Annotated Bibliography
American Foster Care Resources (2005). Family foster care resource update. Available
online at http://www.afcr.com/catalogs/InSrv.pdf
American Foster Care Resources, Inc. publishes this list of books, training manuals, and other media on a variety of topics relevant to foster care. The resource list includes descriptions of the target audience, curriculum goals, skills training objectives, and recommended implementation of each resource, as well as ordering information. Many of these resources can also be obtained through libraries or on-line.
Keywords: Training resources.
Bretherton, I. (1992). The origins of attachment theory. Developmental Psychology, 28,
759-775.
This is a theoretical piece on the history of attachment theory, developed through a collaboration with some of the leading contributors to the field of attachment theory. It is a fairly dense work and is suitable for people with a basic knowledge of attachment and an interest in the development, historical milestones, landmark research contributions, and key concepts in attachment theory.
Keywords: Attachment theory
Carlson, E. A., Sampson, B. A., & Sroufe, L. A. (2003). Implications of attachment
theory and research for developmental-behavioral pediatrics. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 24(5), 364-379.
This article critically reviews contemporary research on attachment and presents a comprehensive, well-organized, and readable summary of key concepts in attachment. Its authors are renowned attachment researchers. The article discusses theory on the nature of the attachment relationship, its origins in human evolutionary history, and common misconceptions about attachment. Research on the phases of development of attachment relationships and factors that influence attachment variations is reviewed. Implications of variations in early attachment relationships for later development, and the effects of different caregiving environments, including foster care and adoptive homes, are addressed. The authors conclude with many recommendations for further research and ways in which attachment theory can be used in childcare practice.
Keywords: Review article, attachment theory, research, phases, attachment relationships, child development, infant-caregiver interaction, pediatrics.
Chapman, M. V., Wall, A., & Barth, R. P. (2004). Children’s voices: The perceptions of
children in foster care. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 74(3), 293-304.
The authors are experienced researchers and social work professionals. They present the findings of a major study of children’s views of placement. Frequency of family visits and children’s feelings following those visits are investigated by placement type (traditional foster home, kinship care, or group care). Results indicate that children in foster care in the United States generally feel positively toward their out-of-home care providers, while at the same time maintain hope of reunification with their biological family. In light of the loyalty conflict experienced by most children in care, the authors recommend that child welfare practice and policy reflect the importance of building strong relationships with current caregivers while promoting continued relationships with biological parents. The authors also provide references for a number of books and articles that focus on the personal experiences of children and youth in care.
Keywords: Out-of-home care, visitation, children’s views of placement.
Cournos, F. (2002). The trauma of profound childhood loss: A personal and professional
perspective. Psychiatric Quarterly, 73(2), 145-156.
The author of this article is an accomplished child and adolescent psychiatrist and a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University. She describes her own experiences with the loss of her parents and her placement in foster care. Dr. Cournos refers to research on trauma and loss to underscore the devastating impact of traumatic losses. The article outlines ten pointers for helping children grieve their losses and heal from the trauma.
Keywords: Childhood trauma, childhood loss, childhood bereavement, foster care.
Eagle, R. S. (1994). The separation experience of children in long-term care: Theory,
research, and implications for practice. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 64(3), 421-434.
This article is often cited in the foster care literature as a primary source of information on foster children’s reactions to separation. It reviews theory and research on separation and advocates for the conceptualization of the out-of-home placement experience of youth in care as a grief or mourning reaction. The article supports the existence of seven theoretical conditions that facilitate a child’s mourning process, using research findings from the fields of cognitive, behavioral, developmental, and other sects of the psychological community to support its conclusions.
Keywords: Out-of-home care as mourning, conditions that facilitate mourning in children, barriers to mourning in child welfare.
Egeland, B. & Sroufe, A. (1981). Attachment and maltreatment. Child Development, 52,
44-52.
