Anna's story: A qualitative analysis of an at-risk mother's experience in an attachment-based foster care program

Abstract

This study chronicles an at-risk mother's experience in an alternative foster care program. Influenced by attachment theory, the Children's Ark reunited children with their mothers in a supervised home environment while also providing residential support, intensive therapy, and education. After losing custody of her infant Kindra1, 18-year-old Anna1 participated in the Ark for 2 years, after which she regained custody of Kindra. We assessed Anna and Kindra at multiple times using a variety of instruments, including a semi-structured interview, the Adult Attachment Interview, and the Strange Situation procedure. Anna moved from a profoundly insecure state of mind to a secure one, while Kindra moved from a resistant to a secure attachment. Qualitative analyses of Anna's interviews documented growth in her capacity to use the important relationships at the Ark as secure bases and to welcome rather than fear intimacy with Kindra. The qualitative analyses also described growth in Anna's capacities for reflective functioning and positive changes in her internal working model. We conclude with an analysis of the process of change from the perspective of attachment theory.

Keywords:

• Attachment-based intervention
• foster care
• therapeutic change
• reflective functioning
• secure base

Acknowledgements

Molly D. Kretchmar, Department of Psychology, Gonzaga University; Nancy L. Worsham, Department of Psychology, Gonzaga University; Natalia Swenson, Department of Psychology, Gonzaga University. Natalia Swenson is now a graduate student specializing in Infant Mental Health at the University of Washington.

This research was supported, in part, by two Gonzaga University Research Awards to Nancy Worsham and Molly Kretchmar and by McDonald Foundation awards to several undergraduate students who transcribed the interviews. The researchers would like to extend their thanks to the participating mothers who have shared their experiences and wisdom, to Paul and Janet Mann who are tireless advocates of children and examples to the rest of us about what matters, and to the clinicians and other treatment providers who have made innumerable contributions to this program. Portions of this paper were presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, April 2001.

Notes

In order to protect the privacy and respect the confidentiality of the mother and child represented in this paper, their names have been changed. Further, the mother provided full consent to her and her daughter's participation in every assessment used in this study, and the consent process was reviewed with the mother at each assessment. Finally, the mother read a complete draft of this manuscript prior to its submission in order to confirm that it was an authentic representation of her experience and that she was comfortable with its contents.

Throughout this paper, direct quotations have been slightly edited for enhanced readability.

This psychologist was not one of the Ark's treatment providers and functioned solely as an outside evaluator.