The long term cross-cultural foster placements of sanctuary seeking children: A consideration of the social identity development of the child

The study sought to examine the long term cross-cultural foster care placements of sanctuary-seeking young children who have been placed in the UK. In focusing on the views, attitudes and experiences of each child, this study utilised ethnographic research in the form of case studies (including, document analysis, interviews, non-participant observations) with 4 foster children. The aim was to gather an insight into their world view and in particular how they have developed for themselves, within this context, a cultural (i.e. ethnic, racial and religious) identity. A number of key themes emerged from this study, which allowed us to gain insights into the experiences of sanctuary seeking children, and in particular their development of a social identity. These are: •Education•Language and communication skills•Technology•Social Skills•Settlement process•Choices versus Chances•Identity development•Universal activities•Perceptions of multicultural Britain•Celebrating festivals•Positive/negative perceptions of being placed in a cross-cultural placement•Positive role models •Other people’s assumptions of the child’s cultural, family life and daily routine Following this, our study has sketched some salient characteristics of the cross-cultural placement of sanctuary-seeking children in the UK, and the direct views, feelings and experiences of the children themselves in matters relating to the development of a social identity. The limited sample size and scale of our inquiry makes us cautious about generalizing our findings. However, on the basis of our research we are able to suggest that the following recommendations should be further explored. It is worth noting that, like many child care matters, our recommendations are tentative and will require further discussion by the FCA and other interested parties. 1)Improvements to be made in existing arrangements for sanctuary seeking children. 2)Continued investment in the recruitment and training of foster carers.3)The establishment and/or continued development of a specifically tailored system of support. 4)Data dissemination. Our project also suggests further avenues for research. Such research might benefit from adopting more sustained and long-term ethnographic methods that would afford the opportunity to gain a deeper level of insight into the experiences of sanctuary-seeking children. The research would also benefit from considering the roles played more widely by others in the placement process, i.e. placement case workers; foster carers; police and border control agency workers; teachers; key community members, etc