Self esteem in foster care
Fostering Self-Esteem: Exploring Adult Recollections on the Influence of Foster Parents
Nikki Luke
Research assistant; University of Sussex, England
Sarah M. Coyne
Assistant professor; Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to: Nikki Luke, Department of
Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9QH, England,
Email: N.Luke@sussex.ac.uk; Phone: 01273 877698
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Self esteem in foster care
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Abstract
Foster parents are in a unique position to improve the self-esteem of children in their
care, which may be lower than that of their non-fostered peers. According to Harter’s (1986)
dual-influence model, both general support/attachment and domain-specific support
contribute to self-esteem. The current study used this model to explore the ways in which
foster parents had influenced the self-esteem of a sample of five adults with differing foster
care experiences. Retrospective interviews were used to gather memories of high self-esteem
from time spent in foster care. A thematic analysis of the interview transcripts supported
Harter’s (1986) model, and provided a number of examples of ways in which foster parents
could boost children’s self-esteem. The model was further extended to show the importance
of ‘normality’ and inclusion for this sample of fostered adults. Further research on this topic
is recommended with a view to widening the scope of foster carer training beyond attachment
theory.
Keywords: Self-esteem, foster carers, support, attachment theory
Self esteem in foster care
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Feeling Good in Foster Care: Young Adults’ Recollections on the Sources of Self Esteem
Self-esteem has been defined as the evaluative component of the self-concept
(Blascovich & Tomaka, 1991), which originates in the internalisation of social interactions
(Vygotsky, 1978). Theories of self-esteem commonly emphasise its social nature: “…a sense
of inferiority is developmental or learned, rather than organic or innate” (Hamacheck, 1978,
p. 255). This learning begins early: self-evaluation based on adult reactions emerges at
around 18 months of age (Stipek et al., 1992). The impact of adults may be at its greatest in
these early years, when parents are the major source of knowledge (Burns, 1979).
Research has examined how parenting behaviour may be linked to children’s selfesteem. Studies have suggested that children’s self-esteem is positively linked to maternal
affection and mother-child rapport (Coopersmith, 1967), and negatively linked to parental
indifference (Liu, 2003) and a lack of family support (Cooper et al., 1983). If parents’
behaviour has the power to influence children’s self-esteem, it may be expected that children
who have encountered adverse parenting experiences are at risk for low self-esteem. This
presents a particular challenge for foster parents welcoming children into their care.
The most up-to-date figures show that there were 42,300 children in foster care in
England on 31st March 2007 (DfES, 2007). Furthermore, children are staying in care for
increasingly long periods (DfES, 2006). Many children enter care having experienced
neglect, abuse, and conflict (Mallon, 1992), which damages their sense of self-worth and
leaves them feeling unlovable (DeRobertis, 2003; Kazdin et al., 1985; Schofield & Beek,
2005a). Removal from their families due to abandonment or forcible separation may also
damage foster children’s self-esteem (Ackerman & Dozier, 2005). When foster placements
combine the loss of parents with the loss of peer relationships and community, self-esteem is
further threatened (Lyman & Bird, 1996).
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Regrettably, there is some evidence that foster children continue to suffer from low
self-esteem while in care (Ackerman & Dozier, 2005), and that they display lower levels of
self-esteem than non-fostered youths (Gil & Bogart, 1982; Hicks & Nixon, 1989; Kaufman &
Cicchetti, 1989). Other studies have found no difference between the self-esteem of foster
children and that of non-fostered control groups (Flynn et al., 2004; Lyman & Bird, 1996) or
foster parents’ own children (Denuwelaere & Bracke, 2007). However, differences in the age
and experience of the samples and the use of various methods make it hard to compare these
studies directly.
