Question

I was a social worker in child welfare and was responsible for insuring the safety of children. This sometimes required that children were removed from their parents. The child welfare system has as a goal, the reunification of families, but this is not always the case.

What are your perceptions of the foster care system in this country? Is this based upon personal experience? Are there cultural differences in regard to involvement in the child welfare system, or cultural perception differences? Frame your discussion within the context of the sociological perspectives.

Answer 1

Foster care system refers to the government agency that look after children who are removed from their homes because of various reasons such as parents’ death, lack of parental care, abuse etc. These children are later given to the parents when they are ready or sent for adoption and it normally happens mostly in the domestic set-up. Although separating the children from their parents is not the best option, it is also the responsibility of the government to take care of the children which is part of its social welfare programmes. There are also cultural differences in terms of who is taken into child welfare system. People from collective cultures respect their family values and normally take care of their children. They put their children’s interest over theirs. In individualistic cultures, people place more emphasis on themselves than their children or those who are around them.