The problem of generation in a foster family as a special small social group

• Main Author: Makhnach A.V.
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education 2019-06-01
• Series: Социальная психология и общество
• Online Access: http://psyjournals.ru/en/social_psy/2019/n2/Makhnach.shtml

The peculiarities of changes in the structure of a foster family after the child adoption, related to the restructuring of borders, rules, norms that exist in the family before adoption are discussed. The structural features of a foster family are described, which make it possible to analyze the characteristics of the family that are important for its resilience. Taking into account the generation factor, the characteristics of the family system in the dyad grandmother (grandfather) — grandson (granddaughter) and the specifics of the developmental stages of a foster family are analyzed. Intergenerational inverted structure can be quite hard, as it seems to all family members. It justifies the assumption that the intergenerational coalition can manifest itself in the gradual forming of the child’s relationship with foster parents and the latent / open conflict between the child and the foster grandmother / grandfather. The possibility of a hidden coalition between the foster mother and the child and pushing the foster father out of this coalition is shown. It is concluded that the study of family composition on the basis of kinship intergenerational relations between foster parents and foster children is not given enough attention, the topic remains poorly investigated, despite its relevance.