If foster parents work on the assumption that children entering their care are at least
‘at risk’ of low self-esteem, it is important that they act to tackle this situation. Studies with
fostered and maltreated samples have shown that low self-esteem is linked to anxiety,
aggression, and teenage motherhood (Herrenkohl et al., 1998; Legault et al., 2006). In
addition, studies in which care status is not reported have shown that low self-esteem predicts
problem eating (McGee & Williams, 2000), depression and delinquency (Rosenberg et al.,
1989), adolescent psychiatric disorders (Guillon et al., 2003), and adult mental and physical
health problems and criminality (Trzesniewski et al., 2007).
Foster parents can have a positive and lasting effect on children’s self-esteem, perhaps
because the child perceives the support they offer as both important and novel (Denuwelaere
& Bracke, 2007). Studies by Ackerman and Dozier (2005) and Schofield and Beek (2005b)
have shown improvements in children’s self-esteem when foster carers provided acceptance,
a secure base, and sensitive parenting. If foster parents hope to improve the self-esteem of
children in their care, it is important that they are aware of the best practical methods for
achieving this. However, the specific procedures recommended depend largely on which
theory is used to explain the development of self-esteem.
Attachment theory
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Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1964, 1973) is currently “the key theoretical perspective
informing child-care decision making” (Kelly, 2000, p. 20). According to attachment theory,
children who are uncared for, or who are removed from their mother-figures, are liable to feel
anxious and guilty and to crave love. An unwanted child will develop internal working
models of their parents as unwanting and themselves as unwantable. Rutter (1981) suggested
that these negative effects may be worse when the child experiences both separation from the
attachment figure and a strange environment, a combination of factors common to children
entering foster care.
From the perspective of attachment theory, foster carers are advised to boost foster
children’s self-esteem by establishing an attachment bond, and by offering general support
and encouragement in order to assist the change to a positive working model of the self.
However, an alternative theory of self-esteem exists which is not currently covered by foster
care training.
Domain theory
Harter (1982, 1983) claimed that high self-esteem is a result of competence or success
in specific domains which the individual feels are important. These domains are drawn from:
scholastic competence, athletic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, and
behavioural conduct. General self-worth has been shown to be largely dependent on
discrepancies between performance in these areas and their importance to the child (Harter,
1986). The positive effect of domain-specific assistance on children’s self-esteem has been
shown in a variety of studies, for example in Rhodes et al.’s (1999) work on mentors for
fostered youths.
From this point of view, the role of foster carers is to determine the child’s most
valued domains, and to provide support and encouragement in these specific areas, reflecting
Self esteem in foster care
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the ‘targeted’ approach advocated by Gilligan (1999). However, it is not necessarily the case
that self-esteem must be explained exclusively by reference to attachment or domains.
Dual-influence model
Harter (1986) proposed a model in which self-worth is equally influenced by both the
cognitive-analytic aspect of salient domain performance (Harter, 1982, 1983), and the more
general social support/positive regard advocated by Bowlby’s (1964, 1973) attachment
theory. As yet this dual-influence model has not been explicitly applied to the study of foster
children.
Aims
The present study aimed to explore the ways in which a small sample of adults felt
their self-esteem had been influenced by foster parents, using Harter’s (1986) dual-influence
model of self-esteem as a theoretical basis. If domain-specific support was found to have
influenced self-esteem as well as general support and attachment, this could be used to
prompt further research on what constitutes ‘good’ foster parenting. A retrospective
qualitative interview was used to elicit participants’ feelings on the links between their
experiences in foster care and their self-esteem. Retrospective interviews can produce
narratives which illuminate the ways in which experiences in foster care continue to have
meaning for individuals, even into adulthood (Schofield, 2002). They have been used to
explore identity issues for fostered and adopted adults (Triseliotis, 1984), and the effects of
psychological maltreatment (DeRobertis, 2003). The current study, however, was the first of
its kind to use a retrospective interview to explore the influence of foster parents on selfesteem.
The study explored two related research questions:
Research Question 1: What kind of experiences will adults raised in foster care recall
as examples of times when they felt high self-esteem?
