När ingen vuxen är självklar : En undersökning av självbiografier om att vara familjehemsplacerad

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to analyze experiences of moving to and living in a foster home. The empirical material consists of autobiographies written by children placed in family homes when they have become adults. This study analyzes how the emotional and behavioral aspects of the experiences are portrayed in the autobiographies. The analysis includes what influence the foster parents' treatment of the child has on the experience of the foster care placement. The collection of the empirical material for this qualitative study has been done using a content analysis. The collected material has been analyzed based on previous research and three theoretical perspectives, which are attachment theory, mentalization and systems theory. The results show that feelings when moving can be fear, worry and anxiety about having to move away from their biological parents or move away from their foster parents. When experiencing traumatic moves, feelings of despair and anger become prominent. Behaviors in the form of showing resistance through threats and running away are based on the fact that the child has been involuntarily separated from his/her biological parents or carries with him/her unmanageable emotions that being moved can mean. Abandonment is a prominent feeling of living in a family home, which is based on the fact that the child does not get the opportunity to decide how the contact with the biological parents should be designed. The feeling of abandonment can also be based on the child feeling unwanted by adults. A prominent behavior in the family home is the child's adaptation to the new family, which functions as a survival strategy. Children with difficult experiences bring with them difficult-to-manage emotions to the family home, which can cause them to become aggressive during the placement. The results also show a strong correlation between receiving emotional support from the foster parents and feeling a sense of belonging in the family. Having their feelings addressed strengthens the sense of family belonging, which correlates with positive experiences of family home placements.