The portrayal of foster children by the Brazilian press

Abstract

The practice of “child-fostering”, or the placement of children with a succession of different families, can be found in various parts of the world, including Brazil. In contrast to adoption, where the relationship with the adoptive parents replaces that of the biological parents, the relationship with a foster child is simply that of supporting an additional child. Taking into consideration that the mass media has a centralizing role in contemporary culture, the purpose of this research is to describe and analyse the portrayal of foster children by two Brazilian nationwide magazines. To this end, the method known as “contents analysis” was used; based on articles and readers’ letters between 1975 and 1979 and again for those published between 1996 and 2000. The results indicate a virtual non-existence of references to the practice of child-fostering in Brazil. Although this form of family relationship is most common among the urban underprivileged population, the issue has been considered irrelevant, if not unknown to the media, due to the lack of systematic study. For this reason, research into this form of parenthood is needed. In particular, trans-disciplinary research should be done in regard to the mental health of Brazilians who have been placed with a “succession” of different families during their childhood and teenage years.

Keywords: foster children; child placement with a succession of families; Brazilian press.