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Research Question 2: Can foster parents influence the self-esteem of children in their
care by providing support in specific areas as well as by offering general support and
attachment?
Method
Participants
The sample consisted of five adults with experience of living in foster care.
Participants varied in the number of foster placements they had experienced, from two to
“around 25”. Nine potential participants were recruited from a number of sources, including a
local support group, managers at two local councils, and a local newspaper appeal for
volunteers. Responses were received from five of the nine potential participants, giving a
response rate of 56%. The final sample consisted of the four volunteers who had responded to
newspaper appeals, plus one young person recruited via a Leaving Care team. All participants
were white and British. The sample included four males and one female, aged between 18
and 46 years. While the sample size was limited, similar small-scale approaches have been
used previously in qualitative research with looked-after children (e.g. Leeson, 2007).
Materials
Participants’ experiences of self-esteem while living in foster care were assessed by
means of a semi-structured interview. The interview schedule was based on one used with
non-fostered samples by Jackson (1984) and Thorne and Michaelieu (1996). The schedule
covered three main areas: foster placement details (age at entry into/exit from foster care,
number of placements, details of longest placement), self-esteem over time (feelings of selfworth at entry into care and now, any sense of change), and memories of self-esteem
(recollections of times in foster care when participants felt good about themselves, ways in
which foster carers acted or could have acted to make the child feel good). The semi-
Self esteem in foster care
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structured nature of the schedule allowed for further questioning and probing of participants’
responses. Interviews were recorded using a digital voice recorder.
Procedure
Potential participants were sent a letter describing the research and were asked to sign
a consent form if they wished to take part. The researcher then contacted participants to
arrange an interview. Interviews took place in private: three in participants’ homes, one in a
local family centre, and another in a lab room at the University. An interview schedule was
used to guide the interview, but any interesting points were followed up with further
questioning. Interview length was determined by participants’ responses, as in previous
studies by Thorne and Michaelieu (1996) and Ward et al. (2005). The shortest interview took
16 minutes, while the longest ran to 66 minutes.
Analytic Strategy
After each interview, recordings were transcribed by the researcher and subjected to a
thematic analysis. Each transcript was read through several times to determine areas of
similarity and difference, resulting in a set of preliminary ‘themes’ or categories. Sections of
text were then coded according to these categories. Where difficulties arose in deciding
between categories, the full list of categories was re-examined and a number of categories
were combined or redefined. Transcripts were then re-coded, with any further ambiguities
leading to another examination of the categories. This process continued until the researcher
had produced a final list of categories into which sections of text could be easily coded. A
second coder chose a random section from each participant’s transcript to code
independently, covering approximately 10 per cent of the total material coded. Inter-coder
reliability was acceptable throughout (κ = 0.879).
Results
Self esteem in foster care
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Participants were allocated codenames: ‘PA’ (Participant A), ‘PD’, ‘PF’, ‘PH’, and
‘PI’. A thematic analysis of the interview transcripts revealed a number of themes on which
participants’ experiences and thoughts could be compared. Related themes were grouped
together under four headings: Self-esteem when Entering Care, General Support/Attachment,
Domain-Specific Support, and Normality and Inclusion. Examples of each theme are given
throughout.
Self-Esteem when Entering Care
Interviewees were asked how they felt about themselves when entering foster care.
One participant had entered his long-term placement as a baby so could not answer. The
remaining four all described negative feelings:
“I felt unwanted, I felt useless…” (PA)
“Hated myself.” (PD)
For two of the participants, a poor sense of self-worth at this time was linked to self-blame:
“And that [mother’s violence] obviously makes you feel like crap, she’s supposed to
be your mam and supposed to love you… for a few years I thought it was all my fault
and it was all what I’d done, so I felt useless…” (PA)
“I felt like it was my fault that I lived in foster care, and I felt bad because I thought it
was my fault that my sister lived there as well.” (PH)
To investigate the ways in which foster carers could boost children’s self-esteem,
participants were asked to recall times whilst in foster care when they had felt good about
themselves. In line with Harter’s (1986) model, their responses showed that both General
support/attachment and Domain-specific support were important.
