Abstract

In recent decades, significant changes in terms of relationships and family are observed. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim argue that individuals increasingly shape their own biography and that who belongs to the family and who does not, in an individualized society has become an individual choice of the family members. An example of a late modern family with elective affinities is a single parent foster family, where singles choose to take in a child that they are not biologically related to. By connecting single foster parenthood to the process of individualization, we want to contribute to current research into (single) foster parent families, which is very problem-oriented and misses sociological depth. In this exploratory, qualitative study, single foster parents through in-depth interviews are asked about their experiences as a single foster parent and how they deal with the challenges of single foster parenting. Within the surveyed single foster mothers, a distinction can be made between individuals with and without a child wish, with both groups struggling in their own way with the tensions inherent to an individualized society.

How to Cite:

Degroote, E. & Delcour, C. & Hustinx, L., (2019) “Navigeren tussen keuzebiografie en institutionele sturing: alleenstaand pleegouderschap als een gecontesteerde geïndividualiseerde gezinsvorm”, Sociologos 40(1), 44–64. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.87000