.] Index of Marital Tension. This index was aimed at measuring the degree to which the foster mother expressed attitudes that indicate areas of disagreement in the marriage. The mean stanine score was 3.8, the standard deviation 2.32. The item is as follows: In your particular case, state the approximate extent of agreement or disagreement on the following items: (1) handling family finances, (2) matters of recreation, (3) religious matters, (4) demonstration of affection, (5) friends, (6) intimate relations, (7) caring for children — discipline, (8) table manners, (9) matters of conventionality, (10) philosophy of life, (11) ways of dealing with in-laws. ["Always agree" coded as zero, "almost always agree" coded as -{-I, "fairly often disagree" coded as -|-3, "often disagree" coded as -|-4, other response coded as -(-1.] Index of Stress in Separating from Foster Children. This index was based upon the foster mother's reports of her own reactions and those of her family to the departure of foster children from her home. The mean stanine score was 4.7, the standard deviation 2.11. The items are as follows: a. What has your reaction been to the experience of the foster child's leaving your home? ["Experience always painful" coded as -j-4, "only first experience very painful" or "only with a specific child" coded as -\-2, "experience moderately painful" coded as -f-3> other experiences coded as+1.] b. Which of the following best describes your usual reaction to a child's leaving: (1)1 expect this to happen, so I don't feel too badly [coded as -{-!]; (2)1 feel quite a bit of pain, but I get over it quickly [coded as -f-2]; (3)1 feel quite a bit of pain, but I get over it after a while [coded as -j-3]; (4) it is a very painful experience, and it takes me a long time to get over it [coded as -f4]; (5) other [coded as -{-!]. c. How has your family reacted to the departure of a foster child: (1) seems to accept the separation fairly well [coded as zero]; (2) foster father or natural children seem quite upset [coded as -[-3 for either, -f-4 for both]; (3) painful reaction to a particular child [coded as +2]; (4) other [coded as+1].

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

d. How long has it taken you to get over the child's leaving on the average: (1) gets over it right away [coded as zero]; (2) takes several days to get over it [coded as -{-!]'»(3) takes a week or two to get over it [coded as 4~2]; (4) takes more than several weeks, a long time, never gets over it, etc. [coded as +4]; (5) length of time varies with each child [coded as -f-2]; (6) other [coded as-fl]. e. How do you feel about the fact that the agency considers it undesirable for the foster parent to have contact with a child once he or she has left the foster home. ["Approves" coded as zero, "foster parent should get report of child" or "exceptions should be made" coded as 4-2, "disapproves" coded as 4~4.] f. Here are some of the problems and situations with which foster parents have to deal. Which of these do you feel are easier to cope with? Harder? ["Helping foster child leave your home for an adoptive home" coded as zero for "easier," 4-4 for "harder."] Index of Rural Orientation. This index was designed to measure the degree to which the foster families derive from rural backgrounds. The mean stanine score was 4.4, the standard deviation 2.60. The items are as follows: a. What kind of work did foster mother's father do most of his life? ["Farmer" coded as 4-3, all others as zero.] b. Where did foster mother's father live as a boy? [Rural area coded as 4-2, small town as 4-1, all others zero.] c. Where did foster mother's mother live as a girl? [Coded same as (b) above.] d. Where did foster mother spend most of her childhood? [Rural area coded as 4-3, town under 1000 as 4-2, town 2500-10,000 as 4-1, all others as zero.] e. What kind of work did foster father's father do most of his life? ["Farmer" coded as 4-3, all others as zero.] Index of Permissiveness in Child Rearing. This index was designed to measure the degree to which a foster mother showed a tendency to accelerate a child in his development. The mean stanine score was 4.5, the standard deviation 1.97. The item is as follows: At what age would you classify a child as a problem if he failed to (1) become toilet trained (bowels), (2) become toilet trained (bladder), (3) learn to walk, (4) learn to talk, (5) learn to feed himself, (6) learn to dress himself? [Six months or under coded as 4-1, 6 months to 1 year coded as 4-2, over 1 year to 18 months coded as 4-3, over 18 months to 2 years coded as 4-4, over 2 years to 2V2 years coded as -[-5.] Index of Masculinity of Foster Father (Authoritarian). This index was

DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

71

aimed at establishing the degree to which the foster father adhered to a traditional view supporting dominant and authoritarian positions of the male in the home. The mean stanine score was 4.4, the standard deviation 2.36. The item is as follows: We are interested in knowing the views of our foster fathers on some general questions. Please tell us whether you agree or disagree with the following statements: 1. Men going off together fishing or hunting without the womenfolk is my idea of an ideal vacation. ["Agree" coded as -(-3, "disagree" as zero.] 2. A man should "rule the roost" in the home. ["Agree" coded as -f-3, "disagree" as zero.] 3. Women shouldn't be socializing much with the neighbors. ["Agree" coded as -f-2, "disagree" as zero.] 4. Women have a way of getting what they want without men even knowing they are being maneuvered. ["Agree" coded as -f-2, "disagree" as zero.] 5. Women ought to let their husbands decide about whom to vote for at election time. ["Agree" coded as -}-3, "disagree" as zero.] 6. A man shouldn't be expected to do household work such as cleaning. ["Agree" coded as -|-3, "disagree" as zero.] 7. Women probably have a better "head for business" than do men. ["Agree" coded as zero, "disagree" as-|-l.] Index of Role Involvement of Foster Father. This index was designed to measure the degree to which the foster father showed an investment in the foster parent role and identified with it. The mean stanine score was 4.9, the standard deviation 2.23. The items are as follows: a. Do you think being a foster parent is more important to your wife, about the same for the two of you, or more important to you? ["Same" or "more important for me" coded as -J-2, "more important for wife" coded as zero.] b. All things considered, has your experience as a foster parent worked out as well as you anticipated or less so? ["Much more satisfying than anticipated" coded as -}-4, "more satisfying than anticipated" coded as -f-3, "about as expected" coded as -f-2, "less satisfying than expected" coded as zero.] c. Do you attend foster parent meetings? ["Never" coded as zero, "seldom" as -f-1, "occasionally" as 4-2, "regularly" or "fairly often" as +3.] d. I tend to think of caseworkers as having more to do with my wife than with myself. ["Usually feel this way" coded as zero, "sometimes feel this way" coded as -(-1, "never feel this way" coded as +2.]

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

e. I find that I have very little I want to say to caseworkers. ["Usually feel this way" coded as zero, "sometimes feel this way" coded as -j-1, "never feel this way" coded as -|-2.] f. Do you happen to know approximately what the agency board rate amounts to? ["Yes" coded as -\-2, "no" as zero.] Index of Community Integration. This index attempted to measure the degree to which the foster family was integrated with neighbors and key community figures. The mean stanine score was 5.4, the standard deviation 2.41. The items are as follows: a. In your present community, how many of your neighbors who live around you do you know well? ["Many" coded as -f4, "few" as -{-I, "some" as -j-2, "none" as zero.] b. Do you socialize much with your neighbors? Please describe your usual contact. ["Often" coded as -|-4, "fairly frequently" as -f-3, "sometimes" as +2, "seldom" as +1, "not at all" as zero.] c. How well do you know the following categories of persons in your community: (1) physician, (2) druggist, (3) minister or priest, (4) police, (5) fireman, (6) elected political officials, (7) schoolteachers, (8) barber, (9) hardware man, (10) foodstore man. ["Very well" coded as +4, "quite well" as +3, "slightly" as +2, "not at all" as zero, other response as -J-l.] Index of Deprivation in Background. This index was constructed for the purpose of determining the degree to which the foster father and mother suffered deprived lives as children. For the foster mothers the mean stanine score was 3.8, the standard deviation 2.21. For the foster fathers the mean stanine score was 4.3, the standard deviation 2.11. The items are as follows: a. Would you say that your family suffered an unusual amount of tragedy during your childhood? ["Much tragedy" coded as -}-5, "average amount" as -)-2, "little" as zero.] b. Is your mother still alive? If not, how old were you when she died? [Less than 5 years old coded as -f-5, 6-10 years old coded as -f-3, 11-15 years old coded as -(-2, 16-21 years old coded as -|-1, over 21 years old coded as zero.] c. Is your father still alive? If not, how old were you when he died? [Coded the same as (b) above.] d. Was your mother affectionate to you? ["Yes" coded as zero, "moderately" as -f 2, "slightly" as +3, "hardly at all" or "no" as -f-5.] e. Was your father affectionate to you? [Coded the same as (d) above.] f. Was there anything about him that upset you or your brothers and

DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

73

sisters (e.g., alcoholism, physical illness)? ["Nothing" coded as zero, "alcoholism" as -j-5, "physical illness" as -f- 3, "physical brutality" as -{-5, all other responses as -j-1.] g. What was the general economic situation of your family throughout most of your childhood? ["Well-to-do" or "comfortable" coded as zero, "meager" or "poor" as -j-5.] h. What is your estimate of your parents' marriage? ["Very happy," "happy," or "average" coded as zero, "unhappy" or "very unhappy" coded as -j-5, all other responses coded as -f-1.] i. In general what kind of a youngster were you? Can you give us a brief thumbnail description? ["Average," "normal," "happy," etc., coded as zero; "shy," "withdrawn," "troublesome," etc., coded as -\-3; "unhappy," "troubled," etc., coded as -j-5.] Index of Social Participation. This index was designed to assess the degree to which the foster mothers and fathers tended to involve themselves in social activity as opposed to being insular in their style of living. The mean stanine score was 5.5, the standard deviation 2.15. The items are as follows: a. Do you attend foster parent club meetings? How often would you say you attend? ["Never" coded as zero, "seldom" as -j-2, "occasionally" as-f3, "often" as+4.] b. Which of the following activities do you do regularly? ["Visiting with friends" coded as 4-3 for "regularly," 4-2 for "occasionally," zero for "never"; "visiting relatives" coded 4-3 for "regularly," -j-2 for "occasionally," zero for "never."] c. Do you belong to any organizations other than your church? [Coded same number as number of organizations.] d. How often have you attended meetings of these organizations in the last three months? ["Once" coded as -|-1, "twice" or more as 4-2, "never" as zero.] e. Have you ever visited any of the following places in the Pittsburgh area: (1) Buhl Planetarium, (2) zoo, (3) Carnegie Institute Museum, (4) Pittsburgh Symphony, (5) theater (live plays), (6) aviary (birdhouse), (7) Forbes Field, (8) Phipps Conservatory (e.g., flower show), (9) Carnegie Library, (10) Pittsburgh Opera? ["Never visited" coded as zero; "within last 6 months" coded as -j-4; "within last year" coded as 4-3; "within last two years" coded as 4-2; "more than two years ago" coded as -f-1. Scores are added and divided by 10.] f. How often do you go out socially? ["Never" coded as zero, "hardly ever" as -f-1, "occasionally" as -j-2, "fairly regularly" as 4-3, "often" as +4.] g. I don't think women should be socializing much with the neighbors. ["Agree" coded as zero, "disagree" as -j-3.]

74

FOSTER PARENTHOOD INTERCORRELATIONS OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

For purposes of machine analysis, these measures were converted into stanine scores (given for each measure above) and correlated with each other. In addition to the index and scale scores, the following items were included in this analysis: the age of the foster mother, the race of the foster family, and the number of natural-born children in the family. * In looking at the matrix representing the product-moment correlations of the various scores cited in this chapter, the reader should be aware that it was not anticipated that all the scores would be significantly intercorrelated. The construction of the scales and indices was based upon the expectation that they were measuring different dimensions of foster parent behavior that might well be distinctive. Whether the independent variables would correlate with some of the dependent measures was, of course, seen as a different matter. Benefactress of Children Scale. Inspection of Table 31 reveals that the Benefactress of Children Scale is significantly correlated with the scores achieved by the foster mothers on the Anomie Scale (r = .58) developed by Srole. The association suggests that an attitude of disillusionment with society and its institutions goes hand in hand with an attitude about foster parenthood that has somewhat pathogenic and exploitative overtones. While societal institutions and leaders are being demeaned, the individual at the same time needs to present an inflated picture of his own virtues. It is not surprising to find that social attitudes of a pathological character are related to more personal attitudinal dimensions (see Adorno et «/.[!]). Of some surprise is the finding that foster mothers with deprived childhoods did not show the type of pathogenic orientation reflected in the Benefactress of Children Scale —the correlation between this scale and the Index of Deprivation in Background is significantly negative. Further examination of the matrix turns up an interesting twist, however: there is a significant correlation between scores of foster mothers on the Benefactress of Children Scale and scores for deprivation in their husbands' backgrounds. It would appear that women who express pathogenic attitudes about child rearing tend to have married deprived men, but this * Omitted from the machine analysis were cases in which a complete set of research materials was not available, e.g., where the foster father was deceased or had not been interviewed; cases in which the foster mother had not completed the PARI were also omitted. This reduced the size of the group to 77 foster families.

Table 31. Intel-correlations of Scale and Index Scores and Age, Race, and Number of Own Children of Foster Mothers (N = 77) * Scale or Index t

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Age Race No. of Children.

1

2

3

58 —19 —33

4

5

6

19 04 07 22 02 03 —35 —03 06 11 —10 — 16

7

—15 —05 —09 —07 —05 —01

8

—20 —20 16 —34 —08 04 20

9 —02 —07 14 —20 04 00 —02 20

10

11

12

—17 —02 26 07 —06 19 —04 21 14

—35 —17 —08 08 00 — 15 — 10 —10 —02 —07

28 32 — 18 —02 —05 —15 —03 —13 00 05 06

17

18

19

Age

12 03 05 03 14 03 16 07 06 13 —36 12 —03 —14 10 11 05 21 14 10 11 15 06 10 28 01 —01 06 —13 13 17 —05 —02 —09 —07 15 —09 —08 24 —11 11 15 —16 06 —26 17 58 —01 09 — 13 17 —17 05 —32 —06 00 01 —11 08 —03 10 07 —14 —05 23 08 —01 07 17 —11

—14 —16 —02 05 05 01 17 11 06 15 — 11 —07 00 —02 04 —12 — 11

08 13 01 01 —23 14 00 15 02 07 —20 —23 23 02 20 15 —11 10

01 —02 —12 09 08 09 —01 01 07 09 —22 —20 20 —05 —01 —17 20 22 15

13

14

15

16

No. Own Race Children 33 36 —20 09 09 14 —06 —05 —12 —02 —16 —07 25 06 12 —15 13 —07 40 07

03 —17 06 —05 —04 01 27 00 —06 06 —09 06 —30 22 04 01 —11 14 —30 —24 —42

* The two-tailed significance test with alpha .05 is r = .22; with alpha .01,r = .29 (decimal point omitted). t The scales and indices are as follows: 1, Benefactress of Children; 2, Anomie (Srole); 3, Social Participation; 4, The Foster Parent as an Eccentric; 5, Capacity to Cope with Problems of Foster Children; 6, Religiosity of Foster Mother; 7, Femininity of Foster Mother; 8, Sharing between Foster Parents; 9, Community Integration; 10, Role Involvement of Foster Parents; 11, Deprivation in Background of Foster Mother; 12, Deprivation in Background of Foster Father; 13, Masculinity of Foster Father (Authoritarian); 14, Clan-Type Family; 15, Acceptance of Board Payments (Foster Father); 16, Marital Tension; 17, Stress in Separating from Foster Children; 18, Permissiveness in Child Rearing; 19, Rural Background.

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

phenomenon is not necessarily a circular one (i.e., that women with deprived backgrounds will express pathogenic attitudes). For the group studied here, it would appear that the foster mothers more successfully than the foster fathers resolved the deprivation in their childhoods. It is also apparent that the Negro foster parents in our sample tended more often to express pathogenic attitudes described by the Benefactress of Children Scale than did their white counterparts. On the whole, the Negro group of foster parents in this study had less education and more frequently came from rural backgrounds than did the white foster parents. This perhaps explains some of the attitudinal differences that were found to be correlated with the racial identification of foster parents. Anomie Scale. In using a version of this scale similar to the one presented to the foster parents, Kutner et al. found that aged unemployed and retired persons showed a marked degree of disillusionment or anomie [31], Some exception to the manifest meaning of the Anomie Scale has been taken by Gumming et al., however, who claim that the scale really does not measure personal morale in any sense, but instead actually measures an ideological or cultural orientation [15]. Be this as it may, it is of interest to find the previously mentioned fairly strong correlation between the Benefactress of Children Scale and the Anomie Scale. It is also pertinent to point to the significant negative correlation between Anomie Scale scores and those on the Index of Social Participation. Since the latter includes a number of behavioral items (e.g., attendance at foster parent meetings, visiting friends and relatives), it would appear that the Anomie Scale goes beyond ideological issues and reflects the actual performance of individuals. Also to be noted is the significant correlation between the Anomie Scale scores and those related to a negative self-image of the subjects as revealed by the Foster Parent as an Eccentric Scale. As was the case with the Benefactress of Children Scale, the Anomie Scale is significantly correlated with the Index of Deprivation in Background as applied to the foster father. We also find a positive correlation with the factor of race; in other words, the Negro foster parents tended to score higher on the Anomie Scale than did the white foster parents. Index of Social Participation. The negative correlation with the Anomie Scale has already been noted. We also find that foster parents scoring in the upper range of the Index of Social Participation tended to eschew verbalized attitudes about the manner in which they are perceived by others, which could be characterized as defensiveness. The negative correlation

DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

77

between the two measures is significant (r = — .35). This suggests that individuals who are self-isolating in their social behavior tend to see themselves as misunderstood by others with respect to their motivations for taking in foster children. That these orientations go hand in hand is not surprising and suggests an underlying dimension of fear and mistrust of others, which reflects a generally pathological form of ego adaptation. Along these lines, it is interesting to find a significant positive correlation between the Index of Social Participation and the Index of Role Involvement of the Foster Father. This association appears to suggest that couples who lead lives that are socially enriched by involvement with neighbors, friends, and so on, are also the kind who do things together, including activities connected with the foster parent role. Casting further light on this is the finding that the Index of Social Participation correlates negatively with a conservative orientation of the foster fathers toward male-female relations as measured by the Index of Masculinity of Foster Father (Authoritarian). The cluster of attitudes here is an interesting one: foster parents who led somewhat asocial lives showed a pattern of feeling that their motives for being foster parents were viewed with suspicion by others. The foster fathers in these families expressed somewhat antiquated views about husband-wife roles, and, what is important for this study, they were minimally involved in the foster parent role. Those scoring on the positive side of the scale, of course, showed the reverse tendencies. The Foster Parent as an Eccentric Scale. In addition to the positive correlation of the Foster Parent as an Eccentric Scale with the Anomie Scale and its negative association with the Index of Social Participation, this scale also correlates negatively with the Index of Sharing between Foster Parents. In other words, foster mothers who carry the role as an almost exclusively private activity without the support of their husbands also appear to be those who suffer from the feeling that others view their activities as foster mothers with derision, disbelief, or suspicion. Whether this cluster of attitudes is significantly related to the performance of these subjects with the children entrusted to their care will be explored subsequently. Capacity to Cope with Problems of Foster Children Scale. The measure of the foster mother's verbalized willingness to accept the problems of various kinds of foster children correlates significantly with the Index of Masculinity of Foster Father (Authoritarian) and negatively with the In-

78

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

dex of Rural Background. The explanation of these correlations has to be tentative. There is the suggestion that women who are married to traditionally authoritarian men are themselves very much intrepid doers and feel able to deal with a variety of difficult tasks in the foster care of children. On the other hand, foster parents who originate from rural backgrounds appear less willing than their city-bred counterparts to accept a number of the problems presented by foster children. * Index of Religiosity of Foster Mother. The index measuring the religiosity of the foster mothers does not appear to be significantly correlated with any of the other scale or index scores developed in this study. The failure to find a significant negative correlation with the Anomie Scale is somewhat surprising and suggests that involvement in religious activity may be a very personal matter that does not necessarily relate to the individual's view of society as a whole. Another explanation of the lack of association between this index and other measures lies in the relative homogeneity of the subjects on this dimension. The standard deviation for this index showed one of the lowest indications of dispersion of all the index scores. Index of Femininity of Foster Mother. The Index of Femininity correlates significantly with the number of own children reported by the foster mother: the more own children a foster mother has had, the more she appears to maintain a traditional view of the female role. The sequence in which these phenomena occur is not known. It can be conjectured that women who have a more traditional view of the female role tend to have more babies. It appears equally plausible that this attitude is more firmly embedded as a consequence of the successive acquisition of children. It should be observed, however, that this correlation is the only significant one out of 21 and could well have occurred as a result of chance factors. Index of Sharing between Foster Parents. As previously pointed out there is a significant negative correlation between the Index of Sharing and the Foster Parent as an Eccentric Scale. The former also almost achieves significant correlation with the Index of Role Involvement of the Foster Father and with the Index of Clan-Type Family. The latter is perhaps best explained by the fact that in large, clan-type families considerable emphasis is placed on the cooperation of family members in perform* It has been suggested that farmers generally react to malformed animals in a sharply negative way, wanting to get rid of imperfect specimens because they are uneconomical to keep. Whether there is any carry-over in their attitudes toward humans is conjectural.

DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

79

ing the numerous tasks required to keep the family going. In general, this index appears to tap a dimension of role behavior that reflects a general closeness in relationships among family members. Index of Community Integration. The only significant correlation between the index measuring the integration of foster families within their communities and other measures discussed in this chapter is a negative correlation with the Index of Marital Tension. The relationship of a denial of marital tension to community integration is perhaps best explained as the "other-directed" orientation postulated by Riesman [48]. Those who tend to be concerned about the face they present to the community may be under pressure to deny any manifestation of marital disagreement. Index of Role Involvement of Foster Father. As we have seen, there is a significant positive correlation between the index measuring the involvement of the male subjects in the foster parent role and the Index of Social Participation. There is also a striking correlation with the Index of Acceptance of Board Payments. It can be assumed that foster fathers who are more involved in the role than others will be more knowledgeable about the demands of foster parenthood and therefore more accepting of the legitimacy of board payments. Index of Deprivation in Background. We have seen earlier that foster mothers who have had deprived backgrounds tend to avoid the selfaggrandizing attitudes implied by the Benefactress of Children Scale. It is also of interest to find that foster mothers who had deprived backgrounds tend not to be related to large, well-organized family groups as measured by the Index of Clan-Type Family. This association suggests that the social supports provided by a well-organized extended family act as a buffer for the individual in the face of any unusual calamity that might beset a nuclear family unit in the clan structure. The negative correlation between the Index of Deprivation and the age of the foster mother is not easily explained. It is conceivable that older persons tend to glamorize their youthful days somewhat and suppress memories of experiences associated with deprivation. The foster fathers' scores on the Index of Deprivation in Background were previously found to correlate with the foster mothers' scores on the Benefactress of Children Scale, indicating some potential joining of pathology in the marital pair. We also find that foster fathers coming from rural backgrounds tended to report less deprivation than their more urban counterparts. One might speculate that some of the stable aspects of farm

80

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

living offer fewer hazards for the growing child than does a teeming metropolis. Index of Masculinity of Foster Father (Authoritarian). The sex-role orientations of foster fathers reflect, on one pole of the index, a somewhat autocratic orientation on the part of the male that was probably more prevalent decades ago than it is today. A foster father with such an orientation would jealously guard his position as a patriarchal leader of the home and would expect his wife to stay within her province as a homemaker. He would deem it an insult to his masculinity to be asked to participate in household cleaning chores or to socialize with women on any companionate level. As previously noted, foster families in which such attitudes toward sex roles prevail tend to be insular in their social behavior (the negative correlation between the Index of Masculinity and the Index of Social Participation is significant). The significant positive correlation between the Index of Masculinity and the Index of Rural Background helps to explain the source of these attitudes. We also find that the Negro foster fathers manifested this orientation more frequently than the white foster fathers. Index of Clan-Type Family, A considerable number of the foster parents in this study came from family backgrounds in which there was much emphasis upon maintaining extended family ties. We have noted that in the foster families in which the foster parents scored high on the Index of Clan-Type Family, the foster fathers participated fully in many of the tasks entailed in the care of the foster children. They took the foster children to the medical clinic, attended foster parent meetings, etc. It was also noted that foster mothers originating from clan-type families reported less deprivation in their childhoods than other foster parents. Looking at the correlation matrix, we find another significant correlation: the Index of Clan-Type Family is positively correlated with the Index of Stress in Separating from Foster Children. This significant correlation suggests that foster parents coming from clan-type families experience greater difficulty in separating from foster children than do those who come from smaller, less-extended family systems. It was originally hypothesized that the opposite would be the case: that large-family systems would prepare the individual to tolerate better the loss of a child as a result of the lessened intimacy that is said to characterize large-family systems. Upon reflection, however, the correlation suggests a new perspective, namely, that a major dynamic of clannish families is the fact that they need to hold

DEVELOPMENT OF SCALE AND INDEX SCORES

81

onto every member, even distant cousins. Clans may be seen as having a centripetal force in the pressure brought upon family members to maintain ties with one another. One other finding about the Index of Clan-Type Family deserves comment. Those coming from such families tended to perpetuate the largefamily systems from which they originated; they had, on the average, more own children than those who come from the more constricted family system. Index of Rural Background. Foster parents with a farm background were previously found to show less flexibility in accepting the various problems exhibited by foster children. Foster fathers with this background reported having experienced less deprivation as children than the other foster fathers. At the same time, they showed themselves to be authoritarian with respect to the male role. Further light on this factor is shed by the significant correlation between the Index of Rural Background and the race of the foster father. It was found, as we have seen, that the Negro foster parents in the study, more than their white counterparts, tended to come from a rural background. SUMMARY

In this chapter there have been presented some of the major variables in this study in the form of scale and index scores derived from interviews with the foster parents. Of special interest among the findings is the positive correlation between the expression of pathological social attitudes and rather pathogenic views concerning the foster parent role. In subsequent chapters these scale and index scores will be related to caseworker ratings of the performance of the foster parents and to the child-rearing attitudes of the foster mothers.