General Support/Attachment
Self esteem in foster care 10
Love and support were central themes in all of the participants’ recollections. Both
PA and PI had enjoyed loving, supportive long-term placements. For PA, this had helped him
through some difficult times:
“And over the past 7 years I’ve had a lot of things that have happened, quite a lot of
bad things like my granddad died… But with the support I’ve got with my foster
parents it helped me a lot to see things through…” (PA)
The same participant went on to articulate some of the ways in which foster parents had
shown this love:
“There was a lot of physical affection, which was ideal for an 11 year old kid, it was
good to have a hug, and good for them to say ‘I love you, we’re proud of you.’…It
was good to be told that you were loved, cause obviously, being in foster care, at
times it’s quite lonely…It was good to feel the love in different ways.” (PA)
As well as affection and verbal expressions of love, foster parents had helped PA feel the
positive benefits of support and attachment by listening to his needs and acting on them.
Regrettably, there were more references to a lack of general support and attachment in
participants’ accounts than to their presence. PA’s successful second placement was
contrasted with his first:
“Sometimes, as a child, you just want to sit and have a hug…and it was impossible…
there was no emotional support there, there was no-one to sit and listen…” (PA)
The expression of emotional support as expressed in a willingness and availability to talk
through problems had also been missing for PH:
“[W]hen I fell out with my dad they could have talked to me about it instead of just
not acknowledging it.”
PF described how severe problems of insecurity and low self-worth had plagued him
throughout his childhood and into adult life. He felt that these problems were directly
Self esteem in foster care 11
attributable to the lack of stable support and attachment in his childhood, both with his birth
family and in subsequent foster placements:
“It’s a basic human need to feel loved, wanted, accepted, warmth… And if those are
missing there are going to be problems.” (PF)
PD had experienced the largest number of placements, and had built an attachment
with only one carer, although this too had broken down after he left the family. Asked what
the ‘ideal carer’ could have offered, PD’s response was clear:
“I reckon you need love and support, that’d be the main thing, but there’s a million
ways that you can show it… I think that’s probably about the only thing you actually
need. It’s the only thing that a real family can possibly give you...” (PD)
Domain-Specific Support
As well as more general support and attachment, several participants’ self-esteem
memories showed that the way they had felt was influenced by the presence or absence of
foster carers’ support in four of Harter’s (1982, 1983) specific domains: scholastic
competence, athletic competence, social acceptance, and behavioural conduct (there was no
spontaneous mention of physical appearance).
PA had received a great deal of support in his academic career:
“I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the grades I wanted to get without their
constant nagging and constant pushing and pressure.” (PA)
Importantly for PA, his foster father offered him targeted support in mathematics, an area in
which he had previously struggled:
“[H]is input and help on my homework was phenomenal… and his patience is
unfounded, it’s brilliant. So their support means a lot to me, cos my mam and dad
weren’t there for me educationally.” (PA)
Self esteem in foster care 12
Participants for whom athletic competence was important also valued support in this
area. For PI, this had come not from his foster parents, but from a teacher at school who
recognised his potential as a runner and encouraged him to train during school lunch breaks.
