Mr Timothy Broady

Overview

Timothy Broady has commenced his PhD in session 1, 2010. His project is entitled Parental bonding and empowerment in foster care and is supervised by Ilan Katz, with Marilyn McHugh as his co-supervisor. Tim was awarded an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) Scholarship.

Research Summary

The removal of a child from his/her birth family's home to be placed in the care of another has substantial implications concerning the well-being of the child in care, the people who volunteer to care for this child, the child's birth parents, and the community at large. A great deal of community interest has also been levelled at foster care and its implementation in recent years. Both Government and media sources have poured substantial time and energy into the investigation and reporting of issues surrounding foster care. The aim of this research is to investigate the experiences of foster carers in terms of the relationship formed with the child in care, the experiences of being empowered towards effectively providing care (and thus being able to empower the child to live in a fulfilling manner), and the carers' intentions to continue providing foster care. Alongside these experiences, foster carers' perceptions of their own identity will be explored to establish how one's view of self may be caught up in the experience of providing out-of-home care for a child.