7
IN THE form of the Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI) used to assess child-rearing attitudes in this study, each subject was asked to agree or disagree strongly or mildly with each of five statements in 23 scales. Items are cycled so that every twenty-third item relates to the same scale. The respondent is presumably not aware that he is being asked to give his opinion about the same attitudinal dimension on five occasions in the course of filling out the instrument. The normative data were secured from a sample of 100 wives of servicemen at a naval hospital who took the test shortly after they had given birth [52]. Although the PARI has been used with natural parents across the country, there has not previously been any reported use of it with foster parents. In this study, use of the PARI met several needs. Primarily, it provided one way of comparing foster parents with other groups of persons. Since scores for other groups are available, it is possible to determine to what extent foster parents are distinctive in their child-rearing attitudes. Secondly, there was interest in determining the degree to which the PARI scores would correlate with performance. If a predictive potential could be determined for the PARI, it would pave the way for the use of the instrument in the clinical situation as an aid to agencies in choosing from among their applicants for foster parenthood those likely to be successful generally, as well as those likely to be successful with given types of children. Another reason for using the instrument in this study was the necessity for giving the foster mother a concrete task that would occupy her

CHILD-REARING ATTITUDES OF FOSTER MOTHERS

83

while the field worker was talking with the foster father. It was considered important that the foster father have complete privacy during his interview to express his candid views about various aspects of the foster parent role. Although the instrument was filled out by 86 foster mothers, 5 of the completed schedules had to be discarded because it was obvious that the low literacy level of the foster mothers made it almost impossible for them to understand the items; 4 others were excluded from the correlation analysis because foster fathers had not been interviewed. Hence the group of subjects whose scores were included in the correlation matrix was reduced to 77.* COMPARISON WITH A NORMATIVE GROUP

In the absence of a control group of subjects, the PARI scores of the Pittsburgh foster mothers were compared with normative data secured from a group of 222 subjects in Indianapolis (mothers of nursery school children, mothers of young adults, and mothers reached at meetings of church and social groups) by Zuckerman and his colleagues [72]. Table 32 contrasts the mean scores of the foster mothers with those of the subjects in Zuckerman's sample. The foster mothers tended to be more authoritarian in their attitudes toward rearing children than the Indianapolis sample. For example, a significantly higher mean score was received by the foster mothers on the scale Seclusion of the Mother. This scale was designed to measure the type of social adjustment made by the mother; this might, in turn, influence the socialization processes experienced by the child. The foster mothers scored significantly higher than the normative group on the scale Breaking the Will, which includes statements of this type: "Children need some of the natural meanness taken out of them." Along the same line, the foster mothers scored significantly higher on the Strictness Scale; a typical statement in this scale is the following: "Strict discipline develops a fine, strong character." The foster mothers also scored higher on the scales Suppres* The reduction of the study population from 101 foster families to 77 was based upon the decision to include in the correlation analysis performed on an IBM 650 electronic computer only those subjects for whom a full battery of research protocols was available: (1) interviews with the foster mother, (2) interviews with the foster father (this excluded homes in which the foster mother was widowed and homes in which the foster father was not interviewed), (3) PARI forms satisfactorily completed, and (4) ratings by caseworkers on the Foster Parent Appraisal Form.

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Table 32. Means and Standard Deviations of Scores Achieved on the PARI Scales by Pittsburgh Foster Mothers and a Normative Sample in Indianapolis *

PARI Scale 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

Encouraging Verbalization Fostering Dependency . . . Seclusion of the Mother . . Breaking the Will Martyrdom Fear of Harming the Baby Marital Conflict Strictness Irritability Excluding Outside Influences Deification Suppression of Aggression Rejection of Homemaking Role Equalitarianism Approval of Activity . . . . Avoidance of Communication Inconsiderateness of Husband Suppression of Sex Ascendance of Mother. . . Intrusiveness Comradeship and Sharing Acceleration of Development Dependency of the Mother

Pittsburgh Foster Mothers (N = 77) Mean S.D.

Indianapolis Sample (N = 222) Mean S.D.

Pt

18.86 11.15 12.42 13.21 10.81 11.93 15.06 16.38 13.43

1.60 2.42 1.84 1.96 1.89 1.90 1.83 1.85 1.87

17.93 10.82 11.39 10.54 9.44 12.81 15.04 13.71 14.22

1.93 3.08 3.38 3.29 3.54 3.40 3.33 3.22 2.81

.001 n.s. .001 .001 .001 .01 n.s. .001 .01

11.19 13.72

2.19 2.03

10.90 12.80

3.54 3.69

n.s. .01

13.03

1.57

10.03

2.75

.001

10.59 17.23 15.23

1.81 1.90 1.91

11.62 17.40 12.84

3.23 2.03 3.02

.001 n.s. .001

11.55

1.91

10.81

3.20

.05

12.46 10.75 12.53 13.01

2.00 1.83 1.61 2.07

11.96 8.71 11.83 10.39

3.61 2.97 3.55 3.51

n.s. .001 .05 .001

19.09

1.71

18.67

1.70

n.s.

14.49

1.74

11.67

3.56

.001

12.55

2.14

12.00

3.24

n.s.

* Source for Indianapolis sample data: Zuckerman et al. [72]. t Significance levels have been calculated for two tails; n.s. = no significance.

sion of Aggression, Suppression of Sex, Martyrdom, Deification, Avoidance of Communication, Ascendance of Mother, and Intrusiveness. There are, however, several PARI scales eliciting pathogenic attitudes on which the foster mothers scored lower than the Indianapolis sample. One such scale was called Fear of Harming the Baby. This finding might have been expected, since many of the subjects had had a large number of babies under their care, and one could assume that they had achieved considerable ease in infant care. They also scored lower on the scale Rejection

CHILD-REARING ATTITUDES OF FOSTER MOTHERS

85

of Homemaking Role; this is in line with a common image of foster mothers as strongly home-centered. One result that was difficult to interpret concerned the scale Comradeship and Sharing; the Pittsburgh foster mothers came out higher on the positive side of this scale than the Indianapolis sample. There is a possibility that the foster mothers' scores reflect a tendency on their part to respond to the social climate of the interviewing situation by consistently answering "yes" or "agree" to many of the statements, a phenomenon commonly known as an acquiescence response-set. The finding that these foster mothers tended to be more severe in their child-rearing attitudes than the normative group could easily arouse concern among child welfare workers and lead them to question the validity of the choices made by agencies in recruiting individuals for the foster parent role. But before the data reported here are acted upon, certain limitations should be noted. For one thing, there is a potential source of error in the results from both samples. The Indianapolis data were obtained through a mailed questionnaire. The authors of the PARI instrument have raised questions about the reliability of data obtained this way. They have suggested that the instrument should be treated like a projective test, with the subjects urged to answer questions quickly. Greater spontaneity can thus be achieved, they feel, and more reliable answers obtained.* Obviously, using a mailed questionnaire precludes the possibility of exercising control over the conditions under which the instrument is used. In the Pittsburgh sample each mother filled out the PARI while the interviewer was present in the home and was encouraged to do it expeditiously, but it must be remembered that the interviewer was at the same time busy interviewing the foster father. The optimal test situation, then, did not obtain for these subjects either. Another source of error may be the phenomenon mentioned previously, namely, the acquiescence response-set. Subjects operating with this set tend to agree with most items on a questionnaire even if some are in direct contradiction with one another. The general tendency of such a person is to be agreeable, and, therefore, there is an overloading of positive responses. One method of counteracting this tendency is to word negatively questions that were originally expressed in positive terms. The effect of this response-set has been very carefully examined with regard to the well* These comments are based upon personal conversations with Dr. Richard Q. Bell.

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

known "Fascist Scale" used in The Authoritarian Personality [1], the validity of which has come under serious question [10]. Inspection of the foster mothers' responses to the PARI leads one to believe that the acquiescence response-set was strongly operating. In a way, this is not surprising, since many of the foster mothers had a low level of educational achievement and some appeared uncomfortable when faced with a penand-pencil test. Bell has stated that the problem of response-set is a difficult one at present. He has developed various statistical means of partialing out responsesets in the PARI, using analysis of covariance, with total scores being held constant. A correction has been developed that involves standardizing a subject's item responses and obtaining weights for rescoring the subject's mean score and standard deviation [4]. However, some researchers would not accept the validity of this procedure. Zuckerman took 20 of the original 23 PARI scales and reversed the meaning of the items. He found the content of the items still played a role in determining response to the items. He has suggested a new version of the PARI that would use 13 scales [71]. One other explanation of the difference found between the foster mothers and the Indianapolis sample seems cogent. The Pittsburgh group had less education and was an older group than the Indianapolis women. The mean age of the Indianapolis mothers was 37.94 years, whereas the mean age of the Pittsburgh foster mothers was 45.16. The Indianapolis mothers had a mean of 12.7 years of completed education, the Pittsburgh foster mothers 9.71 years. Zuckerman found in his study that the direction of the correlations indicated that the less-educated and older mothers tended to reveal more severe attitudes (e.g., they were more suppressive, hostile) on the scales related to authoritarianism [72, p. 167]. Schaefer and Bell, too, found a number of the PARI scales to be related to education, but stated that the absolute magnitude of the correlation did not justify the interpretation for their sample that the variations in attitudes merely reflected differences in educational level [52, p. 353]. It may well be that this is an area that poses a challenge for child welfare workers. If it is true that individuals in certain social classes (as reflected by level of education, for example) and in certain age groups are predisposed to a child-rearing posture that is at variance with what is accepted by child development specialists, social workers, and the like, as good or wholesome, this suggests that a major task facing child welfare workers is

Table 33. Intercorrelation of the PARI Scale Scores and Correlations with Age, Race, and Number of Own Children of Foster Mothers (N = 77) * Scale t 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Age Race No. own children

1

2

3

13 —10 39

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

No. Own 23 Age Race Children

4

5

07 15 34

17 —05 22 15 21 —01 05 18 04 29 —10 13 20 --06 03 —02 —10 —13 —15 35 41 12 —03 16 40 54 20 41 _07 25 18 43 34 15 07 06 —17 46 43 44 41 27 —28 38 24 13 27 22 —25 36 22 48 26 02 20 00 33 32 20 25 40 41 32 —03 38 32 16 06 05 31 21 45 16 02 42 16 51 44 50 37 55 09 54 53 28 00 27 07 60 55 04 40 53 48 17 20 24 38 —07 22 27 19 07 05 29 20 08 08 16 28 34 08 —12 —01 _22 —11 —01 —04 09 46 —03 00 —18 22 —25 06 —05 11 25 —11 37 18 —20 51 07 17 08 27 06 17 12 06 11 —05 —07 —06 04 39 —15 15 —07 20 —15 —08 —04 02 27 59 31 48 01 44 46 16 15 24 49 57 32 55 19 29 36 18 24 30 32 03 11 46 33 17, 51 —09 25 37 16 39 23 —02 25 24 19 12 20 25 45 16 40 —06 41 31 19 —13 08 15 —02 -12 -O4! 20 — 11 35 38 -05 38 -05 33 05 48 27 34 03 38 31 42 33 33 33 —10 12 30 34 28 40 —04 47 36 40 —20 39 21 00 40 43 13 -23 25

08 13 27 07 22 13 13 —02 06 21 03 —03 07 —11 11 24 21 20 -01 01 19 00 19

—05 46 21 16 43 08 —04 05 —20 42 18 13 18 —06 15 36 25 34 17 29 06 37 30 07

18 —35 —13 —03 —22 02 00 —11 17 —26 —04 —05 —11 01 — 12 —29 —31 —20 16 —21 —09 -21 -20 -24 -43

* The two-tailed significance test with alpha .05 is r = .22; with alpha .01, r = .29 (decimal point omitted). t The scales arc as follows: 1, Encouraging Verbalization; 2, Fostering Dependency; 3, Seclusion of the Mother; 4, Breaking the Will; 5, Martyrdom; 6, Fear of Harming the Baby; 7, Marital Conflict; 8, Strictness; 9, Irritability; 10, Excluding Outside Influences; 11, Deification; 12, Suppression of Aggression; 13, Rejection of Homemaking Role; 14, Equalitarianism; 15, Approval of Activity; 16, Avoidance of Communication; 17, Inconsiderateness of Husband; 18, Suppression of Sex; 19, Ascendance of Mother; 20, Intrusiveness; 21, Comradeship and Sharing; 22, Acceleration of Development; 23, Dependency of the Mother.

88

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

that of influencing the foster parents to modify this posture. The alternative would be to recruit younger and better educated foster parents. INTERCORRELATIONS OF THE PARI SCORES AND OTHER VARIABLES

Table 33 presents the intercorrelations of the PARI scale scores achieved by the foster mothers, as well as correlations between these scores and the variables of age, race, and number of own children. If we look at the latter variables first, we note that age is a negative indicator as regards the child-rearing attitudes of foster mothers. In other words, the older foster mothers tended to have more severe, more negativistic orientations toward child-rearing than their younger counterparts. Thus, there were significant positive correlations between the age of the foster mothers and their scores on the scales Seclusion of the Mother, Martyrdom, Avoidance of Communication, and Inconsiderateness of Husband. In examining the association between the race of the foster mothers and their child-rearing attitudes, it was found that Negro subjects tended to show more authoritarian and suppressive attitudes toward child rearing than did the white foster mothers. Thus, strong positive correlations were found between race and the scales Fostering Dependency, Martyrdom, Excluding Outside Influences, Avoidance of Communication, and Inconsiderateness of Husband. In addition, there were positive correlations with the following scales: Suppression of Sex, Intrusiveness, Acceleration of Development, and Dependency of the Mother. This rather pervasive authoritarian quality shown by Negro foster mothers perhaps reflects the fact that the Negro foster families, as a whole, were found to be almost uniformly very deeply involved in their religious activities. Furthermore, a number of them belonged to local church sects that were known for their strong emphasis upon high standards of behavior for children. It is noteworthy that foster mothers who had given birth to children of their own tended to be significantly more lenient in their child-rearing attitudes than those who had no children of their own. Significant negative correlations prevailed between the number of own children reported by the foster mothers and several of the PARI scales involving authoritarian attitudes: Fostering Dependency, Martyrdom, Excluding Outside Influences, Avoidance of Communication, Inconsiderateness of Husband, and Acceleration of Development. In this connection one might point out that the Negro foster parents tended to be childless couples to a much greater

CHILD-REARING ATTITUDES OF FOSTER MOTHERS

89

extent than the white foster parents, a fact that helps to account for the more severe attitudes shown by them. It should also be noted that there is a negative correlation between the age of the foster mother and number of own children. The older foster parents tended to have had fewer children than the younger ones. This suggests that couples who have not had children of their own tend to cling to the foster parent role for a longer period of time as a way of compensating for not having had this prior experience. Comparing the intercorrelations found in this study with the correlations reported by Zuckerman, one finds, on the whole, fairly striking similarities. For example, in both studies the first scale, Encouraging Verbalization, is significantly correlated only with the scale Equalitarianism. Again, the scale Breaking the Will is very significantly correlated in both samples with such scales as Strictness, Excluding Outside Influences, and Deification. On the basis of visual inspection, it would appear that if the correlations among the scale scores achieved by the foster mothers were factor analyzed, results similar to those reported by Zuckerman would be extracted. He reported the following factors for the PARI instrument: Factor A, Authoritarian-Control, which includes scales that measure authoritarian, suppressive, and punitive types of attitudes; Factor B, Hostility-Rejection, which is described as hostility toward children and husband and rejection of the maternal role; Factor C, Democratic Attitudes, which includes such things as encouraging verbalization, equalitarian attitudes, and feeling of comradeship toward children. It was of interest to determine the nature of the relationships between the attitudinal scores foster mothers achieved on the PARI scales and the various attitudinal measures developed from the direct interviews with them and their husbands. Although both sets of data stem from the same source, the association that might exist between general child-rearing attitudes expressed by foster mothers on a paper-and-pencil test and the social backgrounds and role adjustments of the subjects as revealed in research interviews could serve to provide better understanding of their role behavior. Table 34 shows these relationships. The items in the Benefactress of Children Scale allowed the foster mother to take the somewhat boastful stance of being a unique and special sort of person because of her willingness to take care of other people's children. Those scoring high on the scale were foster mothers who needed to put on a rather sanctimonious air about their presumed altruistic acts.

Table 34. Correlation Matrix of Scores Achieved by Foster Mothers on the PARI Scales and Other Scale and Index Scores (N = 77) * PARI Scale t

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

1 -06 45 35 37 40 16 -06 06 -15 32 24 23 10 -02 19 27 25 32 28 31 -30 18 25

2

3

4

5

6

00 40 40 32 46 19 01 13 03 29 27 33 24 -16 18 30 31 34 40 43 -21 31 28

19 -26 -34 -18 -10 -10 -01 -04 -01 -16 10 -14 -23 08 -06 -04 -11 -24 -05 -09 14 03 -09

29 13 27 08 18 -03 01 -19 05 16 -07 16 25 05 -14 10 25 28 12 17 -03 07 03

-21 15 23 00 03 02 -11 -13 -13 02 16 23 -19 04 08 -15 10 -06 -03 08 -10 -10 07

-16 00 14 09 17 24 20 23 14 16 12 02 09 15 01 05 00 14 -02 09 -02 20 12

Other Scale or Index J 8 9 7 -06 -04 07 -02 -03 -01 03 -04 06 04 09 01 03 -19 09 -04 01 -09 23 -05 -04 06 -16

-02 -07 -21 -02 -23 04 05 -03 04 -10 -08 -14 -21 -04 -12 -01 -01 -23 -05 -15 -01 -07 -04

-08 08 -01 03 -09 06 -16 08 -11 03 00 19 01 -10 03 03 02 -07 -04 -02 -31 14 06

11

13

16

17

19

07 -05 -01 -31 -19 -12 -03 -01 12 -21 -25 -06 -03 -11 -06 -22 05 06 -11 -02 04 00 -01

23 25 14 -08 10 13 00 -08 -15 13 00 15 16 09 05 27 33 29 -01 22 15 00 04

-17 -14 -01 -25 -18 -07 08 -19 03 -28 -33 -33 01 -15 -08 -11 -05 -18

09 23 15 06 15 09 -05 04 -15 18 18 22 06 -06 04 01 10 11 -01 27 07 05 09

-11 25 -03 -01 14 05 08 00 -17 13 01 -10 19 -10 08 54 12 21 11 12 11 20 02

-17 03 -10 -21

* The two-tailed significance test with alpha .05 is r = .22; with alpha .01, r = .29 (decimal point omitted). t The PARI Scales are as follows: 1, Encouraging Verbalization; 2, Fostering Dependency; 3, Seclusion of the Mother; 4, Breaking the Will; 5, Martyrdom; 6, Fear of Harming the Baby; 7, Marital Conflict; 8, Strictness; 9, Irritability; 10, Excluding Outside Influences; 11, Deification; 12, Suppression of Aggression; 13, Rejection of Homemaking Role; 14, Equalitarianism; 15, Approval of Activity; 16, Avoidance of Communication; 17, Inconsiderateness of Husband; 18, Suppression of Sex; 19, Ascendance of Mother; 20, Intrusiveness; 21, Comradeship and Sharing; 22, Acceleration of Development; 23, Dependency of the Mother. iThe other scales and indices are as follows: 1, Benefactress of Children; 2, Anomie (Srole); 3, Social Participation; 4, The Foster Parent as an Eccentric; 5, Capacity to Cope with Problems of Foster Children; 6, Religiosity of Foster Mother; 7, Femininity of Foster Mother; 8, Sharing between Foster Parents; 9, Community Integration; 11, Deprivation in Background of Foster Mother; 13, Masculinity of Foster Father (Authoritarian); 16, Marital Tension; 17, Stress in Separating from Foster Children; 19, Rural Background.

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It will probably not surprise the reader to learn that scores based upon this scale are significantly correlated with 13 of the PARI scales, all of which show that individuals assuming such a pose tend to express child-rearing attitudes of a pathogenic nature. There are firm significant correlations with such scales as Fostering Dependency, Seclusion of the Mother, Breaking the Will, Martyrdom, and Suppression of Sex. The scale scores are also significantly negatively correlated with the scale considered a more wholesome manifestation of parental attitudes, Comradeship and Sharing (r — —.30). This posture on the part of foster mothers is thus obviously more serious than a mere display of unseemly immodesty. It goes hand in hand with potentially deleterious attitudes toward children. Some further light is shed by Table 34 upon Srole's Anomie Scale, since, like the preceding scale, it is correlated with most of the parental attitudes that are presumed to be of a pathogenic nature. This suggests a strong association between a cynical, soured social outlook, as reflected in the Anomie Scale, and a negativistic, somewhat harsh, and undemocratic attitude toward children. Of further interest is the significant correlation between the Anomie Scale and the PARI scale Rejection of Homemaking Role. Whether the PARI scales and the Anomie Scale are reflections of a profound alienation of the individual from people, and ultimately from oneself, is a matter requiring further investigation. Certainly our findings seem to suggest an over-all molar view of interpersonal relations and social pathology associated with these attitudes. The Index of Social Participation is a less decisive measure in that although it correlates negatively with several of the pathogenic PARI scales, it does not show significant negative correlations with the more healthy attitudes reflected in the Encouraging Verbalization and the Comradeship and Sharing scales. Thus, social participation appears to be less of a predictive indicator of parental attitudes than the two prior indices. Positive responses to the items in the Foster Parent as an Eccentric Scale could conceivably reflect ego strength on the foster mother's part, i.e., her ability to accept the fact that, for many people, choosing to become a foster parent is an unfathomable phenomenon. On the other hand, the negative self-image implied by the scale is apt to reflect a general defensiveness about the role, which may be associated with ambivalent feelings about being a foster parent. The significant positive correlation with the PARI scale Encouraging Verbalization suggests an over-all stance favoring candor and openhandedness with respect to oneself and between

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parent and child. At the same time, a tendency to show a somewhat complaining type of response-set is also suggested; this is reflected by the significant correlations with such scales as Seclusion of the Mother, Rejection of Homemaking Role, and Inconsiderateness of Husband. The Index of Capacity to Cope with Problems of Foster Children proved to be significantly correlated with only two PARI scales: Seclusion of the Mother and Suppression of Aggression. This may well have occurred by chance. The same holds true for the Index of Religiosity of Foster Mother, where significant associations were found only with the scales Fear of Harming the Baby and Strictness. The Index of Femininity, which describes a foster mother who pretty much favors a traditional role for women, correlated significantly with only one scale, Ascendance of Mother. Although both scales are somewhat related in content, this association could well have occurred by chance. Generally it was found that those foster parents who scored positively on the Index of Sharing between Foster Parents also tended to avoid attitudes about rearing children that are considered to be pathogenic. Significant negative correlations between this index and the PARI scales Martyrdom and Suppression of Sex suggest that these measures reflect foster family life in which male-female relationships have a wholesome cast. The only significant correlation between the Index of Community Integration and a PARI scale, Comradeship and Sharing, is a positive one. The significant relationship between the two measures would appear to be accounted for by a common latent attitude. Women scoring high on the Index of Deprivation in Background (i.e., suffering much deprivation) surprisingly enough tended to avoid strict and punitive attitudes toward children. There were significant negative correlations between this index and such PARI scales as Breaking the Will, Excluding Outside Influences, and Avoidance of Communication. The implication of these findings is that deprived persons in this study had tended to develop a benevolent, nonpunitive orientation to children as a way of possibly resolving personal conflicts about their own backgrounds. A foster father scoring high on the Index of Masculinity would expect his wife to take his advice on whom to vote for in elections, not to socialize with the neighbors, and generally to "keep her place." It is of interest to find that where foster fathers scored high on this index, their wives also

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showed undemocratic and pathogenic attitudes about child rearing. It was not at all surprising to find these foster mothers complaining about their spouses; the correlation between this index score and the PARI scale Inconsiderateness of Husband was significant. There were also significant positive correlations with the scales Fostering Dependency, Avoidance of Communication, Suppression of Sex, and Intrusiveness. Whether these correlations reflect factors entering into the original mate selection or whether the foster mother's attitudes were in reaction to the foster father's behavior is not known. The one association that went against the trend was the positive correlation found with the scale Encouraging Verbalization. Contrary to expectations, it was found that foster parents scoring high on the Index of Marital Tension tended to avoid pathogenic attitudes toward child rearing. For example, there were significant negative correlations with such scales as Breaking the Will, Excluding Outside Influences, Deification, and Suppression of Aggression. This tends to confirm the reports of the study's research interviewers that a high score on the Index of Marital Tension is actually an indicator of family health since it probably reflects a lack of defensiveness and a healthy candor about the state of the marriage. A number of foster parents were so guarded in talking about their marriages that they created the impression that they were withholding information. The Index of Rural Background was found to be positively correlated with two PARI scales: Fostering Dependency and Avoidance of Communication. The strength of the latter correlation tends to support the commonly held view of rural people as less talkative than urban residents. The Index of Stress in Separating from Foster Children was found to be significantly correlated with the PARI scales Fostering Dependency and Intrusiveness. The close relationship between being unable to separate from a child and the tendency to bind a child to his mother's apron strings is readily apparent. This suggests that there should be further exploration of this association, since any clue about the ability of foster parents to separate from the children placed in their care might help agencies to avoid some of the disturbing incidents that have recently been publicized in newspapers across the country, in which legal remedies have been required to extricate foster children from their foster families. Correlations between the PARI scales and other information available about the subjects were calculated as an additional way of assessing the

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potential usefulness of the scales in understanding the role behavior of foster parents. For example, a number of significant negative correlations were found between pathogenic attitudes evidenced by the foster mothers on the PARI scales and a pooled global rating given the foster parents by the agency caseworkers.* These included correlations between the global ratings and the following scales: Breaking the Will (r — — .27), Martyrdom (r =: —.35), Deification (r = —.22), Excluding Outside Influences (r = —.31), Intrusiveness (r = —.29), and Dependency of the Mother (r = —.26). In other words, foster parents rated by the caseworkers as having sustained a uniformly excellent performance with the foster children under their care tended to reject, at a significant level, a number of attitudes that are regarded as pathogenic by the authors of the PARI scales. These findings suggest the PARI may be useful as a general screening device with new applicants for foster children. There was only one significant correlation between the median age of the foster children placed in a foster home and the PARI scores. On the Rejection of Homemaking Role Scale foster mothers caring for infants tended to score lower than those taking care of older children. There were no significant correlations between the PARI scores and the longest period a child had stayed in a given foster home. Foster mothers who had served in the role for a long time tended to show more pathogenic attitudes than more recent recruits. This is probably a function of their age rather than their tenure as foster parents. Subjects who attended agency meetings for foster parents showed a tendency to score higher on the Strictness Scale and on the Approval of Activity Scale than those who did not attend. For readers who are dismayed to find that attendance at educational meetings does not lead to less pathogenic orientations, there is the possible explanation that these meetings naturally attract the active "doers" among the foster parents rather than the more relaxed, less active individuals. There were no significant correlations between the PARI scales and the foster mother's expressed preference for breast feeding own children. Concerning the use of pacifiers, however, there was a significant negative correlation between the foster mother's approval of such sucking devices * The ratings were combined in such a way that the assigned score represented the lowest rating achieved by the foster parents with any child, an admittedly severe standard. Thus, if caseworker A rated Mrs. Jones as having done an excellent job with one child and caseworker B gave her a poor rating with a second child, the global rating assigned Mrs. Jones was the latter.