For PA, however, this was one area in which his foster parents could not support him. He
described how he felt when they explained that they would be unable to support him in his
blossoming football career due to financial constraints:
“I took it personally that they didn’t love me and really want to support me, when in
reality it was just that they couldn’t… I suppose I felt unwanted and neglected, to a
certain extent…” (PA)
Several participants expressed the importance of good behavioural conduct, shaped by
the desire to avoid becoming someone who got into trouble and blamed it on their
background. PI felt that his foster family had given him a strong sense of morality:
“And the way that my brother and my mum have brought me up, it’s testament to
them the way I’ve turned out today… Most of my mates have either gone into drugs
or they’ve got criminal convictions... I never touched drugs. No criminal
convictions…” (PI)
For PA, being supported in good behavioural conduct was important because it helped
remove him from the violence he had witnessed in his birth family:
“I think well, am I a violent person, am I going to turn out to be my mam or turn out
to be my dad… It’s worrying. But I know that with the support that I’ve got, of my
foster parents, then I’m not going to be in the same situation as they are...” (PA)
Supporting children in their attempts to be socially accepted was not a skill attributed
to foster parents by this sample, although this was clearly an important area:
Self esteem in foster care 13
“I think I find it hard to make friends, I don’t find it easy. Like, people at college have
got friends from school and stuff and I haven’t cause I moved to different schools a
lot.” (PH)
For PH, it was the friends he made at the age of 10 who stopped him from hating himself and
started making him feel good about himself.
As well as Harter’s (1982, 1983) four domains, participants’ accounts also covered
two other specific areas in which foster carers’ support was important for their sense of selfesteem: driving and acting lessons. PA’s foster father, a keen collector of classic cars, had
sold his collection in order to buy PA a new car while he was learning to drive, which made
him feel “honoured”. In contrast, PH had received no support from her foster carers when
learning to drive:
“They kept just saying that I should have passed first time… They made me feel like I
was the only one who’d ever failed.” (PH)
PA’s foster parents, and some of PD’s, had also supported their love of drama, taking
them to lessons and helping them to learn their lines. For both participants drama was
important as it offered them a sense of release from what was often a painful reality. PD,
however, had not enjoyed this support in all of his placements. Some foster parents had
refused to accommodate PD’s drama classes as they were held on the same night that the
parents played bingo. Others told PD he was not allowed to pick Drama as a GCSE subject,
which led to the breakdown of the placement. Subsequently, PD did not feel that his foster
carers’ support of his drama lessons was particularly important:
“I’d sooner just do it on my own and then I don’t get disappointed and they aren’t
disappointed in me…” (PD)
Normality and Inclusion
Self esteem in foster care 14
While Harter’s (1986) dual-influence model covered many of the experiences recalled
by adults in this sample, other memories highlighted the additional importance of a sense of
normality and inclusion for foster children’s self-esteem. Participants described feeling
negative when experiences highlighted their sense of ‘difference’ from other children. For
PH, being different was particularly noticeable at school and at college where she had had to
explain what it meant to be in foster care.
One way in which foster parents could reduce this sense of difference and make
children feel good about themselves was by making them feel part of a family unit:
“[It] was the happiest period of my life, because we felt part of a family for the first
time.” (PF)
The two participants whose placements had lasted the longest (PA and PI) had foster carers
who had welcomed them as part of the family, instilling in them a sense of belonging:
“I knew in me as I was getting older that I wasn’t my mum’s proper child, but… the
way my mum looks at me, I am her son.” (PI)
The practical ways in which foster parents had made children feel part of the family
differed. PA’s carers had ensured that each family member had a well-defined role with their
own responsibilities. For both PA and PF, going on family outings and holidays had also
made them feel included, with PF also noting enrolment into local Cub Scouts and Sunday
School and calling his foster parents Mum and Dad as contributing to a sense of family.
Receiving gifts from foster parents on special occasions had also been important for PH and
PF.
