and reach thousands of daily visitors
22 February
NO 1268
Relationships
The two parent factors that appear to influence how youth develop therapeutic alliance with their treatment parents are the presence of biological children in the home and the race of the parent. Having biological children in the treatment home may provide a role model for the youth in terms of how to have a relationship with a parental figure. An alternate explanation is that individuals who are currently parenting can better foster youth alliances because of their personal experiences. The variability in alliance when a youth was placed in a home with a parent of a different race or culture suggests that supervisors work with youth and treatment parents in helping both to understand and value each other's unique cultural experiences. Treatment parenting is no more "culture neutral" than any other service provided to children, and not addressing these issues could be problematic for the development of the relationship.
Several youth factors seem to affect the pattern of alliance. Youth with a history of more placements had a different trajectory than youth with fewer placements. The lower alliance scores and steeper curve for these youth suggests that while they experienced initial difficulty forming an alliance with their treatment parent, over time, they were able to develop alliance. Youth with oppositional behaviors, and a greater degree of problem behaviors also had different shaped curves, suggesting a longer and more difficult course of developing alliance. Another factor in youth forming alliances is their degree of resistance. When youth are highly resistant, the development of youth alliance is more likely to be characterized by a pattern of neutral to low alliance, followed by increasing alliance.
One important difference seen in this study is worth noting. In an earlier study of teachers at the Pressley Ridge school/partial hospital program, teachers reported lower alliance when the youth was highly resistant and this perception did not change over time. (Rauktis, Andrade, Doucette, In Press). In contrast, treatment parents, after living with the youth seem to learn that that the youth can be resistant to the parent yet also have a relationship.
Persisting in the relationship despite resistance or reactance (Beutler, Moleiro & Talebi, 2004) is something most parents of adolescents live through.
RAUKTIS, M.E., VIDES DE ANDRADE, A.R., DOUCETTE, A., MCDONOUGH, L. AND REINHART, S.
Rauktis, M.E., Vides de Andrade, A.R., Doucette, A.,McDonough, L. and
Reinhart, S. (2005).Treatment in Foster Care and relationships:
Understanding the role of therapeutic alliance between youth and
treatment parent. International Journal of Child and Family Welfare,
8, 4. pp.157-158.
REFERENCES
Rauktis, M.E., Andrade, A.R.and Doucette, A. (In Press). In Cantrell, R.P. and Cantrell, M.L. (Eds.). Helping Troubled and Troubling Children: Continuing evidence for Re-Ed's ecological approach. Book 2. Cleveland, OH. American Re-education Association.
Beutler, L.E., Moleiro, C. and Talebi, H. (2004). Resistance in Psychotherapy: What conclusions are supported by research. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58, 2, pp. 207-217.