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and the following pathogenic scales: Martyrdom, Irritability, Excluding Outside Influences, Inconsiderateness of Husband, and Suppression of Sex. The latter correlation suggests that those who have a permissive orientation to overt sucking by infants also have less conflict about the more direct expression of sexuality by children. Foster mothers corning from a large sibship system scored significantly higher on the scale Comradeship and Sharing and significantly lower on the scale Fear of Harming the Baby than those coming from small family units. Both of these scales seem related to the experiences of large-family living. SUMMARY

The results from administration of the PARI to the foster mothers who participated in this study indicate that, as a group, they frequently expressed more pathogenic child-rearing attitudes than did a normative group with which they were compared. This may partially be explained by the fact that the foster mothers were older and had less education than did the normative group; these factors had been demonstrated in earlier research to correlate with the expression of pathogenic attitudes about child rearing. A number of significant correlations were found between index scores developed from direct interviews with the foster parents and PARI scales. There were particularly strong positive correlations between both the Benefactress of Children Scale and the Anomie Scale (Srole) and PARI scales describing pathogenic attitudes toward child rearing. An association was also demonstrated between some of the PARI scales and such variables as race, number of own children, and global assessments made by caseworkers about the performance of foster parents with specific children placed under their care. The PARI emerges as an instrument that holds some promise as a predictive screening device in work with foster parent applications.

8
1 HE caseworkers of the Family and Childrens Service came into intimate contact with the subjects of this study in their daily supervision of the foster children entrusted to the agency. They were constantly called upon in their professional capacity to make evaluative judgments about the kind of care the foster children were receiving. In addition, decisions often had to be made about new children coming under the agency's care. An incompatible placement arising out of an incorrect assessment of a foster home's potential for absorbing a given child could well result in further scars for an already socially handicapped youngster. As might well be expected, such a responsibility is not taken lightly by caseworkers. The caseworkers were in a good position to provide basic raw data that would constitute some of the evaluative variables to be used in a role analysis of foster parenthood. The subjects themselves of course were also called upon to contribute basic factual and attitudinal material, but it did not seem wise to place complete reliance upon their own estimates of their strengths and weaknesses in the performance of responsibilities inherent in the status positions they occupied. The construction of the Foster Parent Appraisal Form, prepared for the purpose of securing caseworkers' assessments of the foster parents (henceforth referred to as the FPAF), was facilitated by a variety of explorations of practice — attendance at case conferences, case readings, discussions with the professional staff, and examination of the professional literature. Eight areas of appraisal are covered by the FPAF:

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1. The characteristics of the children placed in the foster home and the performance of the foster parents in supervising their care. 2. The social characteristics of the foster family (e.g, organization of the household, ties with an extended family). 3. The perceived motivations of the foster mothers and foster fathers in assuming the role. 4. The capacities of the foster mother to perform as a cooperating team member (e.g., reporting significant material about the child to the agency, accepting the caseworker's suggestions about child-rearing practices). 5. The tendency of the foster parents to react positively or negatively to such attributes of the child as his sex, age, and personality characteristics. 6. The characteristic manner of disciplining children shown by the foster parents. 7. The suitability of the home for various types of foster children (e.g., physically handicapped, normal newborn infants). 8. The foster parents' characteristic manner of relating to the casework staff. METHOD OF ADMINISTRATION

A roster of the foster families included in this study was circulated among the casework staff. The latter were asked to indicate which of the families were known to them as a result of their having supervised children in these foster homes. Fifteen caseworkers participated in the study. A small group knew only a few foster families, but almost half knew as many as twenty families. A single family might be known to as many as six or seven workers.* In order to test the reliability of the judgments made by the casework staff, two caseworkers were assigned to rate each foster family independently. It was possible to make such paired assignments for 88 of the foster families. For the 13 remaining foster families, only a single caseworker knew the family. At a general staff meeting lasting several hours, the research director gave the caseworkers a general interpretation of the FPAF and presented anchoring illustrations for the various items included in the instrument, f * Agency practice was such that foster families working with the Family and Childrens Service over a period of years became accustomed to dealing with several caseworkers. The same caseworker normally maintained responsibility for a given foster child even if he was moved from home to home. t Copies of the FPAF and instructions for its use are available from the author.

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During the rating period he was present while the caseworkers filled out the forms in a large conference room. Consultation was thus possible when questions of interpretation arose. This must be seen as a minimal kind of training. Ideally, a much more lengthy and intensive training period would have been provided. FAMILIARITY WITH THE SUBJECTS

The caseworkers were asked to indicate the extent to which they felt they were familiar with the foster mothers and foster fathers as people. Obviously, if two caseworkers had a different degree of knowledge about Table 35. Number of Foster Mothers Known to Varying Degrees by Two Caseworkers * Degree to Which Known to Worker B Very well Fairly well Slightly Hardly at all Total

Very Well 17 12 2 0 31

Degree to Which Known to Worker A Fairly Hardly Slightly at All Well Other Total 22 15 6 1 44

0 7 2 0 9

2 1 0 0 3

1 0 0 0 1

42 35 10 1 88

*The caseworkers were asked: "How well do you feel you know the foster mother?" For 88 foster mothers, ratings were made by two caseworkers who knew them. For 13 foster mothers, only one caseworker knew them well enough to make ratings; of these, 7 were known very well, 4 fairly well, 2 slightly.

Table 36. Number of Foster Fathers Known to Varying Degrees by Two Caseworkers * Degree to Which Known to Worker B Very well Fairly well Slightly Hardly at all Deceased Total

Very Well 1 1 2 0 0 4

Degree to Which Known to Worker A Hardly Fairly Slightly at All Deceased Total Well 5 8 6 3 0 22

2 10 0 7 0 19

1 10 7 15 0 33

0 1 0 0 7 8

9 30 15 25 7 86

*The caseworkers were asked: "How well do you feel you know the foster father?" For 86 foster fathers, ratings were made by two caseworkers who knew them. For 15 foster fathers, only one caseworker knew them well enough to make ratings; of these, 4 were known very well, 5 fairly well, 2 slightly, and 4 hardly at all.

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a family, this might well depress the reliability of their judgments. (Wolins has shown that the reliability of caseworkers' judgments about foster parent applicants tends to vary according to the quantity of information presented to them as a basis for making ratings [68].) Tables 35 and 36 present the responses of the caseworkers on this subject. It can be seen that the foster mothers were much better known to the casework staff than were the foster fathers. Of 176 responses received from pairs of caseworkers about the 88 foster mothers known to them, 152 (or 86 per cent) indicated that the subjects were very or fairly well known to the caseworkers. Such familiarity with the foster fathers was reported in only 38 per cent of the staff responses. Twenty-nine foster fathers, representing a third of the families known to pairs of workers, were reported to be either slightly known or hardly known at all by both caseworkers. The commonly held view that caseworkers and foster fathers have little to do with one another seems to be supported by this finding. RELIABILITY OF RATINGS

Table 37 presents the 40 key variables that were selected for factor analytic interpretation from the much larger group included in the FPAF.* Product-moment correlations were calculated to determine the degree of reliability that obtained between pairs of caseworkers knowing each of the 88 foster families. The reliability for each rating is reported as a product-moment correlation coefficient corrected by the Spearman-Brown formula. The reliabilities reported here are low, ranging from .25 to .81, with a median of .50. The highest reliabilities were achieved for ratings by the caseworkers on the suitability of a foster home for various types of children (e.g., physically handicapped, mentally retarded). The median reliability for this cluster of variables is .73. It would thus appear that the casework staff was in fairly close agreement about allocating various kinds of children to the foster parents they knew. They were in much less agreement, however, about the social characteristics of these families. For example, the degree to which a foster family tended to place stress upon social conformity was a rating for which the staff achieved a reliability coefficient of only .31. The same reliability (.31) characterized the rating of the degree to which a family tended to maintain close ties with extended family members. It would seem that social aspects of the foster family's * See Chapter 9.

Table 37. Interrater Reliabilities for 40 Ratings by Caseworkers on the Foster Parent Appraisal Form (FPAF) Rating Over-all warmth, affection, and tenderness the child received in the foster home Degree to which family has a matriarchal organization Degree to which family tends to place stress upon social conformity (being proper) Degree to which family maintains close ties with extended family members (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) Extent to which family is the kind neighbors would comfortably turn to when in trouble Extent to which foster mother appears identified with foster parent role Extent to which role creates strain for foster mother Degree of confidence caseworker has in foster mother's capacity to meet the emotional needs of children placed with her Extent to which the foster mother appears to be identified with the agency (as opposed to excluding the agency) Degree of understanding foster mother shows of child behavior Motivation of foster mother is related to: Need to undo parental deprivation she experienced as a child.... Her identification with the underdog Her desire to put her religious beliefs into action The enjoyment she experiences in undertaking a difficult t a s k . . . . The general warmth she feels for children Satisfaction of a need to control and direct others The prestige her role provides her in her relationship to neighbors and friends Strong visceral need for physical contact with babies Feeling less feminine if children were absent Extent to which foster father is identified with role Foster mother's capacity for reporting significant facts about a child's personality Foster mother's capacity for accepting and putting into practice suggestions from a caseworker about her child-rearing practices Foster mother's capacity for showing self-awareness about her own emotional needs in being a foster parent Foster mother's capacity to separate from a child who has been in her home for about a year Foster mother's capacity for cooperating with child guidance clinic in psychiatric treatment of disturbed foster child Foster parents' potential response to a child under 1 year of age Foster parents' potential response to a child 9 to 12 years of age.... As regards use of discipline, foster parents' tendency to accept misbehavior Foster parents' tendency to withdraw from a child and deny love as a means of discipline Foster home's suitability for various kinds of foster children: Child with severe physical handicap Mentally retarded child Infant suffering from colic Sexually precocious adolescent girl 100

Reliability * .63 .46 .31 .31 .50 .67 .75 .50 .57 .62 .32 .41 .34 .44 .59 .36 .43 .45 .36 .25 .46 .46 .43 .32 .51 .80 .65 .33 .42 .63 .73 .73 .76

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Table 37 — continued Rating

Reliability *

Boy in need of strong father figure .64 Normal newborn infant awaiting adoption Aggressive youngster reportedly fresh to grownups Imaginative and bright child who requires stimulation from his environment Very withdrawn and shy child Youngster who shows bizarre behavior Normal, healthy adolescent youngster

645 .81 .75 .51 .51 .81 .69

* Product-moment correlation coefficients were computed with the SpearmanBrown formula applied. Ratings were made by two caseworkers for each of 88 foster families.

life were less clearly formulated in the raters' minds than was the problem of determining the suitability of foster homes for given children. The ratings dealing with the motivations of foster parents were also characterized by low reliabilities; the median reliability for this cluster was .41. This lack of reliability would appear to reflect an absence of professional consensus about the reasons why persons undertake the foster parent role and is perhaps related to the underdeveloped theory building that has characterized this aspect of the child welfare field. It is telling that the lowest reliability on a single rating was that for the variable dealing with the foster father's identification with the role. The reliability for this variable was .25; this gives support to the impression that foster fathers are not well known to the casework staff. Another area in which low reliabilities were evidenced concerned the method of discipline utilized by the foster parents. The two ratings on this had reliabilities of .33 and .42. During the administration of the FPAF, in fact, the caseworkers frequently reported that they were not familiar with the foster parents' patterns of discipline. This was indeed a surprising finding, since the manner of disciplining children is commonly regarded by child development experts to be one of the crucial indices of parental functioning. FACTORS TENDING TO DEPRESS RELIABILITIES

There are a number of factors operating in the research reported here that tend to depress the reliability of caseworker ratings of foster parents. It is worthwhile to set these forth as an aid for future research efforts in this field.

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Unevenness in the Familiarity of Caseworkers with the Subjects. In Table 35 we have seen that a small number of caseworkers reported they knew the foster mothers only slightly. This response was more frequently reported about the foster fathers. When for analysis purposes, the study group was reduced from 88 foster families to the 66 family situations in which both caseworkers reported they knew the foster families at least fairly well, the reliabilities tended to climb from 10 to 15 points. The sheer quantity of information, as reported by Wolins and cited earlier [68], influences the reliability of ratings. Moreover, if two raters have different amounts of information about a family, this is apt to wreak havoc with the reliabilities. That is, if one caseworker knew the foster family for five years and the other caseworker knew them for six months, the differing volumes of information would be likely to lower the reliability of the paired judgments. Experiences with Different Children. In inspecting the rating instruments it became clear that the caseworkers were being strongly influenced in their ratings of the foster parents by the performance of the subjects with particular children. Thus, caseworker A might have supervised the placement of a normal female infant in the Jones foster home and might have been very impressed with the care the baby received. Her ratings would tend to have a positive cast. Worker B, on the other hand, might have placed an active three-year-old boy with Mrs. Jones and might have been dismayed to find the foster mother to be unresponsive and resentful of the youngster's activity. Her ratings of the home would tend to have a negative quality. When two caseworkers cannot use the same experiential base (i.e., the same foster child) in rating a foster family, reliability becomes a serious problem. How is caseworker A to know that Mrs. Jones cannot respond well to an older child when she has not seen her in action with such a youngster? Similarly, how is worker B to know that Mrs. Jones can do well with a newborn infant when she has not performed well with a toddler? It will be seen in a subsequent chapter that the global assessment by the caseworkers of the performance of the foster parents with the children under their care tends to correlate highly with more discrete ratings of role performance — a kind of "halo" effect — and thus some doubt is cast on the reliability of caseworkers in making fine discriminations in their judgments of various aspects of foster parent role behavior. This limitation should not be seen exclusively as a function of the inadequacy of the case-

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worker. Rather, the problem of reliability appears to be related to the enormous complexity of the task facing the researcher in attempting to develop objective ratings of subjects utilizing an observer who is in direct and significant interaction with the subject. Observing Critical Behavior. Almost two-thirds of the foster families included in this study cared mostly or exclusively for infants. Yet many of the ratings the staff was called upon to make concerned older children. The question naturally arises as to whether the experience of observing a foster parent engaged in the care of an infant provides a sufficient number of behavioral cues about a foster family to serve as a reliable guide for making decisions about the suitability of the home for various kinds of older children. Visiting a foster home and finding a foster mother hovering over an infant clothed in pretty pink lace hardly affords the worker the kind of information required to make a decision about noninfants. Probably the best predictor of a foster mother's capacity to take care of, for example, a disturbed older child is her satisfactory performance with such a child. In the absence of this kind of information, intermediate experiences are probably useful. How did she react to her own children at various stages of their growth? What are her over-all child-rearing attitudes? What is her orientation toward the handling of disciplinary problems in children? The Caseworker as a Member o] an Action System. The fact that each caseworker who was making ratings was also engaged in interaction with the foster parents is another source of distortion of the judgment process. This would not be the case if, for example, caseworkers who did not know the foster mother were asked to make judgments on the basis of observing the subject. Support for the view that caseworkers' evaluations of foster parents are directly related to the way foster parents behave toward them is provided in Table 38, which compares "good" performers with "poor" performers as classified by the caseworkers' consolidated ratings of the foster parents' performance with the children placed in their care. It can be seen that on a number of behavioral items there are noticeable differences in the way "good" performers relate to the caseworkers as compared with the "poor" performers. Those foster parents with high performance ratings sought contact with the caseworkers more frequently than did those less favorably rated. They also appeared to derive more enjoyment from the caseworkers' visits. They appeared less ill at ease and, more important, were more

Table 38. Percentage of Foster Parents with "Good" and "Poor" Performance Ratings Showing Various Types of Behavior toward Caseworkers (N=101)*

Behavior toward Caseworkers Foster mother seeks out contact with the caseworker fairly often Foster mother seems to enjoy caseworkers' visits Foster mother seems somewhat ill at ease with caseworkers' visits Foster mother makes the caseworkers' visits an occasion for socializing (as with a friend) .... Foster mother makes little preparation for caseworkers' visits in establishing proper conditions for interviewing Foster mother uses contact with the caseworkers to ventilate anxiety Foster mother seeks direction from the caseworkers about handling problems related to foster child Foster mother is rather aloof and formal with caseworkers

Foster Parents Achieving "Poor' Foster Parents Achieving "Good" Performance Ratings Performance Ratings From Both From One From Neither From One From Neither From Both Raters Rater Rater Raters Rater Rater 48%

36%

82

13

2

15%

32%

37%

31%

5

59

29

12

18

80

14

21

65

10

34

56

17

38

45

2

17

81

5

19

76

41

34

25

37

51

12

57

31

12

33

38

29

2

2

96

4

22

74

* Caseworkers were asked to make for each child cared for in the foster home a rating for the degree to which the foster parents satisfactorily fulfilled their tasks, keeping in mind the challenges presented by the specific child. The subjects were divided into low and high performers based upon the pooled ratings of pairs of caseworkers. In the 13 cases in which only a single caseworker knew the family, the ratings were reported as if two raters had made the rating.

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apt to seek direction from the caseworkers about methods of dealing with the problems of the foster children. It is conceivable that the "good" performance ratings received by some subjects may have been a reflection of their more "appropriate" behavior vis-a-vis the casework staff rather than a valid measure of their care of the foster children. It is also to be noted that the foster parents often did not behave in the same fashion with both caseworkers. In about a third of the cases, it was reported by only a single caseworker of the pair of raters that the foster parents exhibited the behaviors specified on the rating form. This could easily have affected the reliability of the ratings. Limitations of the Instrument and Its Administration. A major source of low reliability in ratings may, of course, reside in defects in the FPAF itself. The items that were selected for inclusion in the rating instrument may not have been adequately defined to orient the raters in a consistent manner. Related to the matter of defining areas to be rated is the adequacy of training procedures. Wolins has shown that when caseworkers in his study were given limited instructions for making judgments on a rating instrument, the reliability of the judgments was poorer than that for judgments made by those with no instruction; substantial training led to higher reliabilities [68]. In other words, a modest amount of training may have the effect of disorienting caseworkers when they are confronted with the task of making judgments. Limitations of the Caseworkers. When we come down to it, there may, finally, be serious limitations to the human being as a "processor of information." Hunt, for example, feels these limits are reached fairly soon no matter whether the rater is a social worker, a psychiatrist, or a clinical psychologist [22, p. 42], He cites the research of Kelly and Fisk, who turned up several kinds of evidence showing that the clinician's judgment, based on large quantities of information, is no more accurate for predictive purposes than the scores achieved by research subjects on fairly simple tests [29]. One of the most impressive reports of these investigators was the finding that adding the information from a two-hour interview to clinical predictions made on the basis of available documentary information did not improve the correlation of the clinician's predictions with the validating criterion. Hunt has also accumulated further evidence showing that clinical judgments are indeed highly fallible. He cites a study at the student counseling center of the University of Illinois by La Forge, Ewing, and Meux in which

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ratings were made by two judges on 45 variables not too different from those used in the FPAF. On 22 of the 45 variables there was very low reliability between the raters. Hunt comments: "What is one clinician's meat is another clinician's poison. We still know too little about what kinds of judgments clinicians can and cannot agree on, and about the bases of disagreement." [22, p. 41] Borgatta, Fanshel, and Meyer have questioned the tendency of social work researchers to avoid the use of personality inventories as an added source of systematic information about clients of agencies [5]. The advantage of such data is that they come directly from the client rather than from the outside observer. THE PROBLEM OF VALIDITY

Since the ratings made by caseworkers on the FPAF do not meet a high standard of reliability, the question is rightfully raised as to how useful they can be as predictive measures. There is no gainsaying the fact that the effectiveness of the instrument is seriously impaired by this factor, and further effort could profitably be expended in removing as many of the sources of error variance in the caseworkers' ratings as possible. This can be partially accomplished by better training procedures, better anchoring illustrations, and more careful use of caseworkers with the same base of knowledge about the subjects. But although the predictive usefulness of the instrument is no doubt impaired by low reliability, it seems nevertheless desirable here to determine what correlations exist between caseworkers' pooled ratings and data secured from the foster parents themselves. This is explored in Chapter 10. It is to be expected that the correlations will be depressed because of the problem with reliability. If, however, there are significant correlations in the hypothesized direction, such findings will have great usefulness in pointing the direction for future research. This is the most that can be hoped for in an exploratory study of this kind. COMMENTARY

After the formidable listing of sources of possible error that can affect the reliability of ratings of foster parents by two caseworkers, the reader might well ask why anyone would want to attempt such a hazardous undertaking. The answer resides in the fact that in the real-life situation facing caseworkers all over the United States, decisions in situations covered

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by the ratings used in the FPAF have to be made very frequently. Wolins has aptly pointed out that the decisions of professionals with respect to foster parent applicants hold many risks and brings to mind a definition of statistics as "a body of methods for making wise decisions in the face of uncertainty . . . the function of the clinician and of the research structure built around him is continuously to reduce the area of risk and therefore increase the extent of certainty with which the professional operation is carried on." [68, p. 40] On any given day, a child welfare worker may be faced with the need to place a child with special needs in a foster home when there are only a limited number of homes available from which a selection can be made. The decision-maker must take into account the limitations of the agency and, in terms familiar to game theorists, seek to minimize the disadvantages and maximize the advantages in a given placement decision. Exploratory studies seek to provide early clues to the key variables affecting the outcome of such decisions.

9 > CASEWORKERS' APPRAISAL OF FOSTER PARENTS

1 HIS chapter examines the kind of associations that prevailed among the various judgments the caseworkers were required to make in this study. For example: Were families who were rated as stressing social conformity in the behavior of their foster children the same ones who were described as being motivated to become foster parents because of the enjoyment they experienced in controlling and directing others? Were foster parents who were judged to be capable of providing good care to physically handicapped children also rated as being able to accept youngsters with other kinds of problems, e.g., aggressive behavior? The results of this examination will then be compared with some findings from studies of natural parents. THE FACTOR ANALYSIS

As a first step, the ratings made by the caseworkers on the FPAF were intercorrelated in a matrix that included 92 variables.* The number of the variables was then reduced to 40 for a factor analysis utilizing Thurs*The correlation matrix was calculated using 189 Foster Parent Appraisal Forms. Of these, 176 represented ratings made by pairs of caseworkers for 88 foster families known to both workers. In addition, in 13 situations in which it was not possible to identify two workers who had worked with the same family, there was a rating by a single caseworker. Since the interest at this juncture of the analysis was focused upon the internal structure of the caseworkers' perceptions, the decision was made not to average the ratings of caseworkers and to treat each rater's judgments as separate entities. At a later stage of the analysis the caseworkers' ratings were pooled in order to assess further the role performance of the foster parents.