This article presents the findings of a research study on the interaction of parenting, infant attachment, and stability of attachment style. Findings support the importance of caregivers’ access to support and stability in the formation of the child’s attachment style. The results also suggest that attachment styles tend to be stable when parenting conditions remain the same, but that attachment relationships can change for the better under stabilizing influences in the lives of mother and infant. The researchers demonstrate that some infants who are maltreated by their primary caregivers early-on can overcome adversity and form secure attachments when the caregiver obtains outside support or otherwise becomes more stable and content.
Keywords: Attachment stability, maltreated children, adequate or inadequate care.
Feeney, J. A. (2000). Implications of attachment style for patterns of health and illness.
Child: Care, Health & Development. 26(4), 277-288.
This article briefly reviews the research evidence linking attachment style with health and illness behaviors. It addresses the link between insecure attachment and various health problems, addressing relationship variables (need for control, emotional avoidance, etc.); medical help-seeking behaviors; lifestyle variables (physical activity level); and some specific health concerns, such as cancer and asthma. The article supports the position that three specific mechanisms related to attachment insecurity are responsible for the poor health outcomes of people with these attachment styles.
Keywords: Attachment style, illness behaviors, affect regulation.
Fish, B. & Chapman, B (2004). Mental health risks to infants and toddlers in foster care.
Clinical Social Work Journal, 32(2), 121-140.
This paper convincingly presents the mental health risks to children birth to three years in the foster care system. It reviews solid research in attachment and foster care and uses numerous vignettes from the writers’ experiences with foster care to illustrate and clarify the relational and contextual threats to foster children in this age group. The paper concludes by presenting and discussing the case of two young brothers in foster care to show how the context of foster care can exacerbate problems that developed as a result of poor relationships with birthparents and previous foster parents. The paper is easy to read and grounded in research, and would be helpful for case workers, foster parents, and any other interested caregiver.
Keywords: Infant, toddler, foster care, mental health, attachment
Gray, D. (2002). Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents.
Indianapolis, IN: Perspectives Press.
This book is written to be a “how to” manual for parenting children at risk for attachment problems. The author is a clinical social worker who specializes in working with children who have challenges in attachment because of neglect, grief, abuse, and prenatal exposure to substances. This readable, informative book is laid out so that chapters address specific topics, making quick reference easy. The book explains attachment in detail, discusses the stages of attachment, and provides examples of activities that promote attachment. It is written from a reassuringly professional point of view and is full of vignettes that foster parents may find easy to relate to. The author clearly lays out the stages of attachment, as a developmental process, and includes an abundance of practical techniques for achieving success at each stage.
Keywords: Adoption, attachment behavior in children, attachment disorder in children, adopted children, family relationships.
Greenberg, M. T. (1999). Attachment and psychopathology in childhood.In J. Cassidy &
P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 469–496). New York: Guilford Press.
This is a comprehensive review of the literature on attachment and psychopathology in childhood, presented in one of the leading professional resources for information on attachment. It reviews research on the internalizing (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, etc.) and externalizing (aggression, defiance, violence, etc.) behaviors associated with maltreatment during the early years of development. The review includes a section on the effects of institutional rearing and late adoption. This article is fairly dense but is a good resource for those interested in understanding the behavioral consequences of abusive home environments.
Keywords: Attachment, psychopathology, children, maltreatment, protective factors.
Hallas, D. (2002). A model for successful foster child-foster parent relationships. Journal
of Pediatric Health Care, 18(3), 112-118.
This article describes the traits of foster families and foster children who have obtained healthy, rewarding relationships. The researcher conducted a scientific study of “exemplary” foster parents and “exemplary” adults who were raised as foster children to extract the individual and family traits that contribute to the development of positive foster parent-foster child relationships and continuing success of foster care alumnae. The authors cite other research and use direct quotes from foster children and foster parents to elaborate on the themes of caring, patience, resilience, a sense of “home-coming,” and others that emerged from the study results.
Keywords: Exemplary foster children, exemplary foster parents, foster child-foster parent relationship, resilience, connectedness, bonding and attachment.
Hopkins, J. (2000). Overcoming a child’s resistance to late adoption: How one new
attachment can facilitate another. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 26(3), 335-347.
