Foster Children who turn 18 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Foster Children who turn 18 - Research Paper Example (Denuwelaere & Bracke, 2007). There can be different reasons as to why the children are being given under the foster care however; physical battering is considered as probably the most critical reason behind this decision. What is however, important to note that the removal from the families can be a painful experience for the children and as they grow and reach to their adolescence years, they may be unable to find a proper fit between their original families and their foster parents? Adjusting their individual personality to such split therefore can create both the psychological as well as the sociological issues. There can be different sociological issues faced by the foster children when they turn 18 including alienation from their original families as children often tend to live on their own and independent of both their original and foster families. Besides, foster children leave their communities, friends, relatives as well as school therefore a strong sense of social exclusio n tend to emerge and intensify in foster children. This paper will attempt to discuss two of the important sociological issues faced by the foster children when they turn 18 while further discussing the influence of different political, economic, legal, ethical as well as practical factors. Further, a detailed research proposal will be made outlining the different research questions to be probed through the use of different statistical methods and measurements besides discussing the original value of such research. Sociological issues As of September 2008, there were approximately 463,000 children in US who were put under the foster care.1 Almost 50% of the foster children live in their non-relative foster family homes suggesting that significant portion of foster children live in an environment which is unfamiliar to them. Though most of the children often reunite with their own families however, the case of foster children of higher ages is more peculiar and sensitive in the sense that lack of reunification with their families makes them more vulnerable. There are different sociological issues faced by the foster children when turned to the age of 18. This is typically a period when a foster child actually makes a completely new transition to a more independent life. The existing research on this subject outline different sociological issues faced by the foster children who turn 18 and two of the most important are: Alienation, Social exclusion and Prejudice Since foster children are separated from their original families at the early age therefore they tend to develop the tendencies of adapting the behaviors and values of their foster families. Though, during this process, children usually keep contact with their original families however, the overall influence of their foster families remains significant. Since foster children always remain vulnerable to the psychological problems therefore they tend to engage themselves into the search for formation of th eir own identity. The issue of alienation particularly arises when children leave their foster families because at that time they have probably left both of their families, their culture and values and as well as the people and friends and others who may have grown up with these children. The issue of