To ensure a complete sense of inclusion in the family, participants felt it was
important that they also experienced the harsher side of family life. Both PH and PF claimed
that equality with other family members in terms of the discipline received could make them
feel loved. PH described what her ‘ideal’ foster family would do:
Self esteem in foster care 15
“[W]hen you’ve done stuff good praise you, and when you’ve done stuff bad shout at
you… Cause then you feel like they care about you, cause they don’t want you to get
hurt and stuff, don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” (PH)
Unfortunately, for PD and PH, feeling part of a family was something that had been
lacking for most of their time in foster care. PH’s general feeling about living in foster care
was one of exclusion:
“Some of them don’t make it like it’s your home… so you’ve got to ask to get a drink
or ask to have a shower… when everyone else just does what they want. And if
they’ve got their own children there, you feel really different to them.” (PH)
Summary
In line with Harter’s (1986) model, participants’ narratives suggested that both
general support/attachment and domain-specific support had influenced their self-esteem
during their time in foster care. Figure 1 shows how the model could be extended to account
for the additional importance of normality and inclusion for foster children. It should be
noted that each of the factors in this model may have either a positive or negative influence
on the child’s self-esteem, dependent on the child’s particular experience.
--------------------------------------------Insert figure 1 about here-----------------------------------Discussion
All but one of the participants in this study entered care feeling unworthy and inferior.
Improving the self-esteem of children in foster care is an important task for foster parents
because of the links between poor self-worth and negative outcomes. As the review of the
literature showed, low self-esteem places children at risk for a range of physical, mental,
emotional, and social problems. Although participants were not asked directly if they had
experienced any of these problems, two of the interviewees mentioned spontaneously that
they had attempted suicide at times when their self-esteem had been at its lowest.
Self esteem in foster care 16
The foster parents described by this sample were in a unique position to boost
children’s self-esteem. ‘Ideal’ foster carers struck a balance between responding to children’s
neglected emotional needs and promoting age-appropriate social and academic skills
(Schofield & Beek, 2005a). Regrettably, some foster parents seemed only to reinforce
individuals’ negative self-concepts in their failure to meet support needs.
The thematic analysis of the interview transcripts supported Harter’s (1986) dualinfluence model, as participants related self-esteem memories reflecting both general
support/attachment and domain-specific support and encouragement. In addition, the
interview analysis suggested that Harter’s model might be further extended when examining
foster children’s self-esteem to incorporate the importance of being made to feel normal and
included (see Figure 1 for a graphical representation of this view).
The memories of adults in this sample provided a number of practical examples of
ways in which foster parents can help to boost children’s self-esteem. In terms of general
support and attachment, foster parents can offer physical and verbal expressions of their love
and affection, be available when children need to talk, and show the child that they are a
wanted member of the family and unconditionally accepted for who they are. For example,
PA’s foster parents continued to offer him love and support despite his early violent
behaviour. If foster parents offer such consistent messages of love and support, the child will
begin to internalise a more positive self-concept which may help reshape their working model
of the self as a person who is worthy of the love offered to them.
Domain-specific support must be tailored to the individual child as particular areas
may be more important for some children than for others. Foster parents need to talk to
children to find out where they would most value help. Practical examples of specific support
given here included instrumental help with mathematics homework, drama groups, and
football training, as well as encouragement in learning to drive. In addition, teaching children
Self esteem in foster care 17
a strong moral code encouraged a view of the self as a ‘good’ person. If foster parents offer
domain-specific support in salient areas this can help the child’s actual performance approach
their ideal standard. The reduction in the actual/ideal discrepancy can help the child to
achieve a more positive cognitive self-appraisal and subsequently improve general selfworth.
Finally, to foster a sense of normality and inclusion, foster parents can assign family
members particular responsibilities, include children in family outings and holidays, give
gifts to mark special occasions, treat all children in the household equally (including the use
of discipline), and encourage involvement in community activities. By so doing, they can
help to reduce any sense of ‘difference’ and make the child feel like a valued member of the
family. This enhances felt security which can also contribute to improved self-esteem
(Schofield & Beek, 2005a).
In reviewing Harter’s (1982, 1983) domains, it is noteworthy that none of the
participants in this sample mentioned receiving foster parents’ support in the area of social
acceptance, although this was clearly something important to them. Encouraging foster
children to build and maintain friendships could help to boost self-esteem as it reduces the
sense of ‘difference’ from their peers and provides a valuable source of social support.
