Brown, J., George, N., St. Arnault, D., & Sintzel, J. (2011). Cultural Worldviews of Foster Parents. Journal of Family Social Work, 14(1), 21-42.
Children who are not part of the dominant culture are overrepresented in North American child welfare caseloads. Further, there is a scarcity of foster parents from diverse cultures, resulting in frequent transcultural placements. Important aspects of out-of-home care include the continuity of cultural heritage and identity. However, there has been little consideration of foster parents’ perception of culture. This study explored the cultural values, beliefs and traditions that foster parents were raised with and perceived as important. A total of 61 individual interviews were conducted with foster parents from a central Canadian province. Participants identified several areas that were important to them, including: nationality; spirituality; personal experience; religion; responsibilities; respect; and right and wrong. Authors suggest the need for further research in this area.
McConnell, D., Feldman, M., Aunos, M., & Prasad, N. (2011). Child Maltreatment Investigations Involving Parents with Cognitive Impairments in Canada. Child Maltreatment, 16(1), 21-32.
Caregivers with cognitive impairments are overrepresented within the child welfare system. Literature in this area is scarce and does not explain factors that influence child welfare system decisions or variation in outcomes. This study is a secondary analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) 2003 data, which has been utilized to explore the relationship between cognitive impairments in caregivers and child maltreatment investigation outcomes (i.e., substantiation of maltreatment, case kept open, child welfare court applications, and placement). Findings suggest that one third of unsubstantiated investigations involving parents with cognitive impairments are transferred to ongoing child welfare services. The most common concern in cases involving parents with cognitive impairments is child neglect. Interestingly, when a referral for in-home parenting support is made, the likelihood of court action is substantially reduced. The study suggests a need for further consideration of how to respond to caregivers with cognitive impairments who are involved with the child welfare system.
Steiger, H., Bruce, K., Gauvin, L., Groleau, P., Joober, R., Isreal, et al. (2011). Contributions of the glucocorticoid receptor polymorphism (Bcl1) and childhood abuse to risk of bulimia nervosa. Psychiatry Research, 187(1-2), 193-197.
Current theory suggests bulimia nervosa (BN) may be associated with hereditary susceptibilities triggered by environmental factors. This study proposed that traumatic stress may increase the risk of BN in individuals who are genetically predisposed. It is speculated that the stressful effects of childhood abuse may alter functioning in the hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the main stress-response system of the brain. Further, exposure to traumatic stress has been linked to atypical HPA axis activity in eating disordered and non-eating disordered populations. The participants’ experience of childhood abuse (physical or sexual) and the participants’ variation of the main glucocorticoid receptor (GR) polymorphism (Bcl1) were compared between women with a history of eating disorder and women with no history of eating disorder. Findings replicate the literature indicating an association between the presence of BN and two factors: a low glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity, and exposure to sexual or physical abuse. Authors suggest the results have clinical relevance, and suggest that clinicians be attentive to the possibility of past trauma in bulimic patients and consider both psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic means of therapy.