CASEWORKERS' APPRAISAL OF FOSTER PARENTS109 tone's centroid method.* The selection of the variables to be included in the factor analysis was made partially on the basis of the theoretical meaningfulness of the variables for the study, partially on the basis of the completeness of information available — items on which the raters indicated they lacked information were eliminated. Factor analysis allows the investigator to develop a fairly precise and parsimonious picture of the interrelationships among a variety of traits; these might be characteristics of individuals or groups, qualities of objects, and so on. When very little research has been done in an area, as is true of foster family care, and it is therefore desirable to cast a wide net over a host of items that practitioners believe are, in some way, related to the motives and performances of foster parents, factor analysis can be useful as a way of creating order out of seeming chaos by reducing the number of variables with which the investigator has to contend. As a result of the factor analysis reported here it should not be necessary in any future study to use as lengthy an instrument as the FPAF, since many of the items included in it will be shown to be significantly intercorrelated. Let it be said that factor analysis is no protection against poor data. If the variables chosen for inclusion in a rating form are not related on a sound theoretical basis to the phenomenon under investigation, no amount of statistical manipulation can overcome this defect. A further note: The interpretation of factors is not a completely objective process. Very often the analyst has to reconcile what are apparently disparate kinds of variables somehow linked together in a single factor. Essentially, a factor is an abstraction based upon statistical manipulation of the variables. The name given to a factor is largely determined by the items that have the highest correlation with it. This process will become clearer as the factors that emerged from the analysis of caseworkers' ratings are reviewed. The factor analysis resulted in identification of ten factors. Of these, eight warrant interpretation. I: Parental Adequacy (Ego Strength in the Parent Role). In this analysis, Factor I has the largest number of variables with substantial loadings * The program for factorial and rotational computations utilizing the IBM 650 electronic computer available for this study was one that could handle a maximum of 40 variables, hence the need to reduce the number of ratings. The 40 variables included were listed in Table 37. A complete table of rotated factor loadings is available from the author.

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— 28 of the 40 loaded at a level of .30 or more.* This factor alone accounts for 39 per cent of the common factor variance. The variables with the highest loadings in this factor include the foster mother's understanding of child behavior, her understanding of her own emotional needs as a foster parent, her ability to behave toward the child in accordance with his needs, her ability to respond to suggestions from the caseworker abou her child-rearing practices, and her ability to report to the caseworker significant data about the child's personality. (The loadings for the ten highest variables in Factor I are shown below. The listings for the other FACTOR I: PARENTAL ADEQUACY (EGO STRENGTH IN THE PARENT ROLE)* Rating Loading Foster mother described as showing understanding of children's behavior .83 Foster mother described as showing self-awareness about her own emotional needs in being a foster parent 76 Foster mother described as showing capacity to meet emotional needs of children placed with her 75 Foster mother described as showing capacity for accepting and putting into practice suggestions from caseworker about her child-rearing practices... .73 Foster mother described as having capacity for reporting significant facts about a child's personality 70 Foster mother described as showing capacity for cooperating with a child guidance clinic in psychiatric treatment of a disturbed foster child 69 Foster home described as being suitable for an imaginative and bright child .68 Foster home described as being suitable for a shy, withdrawn youngster... .67 Family described as the kind neighbors would comfortably turn to when in trouble 66 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as being related to the general warmth she feels for children 63 * For simplicity of presentation, only ten variables with the highest loadings on Factor I have been included here.

factors include all the variables with loadings of .30 or more.) Foster parents who are located on the positive end of this factor are also said to be able to respond to a wide variety of youngsters, including those who are bright and imaginative, shy and withdrawn, or aggressive. The foster mothers are not described as matriarchal leaders of their families, nor are they said to be motivated in their desire to be foster parents by the neurotic need to control and direct others. At the negative end of Factor I are foster parents who are judged to be insensitive to the emotional needs of children in their care, unaware o * The .30 criterion, although arbitrarily chosen, has been used in a number of factor analytic studies.

CASEWORKERS' APPRAISAL OF FOSTER PARENTS 111 their own motivations for becoming foster parents, impervious to the suggestions of caseworkers about their child-rearing habits, and domineering in their behavior toward other family members. Among the variables not appreciably loaded on this factor are those describing the degree to which the family places stress upon social conformity and the extent to which the foster mother is motivated by religious considerations. Also not represented are other motivational items (e.g., the foster mother's identification with the underdog) and ratings of the foster parents' potential for responding to children of different ages and to children suffering from various kinds of abnormalities. Of considerable interest for this study is the fact that the ability to take care of infants is not significantly loaded on this factor. In other words, the ability to take care of infants is not associated with positive or negative judgments made by caseworkers about the various role performance items included in the FPAF. There appears to be some justification for identifying the cluster of items in Factor I with a factor that has been found in many factor analyses reported for psychological tests designed to assess the personality characteristics of subjects. Many of these personality tests, such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, reveal a large factor that accounts for a considerable proportion of the test variance and has been labeled "ego strength" [28]. The negative aspect of this dimension could be called "neuroticism." With reference to Factor I in the FPAF, the items appear to describe foster parents who are socially competent persons and who have a benevolent orientation toward children. They apparently have little need to exploit children for neurotic purposes. This is in contrast to the persons falling on the negative pole of this dimension who would be described as showing ego weakness and whose need for foster children would appear to be related to the gratification of pathogenic personality demands. Since Factor I involves so many variables, it is possible to think of it as reflecting the operation of a "halo" effect, under which the worker tends to rate foster parents as being either generally good or generally bad [5]; The fact, however, that the ability to take care of infants and the ability to take care of mentally retarded children are omitted from this factor would seem to indicate that the "halo" effect is certainly not a pervasive one. The reader should also bear in mind that other factors have emerged in the analysis. Although these account for less of the variance than Fac-

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tor I, their presence indicates that other dimensions of role behavior need to be taken into account in studying caseworkers' perceptions of foster parents. FACTOR II: FAMILY HIERARCHY CONFORMITY Rating Loading Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as being related to need to control and direct others 70 Foster family described as placing stress upon social conformity (being proper) 60 Foster parents described as tending to withdraw from a child and deny love as a means of discipline 49 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as being related to enjoyment she experiences in meeting the challenge of a difficult task 39 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as being related to prestige with neighbors and friends 39 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as being related to putting her religious beliefs into action 36 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as being related to feeling less feminine if children are absent 31 Family described as having a matriarchal organization (tending to be under female leadership) 30

//: Family Hierarchy Conformity. Factor II accounts for about 10 per cent of the common factor variance. It might be described by the term "family hierarchy control" or "family hierarchy conformity." * On one pole the factor suggests a rather driving, manipulative foster mother who is judged to play a decided leadership role in her family. The family as a whole is one that does not tend to emphasize democratic relationships among its members, and stress is placed upon general conformity to a strict set of behavioral standards. Of crucial significance is the description of such foster parents as tending to withdraw from a child and deny him affection when he has committed an infraction of the rules. These persons were also judged to demonstrate a somewhat pathological need to assume the foster parent status for the purpose of enhancing their social prestige rather than as a response stemming from an intrinsic warmth felt for children. Another noteworthy aspect of Factor II is that the foster mother is described as being motivated to take care of foster children because she would feel less feminine without the presence of children in her home. The polar opposite of Factor II describes the democratically oriented * These terms were suggested by Dr. Edgar F. Borgatta, of the University of Wisconsin.

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family in which apparently no member rules the roost. In such families, misbehavior in children is accepted more readily, and there is less tendency to penalize the child for infraction of the rules by withdrawing affection. To some extent, this factor resembles the "potency factor" that has been reported by Osgood et al. [41, p. 51]. Osgood's factor has scales referring to such attributes of an individual as "hard-soft," "masculinefeminine," "severe-lenient," "strong-weak." A second factor found by Osgood seems also related to the second factor of the FPAF. He refers to an "activity factor," which contains such scales as "fast-slow," "active-passive," "excitable-calm." It ought not surprise the reader to learn that those foster parents who scored high on Factor II tended to score low on Factor I. FACTOR III: TOLERANCE FOR BIOLOGICAL DEFICIT Rating Loading Foster home described as being suitable for a mentally retarded child 82 Foster home described as being suitable for a child with a severe physical handicap 76 Foster home described as being suitable for an infant suffering from colic. .55 Foster home described as being suitable for a youngster who shows bizarre behavior 36 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as not being related to feeling less feminine if children are absent (—).35

///: Tolerance for Biological Deficit. Factor III accounts for 10 per cent of the common factor variance. On the positive side, it delineates a foster home that is suitable for children who are biologically handicapped. The variable with the highest loading is a rating of the home's ability to absorb a mentally retarded child. It will be recalled that this variable was not significantly implicated in Factor I, which would appear to suggest that merely having substantial ego strength as a parent does not, in the caseworkers' view, necessarily endow a person with the ability to accept mentally retarded children. Aside from retarded children, the factor also appears to describe foster homes that can absorb a child with a severe physical handicap, as well as an infant who suffers from colic. The fact that the rating of a home's suitability for a youngster showing "bizarre behavior" is substantially loaded on this factor suggests that such behavior is identified by caseworkers as reflecting an inadequate constitutional endowment. This rating, however, is also loaded significantly in Factor VIII, and it is obviously one that does not fall into a unique factor structure.

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It should be noted that the ability to take care of a biolgically handicapped child is negatively correlated in this factor with the variable describing a foster mother who is motivated to assume the responsibilities of foster parenthood because she feels less feminine if children are absent from her home. By way of interpreting the loading of this variable on Factor III, it appears that foster mothers who were rated by the caseworkers on the negative end of the factor are seen as overly ego-involved with their children. The latter become an extension of the parents to such a degree that their physical deficiencies constitute a threat to the parents' selfimages. This association emphasizes the need for caseworkers, when confronted with the task of allocating children to foster parents, to ascertain the psychological meaning children may hold for a given couple. Particular emphasis should be placed upon problems of self-identity that may be latent in the intrapsychic makeup of potential foster parents. IV: Motivation for Babies. Factor IV, accounting for about 9 per cent of the common factor variance, suggests that workers tend to rate foster parents as being responsive to either an infant or an older child, but usually not to both. The first four variables that are appreciably loaded on this factor are descriptive of a foster home that is regarded as unsuitable for infants. It is a home in which the foster mother does not seem to be motivated by a strong need for physical contact with babies. On the other hand, the home is described as suitable for the child from nine to twelve years of age. FACTOR IV: MOTIVATION FOR BABIES Rating Loading Foster parent described as not being responsive to a child under 1 year of age (~)-81 Foster home described as not being suitable for a newborn infant awaiting adoption (—) .78 Foster home described as not being suitable for an infant suffering from colic (—) .58 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as not being related to strong visceral need for physical contact with babies (~).49 Foster parent described as being responsive to a child 9-12 years of age... .31

It was surprising to find earlier that the ability to care for babies was not located on the positive pole of Factor I, the most evaluatively oriented factor. An examination of the correlation matrix would lend support to the view that caseworkers faced with the task of selecting persons who can provide a high level of care for infants do not have a clearly defined image of the psychological attributes required of such persons. Yet in the case

CASEWORKERS' APPRAISAL OF FOSTER PARENTS 115 folders of the foster parents in this study caseworkers frequently commented about a foster parent's ability to "individualize" an infant. As far as the formal ratings are concerned, it would appear that foster homes that are being used for infants are seen, at least operationally, as having a custodial function. Major emphasis is placed upon good physical care of the newborn. One might hazard the explanation that it is simply very difficult for caseworkers to perceive meaningful areas of psychological interaction between foster mothers and infants during the brief periods in which the staff persons visit in the homes. Recent research on the family suggests that an accurate picture of the foster mother's functioning could best be obtained if a worker was present in the foster home for observational purposes throughout a normal day. FACTOR V: SELF-IDENTITY AND MOTIVATION Rating Loading Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as not being related to desire to "undo" parental deprivation she herself experienced.. (—).66 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as not being related to identification with the underdog (—)-66 Foster parent role described as not creating strain for foster mother (—).52 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as not being related to feeling less feminine if children are absent (—).48 Foster mother described as showing capacity to separate from a foster child who has been in her home for about a year 35 Motivation of foster mother in being a foster parent described as not being related to strong visceral need for physical contact with babies (—).30

V: Self-Identity and Motivation. Factor V accounts for about 8 per cent of the common factor variance. This factor is concerned, to a large extent, with the motives of the foster mother. On the positive side, it describes a foster mother who does not need to assume the role of foster parent to "undo" the parental deprivation she herself experienced as a child. Similarly, she is not motivated by a strong identification with the underdog. This factor also appears to describe a foster mother who has such facility and skill in rearing children that the role does not create any appreciable strain for her. Since the ego is not involved in complex defensive operations, energy is available to the foster mother for the tasks that a mother has to perform for children in the home. This type of person is also described as one who does not seem to require an ongoing physical contact with an infant of a kind in which mother and child live in an almost perpetual symbiotic relationship. Of considerable significance for the child welfare practitioner is the

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finding that foster parents who do not possess such traits as are described on the positive pole of this factor also demonstrate a capacity to separate successfully from a foster child who has been in their home for, say, about a year. This seems to imply that the problem of separation is very much related to the basic underlying motivation that impels persons to assume the foster parent status position. Since this is a problem often encountered in practice, it suggests that agencies would do well to ascertain more accurately than is now the case the motivations of foster parents so as not to make the error of placing a child who may have to remain for an indefinite period of time with persons whose basic defenses leave them vulnerable to the departure of the foster child. The ends that the child serves for the parent need to be sufficiently free of neurotic purpose so that the removal of the child does not undermine his basic ego functioning. FACTOR VI: IDENTIFICATION WITH ROLE Rating Foster mother described as not being identified with role Foster father described as not being identified with role Foster mother described as not being identified with agency

Loading (—).66 (—).66 (—).30

VI: Identification with Role and VII: Masculine Home. Only three items are significantly loaded on Factor VI and three on Factor VII. Each FACTOR VII: MASCULINE HOME Rating Foster family described as not being suitable for a child in need of a strong father figure Family described as having a matriarchal organization (tending to be under female leadership) Foster father described as not being identified with role

Loading (—) .54 44 (—).37

accounts for about 7 per cent of the common factor variance. In each case the items are closely related in concept. Factor VI, on the negative pole, describes a group of foster homes in which the foster mothers and fathers do not seem to be identified with the role and the foster mothers are also not identified with the agency. Examination of a number of case records suggests that these persons are relating to a particular child who has been in their home for a long time and who will probably remain there. The home is not available for placement of other children, and the people are, in essence, not viewing themselves as foster parents. Factor VII, on the negative pole, describes a foster family that is not suitable for a boy in need of a strong father figure. As might be anticipated, this type of home

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is described as being under a matriarchal leadership, and the foster father is said to lack identification with the foster parent role. VIII: Acceptance of Aggression. Factor VIII accounts for 6 per cent of the common factor variance. Although it is not a very strong factor, in that relatively few items are significantly loaded on it, it nevertheless is suggestive of a constellation of variables that holds interest for practice. On the positive pole it describes a foster home that has the capacity to absorb an "acting-out" child or an adolescent girl who is sexually precocious. It should be pointed out that very few of the foster homes were rated as being able to tolerate such a youngster. In addition, Factor VIII includes a rating of foster parents who are described as being responsive to the older child, age nine to twelve, as well as to the youngster who shows bizarre behavior. As might be anticipated, scores derived from Factor VIII are positively correlated with Factor I scores and negatively correlated with Factor II scores. FACTOR VIII: ACCEPTANCE OF AGGRESSION Rating Loading Foster home described as being suitable for an aggressive youngster reportedly "fresh" to grownups 53 Foster family described as being suitable for a sexually precocious adolescent girl 52 Foster parents described as being responsive to a child 9-12 years of age... .45 Foster home described as being suitable for a youngster who shows bizarre behavior 41

Summary Impression. The caseworkers who participated in this study appear to have perceived foster parents along a number of fairly well defined dimensions. Two evaluative factors emerged, the major one describing on one pole a competent foster mother with high ego strength and on the opposite pole a rather incompetent person whose need for foster children has a strong neurotic component. The second evaluative factor describes on one pole a democratic type of foster family and on the other a family that places high demands upon social conformity and strict obedience in children. The other factors that emerged primarily concerned the suitability of foster families for various types of children. The stability of these findings is worthy of further investigation, since the clusters of ratings have potential utility for the practice situation. Finding foster parents who are able to separate from foster children, finding homes that can absorb mentally retarded and physically handicapped children, and finding homes that can tolerate predelinquent children are

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problems that have much concerned child welfare workers in recent years. The FPAF factors outlined above offer one way of developing a greater conciseness in diagnostic thinking about foster parents and the services they can be expected to provide. FINDINGS OF OTHER INVESTIGATORS

Since the research reported here represents, as far as is known, the first attempt to assess systematically the capacities and performance characteristics of foster parents through a formal rating instrument, it is not possible to compare the findings with those of other researchers who have worked in this field. It does appear useful, however, to relate the results of this investigation to assessments that have been made of the behavior of natural parents. Although there are some extremely important differences in the situations of foster parents and natural parents, they face many common child-rearing tasks. * Research at the Pels Institute. One of the most important instruments in this field is the Pels Parent Behavior Rating Scales, devised in 1937 by Dr. Horace Champney [9] and later further developed by Alfred L. Baldwin and his colleagues at the Pels Institute [3]. These investigators were interested in developing a battery of rating scales based on systematic observation that would constitute a well-rounded description of the varied kinds of home situations to which children are commonly exposed. This was seen as a necessary antecedent to research attempting to relate variations in personality development of children to the type of parental behavior they had experienced. In the research at Pels Institute, trained social workers and clinical psychologists visited the homes of subjects and made ratings of many aspects of their behavior. Anchoring illustrations served to guide the observers so that the reported intrarater and interrater reliabilities were gratifyingly high, and the authors concluded that the battery was unusually reliable compared with other rating scales. Baldwin points out that a major dimension of parent rating scales that has repeatedly emerged in statistical and clinical analysis is the quality of warmth shown by the parent in interaction with the child. He describes a warm home as one in which the parent "genuinely likes and enjoys the child, finds contact with him rewarding and pleasant, is appreciative and * The question of whether a foster parent can truly be a parent in any real sense of the term has been the subject of recent sharp debate in the field of child welfare. See the articles by Otto Pollak [43], Rosa Wessel [64], and Elizabeth G. Meier [39],

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approving of the child's personality — in short, is 'acceptant' in the conventional sense of the term" [3, p. 4]. The warmth continuum stretches from excessive devotion through casual enjoyment and cool detachment to vigorous hostility. Warmth is seen as the characteristic coloring all other aspects of parental behavior. A second dimension cited by Baldwin is that of intellectual objectivity of the parent toward his child. The objective parent is described as rational rather than emotional in his behavior; his opposite is given to emotional outbursts. A third dimension of parent behavior describes the measures of control that a parent uses; these run from the restrictive and coercive to the lax and ineffectual. Between these extremes is the parent who allows his child freedom but is also capable of asserting authority when necessary. Using a form of cluster analysis on empirical data, Baldwin tested some of his basic assumptions. He found that the warmth dimension, as originally conceptualized, showed an important relationship to over-all ratings made by clinicians. Included under this rubric were such variables as acceptance, approval-disapproval, affectionateness, rapport, child-centeredness, and intensity of contact. Another cluster that emerged in this analysis was described as adjustment of the home. This dimension was related to the warmth factor but explained a different aspect of the home situation. The variables included in this cluster were discord in the home, effectiveness in the home, and discipline. The 30 scales making up the Pels instrument were subjected to a factor analysis by Roff [49]. He found seven factors underlying the ratings made by the trained clinicians who observed the homes included in his study. The first factor, Concern for the Child, describes parents who show actions ranging from overconcern, overprotectiveness, overanxiety, and the like, through more moderate degrees of concern to complete indifference and neglect. The second factor, Democratic Guidance, describes behavior that ranges from authoritarian through democratic to laissez-faire. The third factor, Permissiveness, relates to the degree of harshness applied in the enforcement of regulations. The fourth factor, Parent-Child Harmony, describes such things as "nonreadiness of criticism" and "rapport" between parent and child. The fifth factor, Sociability-Adjustment of the Parent, embodies extremes in behavior varying from social withdrawal to excessive conflict. The sixth factor, Activeness of the Home, describes homes that range from those that are extremely bustling, busy, excited,

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and so on, to those that are slow moving and disorganized. The seventh factor, Nonreadiness of Suggestion, describes parents who, on the one hand, attempt to direct the minute details of a child's routine and, on the other, tend to withhold suggestions from the child. Because Roff found fairly high intercorrelations among a number of the factors, Lorr and Jenkins submitted these correlations to a secondorder factor analysis [34]. The first factor that emerged in this study was given the name Dependence-Encouraging; it includes such things as babying, child-centeredness, solicitousness for the child's welfare, protectiveness, intensity of contact, duration of contact, and acceptance of the child. It also includes behavior that demonstrates devotion to rather than rejection of the child. The second factor was described as Democracy of Policy and includes such things as noncoerciveness of suggestion, nonrestrictiveness, nonemotionality toward a child, nonreadiness of criticism, readiness of explanation, favorableness of criticism, understanding of a child's problems, clarity of policy, and the absence of disciplinary friction. The third factor, Vigilance of Enforcement, includes, on the negative pole, the tendency to invoke severe penalties, the tendency to seek acceleration of the child's development, and a pattern of tight coordination of the home. It also includes ratings of the activity level of the home and the sociability of the family. The factor ranges from a strict orderliness at one extreme to chaotic disorder at the other. In a replication of the use of the Fels Institute scales on another middleclass sample, maternal behavior was found to be similar to that in the first sample studied [14]. How do the factors of the Fels instrument compare with those of the FPAF? Factor I of the FPAF is not clearly identifiable with any single factor that emerged from the Fels instrument. There is, however, some overlap between components of the Dependence-Encouraging factor and several of the FPAF variables in Factor I. For instance, the variable indicating that the foster mother's motivation in becoming a foster parent was related to the general warmth she felt for children had a substantial loading of .63 on Factor I. The FPAF variable describing a foster home where the foster parent does not tend to withdraw from the child and deny love as a means of discipline had a loading of .55 on Factor I. Factor I probably comes closest to the first factor extracted by Roff, which is basically related to the degree to which a parent shows "acceptance of the child."

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The second factor in the FPAF closely resembles the second factor discussed by Lorr and Jenkins in that it clearly relates to the presence or absence of democratic tendencies in the home. An authoritarian home would presumably score high on either instrument. The remaining factors in the FPAF are uniquely related to the foster parent role and not to general parental behavior. They cannot, therefore, be identified with the findings that have emerged from the studies with the Fels instrument. It should be pointed out, however, that a major weakness of the Fels instrument, as contrasted with the FPAF, is that it treats parental characteristics as relatively fixed and uniform. There are a growing number of investigators in the child development field who hold that parental traits can be fully understood only when juxtaposed against the traits of the child as part of an interaction process. Although the child's behavior may be strongly influenced by the parent's handling, it is also true that a person's performance as a parent is a variable phenomenon that can be significantly influenced by the traits of the child. Parental behavior often appears to be correlated with such child characteristics as sex, age, and ordinal position, not to mention specific personality traits. The Findings of Schaefer, Bell, and Bayley. Investigators in the Child Development Section of the National Institute of Mental Health have been attempting to develop a new set of measures of parent behavior. The Maternal Behavior Research Instrument [53] was based upon theoretical formulations drawn from the work of Adler, Sullivan, Homey, and George Mead. The authors, Schaefer, Bell, and Bayley, have shown that the interjudge reliabilities of this instrument are of a high order, ranging from .75 to .95, with a median of .85. Using Guttman's Radex Theory, Schaefer submitted a number of the maternal behavior variables to a statistical analysis. He reports that the findings can be interpreted in terms of two bipolar dimensions, Autonomy vs. Control and Love vs. Hostility [51]. This research is less concerned with molecular variables that relate to socialization processes than the Fels Institute work and more concerned with molar social and emotional interactions between mother and child. There is some similarity between the two dimensions of Schaefer and Factors I and II of the FPAF as reported earlier. The first factor of the FPAF contains variables that relate to the feeling tones expressed by the foster mothers about their children, as well as their general orientation to child rearing. The second factor is almost identical with the second dimen-

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sion set forth by Schaefer in that it is concerned with the question of democratic relationships. One other area of investigation about which comment might be made is Schaefer and Bell's work on the PARI instrument. They subjected the PARI scores achieved by a normative sample to factor analysis, and three factors emerged: Controlling Authority, Hostility-Rejection, and Democratic-Equalitarian. A factor analysis of the PARI scales was also independently carried out by Zuckerman et al. using a sample of mothers hi Indianapolis; he found similar factors to those reported by Schaefer and Bell [52]. He did, however, question whether the first factor was not actually measuring a generalized response set, since 16 of the 23 scales in the factor had loadings of .60 and above. The Findings of Sears, Maccoby, and Levin. A major piece of research in the area of parental attitudes and parental performance is the work of Robert R. Sears and his colleagues at the Laboratory of Human Development, Harvard University [54]. Intensive interviews regarding child-rearing practices were tape-recorded with 379 mothers. Ratings on 188 scales were made by ten advanced graduate students. Forty-four scales were factor analyzed and the following factors emerged: Factor A, Permissiveness-Strictness; Factor B, General Family Adjustment; Factor C, Warmth of Mother-Child Relationships; Factor D, Responsible Child-Training Orientation; Factor E, Aggressiveness and Punitiveness; Factor F, Perception of Husband; and Factor G, Orientation toward Child's Physical Well-Being. Some of these factors appear to be related to some of the factors of the FPAF, mainly Factors I and II. Sears' Permissiveness-Strictness factor is somewhat related to Factor II hi that it includes high demands for good manners and general conformity. Similarly, Sears' Aggressiveness and Punitiveness factor seems related to Factor II since it includes a scale that involves severe punishment for aggression toward parents. Sears' Warmth of Mother-Child Relationships factor appears to be somewhat related to Factor I of the FPAF, which tends to describe, on the positive side of the dimension, a benevolent, responsive kind of mother person. SUMMARY

The studies of natural parents, as well as the study of foster parents that is the subject of this volume, suggest that while there are patterns of

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parental attitude or behavior that can be identified, there is a limit to the number of evaluative dimensions that can be said to be implicated in any over-all description of parents. This must be kept in mind by anyone interested in constructing an instrument for assessing general parental behavior. At the same time, the findings here offer some support for specialized types of ratings that may have utilitarian value in specific settings. For example, if one were interested in developing an instrument that would be useful in predicting the performance of cottage parents in a children's institution, one could include items related to the evaluative factors found by Baldwin, Lorr and Jenkins, Schaefer and Bell, Sears, and others. In addition, one could include items related to the ability of an individual to serve children in groups, to fit into an institutional setting, and so on.

