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Attachment Processes in Older Adoptees and Foster Children as Illustrated by Fictional Stories by Sheila Ann Haegert B.Ed., University of Victoria, 1970 M.A., University o f Victoria, 1980 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment o f the Requirements for the Degree o f DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department o f Psychological Foundations in Education We accept this dissertation as conforming to the required standard ser-(Department o f Psychological Foundations in Education, Dr/J. O. Anderson, Co-Supervisor (Department of Psychological Foundations in Education, Faculty of Education) Dr. A. A. Oberg, Outside Member (Depqptment of Communications and Social Foundations in Education, Faculty o f Education) ____________________________________ Dr. F. A. S. Ricks, Outside Member (School of Child and Youth Care, Faculty of Human and Social Development) Dr. T. E. Barone, External Exanmmer (College of Education, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona) © Sheila Ann Haegert, 1998 University o f Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopying or other means, without the permission o f the author. u Supervisor:: Dr. R. V. Peavy Co-Supervisor: Dr. J. O. Anderson Abstract Although there has been an abundance of research on attachment, few studies have researched the treatment of attachment difficulties or have used qualitative methods. This study explores how older adoptive/foster children with attachment difficulties form attachments with their adoptive/foster parents. The method o f inquiry is fictional stories. I show how children in the context o f new relationships with healthy attachment figures who do not abandon or hurt them, modify their inferred internal constmctions of attachment figures. This study has four parts: In the first part, I introduce the subject of attachment and the research method of fiction. In the second part, I discuss how I came to choose fiction as the method of inquiry. I explore the matter of the ethics o f doing research with children, including the difficulty o f gaining informed consent and the inherent dangers of a dual relationship of counsellor-researcher. I deconstruct the authority o f the Human Research Ethics Committee and explore the relationship of fiction to truth in terms of the assumptions that there is no one true set o f facts, but rather multiple constmcted realities or "fictions". In part 3 ,1 present 5 fictional stories, featuring composites o f various children with attachment difficulties I have worked with as a psychotherapist. They are all children who have been able to overcome many internal barriers to attach to their parents. There is a first person account of an 11 year old adoptive child who spent his infancy in a Romanian orphanage; a radio play of a 5 year old black child who spent part o f his infancy in an orphanage in Haiti; a didactic-descriptive account of a foster parent as attachment figure with 4 hard-to-reach youth; a short story o f a 15 year old adopted teenager who rejects her Ill adoptive parents and later, returns to them; and a fairy tale depicting a lonely, distancing 8 year old girl who connected with her rejecting mother. Interspersed throughout these stories are my own poetry and prose that offer other perspectives on the topic o f attachment. Part 4 is the discussion and interpretation of the underlying issues raised by the text, presented in the multivocal style o f a T.V. show. Topics include the adoptive/foster child's torturous ambivalence toward the attachment figure/parent; a period of rejection of the parent; the child's fear and pain associated with his/her own unfulfilled longing; and the child's re-enactment of the trauma. The implications for Child Welfare practice, training o f child care workers and counsellors are discussed. The relevancy of these children's inner conflicts regarding attachment to our own struggles with love individually and as a society is mentioned. ___ Dr. R.W. Peavy, Supervisor (Department of Psychological Foundations in Education, Faci r /T (XAnderson, Co-Supervisor (Department of Psychological Foundations in rducatiofL Faculty of Education) Dr. A. A. Oberg, Outside Member (Department of Communications and Social Foundations in Education, Faculty o f Education) Dr. F. A. S. Ricks, Outside Member (School of Child and Youth Care, Faculty of Human and Social Development) Dr. T. E. Barone, External Examiner College of Education, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona) IV Table of Contents ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................ü TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................................xi DEDICATION................................:...........................................................................................xiii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... I The Subject of the Study—Attachment— and the Need for the Study....................... I The Whispers o f Alice ............................. 6 An Overview of this Inquiry........................................................................................... 7 Fiction, Composite Characters, and Voice ...................................................... 7 Research Questions ..............................................................................................8 Purposes o f the Inquiry.......................................................................................8 Form of the Writing: a "Layered Account" o f Theoretical Commentary, Fiction about Other, and Personal Poetry and Prose ...................................... 9 The Organization, by Chapters, of this Dissertation .....................................10 CHAPTER TWO HOW I CAME TO WRITE A FICTIONAL STUDY: A MATTER OF ETHICS, TRUTH, FICTION, AND SELF........................................................................14 My Original Application to the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC): The Withholding o f the Certificate of Approval .......................................14 Excerpt from Memo o f October 21, 1997 from the HREC....................... 16 The Human Research Ethics Committee: The Dominant Discourse Prevails: A Discussion of Ethical Considerations and Ethical Viewpoints ............................17 A Dual Relationship: Should a Psychotherapist Do Research with Clients? Implications for Informed Consent .........................................17 The Sham o f Objectivity and the Perception o f Fairness ...............19 A Deconstruction and Questioning of the Authority and Power oîxheHREC........................................................................................................21 Could My Originally Proposed Research Be Harmful in the Way the HREC Mentions?..............................................................................................23 The Silencing and Oppression of the HREC..................................................24 Other Ethical Standpoints ................................................................................ 27 Ethical Concerns that the HREC Did Not Mention or Emphasize ............ 30 Too Much Ethical Concern About Methods Rather than Content.30 The Possible Harm to the Participant When the Research is Written Up......................................................................................... 31 The Words She Wrote About Me........................................... 33 Difficulties Surrounding Informed Consent in Qualitative Research: It is Unknown What the Participant is Consenting to; Informed Consent is a Process, not a Consent Form ......................36 The Decision-Making Process Leading to My Choice to Abandon A Narrative Case Study Approach with Participants/Clients ....................37

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