Psychológia a patopsychológia dieťaťa, 56, 2022, č. 1, s. 3–36

QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF ADAPTATION TO STAY IN CHILDREN’S HOME, RELATIONSHIP WITH PARENTS AND ASSOCIATIONS WITH CURRENT ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP IN RESIDENTIAL CHILD CARE LEAVERS

The primary objective of the study was to examine the young people’s experiences of placement in institutional care and the course of their adaptation to children’s home over time. The secondary goal was to examine their relationship with mother and father and the associations between the relationship with parents and the current romantic relationship of the care leavers. The research sample consisted of 10 residential child care leavers whose average age was 25.7 years (SD = 3.2) and the average length of their romantic relationship was 3.2 years (SD = 1.03). The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and analysed using Consensual qualitative research. The placement in children’s home was characterized by negative experiences, the participants were helped in the adaptation mainly by the employees of the children’s home. Relationships with parents were initially characterised mainly by anger, remorse, feelings of injustice; gradually the participants worked towards forgiving the parents. The relationship with parents, especially with father, was described as impersonal with positive changes over time. Improving the relationship with parents was also associated with positive changes in the romantic relationship, especially in regard to open and effective communication. The authors recommend including work on forgiveness for parents in future research and practice, as it can contribute to healing of the relationships with parents, but also to the overall quality of life.