10' CORRELATIONS OF SELF-REVELA TIONS AND RATINGS

IN THIS chapter, an assessment will be made of the relationship that was found to prevail between the factors presented in Chapter 9 and other variables obtained in this research project. If the factors that emerged from the analysis of caseworkers' ratings of the foster parents correlate significantly and in the hypothesized direction with index and scale scores based upon the direct responses of the subjects themselves, some reliance may be placed on the validity of the caseworkers' ratings as reported on theFPAF. For the purpose of developing factor scores, the ratings made by pairs of caseworkers were pooled* and converted to single-digit (1-9) stanine scores. Product-moment coefficients of correlation were then computed. INTERCORRELATION OF FACTOR SCORES

Before exploring the relationships between the factors and other variables, we should briefly examine the correlations obtaining among the factor scores in order to gain a clearer understanding of the meaning of the factors. The correlations are shown in Table 39. As might have been anticipated, Factor I scores are negatively correlated with Factor II scores at a significant level. We have already noted that Factor I describes a foster home in which the mother has a benevolent, warm attitude toward children and maintains an appropriate emotional response to them, while *In the 13 cases in which only one caseworker knew the foster parents well enough to be able to make ratings, these were used without modification.

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Table 39. Intercorrelations of Factor Scores and Age, Race, and Number of Own Children of Foster Mothers (N = 77) * Factor t or Item I II Ill IV V VI VII VIII Age Race No. of own children

I

II _47

III

Factor IV V

VI VII

No. of Own VIII Age Race Children

14 _26 -27 57 -09 52 -12 -12 00 09 43 -33 30 -39 05 14 45 -16 24 25 26 19 -03 -08 -10 35 01 00 09 -27

21 -16 -08 30 -16 25 -11 -23 02 07 16 10 -11 07

19 -06 21 14 -30 33 -08 23 -24 -43

* The two-tailed significance test with alpha .05 is r = .22; with alpha .01, r = .29 (decimal point omitted). tThe factors are as follows: I, Parental Adequacy (Ego Strength in Parental Role); II, Family Hierarchy Conformity; III, Tolerance for Biological Deficit; IV, Motivation for Babies; V, Self-Identity and Motivation; VI, Identification with Role; VII, Masculine Home; VIII, Acceptance of Aggression.

Factor II describes a home that places a high value upon social conformity, tends to be under a matriarchal leadership, and meets a child's infractions of the rules by withdrawal of the foster parent's love. The fact that there is a significant negative correlation between the factor scores would indicate that even though separate dimensions of foster parents' behavior are being tapped by the factors, there is some overlap. Also as previously noted, it came as a surprise that neither Factor I nor Factor II scores were significantly correlated with Factor III, which describes a foster home able to absorb a biologically handicapped youngster. Although Factor I scores correlated in a positive direction, the absence of statistical significance indicates that a foster parent's having an appropriate and benevolent emotional orientation toward children is not, of itself, a sufficient indicator of a foster parent's capacity to care for children who suffer a deficit in their constitutional endowment. There is a significant negative correlation — r = —.26 —between Factors I and IV, which is an indication that workers tend to view foster parents who take care of infants exclusively in a less positive light than they view those who accept responsibility for older children. (It will be re-

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

called that the individual items dealing with infant care did not correlate strongly with other evaluative ratings.) Factor V, which identifies people with a need to become foster parents because of deprivation experienced as children, also correlates negatively (r = —.27) with Factor I. Factor I is strongly correlated with Factor VI (r = .57), which indicates that workers tend to rate foster parents who show general parental competence as being the kind of persons who are strongly identified with the agency and with the foster parent role. It is no surprise to find that foster parents scoring positively on Factor I are also found to score positively on Factor VIII (r = .52). Being able to take care of an aggressive or "acting-out" youngster appears related, in the perceptual system of the caseworkers, to the possession of ego strength on the part of the foster parents. Factor II scores are found to be positively correlated with those of Factor V. It would appear that a foster home that is described as demanding conformity and as being rather undemocratically organized is also a home in which the foster mother tends to have assumed the foster parent role because she experienced deprivation as a youngster and consequently developed strong identification with the underdog (r = .43). Factor II scores are negatively correlated with Factor VI scores, indicating that foster parents in homes stressing conformity are not particularly identified with the foster parent role or the agency. In addition, it is important to note that Factor II is positively correlated with Factor VII, suggesting that such a home is not particularly suitable for a boy in need of a strong father figure. Scores for Factor III proved to be significantly correlated with scores derived from Factors IV, VI, VII, and VIII. This would indicate that homes that can absorb a biologically handicapped youngster are also homes in which the foster parents tend to be accepting of an older child and tend to be identified with the foster parent role and the agency. In addition, they show some capacity to absorb the more aggressive child. There is a positive correlation between scores on this factor and the number of own children the foster parents have had, but this does not achieve a significant level (r = .21). Scores derived from Factor V have already been reported to be correlated with those of Factor II. These scores are negatively correlated with Factor VI, indicating that foster parents scoring positively on Factor V are not particularly identified with the foster parent role. Factor V

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127

scores are also significantly identified with the race of the foster parent. As might be anticipated, being a Negro is positively correlated with having a deprived background (r =. .30). In addition Factor V turns out to be significantly negatively correlated with the number of own children the foster parents have had. Parenthetically, it should be noted that childlessness was more apt to be reported for Negroes in this study than for whites. Factor VI produces scores that are positively correlated with those factors dealing with parental competence, ability to care for handicapped children, and ability to care for aggressive children. Further, persons strongly identified with the foster parent role are said to eschew undemocratic attitudes and are not motivated to become foster parents because of deprivation in their background. Positive scores on this factor are also negatively correlated with being Negro and positively correlated with the fact of having had own children. Factor VIII scores are positively correlated with scores of persons who have had their own children before becoming foster parents. As previously described, those who can care for aggressive youngsters also show themselves to be competent as parents, democratically oriented, able to care for handicapped children, and strongly identified with the role. In view of the large number of significant correlations between the factor scores, a second-order factor analysis would no doubt produce a smaller number of significant dimensions along which caseworkers tend to rate foster parents. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CASEWORKER RATINGS AND INDEX SCORES

Table 40 presents the correlation matrix for the factor scores developed from the pooled ratings of caseworkers and the scale and index scores resulting from the interviews with the foster mothers and fathers. Although the specific content of the factors and the indices was not calculated to cover the same behavioral and attitudinal domains, it was assumed in undertaking this correlational analysis that some linkage could be expected between the two types of measures. In looking at the correlation matrix, one is not, on the whole, impressed with the predictive power of the caseworkers' ratings as consolidated into factor scores. Although there are a number of significant correlations between factor scores and index scores, the finding, for example, that scores derived from Factor I do not correlate significantly with any

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Table 40. Correlation Matrix of Factor Scores and Selected Scale and Index Scores Based upon Interviews with Foster Parents (N — 77) * Scale or Index t

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 17 18 19

I

II

III

-05 03 08 06 11 -19 14 05 03 -09 03 04 -07 11 -10 -14 -03

-02 -13 08 -10 -06 20 -03 -09 -02 25 -11 03 03 -18 09 -18 -08

-09 -08 07 -03 28 -19 20 06 13 -13 -03 -20 10 28 13 22 -03

Factor i V IV

-03 04 -32 11 10 -02 14 -10 -05 -10 07 08 22 04 -08 27 09

14 13 03 -06 01 -15 -02 02 05 04 11 -01 03 -09 -01 -17 01

VI

VII

VIII

-11 -18 26 11 18 04 22 06 00 -04 -02 -11 10 18 -15 -01 -08

-01 09 -14 19 09 -01 01 -12 -15 30 04 07 26 -07 09 12 01

06 07 01 02 10 -03 11 10 33 -07 -21 -04 -15 13 03 -05 -02

* The two-tailed significance test with alpha .05 is r = .22; with alpha .01, r = .29 (decimal point omitted). tThe scales and indices are as follows: 1, Benefactress of Children; 2, Anomie (Srole); 3, Social Participation; 4, The Foster Parent as an Eccentric; 5, Capacity to Cope with Problems of Foster Children; 6, Religiosity of Foster Mother; 7, Femininity of Foster Mother; 8, Sharing between Foster Parents; 9, Community Integration; 10, Role Involvement of Foster Parents; 11, Deprivation in Background of Foster Mother; 12, Deprivation in Background of Foster Father; 13, Masculinity of Foster Father (Authoritarian); 14, Clan-Type Family; 17, Stress in Separating from Foster Children; 18, Permissiveness in Child Rearing; 19, Rural Background. tThe factors are as follows: I, Parental Adequacy (Ego Strength in Parental Role); II, Family Hierarchy Conformity; III, Tolerance for Biological Deficit; IV, Motivation for Babies; V, Self-Identity and Motivation; VI, Identification with Role; VII, Masculine Home; VIII, Acceptance of Aggression.

of the indices is a particularly telling one. It is indeed surprising to find that the Anomie Scale does not discriminate significantly between foster parents with high Factor I scores and those with low scores. A number of possibilities present themselves as explanations for this lack of significant association. The relatively low reliabilities achieved by pairs of workers is a major one, of course. There is also the possibility that the index scores, reflecting particular attitudinal postures of the foster parents, are not related to measures of their role performance as parents. For instance, behavioral postures identified by the Benefactress of Children Scale, the Foster Parent as an Eccentric Scale, and the Index of So-

CORRELATIONS OF SELF-REVELATIONS AND RATINGS

12*9

cial Participation may not necessarily have a disabling influence on the performance of parents. Factor II scores are found to correlate with the Index of Role Involvement of Foster Father, seeming to indicate that a strong, hierarchically organized family is one in which all members are pulled into activity. One might hazard the interpretation that the strength of the foster mother is great enough to bring the husband along. Factor III generates scores that significantly correlate with several of the index scores. It could have been predicted that these scores would correlate significantly with the scale Capacity to Cope with Problems of Foster Children (r = .28), which is directly related to the factor in actual content. In other words, the self-assertions of foster parents regarding their ability to care for a variety of types of foster children tended to be partially validated by the ratings of the caseworkers who knew them. Factor III scores also correlate significantly with the Index of Clan-Type Family. One explanation of this association is that the family that has a good deal of support from extended family members is one that can tolerate children with a variety of problems. This would be in contrast to the small nuclear family that is isolated from all sources of support and must therefore bear the burdens of child rearing alone. Factor III scores also are significantly correlated with the index Permissiveness in Child Rearing (r = .22). This suggests a close relationship between being able to take care of biologically handicapped children and absence of the need to accelerate children in their development. On the whole, although the correlations are not strikingly significant, they are closely enough related to the theoretical content implied in Factor III so that one is encouraged to pursue this line of investigation further. Factor IV scores correlate with several of the indices. The negative correlation with the Index of Social Participation (r = — .32) suggests that the ability to take care of older children is very much related to the social status of the foster family as regards their relationship with other significant people. In other words, taking care of an infant is a task that, if community isolation is the accustomed pattern, does not tend to involve foster parents with their neighbors. The older child, by way of contrast, does draw the foster family into contact with the school, the church, other children, and neighbors. It appears plain that one cannot easily maintain the role of social isolate when older children are in the home. Factor IV scores correlate significantly with the Index of Masculinity

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

of Foster Father (Authoritarian). This suggests that in determining the suitability of a foster home for older children, the caseworker tends to look for a home situation in which there is masculine leadership of an overt, albeit undemocratic, kind. There is a significant correlation between Factor IV scores and the Index of Permissiveness in Child Rearing. As with Factor III, it would appear that in making ratings about the suitability of foster homes for children who have potential problems or who are older, and therefore more demanding, the caseworker is obviously attuned to the specific child-rearing practices of the foster family. Caseworkers apparently worry less about the effects of authoritarianism upon infants than upon adolescents. Factor V scores do not correlate significantly with any of the index scores developed in interviews with the foster parents. Factor VI produces scores that are positively correlated with the Index of Social Participation (r = .26). This is perhaps explained by the fact that persons who tend to be active socially are also apt to strengthen their role identification by relating warmly to other foster parents and by participating in other aspects of the foster parent role (e.g., attending foster parent meetings). The opposite type of foster parent would tend to be insular socially and, in addition, would tend to relate to a specific child rather than to foster children in general. Factor VI scores are also correlated with the Index of Femininity of Foster Mother. Factor VII scores correlate positively with the Index of Role Involvement of Foster Father. This is a correlation that might have been anticipated, since a child in special need of a strong father person to identify with and lean on would certainly require a foster father who was willing to involve himself in the role. Thus, there is a very close connection between the meaning of the factor derived from the caseworkers' ratings and the specific issues described by the index derived from the foster father interview. Another positive correlation exists between Factor VII scores and the Index of Masculinity of Foster Father (Authoritarian). Here, again, this is in the predicted direction, since there is considerable overlap in the behavioral and attitudinal domains tapped by both measures. Factor VIII scores are significantly correlated with the Index of Community Integration (r = .33). A ready explanation of the correlation is that persons who are fully accepted in their communities and well known to their neighbors are in a better position to care for children who may make them visible in their communities in a potentially disreputable way.

CORRELATIONS OF SELF-REVELATIONS AND RATINGS

131

For instance, a foster family having a rather tenuous relationship with its neighbors is hardly likely to accept a child showing aggressive tendencies, e.g., breaking windows, since his behavior might arouse the wrath of those victimized by his handiwork. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FACTOR SCORES AND PARI SCORES

A correlation matrix of scores on the 23 PARI scales and the factor scores is shown in Table 41. It must be noted again that correlations approaching unity could not be anticipated here because the domains of attitudes and behavior measured by the attitude test and the caseworkers' ratings were not conceived as being replicates of each other. Interestingly, Factor I, the major evaluative factor, which does not correlate significantly with any of the indices developed from the foster parent interviews, is correlated negatively with all the PARI pathogenic scales. For example, the scale called Fear of Harming the Baby is strongly negatively correlated with Factor I scores (r = — .46). This finding ought not cause any surprise, since many of the foster mothers in this study had cared for a large number of babies for the agency. One would assume that the fear of dropping a newborn baby would not be associated with such seasoned performers. The strong association between measures, however, provides assurance about the validity of the caseworkers' ratings. The PARI scale Seclusion of the Mother was designed to provide one measure of the social adjustment of the mother. As would be expected, this measure proved to be negatively correlated with Factor I describing a well-integrated person (r = — .29). Similarly, Suppression of Sex, Excluding Outside Influences, Martyrdom, and Intrusiveness are scales that are significantly negatively correlated with Factor I. What occasions some question about the validity of Factor I scores or the PARI scales is the weak negative correlations between Factor I scores and such scales as Breaking the Will and Irritability. Factor II scores produced only one significant association with the PARI battery, a negative correlation with the scale Encouraging Verbalization, which is strikingly related in content to the meaning of Factor II. Factor III produces scores that correlate significantly with the scale Deification. This appears to suggest that a woman who treats the maternal role with a great deal of self-ascribed status is seen as performing well with handicapped children. Almost achieving significance are the negative correlation with the scale Seclusion of the Mother and the positive correlation

132

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Table 41. Correlations between Factor Scores Based upon Caseworkers' Ratings and the PARI Scores Achieved by Foster Mothers (N = 77) * PARI Scale t

I

II

III

1

-06 -14 -29 -08 -24 -46 -02 -03 -01 -26 -12 -03 -02 -04 -08 -07 -18 -26 -16 -24 -07 -17 -09

-23 00 09 -03 06 04 -01 18 -01 -03 -12 07 06 -13 05 -18 14 02 05 06 -08 -01 -16

19 -06 -21 -06 -06 -15 -05 -11 -05 -00 24 20 -05 -18 -05 00 -05 10 -04 -02 07 -14 03

2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Factor * IV V 03 -02 02 17 15 00 04 -04 -08 11 09 11 13 -09 05 -01 11 26 14 01 12 -01 -05

-09 12 40 11 25 06 -10 13 -15 10 -05 25 11 -29 15 -01 13 18 21 14 -08 22 16

VI

VII

VIII

02 -29 -32 -11 -22 -20 11 -09 24 -17 03 -03 -05 11 -06 -14 -27 -28 -02 -20 -11 -09 -07

05 15 18 00 31 01 -06 -03 -02 21 12 15 33 -14 10 07 24 23 05 06 05 00 28

02 03 -05 09 -08 -14 -20 04 -08 01 05 02 -08 -07 -03 02 -21 -09 00 -04 12 02 07

*The two-tailed significance test with alpha .05 is r = .22; with alpha .01, r = .29 (decimal point omitted). tThe PARI scales are as follows: 1, Encouraging Verbalization; 2, Fostering Dependency; 3, Seclusion of the Mother; 4, Breaking the Will; 5, Martyrdom; 6, Fear of Harming the Baby; 7, Marital Conflict; 8, Strictness; 9, Irritability; 10, Excluding Outside Influences; 11, Deification; 12, Suppression of Aggression; 13, Rejection of Homemaking Role; 14, Equalitarianism; 15, Approval of Activity; 16, Avoidance of Communication; 17, Inconsiderateness of Husband; 18, Suppression of Sex; 19, Ascendance of Mother; 20, Intrusiveness; 21, Comradeship and Sharing; 22, Acceleration of Development; 23, Dependency of the Mother. tThe factors are as follows: I, Parental Adequacy (Ego Strength in Parental Role); II, Family Hierarchy Conformity; III, Tolerance for Biological Deficit; IV, Motivation for Babies; V, Self-Identity and Motivation; VI, Identification with Role; VII, Masculine Home; VIII, Acceptance of Aggression.

with Suppression of Aggression. The latter suggests that those foster mothers who do well with physically handicapped children are not particularly oriented in a democratic direction, a finding previously reported in examining the intercorrelations of the ratings made by the caseworkers. Factor IV correlates positively with the scale Suppression of Sex. It would appear that if sexuality in children is a threat to a foster parent, this might be minimized by placing infants hi the home.

CORRELATIONS OF SELF-REVELATIONS AND RATINGS

133

Factor V scores correlate with a fair number of PARI scales. Interestingly, foster parents who score high on this factor (i.e., see themselves as underdogs) show a high score on the scale Seclusion of the Mother (r = .40). These persons agree strongly with such statements as "The home is the only thing that matters to a good mother" and "too many women forget that a woman's place is in the home." Such attitudes suggest a kind of avoidance behavior in socially uncomfortable women. As might be expected, women scoring high on Factor V also score positively on the Martyrdom, Suppression of Aggression, and Acceleration of Development scales. They score negatively on the Equalitarianism Scale. Factor VI scores also correlate with a number of the PARI scales. Those who score on the positive side of the continuum, and are thus regarded as highly involved in the foster parent role, generally eschew attitudes about child-rearing that are considered pathogenic. Thus, there are significant negative correlations with the scales Seclusion of the Mother (r = —.32) and Fostering Dependency (r = —.29). The same pattern holds true for the scales Suppression of Sex, Inconsiderateness of Husband, and Martyrdom. It is difficult to account for the positive correlation with the scale Irritability unless this describes a superficial type of stance taken by parents who, although devoted to the care of children, find themselves somewhat harried in the performance of their parental tasks. It is interesting to find significant correlations between the Factor VII scores and PARI scales that relate to the male-female role alignment. For example, we find a significant positive correlation between Factor VII and the scale Rejection of Homemaking Role (r = .33). A subject scoring high on this scale tends to voice strong agreement with a statement such as "One of the worst things about taking care of a home is that a woman feels that she can't get out." We also find a correlation between this factor and the scale Inconsiderateness of Husband (r = .24). Women scoring high on this scale tend to agree with statements of the following type: "Mothers would do their job better with children if fathers were more kind" and "Husbands could do their part if they were less selfish." There is also a positive correlation with the scales Dependency of the Mother and Martyrdom, suggesting that such women actually enjoy the exclusive responsibility they appear to have for the care of their children. We also find a positive correlation with the scale Suppression of Sex. Factor VIII does not significantly correlate with any of the PARI scores. The highest correlations are negative, and these involve the scales

134

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Inconsiderateness of Husband (r — —.21) and Marital Conflict (r = -.20). By way of summarizing the relationship between factor scores and those achieved by foster parents on the PAR! scales, it may be said that there are a sufficient number of significant correlations that go beyond chance to warrant continued use of the PARI in this type of research. Aside from the question of statistical significance, there is a promising pattern in which some factor scores tend to "zero in" on PARI scales that are closely related to the content of the factors. Factor VII is a case in point. It touches upon the male-female hierarchical situation and correlates with such closely related PARI scales as Rejection of Homemaking Role and Inconsiderateness of Husband. A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT AND THE FACTOR SCORES

Some light is shed upon the manner in which caseworkers make ratings about foster parents by examining the relationship between factor scores and the global rating of the foster parents' performance with the children under their care. As previously described, the rating task was posed in this fashion to the caseworkers: "With regard to the specific challenges presented by each child's situation and considering the goal set for the placement, what is your over-all estimate of the way the foster parents fulfilled their tasks? Would you say they did (1) an excellent job, (2) a good job, (3) an adequate job, (4) a somewhat less than adequate job, or (5) a poor job?" Since most of the ratings were weighted in a positive direction, a decision was made to pool the ratings of caseworkers in such a way that the foster parents were given the lowest score achieved with any child that was in placement with them. In other words, if foster parents were rated as having done an excellent job with the first child placed with them and an average job with the second child, they were given an over-all rating of average performance. This is a rather severe measure of performance, but it approximates the need of agencies to find foster parents whose performance with children is on a consistently high level. Table 42 presents the correlations between the factor scores and the minimum global performance ratings achieved by foster parents with the children placed under their care. From these correlations we see that many of the factor scores are significantly correlated with the global ratings. Inspection of the table shows that five of the eight factors are signifi-

CORRELA TIONS OF SELF-REV EL A TIONS AND RA TINGS

135

Table 42. Correlations of Factor Scores with Global Rating of Performance of Foster Parents with Children under Their Care Factor I: Parental Adequacy (Ego Strength in Parental Role)... II: Family Hierarchy Conformity III: Tolerance for Biological Deficit IV: Motivation for Babies V: Self-Identity and Motivation VI: Identification with the Role VII: Masculine Home VIII: Acceptance of Aggression

Correlation with Global Performance Rating .42* —.48* .05 —.01 -.27* .24* -.32* .18

* Significant at .05 level.

cantly correlated, positively or negatively, with the global performance score. Factor I, for example, is found to correlate substantially with the performance rating (r = .42). Since in 88 cases this rating is based upon the assessments of two caseworkers, some reliance can be placed on the validity of the Factor I scores. As might be expected from our prior knowledge that Factor I and Factor II are negatively correlated, Factor II scores correlate negatively with the over-all performance score (r = — .48). In other words, authoritarian families often received poor performance ratings on the over-all care they provided the children in their care. This tends to corroborate the views of a number of child development specialists who see authoritarianism in parents as a pathogenic phenomenon. It is of interest to note that the ability to care for infants (Factor IV) and readiness to serve children with biological deficits (Factor III) are capacities that are not linked in any significant fashion with the global performance rating. This tends to reinforce the previously stated view that the care of infants (and handicapped children may be viewed as representing a similar role task — that of responding to dependency in children) has not been sufficiently conceptualized by child welfare practitioners so as to make clear the psychological skills required to provide a high level of care. As might be anticipated, foster mothers who were seen as being motivated by a need to undo deprivation they themselves had experienced as children (Factor V) were apt to receive low performance ratings. Similarly, homes in which foster fathers were seen as old-line authoritarians, as opposed to those with an equalitarian orientation in the marriage rela-

136

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

tionship (Factor VII), tended to receive evaluations of "poor" for the over-all care they gave to the children in their charge. SUMMARY

Although one can hardly speak of the factor scores as being predictive, there are a sufficient number of significant correlations with scales and indices based on direct interviews to warrant further investigation. For example, there were enough significant correlations between PARI scores and factor scores, in hypothesized directions, to indicate that if some of the conditions tending to depress the correlations (namely, low interrater reliabilities) could be overcome, some degree of predictive control could be introduced into this aspect of child welfare practice.