Similarly, self-esteem memories relating to physical appearance did not feature in any of the
participants’ accounts. This is particularly interesting given Harter’s (1999) finding that this
was the domain most strongly correlated with a general sense of self-worth. It is possible that
the adults in this sample had not received any support or encouragement regarding their
physical appearance from foster parents; alternatively, instances of feeling good about one’s
appearance may not be particularly memorable, or participants may have avoided relating
them for fear of appearing immodest. Given the strength of its association with self-worth,
Self esteem in foster care 18
however, it seems sensible to suggest that foster children may benefit from foster parents’
encouragement and praise regarding personal appearance.
It has been debated whether all children need both general and domain-specific
support at all times in order to enjoy high self-esteem (Cassidy, 1990). Accordingly, the
accounts of the participants in this study suggested that attachment and general support may
initially be the most important factors for children entering foster care. Once an attachment
bond is established, further support and encouragement in salient areas may provide a further
boost to self-esteem; however, without that bond, the importance of domain-specific support
is discounted. This reflects the finding that support from important sources is more strongly
correlated with self-worth than that from unimportant sources (Harter, 1999). Because PD
had no attachment bond with most of his foster parents, they were not important to him and
he did not value their support of his drama lessons. Instead, PD’s memories of high selfesteem related to his own efforts and the support of his friends.
Overall, the experiences related by this group of adults suggest we can be optimistic
about the potential for foster parents to improve children’s self-esteem. Although the support
and encouragement necessary for fostering a positive sense of self-worth were not always
present, individuals fortunate enough to have received such positive parenting continued to
recognise its impact even in adulthood.
Limitations
The use of a small sample of five adults restricts the nature of this study to one of
exploration. Although small samples allow for a deeper investigation of the data, they also
limit the extent to which findings can be generalised. It is important to recognise that the
experiences presented here relate to a particular group of individuals and care should be taken
not to assume that this is a ‘true’ version of reality for all those experiencing foster care.
Self esteem in foster care 19
The recruitment methods used in this study meant that the final sample was open to
potential bias. The newspaper appeal may have attracted those who felt that they something
important to say about their time in foster care, while Leaving Care teams could inevitably
only suggest those who were still in contact with Social Services. In addition, by asking
participants to recall instances of high self-esteem, there was a risk that they may only recall
specific events (such as passing their driving test), as these would stand out more in the
memory than the family background surrounding them. As it was, however, this did not
occur. Finally, caution should be taken in assuming a direct cause-effect relationship between
parenting behaviour and self-esteem in a retrospective study such as this. It may be the case
that children with pre-existing low levels of self-esteem repel their parents and foster parents,
making attachment difficult or impossible (Cassidy, 1990).
Conclusion
Interviews with the adults in this study suggested that foster carers can help to raise
children’s self-esteem by providing general support and the opportunity to form stable
attachment bonds, as well as domain-specific support and a sense of normality and inclusion
in the family. Further research is needed to assess whether the importance of these factors
also holds true for children currently living in foster families, for whom the impact of foster
parents’ behaviour is more immediate. In the meantime, the findings from the present study
may be used as the provisional basis for a suggestion that foster carer training would benefit
from a move away from its current emphasis on attachment theory to a broader view of
positive parenting practices.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to the five individuals who took part for their willingness to share their
memories with me, and to all those who helped in the recruitment of participants. Also,
thanks to Janet Luke for her work as second coder. Special thanks go to Dr. V.J. Willan,
Self esteem in foster care 20
Professor Ian Sinclair, and Cumbria County Council’s Research Governance Board for their
guidance.
Self esteem in foster care 21
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26
Figure 1: Foster parents’ contributions to children’s self-esteem: an extension of Harter’s (1986) model
GENERAL SUPPORT
& ATTACHMENT
DOMAIN-SPECIFIC
SUPPORT
NORMALITY &
INCLUSION
SELF-ESTEEM