Skills and professional practices for the consolidation of the support group model to foster families

ABSTRACT

The research presented here is justified by the lack of tradition in Spain with regards to socio-educational intervention programmes based on training and group support, as well as the proven benefits of these methods in foster care. It addresses the need to go deeper into the acquisition and consolidation of the core professional competences for running socio-educational groups with foster families. After a process of participatory action-research with 39 professionals from the Child Protection System from different regions of Spain, we see an improvement in the development of the competences necessary to establish a supportive relationship with families, management and group dynamics, as well as the crystallization of attitudinal changes in professional practices. Data have been collected on the basis of methodological complementarity and a pre-test–post-test design that has identified and explained the changes in the evolution of competences and professional practices.

RESUMEN

La escasa tradición en España en realizar intervenciones socioeducativas basadas en la formación y el apoyo grupal, así como los beneficios demostrados de los mismos en los acogimientos familiares, justificaron el desarrollo de la investigación que se presenta. Se aborda la necesidad de profundizar en la adquisición y consolidación de las competencias profesionales fundamentales para la acción socioeducativa grupal con familias acogedoras. Tras un proceso de investigación acción participativa con 39 profesionales del Sistema de Protección de diferentes CCAA, se constata una mejora en las competencias para establecer una relación de ayuda con las familias, para la gestión y la dinámica de grupos, así como la cristalización de cambios actitudinales en las prácticas profesionales. Los datos se han recogido en base a la complementariedad metodológica y a un diseño pretest-postest que ha permitido identificar y explicar cambios en la evolución de competencias y prácticas profesionales.

KEYWORDS:

• Competency-based training
• professional practice
• kinship foster families
• group support model

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Formación por competencias
• prácticas profesionales
• familias acogedoras extensas
• modelo de apoyo grupal

ORCID

M. Àngels Balsells http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3283-8222

Nuria Fuentes-Peláez http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0751-2140

J. M. Torralba http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7759-2508

Verónica Violant http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2464-6845

Notes on contributors

M. Ángels Balsells is Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Educational Science, Psychology and Social work of the University of Lleida in Spain. She is a member of the research group GRISIJ (socio-educational interventions in infancy and youth Research Group). Her research is focused on childhood educational policies and families at risk and in vulnerable situations.

Nuria Fuentes-Peláez is a Lecturer of the Faculty of Education of the University of Barcelona in Spain. She is a member of the research group GRISIJ (socio-educational interventions in infancy and youth Research Group). Her research and teaching is focused on childhood educational policies and families at risk and in vulnerable situations, especially in foster care and adoption.

Maribel Mateo is a teacher of the Faculty of Education of the University of Barcelona in Spain. She is a member of the research group GRISIJ (socio-educational interventions in infancy and youth Research Group). Her research and teaching is focused on childhood educational policies and families at risk and in vulnerable situations.

J. M. Torralba is a full-time Lecturer of the Faculty of Education of the University of Barcelona in Spain and a member of the Group for Research and Innovation in Social Work (GRITS). His research and teaching focuses on social intervention with families of children and adolescents at risk or child neglect, especially in the treatment, prevention and response to child abuse.

Verónica Violant is Senior Lecturer Faculty of Education of the University of Barcelona in Spain, department de Didáctica y Organización Educativa (DOE). Her research is focused on Hospital Pedagogy (pediatrics and neonatology). She was awarded the Diamond Award for Research of the World Awards 2012 Eureka Sciences.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology [grant number SEJ2005-02657], [grant number EDU2011-30144-C02-01]; the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants AGAUR [grant number 2009 SGR 1392].