The author, a professional child psychologist, describes the therapy progress of a 9-year-old boy with a disorganized attachment pattern, due to repeated abuse and neglect by his biological parents prior to the age of 2 years, and subsequent trauma of repeated separations from foster caretakers until the age of four. The child’s difficulty forming new relationships with his caring and concerned adoptive parents over the next several years, his lack of emotion, disruptive behavior, and persistent loyalty to his abusive biological parents, are described from a psychological theory of interpersonal processes. The paper presents enough theoretical background, along with illustrative anecdotes from the therapy sessions, to help lay persons understand the development of attachment problems and the resultant internal and external processes that affect the child’s development and capacity to form relationships.
Keywords: Adoption, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), attachment, disorganized attachment, loyalty conflict.
Jones, E. E. (1996). Introduction to the special section on attachment and
psychopathology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 5-7.
This article briefly reviews the research and theoretical articles contained in a special edition of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. The article highlights the significance of attachment in human development from infancy through adulthood and directs readers to articles on topics ranging from the stability and distribution of attachment styles to attachment as a predictor of psychopathology.
Kewords: Attachment, psychopathology, human development
Kagan, R. (2004). Rebuilding attachments with traumatized children: Healing from
losses, violence, abuse, and neglect. New York: Haworth Press.
The author, Richard Kagan, is respected for his work with traumatized children
and his conviction that severely abused and neglected children can be helped to overcome the impact of earlier trauma. This book is a therapeutic guide intended primarily for use by therapists, but is written in thoroughly understandable language and includes many real-life stories and practical information that would be useful for anyone interested in learning current approaches to helping troubled children. The book presents information on how to understand and overcome the impact of loss, neglect, separation, and violence on children’s development. It includes specific interventions, including creative arts projects and personal story-telling, that can be used to help children and their caregivers surmount problems of the past and rebuild a story of hope, strength, courage, and belonging.
Keywords: Attachment, trauma, resiliency, parenting traumatized children, lifebook.
Kenrick, J. (2000). Be a kid: the traumatic impact of repeated separations on children
who are fostered and adopted. Journal of Child Psychotherapy 26(3), 393-412.
The author, a professional child psychologist, presents the therapy progress of two children in transitional care. She contrasts the resilience of a child who has experienced one, severe, traumatic experience with his biological parents, followed by a stable relationship with nurturing foster parents; with the difficult 3-and-a-half-year therapy journey and poorer outcome of a child who has experience repeated separations from multiple substitute caretakers. Findings are presented within a fairly technical psychoanalytic framework, although the vibrant descriptions of the children’s behaviors in therapy serve to clarify the meaning of the jargon and illustrate the importance of stable attachments.
Keywords: Trauma, separation, attachment, nameless dread, continuity of experience, transitional placements.
Lanyado, M. (2002). Creating transitions in the lives of children suffering from “multiple
traumatic loss.” In L. Caldwell (Ed.) The Elusive Child (pp. 93-112).
Monica Lanyado is a professional child therapist who presents her work with a 3-year-old child who has been through several placements and is preparing for adoption. The chapter describes the inner experiences of the child, who has shown remarkable progress in a supportive foster home, and is preparing for adoption. The chapter uses research, the author’s professional insights, and the experiences of the young boy to illustrate the importance of preparing for transitions and working with children and families to deal with the feelings of loss created by separations.
Keywords: Multiple traumatic loss; creating transitions; attachment and separation; case examples.
Levy, T. M. & Orlans, M. O. (1995). Attachment, Trauma, and Healing: Understanding
and Treating Attachment Disorder in Children and Families. Washington, D.C.: Child Welfare League of America Press.
This book is sensitively written and based on the solid clinical experience of two of today’s leading attachment therapists, Tom Levy and Michael Orlans. It examines the causes of attachment disorders and provides in-depth discussion of effective solutions, including attachment-focused assessment and diagnosis, specialized training and education for caregivers, treatment for children and caregivers that facilitates secure attachment, and early intervention and prevention programs for high-risk families. The book is intended as a resource for professionals and is densely packed with information, but foster parents and other caregivers with an interest in learning about treatment for sever attachment disorder will find the book immensely informative.