Ataşamentul: premisă a dezvoltării sociale şi emoţionale a copilului în relaţia cu asistentul maternal profesionist [Attachment: A Premise for the Child’s Social and Emotional Development in Relation to the Foster Parent]

Studies in general populations of children bring strong evidence that attachment patterns in the absence of major changes in life are relatively stable over time (Waters et al, 2000). Also, other research, like Iwaniec and Sneddon (2001), Melhuish (1993) points out that for many maltreated children removal from biological families and placement in family foster care (change of parental care) contribute to changes in attachment patern (from insecure attachment® secure attachment). Children entering foster care system face the difficult task of forming new attachments to foster parents and when they are placed much later after birth, the risk of developing insecure attachments is high, on the one hand as a result of previous experiences of bad care and, on the other hand, because of the characteristics of the current placement. Method: investigation of attachment in children/youth in placement foster care was made with a specific instrument, through semi-tructured interview Friends and Family Interview (FFI, Steele, Steele, 2009). This interview (FFI), provides categories of attachment representations in childhood/adolescence, focusing on aspects of coherence in children's relationships with others. There were evaluated with this instrument a sample of 92 children in foster care, 48 boys and 44 girls aged 6 to 18 years. Results: results of the present research demonstrates that many of these children and youth reflects history of insecure attachment patterns in relationship with foster parents. Conclusions: celerity is required both in the adoption process and in the distribution of children in foster families to ensure them the opportunity to develop secure attachments, to enjoy the benefits of family environment and thus to prevent the social and emotional risks associated with insecure attachments.

Keywords: foster care, attachment, foster children, social work, child protection