Being a parent
The biological parents of foster children are a little-noticed and stigmatised group of people. This project develops approaches to support them in their challenging parenthood.
Factsheet
- Schools involved School of Social Work
- Institute(s) Institute for Childhood, Youth and Family
- Funding organisation Others
- Duration (planned) 01.01.2026 - 31.12.2027
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Head of project
Andrea Abraham
Franziska Beer -
Project staff
Mirjam Lussi
Daniela Willener
Vanda Wrubel
Martina Roos
Emma Nadol -
Partner
Palatin Stiftung (Förderorganisation)
Fachstelle Kinderbetreuung Luzern
Swiss Center for Design and Health - Keywords Foster children, birth parents, participation, involvement, child wellbeing
Situation
There is only limited evidence available on the birth parents of foster children. Existing studies focus on this group of people a) largely from the perspective of foster parents and the professionals involved and b) with a problematising approach. The few studies that shed light on the individual circumstances and subjective experiences of birth parents describe shame, guilt, inferiority, anger, grief and fear as frequently expressed emotions. Their confrontation with their role as mother and father is characterised by ambivalence (e.g. closeness/distance, desire/reality, self-determination/external intervention) and social stigmatisation. Parental behaviour in this context is referred to in professional discourse with concepts and terms such as ‘distant parenthood’, ‘mother yet not mother’ and ‘parents in a state of waiting’. At the same time, there are numerous reasons for working with parents (e.g. legal necessity, effectiveness and sustainability of support, reduction of loyalty conflicts for children). In our project, we are researching this ambivalent parenthood and developing supportive approaches. Our goal is to support parents in contributing to the successful upbringing of their children and in defining and living their parental role in line with their resources.
Course of action
The project combines practice knowledge, scientific evidence and design research. It is divided into four modules: - International research status on the birth parents of foster children; practical concepts for working with birth parents; examination of the normative framework of the project - Qualitative and ethnographic data collection, including interviews with birth parents, foster children, care leavers and professionals - Co-creation of a participation tool with a group of birth parents - Dissemination work
