Balancing between caregiving and professionalism—Women's narratives on fostering a victim of maternal sexual abuse
Date
2018
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Publisher
Child & Family Social Work
Abstract
The impact of sexual abuse on children is enormous, particularly when a child is abused
sexually by a mother figure. In order to gain insight into the experiences of this rarely
studied group, the life stories of four foster mothers of victims of maternal sexual
abuse were collected. The narratives were coded inductively, and several topics
concerning foster motherhood were studied more in‐depth. Four key themes emerged
in the women's narratives: their attitude towards the abusing female, the foster child's
sexual behaviour towards the foster mother, the emotional and physical distance of the
foster mothers towards their foster child, and lastly, their sense of responsibility. The
four foster mothers continuously balance between fostering their foster child as a parent
and responding as a professional caregiver. The consequences of being a foster
mother of a victim of maternal sexual abuse should be more socially acknowledged.
Description
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Keywords
child sexual abuse, foster care, narrative research, parental identity, professional identity
Citation
Wubs, D., Batstra, L., & Grietens, H. (2018). Balancing between caregiving and professionalism—Women's narratives on fostering a victim of maternal sexual abuse. Child & Family Social Work.