11'INCENTIVES FOR FOSTER PARENTHOOD

1 HROUGHOUT this report, an underlying question of central importance has been: Why do people become foster parents? In the material that follows, motivations and satisfactions, as articulated by the research subjects of this study, will be examined in some detail. In addition, the motives attributed to them by the caseworkers who worked with them and by the research interviewers, themselves caseworkers, will be scrutinized. One might ask a number of key questions about the issue of motivations: Do the articulated motives of the subjects correlate with the several measures of role performance used in this study? How do the motives vary for several subgroupings among the foster parents? How do the caseworkers' perceptions compare with those of the subjects themselves? THE RESPONSES OF THE FOSTER PARENTS

It has already been noted that the foster mothers and foster fathers expressed themselves in different ways about the kinds of satisfactions they derived from the role. For the former, close proximity to children and direct interaction with them loomed as the major incentive for becoming foster parents. For the foster fathers, there appeared to be a degree of altruism operating, often expressed in terms of performing a service for the community or wanting to see their wives happy (or less nervous). The fathers reported direct interaction with the child as a less significant source of role satisfaction than did their wives. It has also been stated earlier that parents from infant and noninfant homes differed in their reported gratifi-

138

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

cations. Foster mothers caring for infants emphasized the satisfaction they received from closeness to the child, whereas the incentive for those caring for older children resided in external pleasures, e.g., doing something useful for the community. Parental Ego Strength and Role Satisfactions. In Table 43 the rankings assigned different satisfactions selected by foster mothers are listed according to scores achieved by them on Factors I and II of the FPAF.* Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rs) was used to measure the degree of correspondence between the rankings of satisfactions for the low and high scorers. On Factor I there was a significant correlation between the rankings of the two groups. In other words, the high and low scorers did not differ markedly in their selection of role satisfactions. Yet there are some interesting differences between the groups on individual items. For example, the item "It satisfies those strong motherly drives of mine" was ranked fourth by those who scored high on Factor I (i.e., those with good parental capacity), twelfth by those who scored low on Factor I. This suggests that the caseworkers tended to view in a more positive fashion those foster mothers who gave open expression to their positive maternal feeling. Conversely, the caseworkers assigned negative ratings to those subjects who did not express such sentiments. It is also worth noting that the item "I like helping the unfortunate, downtrodden people" tied for third ranking among those who scored low on Factor I, but ranked tenth among those who scored high on the factor. Elsewhere in this report it has been shown that those foster parents who took on the sanctimonious air of helping the downtrodden revealed a number of pathogenic attitudes about child rearing. It would appear that this stance has also been identified by the caseworkers as one that may be linked to a pathogenic role orientation. Role Satisfactions in Democratic and Authoritarian Foster Families. On Factor II, as on Factor I, there is a lack of significant difference between the high and low scorers in the over-all rankings assigned each of the potential satisfactions to be derived from the foster parent role. Again, however, Table 43 shows several instances of differences in rankings on individual items that appear to be related to the substantive content of the factor. For example, the women in the authoritarian homes (i.e., high * The subjects were divided into "high" and "low" scorers on each factor by an arbitrary selection of cutting points that split the group into almost equal halves.

INCENTIVES FOR FOSTER PARENTHOOD

139

scorers) ranked the item "I like being able to meet the challenge of a difficult task" in a tie for fifth place, implying some satisfaction in channeling aggressive energies through a demanding role. The same item was ranked eleventh by the foster mothers in the homes rated as permissive or democratic. Table 43. Number of Foster Mothers Reporting Each Source of Role Satisfaction and Rank of Each Source by Frequency of Response, for High and Low Scorers on Factors I and II of the FPAF

Source of Satisfaction I like putting my religious beliefs into action I enjoy the presence of a cuddly little baby in our home . . I like knowing that I am doing something useful for the community Since this makes my spouse happy, I am satisfied I like being able to add to the family income Being a foster parent helps me to continue to feel young It makes me feel like a whole woman It keeps me from becoming nervous for want of something to keep me busy It satisfies those strong motherly drives of mine I like helping the unfortunate, downtrodden people I like being able to meet the challenge of a difficult task . . . . I like being able to put my skills as a homemaker into action . . . . I like the affection I get from children I am fascinated watching children grow up I get satisfaction out of being associated with an organization such as Family and Childrens Service The respect of my neighbors is very gratifying

Factor I (r. = .79) High Low (N = 43) (N = 58) No. Rank No. Rank

Factor II(r s = . 88) Low High (N = 54) (N = 47) No. Rank No. Rank

22

2.5

26

5

23

3.5

24

3

22

2.5

32

2

26

1.5

27

2

17

6

28

3.5

23

3.5

23

4

10

11.5

15

10

12

10.5

15

10

16

3

15

3

15

16

9

15

8

13

12

4

14

4

14

6

14

3 10 6

15

11.5 14

14

8.5

14

11

10

12

19

8

18

4

13

12

12

10.5

18

9

12

10

28

3.5

19

5.5

20

7

20

7

19

5.5

14

11

14

8.5

7

13

10

13

6

13

11

13

17

6

25

6

18

7

21

6

24

1

35

1

26

1.5

32

1

17

6

19

8

13

9

22

5

1

16

1

15

2

16

1

16

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Undoing Childhood Deprivation through Foster Parenthood. For the women scoring high on Factor V (i.e., the foster mothers who identified with the underdog, who had a need to undo parental deprivation they had experienced as children) the item "I like knowing that I am doing something useful for the community" was very important as a source of satisfaction, ranking first; for the low group, it ranked in a tie for seventh. A basic affection for children seemed less potent for them than obtaining community approval of "good works." Interestingly, being associated with the Family and Childrens Service ranked only tenth for the high group; it was tied for third for the low group. This may be interpreted to mean that although the former wish to be useful to the community, they are not particularly identified with community organizations. Their identification with deprived children would appear to have a large narcissistic component. Role Satisfactions for "Good" and "Poor" Performers. In analyzing the rankings of reported satisfactions of the foster parents whose general performance was rated by the caseworkers as "good" and those of foster parents rated "poor," no clear difference in association was established, but there were again some notable differences for individual items. "Poor" performers, for example, ranked the item "I like helping the unfortunate, downtrodden people" second whereas this ranked only eighth for the "good" performers. Similarly, "It satisfies those strong motherly drives of mine" ranked sixth for the "good" performers compared with a tie for tenth for the "poor" performers. A tie for sixth was the ranking for the latter group for "I like being able to meet the challenge of a difficult task," whereas for the "good" performers this ranked eleventh. These findings are very much in accord with those for low scorers and high scorers on Factor I of the FPAF. This is accounted for by the previously cited significant correlation existing between the over-all performance rating and Factor I. Role Satisfactions for Those from Deprived and Nondeprived Backgrounds. Previous analysis of the data from this study has shown that the foster mothers who had suffered deprivation in their own childhoods had resolved this for themselves in a fairly constructive manner. This was verified when the rankings of satisfactions of this group and the group from nondeprived backgrounds were examined. By and large, there were no basic differences in satisfactions derived from the foster parent role for the two groups. Moderate differences were, however, evident for several

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items. "I like knowing that I am doing something useful for the community" ranked second for the deprived group and tied for fifth for the nondeprived group. The response "It keeps me from becoming nervous for want of something to keep me busy" was somewhat more common for the deprived group (ranked sixth) than for the nondeprived group (ranked eleventh). Surprisingly, "I like helping the unfortunate, downtrodden people" was more apt to be cited by members of the nondeprived group (ranked third) than by the deprived mothers (ranked tenth). Precipitating Factors in the Decision to Become Foster Parents. Table 6 (see page 29) has summarized the responses of the foster mothers when they were asked to indicate whether there had been any unusual circumstances in the year before they decided to become foster parents. When the 38 foster mothers who reported an uneventful year were compared with the 63 who reported having had to make unusual adjustments during this year (departure of own children from the home, death of a relative, etc.), some interesting significant correlations emerged. It was found that foster mothers who reported atypical years (i.e., having to contend with crises of one sort or another) achieved significantly higher ratings on Factor I of the FPAF than did those reporting uneventful years. In other words, the women with a more immediate sense of urgency about becoming foster parents rated higher in the caseworkers' over-all estimates of parental competence than those who lacked this orientation. This was a surprising finding, since it had been anticipated that those who responded to a crisis by applying to the agency might well evidence more pathology as a group because of the stress they were experiencing. One explanation of this finding suggests itself: those who reported uneventful periods in their lives before becoming foster parents may have kept their motivations hidden because of a somewhat pathological component. This possibility is reinforced by the finding that there was a significant negative correlation between the reporting of specialized motives and scores on Srole's Anomie Scale (r = —.23). It was also found that the group with varying kinds of crisis situations showed greater capacity to accept problems; the correlation with the Capacity to Cope with Problems of Foster Children Scale was significant. In addition, they tended to be more positive in their approval of breast-feeding for infants. Coincidentally, these foster mothers turned out to be less religious as a group than those who reported an uneventful year before assuming their relationship with the agency.

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It would appear that precipitating factors might well concern homefinders as potentially useful prognostic indicators of role performance. MOTIVATIONS OF FOSTER PARENTS AS SEEN BY CASEWORKERS

The manner in which role incumbents view their own motivations in being foster parents may of course be very different from the interpretations of trained observers. As indicated earlier some commentators in the professional child welfare literature have held that foster parents do not generally show much self-awareness about the motivational factors that have caused them to take on the care of children not related to themselves. It is of interest, therefore, to look at the caseworkers' assessments of the motivations of the foster parents with whom they worked. Table 44 lists thirteen items from the FPAF that were thought to be related to the motivations of foster mothers. The caseworkers were asked to rate the subjects on a ten-point scale. Foster mothers who cared primarily Table 44. Percentage of Foster Mothers for Whom Various Motivations toward Foster Parenthood Were Perceived by Caseworkers *

Motivation

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

40%

35%

38%

66

58

64

64 61 37

68 60 28

65 60 34

16 90

8 87

13 90

53

43

51

50

38

46

53 39

18 28

40 35

42 29

38 13

41 23

Infant Homes (N = 62)

To "undo" parental deprivation experienced as a child Identifies with the underdog and "unfortunate" people To put religious beliefs into action, do God's work Enjoys the challenge of a difficult task It adds to the family income Continued presence of children is essential for harmony in the marriage Feels general warmth for children Presence of children satisfies need to control and direct others Role provides prestige with neighbors, friends, and community Strong visceral need for physical contact with babies Feels less feminine with absence of children. . Rearing of foster children is in keeping with family tradition of caring for "other" children Rearing children takes little effort

* These represent pooled ratings of two caseworkers in 88 instances and ratings of single workers in 13 instances.

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for infants are distinguished in the table from those who fostered older children. For the 88 cases in which two workers made independent assessments of each foster home, the ratings were pooled to obtain an average score. The average scores were then dichotomized so that for any foster mother achieving a score of 5 or higher, the motivational factor was considered to be highly operative. In Table 45 the caseworkers' ratings of motivations of the foster fathers are presented. The need to "undo" the parental deprivation that the foster mother had herself experienced was rated to be a motivating factor for 40 per cent of the women from infant homes and 35 per cent of those from noninfant homes. For the foster fathers, however, this was viewed as a weaker source of motivation, particularly for the foster fathers in noninfant homes, where only 15 per cent were described as being motivated by such considerations. Identification with the underdog was rated as an influential factor for almost two-thirds of the foster mothers and for about half of the foster faTable 45. Percentage of Foster Fathers for Whom Various Motivations toward Foster Parenthood Were Perceived by Caseworkers

Motivation

Infant Homes ( N = 62)

To "undo" parental deprivation experienced as a child Identifies with the underdog and "unfortunate" people To put religious beliefs into action, do God's work Enjoys the challenge of a difficult task It adds to the family income , Continued presence of children is essential for harmony in the marriage Feels general warmth for children Presence of children satisfies need to control and direct others Role provides prestige with neighbors, friends, and community Strong paternal drive Feels more adequate with presence of foster children Rearing of foster children is in keeping with family tradition of caring for "other" children . Rearing of foster children takes little effort Wants to please his wife in her desire to be a foster carent

Noninfant Homes (N = 39)

Total Group (N=101)

1%

15%

25%

. 5

44

48

53 32 24

44 44 15

50 37 21

13 85

8 90

11 88

8

8

8

23 68

15 77

20 72

32

33

33

27 26

31 27

35 27

66

72

69

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thers. It was reported earlier that this was ranked as the number one source of satisfaction by the foster fathers themselves and was ranked sixth by the foster mothers. Putting religious beliefs into action was seen by the casework staff as a strong motivational force for both foster mothers and foster fathers. Almost two-thirds of the former and half of the latter were described in this fashion. This coincides with the data from the foster parents themselves, in which this factor ranked third for the foster mothers and tied for sixth for the foster fathers. Enjoying the challenge of a difficult task was a motive said to be characteristic of six out of ten foster mothers. This was rated as decidedly less important for the foster fathers. In the responses of the foster fathers themselves, as reported earlier, this factor was strongly underplayed and was ranked only eighth by the foster mothers and twelfth by the foster fathers. There is obviously a large discrepancy between the self-perceptions of the mothers about this type of motivation and the assessments of the caseworkers. A financial incentive was seen to be operating as a motivational factor for a third of the foster mothers and for two out of ten foster fathers. Although this did not emerge as a major source of motivation for the subjects as seen by the caseworkers, it achieved even less significance in the selfratings of the foster parents themselves — it tied for the lowest ranking for both. It would thus appear that there is some discrepancy between the subjects and the caseworkers on this issue; for the foster parents, the idea of caring for foster children for the purpose of adding to the family's income seems to conflict with the more altruistic image they have of themselves. In very few instances did the caseworkers see the presence of children as being essential for harmony in the marriage. On the other hand, in nine cases out of ten the foster parents were seen to be motivated by the general warmth they felt for children. This coincided with the self-image of the foster parents reported earlier. For example, for the foster mothers, their reported fascination in watching children grow up achieved the leading position in the list of role satisfactions and enjoying the presence of a cuddly baby achieved second rank. Foster mothers and fathers are seen to differ strongly with regard to the motivational factor "Presence of children satisfies need to control and direct others." Only 8 per cent of the foster fathers were described as being

INCENTIVES FOR FOSTER PARENTHOOD 145 motivated in this direction, in contrast to 53 per cent of the foster mothers caring for infants and 43 per cent of those caring for older children. This is an interesting commentary on the way foster mothers are seen and is consistent with the widespread view in the practice literature of foster mothers as a group with strong domineering tendencies. Another motivational factor in which foster mothers and fathers were differentiated by the caseworkers was that stated as follows: "Role provides prestige with neighbors, friends, and community." Here we find that 50 per cent of the foster mothers caring for infants and 38 per cent of those caring for older children were said to be motivated by such considerations. For the foster fathers, this was said to be true for only two in ten subjects. One can easily visualize the foster mother showing off one newborn infant after the other to admiring (and jealous?) friends and basking in her well-earned glory! It should be noted, however, that the foster parents themselves minimized the importance of the prestige accorded them by neighbors as an incentive for assuming the role. For the foster mothers who cared primarily for infants, more than half were said to have a strong visceral need for contact with babies. These were women who probably are very effusive hi expressing their almost primitive emotions. For seven out of ten foster fathers, a strong paternal drive was said to be present. The caseworkers rated one out of three foster mothers as being motivated by a need to have children in the home in order to feel feminine. This was considered more important for those caring for infants than for those with older foster children in their homes. For a similar proportion of the foster fathers — one out of three — it was said that the presence of foster children made the foster father feel more adequate. The ability to give support to helpless children was viewed by a majority of the caseworkers as a legitimate way for the individual to enhance his ego and not necessarily as a negative prognostic indicator of role performance. For four out of ten foster mothers, it was felt that a large factor in assuming the role was a family background in which the rearing of "other" children was a tradition. This was also said to be true for a third of the foster fathers. (It might be noted, in connection with the lack of self-knowledge about motivations mentioned above, that when a pattern of behavior has become conventionalized into a style of living, the individual can remain almost completely unaware of the sources of motivation.) For 23 per cent of ten foster mothers who cared for infants it was felt

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that part of the answer to the question "Why are they foster parents?" lay in the fact that the rearing of children simply appeared to take little effort. Having had a long series of infants come into their homes, many of these women had obviously acquired a great deal of facility in infant care — something most natural parents could not duplicate because of the limited number of children under their charge. For only one in ten of the foster mothers caring for older children was it said that she was motivated by the fact that the rearing of children takes little effort. Obviously a normal newborn infant sleeping most of the day in a bassinet is one order of challenge, whereas an active toddler learning to climb, run, grab, and so on, requires a very different kind of parental effort. It is well to note that the foster fathers and the caseworkers are in fairly close agreement that a major element in the former's motivational system is a desire to please their wives in their wish to be foster parents. Such a motivation was rated by the caseworkers as characteristic of seven out of ten foster fathers, and the subjects themselves ranked this motivational factor as the second most important one of the fifteen that were presented to them. By way of summary, the leading factors in the motivational system of the foster mothers as rated by the caseworkers who knew them are (1) the warmth they feel for children, (2) their identification with the underdog, (3) the desire to put their religious beliefs into action, (4) their enjoyment of the challenge of a difficult task, and (5) their need to control and direct others. For the foster fathers, the motivational factors are (1) the warmth they feel for children, (2) their strong paternal drives, (3) their desire to please their wives, (4) their desire to put their religious beliefs into action, and (5) their identification with the underdog. CLINICAL IMPRESSIONS OF RESEARCH INTERVIEWERS

In an earlier chapter excerpts from the research interviewers' reports on some foster mothers were presented to allow the reader a glimpse of these women as living people. It seems well to remind ourselves again that they — and their husbands — are not only faceless subjects in a frequencydistribution table. Although the interviewers' impressions are admittedly subjective, they may suggest leads for further research. The material that follows is a sampling of the research interviewers' responses to this question, which was to be answered at the end of each interview: "As far as you can determine from your interview with the respondent, what are the

INCENTIVES FOR FOSTER PARENTHOOD147 major dynamic factors that have motivated the respondent to become and remain a foster parent?" A Warmth for Children. A fairly common dimension along which the caseworker-interviewers reported their impressions of the foster mothers was the warmth-hostility continuum described in so many studies of parent behavior. Perhaps it would be more accurate to state that the interviewers often spoke of the "warmth" of the foster mothers; they rarely referred to the subjects as being "hostile" — this was perhaps implied by the absence of comments about warmth in some cases. One foster mother was described as follows: Mrs. M. became a foster mother after her children were grown because she appears to be a warm person who is quiet, shy, and likes to remain at home — yet she was restless and felt time on her hands. She states she had known about foster parenthood vaguely for many years, and they [she and her husband] had talked about it at length; finally, when they read an article in the paper, they applied. A caseworker who had supervised the placement of a foster child with this foster mother commented: "Mrs. M. takes her responsibility seriously. She is resourceful, imaginative, and individualizes the foster children." Other typical statements by the interviewers: The Y.'s are compassionate, warm, ordinary folk with strong religious motivation. They have cared for retarded and physically handicapped children and have evidently derived great satisfaction from this. The P.'s are interested only in preparing infants for adoption. Mrs. P. appears to be intelligent, well related to the agency. She seems to be a complete extrovert and showoff, but warm, loving, and dependable. She seems to want praise and recognition for the more than 20 babies she has cared for. A foster mother who did not reveal much warmth in the research interview was described as follows: Mrs. F. had a very deprived childhood. She is insecure, feels lonely and not needed by her family. Foster parenthood gives her the prestige that she strongly desires as well as a feeling of being needed by someone. I think she can give good care to infants, but I doubt if she can stand up to her husband's objections to her continuing as a foster mother. A caseworker who had worked with this foster home made the following comment: "They have had several unsatisfactory (to them and the agency) brief placement experiences. I doubt they will continue." Overcoming Childlessness. One out of four foster couples in the study

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population, as we have seen, was reported to be childless. When the foster mother had come from a large family in which she was the oldest, being without children was often an intolerable state: Mrs. E. looks upon foster parenthood as a vocation. From what she says, she has cared for children most of her adult life, and this is her way of life. Except for TV and possibly her church, she has no interest except the babies. She is the oldest of six and states her mother always took in extra children, so that she grew up with this and has continued in the same pattern. She mentioned in passing her inability to have her own children, but she never considered herself childless because of the children she cared for. She will want to continue being a foster mother, probably longer than will be good for her or the children. Mrs. J. admits that the first stimulation concerning foster parenthood came from friends and that it was particularly recommended by her physician after she underwent surgery; medical advice at that time was that she quit her employment and remain home. She states she was depressed and excessively worried and preoccupied with herself and undertook this responsibility to become busy and "take her mind off herself." She mentioned that her greatest disappointment was that she never had any children of her own, and raising foster children definitely seems to be a way of fulfilling herself as a woman. She had earlier in her life raised the children of friends and relatives, but did not find this as satisfying. For some of those who have not had children of their own, separation from the foster child comes particularly hard: Mrs. W.'s motivation seemed to be a wish for a child she never had. She was able to voice her fears and doubts, but she never anticipated that separation from foster children would be such a terrible experience. She frankly admitted that it was the "worst thing" that happened to her and that she did not know if she could continue being a foster mother because of this. Benefactress of Children. The foster mother described below was one who scored high on the Benefactress of Children Scale, which was found to be associated with many pathogenic child-rearing attitudes. The caseworker-interviewer obviously had serious reservations about the suitability of the home: Mrs. R. is an unhappy woman basically, without knowing for sure why she is unhappy. She compensates and sublimates through extensive "dogood" activities in the church but remains unsatisfied. I suspect Mrs. R. has strong unmet dependency needs, essentially denied, and lots of repressed hostility, much turned against herself. Although giving factual information about her background, her very lack of any spontaneous obser-

INCENTIVES FOR FOSTER PARENTHOOD

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vations or comments about her life between age fifteen and the present lead me to question her heterosexual relationships, number of marriages, real feeling about not having any children. I feel that foster babies put real meaning into her life and her self-concept, particularly as this relates to what she can "give" to her husband. Her anxiety at not having a satisfactory "role," when she could no longer go out to work, must have been very great and disturbing, for not even church work could support her "identity." While she has real capacity to give to and love babies, I am glad the agency is using her for infants only, for I have real question about her ability to give adequate emotional care to the older child. She is already actively restraining her three-month-old foster child from putting his finger in his mouth. I suspect her child-rearing concepts are somewhat rigid. Resolution of Deprivation. As already pointed out some foster mothers have apparently been able to resolve severe deprivation in their backgrounds in such a manner as to leave them free to function adequately in the parental role. The following foster mother was rated very highly by the caseworkers who knew her and by the research interviewer: Mrs. Y. had a very deprived, insecure childhood. Her father was a heavy drinker and was belligerent and punitive when drinking. Two of her siblings died at ages four and seven, and the foster mother herself was seriously ill through most of her childhood. Mrs. Y.'s parents suffered tragic deaths when she was in early adolescence. She was moved from home to home after that. As a child she was quite shy and would not mix with others. Throughout Mrs. Y.'s childhood she got satisfaction from caring for children —her siblings, foster siblings, and employer's children —and when her own children grew up she felt the need of having other children in the house. She identifies with children who have no parents and who have problems in growing up because of her own experiences. She has acquired sufficient security from her mother-like employer and from her marriage to handle foster children in a very adequate, giving way. The theme of identification with the underdog is a not uncommon one for the foster mothers in this study: Mrs. R. as a foster mother seems to be motivated by a combination of factors — "undoing" the stereotype of sexually promiscuous Negro and incorporating rigid superego "white" standards. This goes hand in hand with positive identification with her own foster mother, the woman who raised her from early childhood. There is a heritage of maternal women rearing their own and friends' and relatives' children, providing a family continually based on maternalistic control, with much inherent warmth and love. Although Mrs. R. is disapproving of Negro unmarried mothers — a racial identity threat —she cannot reject the child. The child must get a good start in life. I feel sure each child represents herself in a way — the self that

