Suchergebnisse

AbstractThis longitudinal study examines the child's place in the foster family through the use of conventional names for familial figures (e.g., 'mum/dad') and through the foster parents' intention to adopt the child. Data were collected at two time points during childhood and adolescence, among children placed in kinship and non‐kinship foster care in Norway. Children placed at a younger age and children in non‐kinship foster care were more likely to call their foster parents for 'mum/dad'. Children placed at an older age and children in non‐kinship care were more often presented as 'foster child' by their foster parents. Only 25%–34% of foster parents reported having considered adoption. The most common reason for not considering adoption was that they already deemed to be a family. The use of conventional names for familial figures in foster families might not necessarily reflect the child's integration into a foster family as it seems to be related to the age of the child at placement rather than to the duration of placement. Intention to adopt was relatively low, mostly because foster parents considered adoption as not necessary.

AbstractThis study examines how history of care, on one hand, and social support, on the other hand, predict satisfaction with life after leaving care by focusing on a sample of young adults raised in foster care in Norway. When aged between 19 and 29, youths answered questionnaires that mapped their past history of care, living conditions, social relationships and life satisfaction. Results show that the 70 respondents had experienced a relatively stable history of care (mean number of placements ± SD: 1.7 ± 0.9) and reported life satisfaction scores similar to those measured in the general population (23.3 ± 7.0, mean ± SD). Placement stability (P = 0.001) and a high satisfaction with foster home (P = 0.030) were related to a higher life satisfaction. Moreover, having good social support, that is, persons that you can count on in case of major personal problems (P < 0.001) and a good contact with the foster family (P = 0.005), was associated with a higher satisfaction with life. Several health‐related variables and the working status were also linked to life satisfaction. Our work highlights the need to focus on promoting placement stability and a good relationship to the foster family in order to enhance well‐being after leaving care.

Large carnivore populations are recovering in many parts of the world and this generates conflicts with humans, notably in terms of livestock depredation. Governmental programs of mitigation measures and compensation for losses are often implemented to reduce conflicts, but the factors affecting losses are poorly understood. We used 11 years of data on domestic sheep (Ovis aries) claimed, and confirmed, to have been killed by predators in Norway to evaluate how predator density, flock management, and other environmental or habitat‐related variables are related to losses. The percentage of animals claimed as lost that was found and confirmed to have been killed by large predators (i.e., the detection rate) was low, especially for sheep claimed as killed by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), wolverine (Gulo gulo) and golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Still, we generally found that similar factors predicted the number of claims and number of carcasses found across predator species. Predator density was strongly associated with losses, especially for sheep claimed as killed by brown bears (Ursus arctos), lynx and wolverines. Percentage of forest in the pastures, average slaughter weight of the lambs (an indicator of the forage conditions during summer) and vegetation characteristics in the spring also predicted the number of sheep claimed and found killed by lynx, wolverines and eagles. Factors related to losses due to wolves (Canis lupus) were harder to ascertain, possibly because of the severity of mitigation measures (e.g., electric fences) taken to protect sheep in wolf territories, a factor we were not able to include in our large scale analyses. Patrolling of the grazing area and early gathering of sheep in the autumn were not associated with a substantial reduction in losses. However, our dataset was not well suited to evaluate the efficiency of those mitigation strategies. Our findings could help develop new mitigation strategies as alternatives to predator removal where large carnivore conservation is a concern.