Prestige in the Relationship of Natural and Foster Parents

Publication Date: December 1956

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Helen Rubenstein

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: Social Services; Family; Children; Psychology

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The author examines conflicts between natural and foster parents, with a focus on the role played by the prestige associated with "successful" parenting -- i.e. the social recognition enjoyed by one who carries a valued role in society. She explains that natural parents experience extreme humiliation and loss of prestige, and their interactions with foster parents often put them face to face with reminders of their "inadequacy." The author discusses example cases to illustrate this phenomenon.

In Journal of Jewish Communal Service, ed. by Sanford Sherman, v.33, no.2, Winter 1956, p.166-173.