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could have been given to an orphanage, been neglected, and "turned out" poorly if it were not for the interest and love of her mother, who is still a source of closeness and warmth for Mrs. R. For some foster parents, having come from a large-family system has meant a kind of deprivation that stems from their never receiving the kind of parental attention and affection they required as children: Mrs. C. has a need to give and take care of children, which is most likely directly related to feelings of not having been given enough by her mother, whom she nevertheless sees as being a motherly person. Being the second oldest, it is unlikely that Mrs. C. received a great deal of her mother's attention, yet she found warmth and security in the presence of many children and in "pairing" with a sister. In Mrs. C.'s affect and attitude toward foster children, "own parents," and caseworkers, one senses the fantasy (and hears the words in answer to some of the questions) that parent figures and parents do not give enough, do not love enough. Mrs. C. "undoes" this state of affairs by identifying with the "motherly" concept, involving many children, gives to herself through foster children, and protects self from annihilating, hostile feelings. In caring for foster children, Mrs. C. can be the "good and loving" mother she wanted her own to be, and at the same time can be the child who is finally being loved and given to enough. It seems that foster children, with their conscious fantasy meaning, provide a healthy identity stabilization for Mrs. C., who in turn provides ample opportunity for the same in her foster children. Giving to and Receiving from Foster Children. A theme that permeated the remarks of some of the research interviewers was that the foster mothers seemed to find a good deal of reassurance about themselves as people through the maternal role — something they could not achieve from the marital relationship alone: Mrs. T. seems to be an essentially unhappy, ego-constricted person, needing but unable to find gratification in the available opportunities. She seems to feel a deep-seated sense of inadequacy — alone and misunderstood. The world just isn't going to be able to meet her needs. She is intelligent and has strengths — sound ego and superego values — but she doesn't trust them or is defensive about them. Foster children fill a real need in her life —almost on an "animal warmth" basis — something belongs to her. Often the strength of the maternal drives shown by the foster mother seem somewhat pathogenic in origin and closely related to the kind of mothering she received from her own mother: Although more articulate than many of the foster mothers, Mrs. N. has the same warm, beaming euphoria about her when she talks of babies,

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holds and plays with Jill, her first foster child. Her own children are grown or are in late adolescence, and one can feel the "urgency" in Mrs. N. to find an object to give her love to, who will also need her and give in return. Mrs. N. is more conscious than most foster mothers of her need to see and face the responding warmth and love of children. Considering that her mother was the "ulcer type," one can speculate how dependency needs were handled. Certainly Mrs. N.'s impressions of herself as a child — "spoiled, a little nasty sometimes, sensitive and shy about being overweight" — would raise question about her initial security with her mother. She sees herself now hi terms of putting in more structure and control with her own children than her mother did with her. Motivations of Foster Fathers. In a number of the summaries written by the caseworker-interviewers, a picture of the foster father emerges that tends to contradict the almost stereotyped image that permeates the professional child welfare literature. Rather than being very passive, retiring, and almost completely dominated by the foster mothers, these men are quite strong and firm in the areas that they deem to be within their proper areas of functioning. This modifier is important because it seems to explain the passivity that caseworkers commonly observe in foster fathers. These men candidly reported to the interviewers that dealing with caseworkers was the job of the foster mothers. Yet many foster fathers were seen to play a constructive and active role with the foster children. An interviewer notes: Is there a category called "plain, nice guy"? Mr. O. is that — intelligent, warm, responsive, well related, and well put together. I suspect he has had some struggles with a feminine orientation, stemming from early relationship with a fairly seductive mother, but he has obviously come to terms with much of his own hostility. For all the negatives in the parental relationship, there were obviously many strengths and controls in operation. . . . Foster fatherhood is not a necessity to Mr. O. — he is able to give and to receive without guilt, anxiety, or need to control, and is thus able to identify with this role as with any other he is called on to assume. I doubt if he would ever have sought out foster parenthood, but since it "happened" — in their being called upon to take over in a crisis —it was easily accepted. The whole foster parent experience is somewhat of a fringe benefit for Mr. O. — makes him a stronger and more flexible person, therefore a benefit to children too. That the alleged passivity of the foster father is a surface manifestation is not infrequently implied in the comments of the research interviewers: Mr. D. conveys warmth, good humor, and willingness — all the while maintaining a "natural" kind of reserve that precludes the revealing of self

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to any degree. I wonder how much of this is related to the cultural influence of the warm but reserved, undemonstrative Scotch family. . . . Although foster father's value system is good — an internalized superego — one is more impressed with the passivity facade with which this is adhered to. He is not aggressively "good" or "loving" or "doing good" for others. I relate this specifically to his seeming identification with babies and to the real reciprocal warmth and reward that flows between him and the child just by allowing love to flow freely. There is something that is presumably safe and rewarding with babies, and not especially true with older children and adults. . . . Although the original motivation in taking foster children was to go along with Mrs. D., I believe the foster father quickly responded to a "windfall" and is now thoroughly involved for his own gratification. A frequent theme in these reports is that the foster father was disinterested in the foster home role to begin with and then gradually developed an investment in the role based upon the gratification of inner needs whose manifestations surprised even the subject himself: Mr. L. is presumably a new foster father, but very much identified with the role and now especially with the needs of children. His original and essential motivation seems to be directly related to keeping his wife happy, and I suspect that this has a lot to do with his childhood pattern of keeping his mother happy (and off his back). . . . Mr. L. is an intelligent man, not well educated but entirely capable of subjective thinking and quick to respond to the sensitivities of others. . . . He does not have to be "right" or dominating as a defense for his self-worth, which seems rather remarkable in view of the conditions that were so conducive to an inadequate masculine identification. Mr. L. gives much and gets much out of life and relationships. And, presumably as he does with all things in life, Mr. L. approaches foster parenthood with all of his warmth and intelligence, without anxiety or ambivalence, once the decision is made. So although the initial motivation seems to have been related to his wife's needs, Mr. L. moved quickly into the role of foster father, giving and accepting all the rewards of love relationships. SUMMARY

Obviously, exploring the meaning (i.e., predictive potential) of verbalized motivations of individuals who seek to become foster parents is an important task for both the clinician and the researcher in this field. In this chapter the data obtained from the parents themselves, the caseworkers, and the research interviewers give some indication that there are differences in articulated motivation as between "good" and "poor" role performers. These leads should be explored further.

12FINAL PERSPECTIVES AND IMPLICATIONS

ONE who has been closely associated with a research study like that reported in the earlier chapters of this volume comes to a final assessment of it with mixed feelings. On the one hand, there must be recognition that only the surface has been scratched in the search for an understanding of the dynamics of foster parents as people and as occupants of a complex status position. At the same time there is a sense of optimistic anticipation — surely the intellectual challenge these people pose will be met by increasingly sophisticated research efforts. Some of the characteristics that seem to make it possible for men and women to take on the care of children not their own — a simple style of life, a nonreflective orientation to the world around them, etc. — tend to create special methodological problems for the researcher. The lack of articulateness of many foster parents calls for an unusual degree of creativity and resourcefulness when treating them as research subjects. Gaming a more profound understanding of the motivations and role behavior of foster parents than that achieved hi this study will thus probably require greater emphasis upon systematic observation than upon the selfreports of subjects.* The sense of optimism about future work in this area stems from the fact that, despite their limitations as research subjects, the * Increased support for systematic observation of families as a more valid basis of research data than interviews and paper-and-pencil tests has been suggested by child development researchers like Alberta E. Siegel [56] and Marian Radke Yarrow [70].

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foster parents nevertheless submitted to fairly demanding research procedures with a high degree of cooperation. The caseworkers who work with foster parents also present a challenge as collaborators in research. These professionals have certainly achieved a good deal of insight as a consequence of their intensive interaction with those caring for foster children. The richness of their perceptions, however, is not necessarily accompanied by reliability of judgment, at least as tested for the purposes of this study. One has the impression that a good deal of the real-life work that caseworkers engage in with foster parents is trial-and-error in character and that the decisions that are made (e.g., the selection of foster homes for specific children requiring care) often lack a scientific underpinning. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The reader should bear in mind some of the limitations of the study reported here. Although the 101 foster families who participated in the research constituted almost the entire active roster of one agency, this provided a relatively small base upon which to generalize about foster parents. After one has broken down the population according to several attributes, e.g., white and Negro, infant homes and noninfant homes, a meager number of cases are left in each cell, making any extensive rnultivariate analysis impossible. Therefore, future studies in this area should be designed for large samples. Another limitation of the study is, of course, the fact that it reflects only the one agency. There is no reason to believe that the program of the Family and Childrens Service is markedly different from those of other high-level professional child welfare agencies, but it would nevertheless be desirable to replicate studies of this kind in a variety of agency settings to overcome factors that are idiosyncratic features of a single agency.* Account also needs to be taken of the fact that the subjects of this study may be different in background from those foster parents recruited by agencies in other parts of the country. The foster parents described here were predominantly native-born Protestants coming out of families in which the fathers were mainly employed in farming, coal mining, and industrial mill work around Pittsburgh, t * Some of the work reported here is being replicated in at least one other setting at the time of this writing. t When these subjects were described to child welfare workers from various parts of the country, the reaction of the latter was often that they strongly resemble the

FINAL PERSPECTIVES AND IMPLICATIONS 155 145 The absence in this study of any substantial analysis of the work provided by the agency's caseworkers in supporting the efforts of the foster parents also may be a serious limitation. The capacities foster parents display when they first apply to an agency are obviously not entities that can be set aside in splendid isolation. They must, rather, be seen as potentialities upon which agencies can draw only if adequate professional help is available to help meet the challenge posed by many foster children. It is assumed by leaders in the field of child welfare that many foster parents can perform successfully with disturbed foster children if they receive substantial support from skilled caseworkers. If left exclusively to their own resources, they would probably not be able to tolerate the behavior of some of the badly damaged children who are now coming to agency doors. In future research, these assumptions ought to be systematically tested. ADAPTATION TO THE ROLE

Motivations. In looking at the foster parents who participated in this study, one is first struck by their strong commitment to the task of caring for disadvantaged children. A sense of conviction and dedication permeated their responses to the questions of the research interviewers. Yet, despite this pervasive feeling tone, important differences emerged among the foster parents with respect to the manner in which they analyzed their own motives, reported the satisfactions they achieved, and perceived the reactions of other persons to foster parenthood. For the foster mothers, having close contact with children was an important source of role satisfaction. The fascination they experienced in watching children grow up and their enjoyment in the presence of "a cuddly baby" were the pleasures most frequently reported by the foster mothers as a group. But there were differences between the satisfactions reported by those who cared primarily for infants and those who took somewhat older children into their homes. The latter tended to emphasize social altruism or philanthropic motives for assuming the role and seemed to derive great pleasure from doing something useful for the community and helping the "unfortunate, downtrodden people." This orientation was much less a motivating factor for the foster mothers who cared primarily for infants. foster parents currently serving in these workers' agencies. Yet a number of caseworkers in Jewish child welfare agencies, for example, have remarked: "Why, those sound like the families we were using about ten years ago! Our current foster families are much more middle class."

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The foster fathers in this study were evidently not the prime movers in initiating applications to the agency. Pleasing their wives, rather than satisfying pressing internal needs, was an important element in the decisions of these men to become foster parents. Nevertheless they were far from being psychologically removed from the responsibilities of foster parenthood. After a time, most of the foster fathers had obviously become identified with the children placed in their homes. Many of them actually participated in the physical care of the foster children — washing, feeding, etc. Most of the foster fathers also stoutly defended the importance of the father's role in setting an example to the foster child and "teaching him right from wrong." Many of them were not well known to the caseworkers, however, and the latter tended to see the foster fathers' reticence in communicating with the agency staff as a sign of their basic passivity. There was some evidence in the study that this view is a spurious one and that actually these men are quite masculine, especially in their work lives. Their role behavior appears to be explained by a value orientation that makes verbal communication with female caseworkers something to be avoided. Attitudes. An interesting finding in the study is the firm correlation between an individual's tendency to be alienated from society, as measured by Srole's Anomie Scale (Srole calls this "interpersonal alienation"), and a rather egocentric orientation toward the foster parent role, as measured by the Benefactress of Children Scale. These, in turn, were correlated with a substantial number of pathogenic child-rearing attitudes as revealed by scores on the PARI. These attitudinal measures suggest a number of meaningful leads that might be pursued by caseworkers in the screening of foster parent applicants and in the allocation of children to specific foster homes. The child-rearing attitudes of the foster mothers, taken as a group, were found to be significantly more pathogenic on the PARI than those of a normative sample tested in Indianapolis. This appeared to be related to the fact that the foster mothers were older and less well educated than the women with whom they were compared. In addition, the PARI may have usefulness in predicting caseworker ratings of the foster mothers along a number of significant dimensions; a number of the PARI scales correlated significantly with factor scores assigned to the foster parents on the basis of ratings made by the caseworkers who knew them. Even stronger correlations were achieved between the PARI scores and a global evaluation

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by the caseworkers of the performance of the foster parents with the children who had been placed in their care. Foster mothers who had been judged to have performed in uniformly excellent fashion with the children entrusted to them tended to eschew pathogenic attitudes as measured by such PARI scales as Breaking the Will, Martyrdom, Deification, Excluding Outside Influences, Intrusiveness, and Dependency of the Mother. A significant correlation was also found between a foster mother's expression of distress in separating from foster children and scores on the scales Intrusiveness and Dependency of the Mother. These findings lend support to the hope that the PARI — or a similarly conceived instrument — could be used by agencies as an aid in predicting the general performance of persons who desire to become foster parents. The instrument might also prove useful in helping agencies to decide what types of children can be allocated to specific kinds of foster homes. Finally, the PARI may aid agency staffs in spotting those foster parents who might be expected to show difficulty in separating from foster children. Although the basic decisions about foster parents cannot be surrendered to paper-and-pencil instruments, such as the PARI, they do serve the primary function of alerting the caseworker to unarticulated pathogenic attitudes that might interfere with adequate role performance. CASEWORKER RATINGS

We have explored in this study the problem of the low reliability found among workers as they rated the foster parents with whom they worked. Although a number of plausible explanations were set forth, there is still a fairly strong basis for believing that decisions about children going into foster care are being made daily under conditions of great uncertainty. Perhaps the task of screening can never be much more than a highly intuitive procedure. This cannot be asserted with any certainty, however, until a considerably greater investment has been made in research that enlarges the knowledge base of practitioners.* In the light of the difficulty in establishing a high degree of reliability by the caseworker-judges in this study, it was somewhat reassuring to find through factor analysis methods that there was a fairly well integrated un* This problem concerns all the helping professions and not just social work alone. Recently, a study was made of the validity of professional decision making in the field of medicine. It was found that many decisions about medical and surgical procedures were not confirmed as being desirable or necessary [61].

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derlying structure guiding the caseworkers in their ratings. This underlying structure proved similar to the factors Love vs. Hostility and Democracy vs. Autocracy which have emerged from such other parent-rating instruments as the Pels Parent Behavior Scales. FOSTER PARENTS AS INTERVIEWEES

A considerable number of the scale and index scores constructed from the direct interviews with the foster parents failed to correlate significantly with the factor scores. A comparison of the predictive strengths of index scores and PARI scores showed that more significant correlations prevailed between PARI scores and the evaluative ratings of the casework staff than between the latter and indices derived from the direct interview. A possible explanation for this is that the foster parents were more guarded and less candid in the face-to-face interviews with the caseworkers than they were in the pencil-and-paper situation, which affords a sense of anonymity. A recent study by Lenski and Leggett sheds some light upon the dynamics of the interviewing situation as it is affected by the social status of the interviewees [32]. These investigators used Srole's Anomie Scale in their interviews and included a statement that was in direct contradiction to another statement in the scale. They found that the tendency to agree with items of contradictory meaning rose as the respondents declined in social status. The foster parents in this study had a low level of education, and most of the men were employed in blue-collar occupations. The phenomenon identified by Lenski and Leggett may well, therefore, account for some of the depressed correlations. Future researchers in this field will have to give serious attention to the problem, long familiar to social psychologists, of the acquiescence response-set as it operates with particular strength in low-status occupational groups. SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FOSTER PARENTS

Although the foster parents included in this study were fairly homogeneous hi social background, there were, nevertheless, significant differences among them. It has been pointed out that older foster parents tended to demonstrate more pathogenic child-rearing attitudes than did their younger counterparts. The same finding held true when the less-educated foster mothers were compared with a normative sample of parents who had, in the aggregate, achieved a high school education. These findings

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are in line with studies of parental attitudes reported by a number of investigators. Childless couples were found to be somewhat different in their childrearing orientation from those who had had children of their own. As measured by their verbal attitudes, the former demonstrated a significantly more pronounced disposition to foster dependency in children than those who were natural parents. The childless couples also appeared to be somewhat more intrusive in the child's world. Negro foster parents revealed more pathogenic attitudes about child rearing than did white foster parents. The former were also assigned lower performance ratings by the caseworkers with respect to the care they offered foster children. One partial explanation of this invidious finding is that the Negro group was heavily loaded with childless couples. Also these foster parents had achieved somewhat less education than their white counterparts. Future research efforts should be directed at determining whether agency standards for foster parents in the area of child-rearing patterns are compatible with the orientations of minority groups and whether so-called pathogenic attitudes of such parents have developmental consequences for children. Foster parents originating from large-family systems demonstrated a more democratic orientation toward family life, as revealed by caseworker ratings and by their scores on the PARI scale Comradeship and Sharing. They also tended to be part of large, clan-type family structures, a fact that has been shown to have implications for their adaptation to the foster parent role. Some of the thinking related to the "folk" concept has proved to have heuristic value in explicating a number of variables that helped to account for the differing role adaptations of foster parents. For example, it was found that the foster parents who originated from clan-type families evidently suffered more in separating from foster children than did those coming from less extensive family systems. Foster parents leading socially insular lives were found to be somewhat more defensive than those leading socially active lives about the way they thought other people viewed their motives for becoming foster parents. Insular foster families, by and large, were also found to be more pathologically oriented in their child-rearing practices. The males in these families played rather traditional authoritarian roles, and they were less in-

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volved in the foster parent role than their more equalitarian counterparts in socially active families. Foster parents with rural backgrounds could be differentiated from their nonrural counterparts on a number of interesting dimensions. It was found that the former tended to have led less deprived lives than those foster parents who were reared in the city. The foster fathers with rural backgrounds, however, were more authoritarian in relation to their wives and children than were the urban-reared foster fathers. In this regard, it was found that Negro foster parents were more apt to have originated from rural backgrounds than their white counterparts. It should also be pointed out that, on the basis of the PARI scores, the foster mothers from rural backgrounds had a distinctive tendency to avoid communication with children. A fairly crucial index of an individual's over-all social value orientation is likely to reside in the area of male-female relationships. It would appear almost mandatory for women coming from a folk-type culture to confine their interests to the home and to eschew the modern trend for women to enter the business and factory worlds. Femininity, however, is a most difficult quality to measure in a research project. In this study, it was found that women who had given birth to a number of children of their own scored higher on the Index of Femininity than did those who had not had children of their own. But those who scored high on this Index did not differ significantly in the quality of their role performance from those who scored low. The foster fathers who scored high on the Index of Masculinity (Authoritarian) would presumably agree with statements whose net effect would be to place the woman in the kitchen and in a rather subordinate role vis-a-vis her husband. As previously noted, foster families in which such attitudes prevailed tended to be isolated in their communities and to have a rural orientation (which was highly correlated with being Negro). It was of interest to find that foster mothers who were married to men holding authoritarian attitudes scored high on the PARI scale Inconsiderateness of Husband. They also scored high in pathogenic child-rearing attitudes as revealed by the PARI scales Avoidance of Communication, Fostering Dependency, Suppression of Sex, and Intrusiveness. The findings would seem to indicate that women who marry men with authoritarian values demonstrate a similar kind of authoritarianism toward their children.

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IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

It is no simple task to translate the findings of this research into a form directly useful to the practitioner. As is so often the case with studies that attempt to open up a field that has not received much prior research attention, implications have to be set forth very tentatively. The practitioner needs to be an active partner with the researcher in the process of extracting whatever meaningful leads for practice can be found hi the ore of research findings. Weighing the research findings against the richness of his own clinical experience, the practitioner needs to ask himself: Is what is being said about these subjects something that makes sense hi the light of what I have perceived in my day-to-day contact with foster parents in my own agency? If the findings support the theories and principles that underlie practice, the researcher and the practitioner will probably find much admiration and respect for each other. Sometimes the research findings run counter to what has been distilled from the experience of practice. When this proves to be the case, a challenge is faced by both the researcher and the practitioner to re-examine, in a spirit of mutual respect, the evidence they have used and the logical bases upon which they have produced generalized formulations. It is in such a context that the following suggestions are presented for child welfare workers who seek to work more effectively with foster parents. Child Rearing. Child welfare workers need to develop more interest and expertise in assessing the child-rearing attitudes and behavior of the parental figures with whom they work. The latter include natural parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, and homemakers. Examination of the professional literature shows an almost complete absence of concern with current and past research in the area of child rearing and parental functioning. Yet the findings of this study indicate that child-rearing attitudes as revealed by foster parents on an instrument such as the PARI are linked with their role behavior as established by the ratings of the caseworkers who have worked with them. These attitudes can provide clues for the caseworker in the crucial task he faces in helping to develop the maximum potential of foster parents and in anticipating some of the problems that can lead to unfortunate decisions on behalf of children. In the category of "poor" placements one might include (1) an unplanned need for replacement of a child —the familiar problem of "turnover"; (2) a damaging emotional experience for a child exposed to the rejection of a foster parent; and (3) a trying experience for the foster parent who finds it dif-

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ficult to separate from a foster child. From the data gathered in this study, it would appear that caseworkers ought to seek to become more knowledgeable about the foster parents with whom they work with respect to, first, their patterns of disciplining children and, second, their tendency to be democratic or authoritarian in their conduct of family affairs. The caseworkers in this study obviously had scanty information in these areas, and this is a serious barrier to effective work with foster families. Motivation. The complexity of the task of assessing individual motivation has already been stressed in this volume. It is reassuring that useful empirical data did emerge. Much of the motivational material was obviously not within the area of conscious awareness of the foster parents, but, as Josselyn has pointed out, very often the verbalization of foster parents reveals unconscious patterns [24]. Thus, foster parents who took on the air of being benefactors of children often revealed pathological childrearing attitudes. In addition, it was found that foster parents who were rated in a positive way by caseworkers with respect to their general performance revealed somewhat different patterns of role satisfaction from those rated negatively. This opens the possibility of developing more precise attempts at forecasting the outcome of placements through systematic examination of the verbalized motivations of subjects. Foster Care as an Interactional Situation. In the research reported here and in other studies of parent behavior, it has become clear that parenthood cannot be studied in isolation from childhood. On the face of it, this seems like such an obvious, commonplace statement as to be almost banal. Yet parents and foster parents are very often assessed as if their characteristics could be separated from those of the children under their care. Many of the foster parents in this study showed a fairly broad range of behavior with the foster children placed with them. One kind of child could evoke a positive, nurturing kind of response; a child with different characteristics could bring forth almost rejecting behavior from the same foster parent. Although one would expect foster parents who reveal strong ego structures and sound superego values to do uniformly well with most children placed with them, their parental capacity must nonetheless be seen as a variable phenomenon. The aim of high-level child welfare practice should be to maximize the parental potential of foster parents through the placement of children who can evoke a positive response in them and the provision of professional casework support to foster parents in order to help them withstand the negative and often seemingly unchangeable be-

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havior of upset foster children. The factor analysis reported here appears to point to clusters of traits in foster parents who can care for several types of foster children (i.e., the biologically handicapped child, the "actingout" child). These findings should be tested in practice to determine whether the assumptions will hold up when the study is replicated for populations of foster parents with different backgrounds from those studied in Pittsburgh. Infant Homes. Greater clarity appears to be needed about characteristics of a foster home that best serves newborn infants awaiting adoption. The caseworkers who participated in this study failed to identify significant positive or negative psychological traits associated with the potential capacity of foster parents to care for such children. This was not the case as regards caring for emotionally disturbed children, physically handicapped older children, etc.; the social and psychological attributes required by foster parents in caring for such youngsters were fairly well identified. Why this state of amorphousness in identifying those who can provide good care to infants? It is difficult to believe that the provision of good physical care represents the exclusive criterion by which infant homes are selected. The psychological nurture of newborns and the crucial task of individualizing their care need re-emphasis. It would seem that part of the difficulty stems from the fact that child welfare workers have not developed methods for systematically observing foster mothers in the day-to-day care of infants. A consequence of the failure to observe is that a clear image of what constitutes poor and good handling of infants has not yet emerged. Perhaps some of the more formalized observational techniques suggested by Baldwin and others should be attempted [2]. The recent tendency by such agencies as Family and Childrens Service to allocate the supervision of infants to case aides is probably administratively sound. Care must be exercised, however, to ensure the development of a high level of professional understanding concerning the normal development of infants and their experiences in foster care. Social Characteristics of Foster Parents. The findings of this research tend to support the concept that sociological variables have a contribution to make in casting light upon the role adjustments of foster parents. A fairly simple example illustrates this: A foster family that is isolated from its neighbors or is in conflict with them cannot take a bizarre or an "actingout" child since he is apt to involve the family in unpleasant altercations.

