Culturally sensitive child placement: key findings from a survey of looked after children in foster and residential care in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

The quality of the caregiver–child relationship is key to the well-being of children but assumptions based on research in western countries about the benefits of different types of substitute care may be questionable when applied elsewhere. This study assessed the quality of caregiver–child relationships and their association with child abuse in foster and residential care in Nigeria. The findings are relevant to European and North American countries as 4% of those looked after and 6% of care entrants in England are of African heritage and it is too easy to draw wrong conclusions about the care they might have received in their own countries. The study scrutinised 314 children aged 7–17 years from foster (157) and residential care settings (157) and assessed the caregiver–child relationship using the Positive Relationship Scale. The child abuse measure covered physical, sexual and emotional components and aggregated these into a single score. The subsequent analysis explored differences in child abuse between foster and residential care and the significance of other factors influencing levels of child abuse. It was found that the children in residential care had more positive relationships with caregivers than did those in foster care, even though abuse occurred in both settings. There were no gender differences in experiences of child abuse in either setting but children under the age of 12 were significantly more likely to have been abused while in care than those over this age. For children in residential care, age was the most significant factor associated with abuse. As these findings provide a perspective on children in substitute care in a West African city, they may be useful to social workers elsewhere who are responsible for children of African heritage, as they suggest that abuse often occurs in foster homes and that child–carer relationships in residential establishments can be good.