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Obviously, then, a caseworker seeking to place such a youngster needs to examine the social patterns maintained by the foster family as well as internal family interactions. We have also seen that being older, being Negro, not having had own children, etc., have implications for parental behavior. One aspect of the sociological formulation about foster parenthood presented here is a source of potential concern. If many foster parents do indeed have the values and behavioral characteristics of what has been termed "folk people," this must be seen as a transitory phenomenon, a condition of cultural lag. It is conceivable that these persons are a kind of throwback to a bygone period. In a rapidly moving society such as our own, there is an increasing tendency for middle-class value orientations to take hold, even among unskilled blue-collar workers. As this occurs, it may well be that the reservoir for the recruitment of foster parents will become depleted. If this proves to be the case, it will become incumbent upon the child welfare field to develop new recruitment approaches in order to attract foster parent applicants from strata of society now relatively untapped. For example, college-trained professional persons are more apt to have the child-rearing attitudes approved of by child welfare workers than those with less education. Yet it is rare that college graduates apply to become foster parents. Research that will shed light upon the kinds of incentives required to induce new kinds of foster parent applicants is very much needed. If the concern about a dwindling supply of foster homes proves valid, it may well be that small-group residential units will become more important than they are now as placement resources for children who require care outside of their own homes. Foster Fathers. The enigmatic quality that now characterizes the position of foster fathers in relation to child welfare workers is a weakness in the practice situation. The fact that caseworkers do not truly know these men, as was the case for many foster fathers in this study, can lead to serious distortions in assessing their role in the foster care situation. For example, the commonly held assumption that foster fathers are passive men (and, by implication, lacking in masculinity) may be a function of the distance from the caseworkers maintained by many foster fathers. This behavior may perhaps be better explained by a value system held by foster fathers, which precludes discussions with women who are not related to them about problems in child rearing. Certainly the alleged passivity of

FINAL PERSPECTIVES AND IMPLICATIONS 165 these men does not seem borne out in the descriptions of their employment situations. More and more children coming into foster care are reported to be emotionally disturbed. The foster mothers are not the only resource for helping these children. Foster fathers have an important role to play in any over-all treatment plan developed for them. The fathers ought not be allowed to remain on the periphery of the caseworkers' concerns. Agency Decision Making. The foster parents' performance with each child placed in their care should form the basis for future decisions about new foster children placed in their homes. After a dozen children of varying characteristics have lived in a foster home, a clear conceptual picture of the suitability of the home for children of different traits should have emerged. Unfortunately, there is often a lack of continuity in current agency practice in developing knowledge about the capacity of each foster home. This failure is related to two factors: no single worker has responsibility for working with a foster family and information obtained from one placement experience is often not passed on in a form useful to succeeding caseworkers. The practice of having a professional caseworker assigned primarily to the child rather than to the foster family has a major point in its favor: If a child undergoes several replacements in foster family care, it does not make sense for him to change caseworkers with each placement. Yet there are hazards in having foster parents assessed by constantly changing caseworkers. Even though administrative homefinding responsibilities are lodged with a single person in the agency and he and several casework supervisors keep a watchful eye for signs of malfunctioning among foster families, this may not provide adequate coverage. Consistent developmental work with foster families can probably best be handled by a single caseworker having responsibility for the family. Perhaps this task might be kept separate from the task of doing casework with the children. Our data show that when several caseworkers are involved, they are apt to have different perceptions of the foster family, and there is danger that they will work at cross-purposes with each other and perhaps produce an unnecessary strain upon the foster parent. The potential for confusion described above might also be minimized if the agency systematically pulled together its information about the foster family in a form that would make it readily accessible to succeeding caseworkers. In the situation that obtained at the time of this research, in-

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formation about the foster parents' behavior was lodged in the case records maintained for each child placed in the home, with an occasional brief summary inserted in the foster parent record. This is a fairly common practice among child welfare agencies in the United States. Under this system, one seeking to understand as fully as possible the capacities of a given foster parent might have to search through a dozen records. Even if recording were more systematically maintained in the records of the foster parents, it is doubtful that this would provide optimal help to the practitioner. One solution would be to have the caseworker who has supervised a foster child's care in a home fill out a rating form similar to the FPAF after termination of the placement. Ratings should include such areas as the following: the foster parents' emotional responses to the child; the patterns of child rearing used by the foster parents, including methods of socializing (e.g., toilet training, disciplining); the caseworker's estimates of the suitability of the home for children having various characteristics. He must take into account their age, sex, psychological attributes, etc.; the major assets and liabilities of the foster home in cooperating with other members of the role-set (e.g., natural parents, caseworkers). Major differences in perceptions of the characteristics of the foster parents would be more easily discernible by having these ratings made in systematic fashion by a series of caseworkers than by using traditional case recording. Thus, case conferences could be held whenever major differences about the suitability of a foster home for various types of children emerged on the rating forms. A FINAL NOTE

The present study indicates a need for longitudinal studies of what might be called the "natural history of foster parenthood." Foster parents change as they gain experience with a variety of foster children and as they are educated for their tasks through their relationships with caseworkers. Factors that have a positive influence in the conception of an "ideal-type" foster parent should be charted in an ongoing study that scrutinizes the forces at play as they are occurring.

References and Index

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REFERENCES

1. Adorno, T. W., et al. The Authoritarian Personality. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1950. 2. Baldwin, Alfred L., Joan Kalhorn, and Fay Huffman Breese. "The Appraisal of Parent Behavior," Psychological Monographs, Vol. 63, No. 4 (1949). 3. Baldwin, Alfred L., Joan Kalhorn, and Fay Huffman Breese. "Patterns of Parent Behavior," Psychological Monographs, Vol. 58, No. 3 (1945). 4. Bell, Richard Q. Informal Notes on the Use of the PART. Mimeographed. Bethesda, Md.: National Institute of Mental Health, 1959. 5. Borgatta, Edgar F., David Fanshel, and Henry J. Meyer. Social Workers' Perceptions of Clients. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1960. 6. Bossard, James H. S., and Eleanor S. Boll. The Large Family System. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1956. 7. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce. Current Population Reports. Series P-60, No. 33, Consumer Income, January 15, 1960. 8. Bush, Robert. "The New Look in Measurement Theory," in Use of Judgment as Data in Social Work Research. New York: National Association of Social Workers, 1959. Pp. 89-96. 9. Champney, Horace. "The Measurement of Parent Behavior," Child Development, 12:131-66 (1941). 10. Chapman, L. J., and D. T. Campbell. "The Effect of Acquiescence Response-Set upon Relations among the F Scale, Ethnocentrism and Intelligence," Sociometry, 22(No. 2): 153-61 (1959). 11. Charnley, Jean. The Art of Child Placement. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1955. 12. Child Welfare League of America. Standards for Foster Family Care Service. New York: Child Welfare League of America, 1959. 13. Child Welfare Statistics —1964. Children's Bureau Statistical Series No. 82. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (Child Welfare Studies Branch), 1965. 14. Crandell, Vaughn J., and Anne Preston. "Patterns and Levels of Maternal Behavior," Child Development, 26:268-77 (1955). 15. Gumming, Elaine, Lois R. Dean, and David S. Newell. "What Is 'Morale'? A Case History of a Validity Problem," Human Organization, 17(No. 2):3-8 (1958). 16. Fanshel, David. An Overview of One Agency's Casework Operations. Pittsburgh: Family and Childrens Service, 1958. 17. Fanshel, David. A Study in Negro Adoption. New York: Child Welfare League of America, 1957.

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18. Fanshel, David, and Henry S. Maas. "Factorial Dimensions of the Characteristics of Children in Placement and Their Families," Child Development, 33:12344(1962). 19. Glickman, Esther. Child Placement through Clinically Oriented Casework. New York: Columbia University Press, 1957. 20. Herstein, Norman. "The Replacement of Children from Foster Homes," Child Welfare, 36(No. 7):21-25 (1957). 21. Holingshead, A. B., and F. C. Redlich. Social Class and Mental Illness: A Community Study. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1958. 22. Hunt, J. McV. "On the Judgments of Social Workers as a Source of Information in Social Work Research," in Use of Judgments as Data in Social Work Research. New York: National Association of Social Workers, 1959. Pp. 38-54. 23. Hutchinson, Dorothy. In Quest of Foster Parents. New York: Columbia University Press, 1943. 24. Josselyn, Irene. "Evaluating Motives of Foster Parents," Child Welfare, 31 (No. 2): 3-8 (1952). 25. Kadushin, Alfred. "The Legally Adoptable, Unadopted Child," Child Welfare, 37(No. 10): 19-28 (1958). 26. Kahn, Alfred J. "The Social Scene and the Planning of Services for Children," Social Work, 7(No. 3) :3-14 (1962). 27. Kahn, Alfred J. "Sociology and Social Work: Challenge and Invitation," Social Problems, 4:220-28 (1957). 28. Kassebaum, Gene G., Arthur S. Couch, and Philip E. Slater. "The Factorial Dimensions of the MMPI," Journal of Consulting Psychology, 23:226-36 (1959). 29. Kelly, E. L., and D. W. Fiske. The Prediction of Performance in Clinical Psychology. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1951. 30. Kline, Draza, and Helen Mary Overstreet. Casework with Foster Parents. New York: Child Welfare League of America, 1956. 31. Kutner, Bernard, David Fanshel, Alice Togo, and Thomas Langner. Five Hundred over Sixty. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1956. 32. Lenski, Gerhard E., and John C. Leggett. "Caste, Class and Deference in the Research Interview," American Journal of Sociology, 65:463-67 (1960). 33. Loomis, Charles P. Social Systems. Princeton, N.J.: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1960. 34. Lorr, Maurice, and Richard L. Jenkins. 'Three Factors in Parent Behavior," Journal of Consulting Psychology, 17:306-8 (1953). 35. Maas, Henry S., and Richard E. Engler, Jr. Children in Need of Parents. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959. 36. Mark, Joseph C. "The Attitudes of the Mothers of Male Schizophrenics toward Child Behavior," Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 48:185-89 (1953). 37. Markey, O. P., and H. Noble. "An Evaluation of the Masculinity Factor in Boarding Home Situation," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 6:258-67 (1936). 38. Meier, Elizabeth G. "Foster Care for Children," in Russell H. Kurtz, ed., Social Work Year Book, 1960. New York: National Association of Social Workers, 1960. Pp. 277-85. 39. Meier, Elizabeth G. "Reciprocities in Parent-Child and Foster Parent-Child Relationships," Child Welfare, 3 8 (No. 10): 1-6 (1959). 40. Meisels, Joseph F., and Martin B. Loeb. "Unanswered Questions about FosterCare," Social Service Review, 30:239-46 (1956). 41. Osgood, Charles E., George J. Suci, and Percy H. Tannenbaum. The Measurement of Meaning. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1957. 42. Pitts, M. W. 'The First Interview with Foster Parents," Child Welfare, 29 (No. 3): 14-17 (1950).

REFERENCES

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43. Pollak, Otto. "Cultural Factors in Child Welfare Work," Child Welfare, 38(No. 9):1-6(1959). 44. Pollak, Otto. "Design of a Model of Family Health Relationships as a Basis foi Evaluative Research," Social Service Review, 31:369-76 (1957). 45. Portnoy, Deborah S. "The Use of Case Work Skills in Home Finding," The Family,20(No. 10):320-24 (1940). 46. Redfield, Robert. "The Folk Society," American Journal of Sociology, 52:294 (1947). 47. Richards, Catherine V., and Norman A. Polansky. "Reaching Working-Class Youth Leaders," Social Work, 4(No. 4) :31-39 (1959). 48. Riesman, David. The Lonely Crowd. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1950. 49. Roff, Merrill. "A Factorial Study of the Pels Parent Behavior Scales," Child Development, 20:29-45 (1949). 50. Saal, C. D. "Causes of the Delay in Western European Family Research and Some Notes of the Investigation of the Dutch Rural Family," in Studies of the Family. Tubingen, Germany: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), n.d. 51. Schaefer, Earl S. "A Circumplex Model for Maternal Behavior," Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 59:226-35 (1959). 52. Schaefer, Earl S., and Richard Q. Bell. "Development of a Parental Attitude Research Instrument," Child Development, 29:339-61 (1958). 53. Schaefer, Earl S., Richard Q. Bell, and Nancy Bayley. "Development of a Maternal Behavior Research Instrument," Journal of Genetic Psychology, 95:83104(1959). 54. Sears, Robert R., Eleanor E. Maccoby, and Harry Levin. Patterns of Child Rearing: A Report on the Ways of Bringing up Children. Evanston, 111.: Row, Peterson, and Company, 1957. 55. Shoben, Edward J., Jr. "The Assessment of Parental Attitudes in Relation to Child Adjustment," Genetic Psychology Monographs, 39:101-48 (1949). 56. Siegel, Alberta E. "The Working Mother: A Review of Research," Child Development, 34:513-42 (1963). 57. Srole, Leo. "Social Integration and Certain Corollaries," American Sociological Review,2l:lQ9-l6(l956). 58. Stanton, Howard. "Mother Love in Foster Homes," Marriage and Family Living, 18(No.4):301-7 (1956). 59. Stouffer, Samuel A., et al. Measurement and Prediction. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1950. 60. Theis, Sophie van Senden. How Foster Children Turn Out. New York: State Charities Aid Association, 1924. 61. Trussell, Ray E., and Frank van Dyke. The Quantity, Quality and Cost of Medical and Hospital Care Secured by a Sample of Teamster Families in the New York City Area. New York: School of Public Health and Administration, Columbia University, 1962. 62. Weinstein, Eugene A. The Self-Image of the Foster Child. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1960. 63. Weisenbarger, Ruth. "Direct Casework with the Child in Foster Home Placement," Child Welfare, 30(No. 4) :3-6 (1951). 64. Wessel, Rosa. "Comments: A Social Worker's Reactions upon Reading Dr. Pollak's Paper," Child Welfare, 38(No. 9) :7-l 1 (1959). 65. Wires, Emily Mitchell. "Long-Time Care in a Public Child-Placing Agency," Social Casework, 32:202-7 (1951). 66. Wires, Emily Mitchell. "Some Factors in the Worker-Foster Parent Relationship," Child Welfare, 33(No. 8) :8-9,13-16 (1954).

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67. Wolfenstein, Martha. "Trends in Infant Care," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 23:120-30(1953). 68. Wolins, Martin. "The Problem of Choice in Foster Home Finding," Social Work, 4(No.4):40-48 (1959). 69. Wolins, Martin. Selecting Foster Parents. New York: Columbia University Press, 1963. 70. Yarrow, Marian Radke. "Problems of Methods in Parent-Child Research," Child Development, 34:215-26 (1963). 71. Zuckerman, Marvin. "Reversed Scales to Control Acquiescence Response-Set in the Parental Attitude Research Instrument," Child Development, 30:523-32 (1959). 72. Zuckerman, Marvin, Beatrice B. Ribback, Irwin Monashkin, and James A. Norton, Jr. "Normative Data and Factor Analysis on the Parental Attitude Research Instrument," Journal of Consulting Psychology, 22(No. 3): 165-71 (1958).

INDEX

Acceleration of development scale, 88 Acquiescence response-set, 85-86 Adoption, 64 Adorno, T. W., 74, 86 Age: of children cared for, 23; of foster parents, 23; of foster children and numbers of own children, 24; of foster children and PARI scores, 94 Aggression: scale of suppression of, 84; Acceptance of (Factor VIII), 117 Aims, of this study, 8 Allegheny County (Pennsylvania), v, 84 Anomie scale: 63, 95; and other scale and index scores, 76, 128; and PARI scores, 91 Application for foster parenthood, 28 Ascendance of mother, scale of, 84, 92 Attitudes of foster parents, 19-20, 83-95, 135, 156 Authoritarianism: in foster fathers, 70-71, 77, 80, 160; The Authoritarian Personality (Adorno), 74, 86 Avoidance of communication, scale of, 84 Babies, Motivations for (Factor IV), 114115 Baldwin, Alfred L., 118-119 Bay ley, Nancy, 121 Bell, Richard Q., 19n, 85n, 86, 121 Benefactress of Children scale, 61-62, 74, 76, 148 Biological Deficit, Tolerance for (Factor III): 113-114; and other factor scores, 126; and scale and index scores, 129; and PARI scores, 131 Board payments, index of acceptance of, 68-69 Boll, Eleanor S., 13-14

Borgatta, Edgar F., viii, 106, 112 Bossard, James H. S., 13-14 Breaking the will scale (PARI), 83, 92 Breast feeding, 94 Bush, Robert S., 61 Caseworkers: reactions of foster fathers to, 51-52; and familiarity with foster parents, 98-99 Champney, Horace, 118 Charnley, Jean, 4-5 Child Welfare League of America, 3 Church; see Religion, Religiosity Clan-type family, 68, 80-81, 128 Class background of foster mothers, 26-27 Coding of interview materials, 20 Communication, scale of avoidance of, 84, 88,92 Community, index of integration within, 72,92 Computer, correction analysis on, 83n Comradeship scale, 85 Concern for the child, 119 Coping with problems of foster children, index of, 36-38, 64 Gumming, Elaine, 76 Data, period of collection, 18 Deification, scale of, 84 Democratic attitudes, 89, 119 Deprivation, index of, 72-73, 74, 79, 135 Development, scale of acceleration of, 88 Discipline; see Strictness scale Drinking by foster fathers, 53, 63 Eccentricity of foster parents, 65, 77, 128 Education: of foster mothers, 27; of foster

174

FOSTER PARENTHOOD

fathers, 55-56; of foster fathers compared with own fathers, 56 Ego strength of foster parents, 109-110, 113, 128 Employment: of foster mothers, 27, 67; of foster fathers, 54-55, 70 Equalitarianism, 89, 133 Ethnicity: of foster mothers, 26, 159; see also Negroes Excluding outside influences scale, 88 Extended family, 99; see also Clan-type family Factors: analysis of, 109; identification and description of Factors I-VIII, 110118, 122, 125 Family: clan-type, 10, 68, 80-81, 128; Gemeinschaft-type, 12-13; Gesellschafttype, 13; large family system, 13-15; open and closed, 15; extended, 99 Family and Childrens Service, 10, 17, 28, 32 Family Hierarchy Conformity (Factor II), 112-113, 125 Fanshel, David, 4, 18 Fascist scale, 86 Fear of harming the baby, scale of, 84, 95, 131 Pels Parent Behavior Rating Scales, 118121 Female, domination by in foster homes, 4 Femininity, index of, 78 Folk society, 11, 12, 15,159 Foster children: number of, 3, 40; ages of, 22; types appealing to foster mothers, 29; problems of, 36-38; length of stay of, 39; with biological deficits, 113; aggression in, 117 Foster fathers: interviewing schedule, 19; perceptions of role, 46; refusal rate in interviewing, 46; role satisfactions, 47; contributions, 48; perceived inconveniences, 49; attendance at foster parent meetings, 51; separation from children, 51; reactions to casework staff, 51; attitudes toward male-female relations, 53; occupations of, 55; tenure of employment of, 55-56; education, 56; masculinity of, 71, 80, 92 Foster mothers: interviewing schedule for, 18; ethnicity of, 26; class background of, 26-27; education and work experience of, 27; prior experience as foster mothers, 28; role satisfactions of,

32; self-image of, 33-38; reaction to separation, 41; membership in organizations, 43; outside interests of, 43 Foster Parent Appraisal Form (FPAF): 20; general description, 96-97; method of administration, 97-98; reliability of ratings, 99-106; factor analysis, 108118; relation between factor scores and index scores, 127-131; relation between factor scores and PARI scores, 131134; relation between factor scores and global assessment, 134-135 Foster parenthood: motives for assuming responsibility, 5-7; manner of recruitment, 28; satisfactions of, 30, 31, 32, 47, 138, 139; inconveniences of, 50; sharing of tasks, 67; involvement of foster fathers, 71, 79; performance, 94; Identification with Role (Factor VI), 116 Gemeinschaft-Gesellschaft, 12-13 Glickman, Esther, 6 Guttman's Radex Theory, 121 Halo effect in ratings, 102 Harming the baby, fear of, 84 Housework: 67, 94; sharing, 41, 53, 71, 77, 80, 133 Hunt, J.McV., 105 Husband, scale of inconsiderateness of, 88 Hutchinson, Dorothy, 5 Identification with Role (Factor VI), 116 Income of foster families, 56-57 Inconsiderateness of husband, scale of, 88 Indianapolis foster mothers, 83-85 Indices for evaluating foster parents: 6673; intercorrelations of scores with scale scores, 74-81 Infant care: subtypes of foster homes, 2122; Motivations for Babies (Factor IV), 114-115; traits required for, 163 Initiative in becoming foster parents, 28 Integration index, 79 Interviewing schedules, 18-19 Intrusiveness, scale of, 84, 88, 131 losselyn, Irene, 6 Kline, Draza, 6 Kutner, Bernard, 76 Lenski, Gerhard E., 158 Levin, 122

INDEX Loneliness, as motive for foster care, 4-5 Loomis, Charles P., 12 Lorr, Maurice, 120 Maas, Henry S., 4 Maccoby, 122 Markey, O. P., 5 Marriage: length of for foster parents, 25; index of tension in, 69; marital tension and PARI scores, 93 Martyrdom scale, 63, 84, 92 Masculine Home (Factor VII), 116, 125 Masculinity, 71, 80, 92 Medical care of foster children, 50-51, 64, 78,99, 113, 125 Meetings of foster parents: attendance of foster mothers, 42-43; attendance of foster fathers, 51 Meier, Elizabeth G., 118 Meisels, Joseph F., 4 Mentally retarded foster children, 64, 99, 113,117 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, 111 Motivations of foster parents: 5-7; as seen by caseworkers, 142-146; as seen by research interviewers, 146-152 Nationality of foster parents, 26, 58 Negroes: 18n; as foster parents, 23; attitude of whites toward, 60; educational background, 76; scale scores, 76-77; masculinity in, 80; and rural background, 81; PARI scores of, 88; factor scores of, 125 Neurosis in foster parents, 6-7, 111; see also Pathogenic attitudes Newborn foster children, 64 Normative data; see PARI Occupations of foster fathers, 54-55 Outside influences, scale of excluding, 88 Own children: of foster parents, 23-24; and scale and index scores, 75; and PARI scores, 87; and factor scores, 125 Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI), 19-20; and scores of Indianapolis sample, 83-88; intercorrelations of scores, 87-89; and scale and index scores, 89-95; and global assessment, 94; and factor scores, 135 Passivity in foster fathers, 4, 53; see also Masculinity

175

Pathogenic attitudes, 6-7, 74, 84-85, 95, 111, 159 Performance: global assessment of, 94; and PARI scores, 94; and factor scores, 135 Permissiveness in child rearing, index of, 70, 119, 129 Pitts, M. W., 7 Pittsburgh: 73; Family and Childrens Service in, 9; traffic as hindrance to foster care in, 50; foster mothers in, 84 Plan of study, 17-20 Pollak,Otto, 16,118 Portnoy, Deborah S., 6-7 Punishment, 83 Radex Theory, 121 Ratings of caseworkers; see Foster Parent Appraisal Form (FPAF) Redfield, Robert, 11-12,15 Refusal of foster fathers to be interviewed, 46 Rejection of homemaking role, scale of, 84-85 Reliability of caseworkers' ratings, 99-106 Religion of foster parents, 26 Religiosity: of foster mothers, 66; of foster fathers, 66-67; and other scale and index scores, 78, 88; as a motive for foster parenthood, 144 Response-set of foster mothers, 85-86 Riesman, David, 79 Rural background: of foster mothers, 27; of foster fathers, 27; of parents of foster parents, 54-55; index of rural orientation, 70; index of, 81; and PARI scores, 93; and factor scores, 128 Saal, C. D., 15 Schaefer, Earl S., 19, 121, 122 Schools and foster parents, 7 Sears, Robert R., 122 Seclusion of mother scale, 88 Separation: reactions of foster mothers to, 39, 40-41; stress experienced in, 69-70; and PARI scores, 93 Sex: 80; scale of suppression of, 84, 88; precocious, 117 Sick foster children; see Medical care Siegel, Alberta E., 153 Social participation: index of, 73; and other scale and index scores, 77; and PARI scores, 91; and factor scores, 129-130

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FOSTER PARENTHOOD

Srole, Leo, 63, 95 Strictness scales, 83, 86, 101, 119, 120 Study subjects, selection of, 18

Verbalization, encouraging, 91,131

Tension, marital, 93 Tenure of foster parents with agency, 24 Theis, Sophie van Senden, 4 Toilet training, 70 Tolerance for Biological Deficit (Factor III), 113-114, 126, 129, 131 Tonnies, Ferdinand, 12-13

Warmth, toward children as motivation, 147-149 Weinstein, Eugene A., 4 Wessell, Rosa, 118 Will, scale of breaking the (PARI), 83, 92 Wires, Emily Mitchell, 7-8 Wolins, Martin, 7, 98-99, 102 Working; see Employment

Unmarried mothers, 64

Zuckerman, Marvin, 83-86