Many American youth have experiences in foster care, with three in each 1,000 younger individuals having some expertise with the system. For everybody else, perceptions about foster care come primarily via media, together with Hollywood films. Many people can image younger Harry Potter, compelled to dwell underneath the steps by his merciless foster mother and father. Whereas these portrayals would possibly give some glimpse into the foster care system, they might really be portray a extra pessimistic image than the truth.
A recent study by the Heart for Students and Storytellers requested youth aged 18 to 26, a few of whom had expertise within the foster care system, to share what they considered a latest film that tells the largely constructive story of a foster household: On the spot Household. The film follows a pair who take three siblings into their care via the foster system, ultimately adopting them. The film was written and directed by Sean Anders as a approach to inform the story of his personal journey fostering and adopting three kids. Researchers requested research members whether or not they thought the portrayals of foster youth within the film have been correct.
The outcomes? Youth with some foster care expertise have been 3.4 instances extra more likely to see the movie’s hopeful portrayal as being correct, in comparison with youth with none.
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This distinction confirmed up in a number of the members’ feedback, as one 26 12 months previous with no foster care expertise shared the idea that, “This clip makes foster care look lots higher than actuality. It’s a hopeful view of foster youth (together with reunification), however possibly not probably the most correct.”
Individuals with experiences in foster care, however, associated to the complexity of emotions portrayed, equivalent to betrayal and disappointment, and in the long run appeared to understand the extra multifaceted nature of the story, versus many others that villainize both the foster mother and father or the youngsters. “I’ve been on this state of affairs earlier than and the best way the actress portrayed the foster youth’s betrayal felt so comparable and actual,” mentioned one participant.
These perceptions matter, as a result of researchers have linked portrayals in Hollywood to real-world results starting from tourist behavior to teacher perceptions. If leisure media predominantly painting the foster care system as damaged or damaging, these messages can carry over to how individuals understand and work together with these concerned within the system.
In keeping with the report, there are some necessary ways in which storytellers can guarantee they’re bridging the hole between perceptions and actuality in the case of the foster care system, and it begins with the essential premise that these with lived experiences ought to be part of the storytelling. Who higher to inform an actual story of what it’s prefer to be within the foster care system than somebody who has been in it?
The report recommends that storytellers diversify who’s represented in these tales, to seize the big selection of experiences that exist inside the foster care system. Even the extra constructive portrayals of those tales can usually lean into the white-savior narrative, as was evident within the 2009 film The Blind Aspect. And given the recent lawsuits filed towards his foster mother and father by the NFL participant whom the movie is predicated on, Michael Oher, these depictions can usually gloss over a extra advanced story than what we noticed on display.
Given the widespread availability and curiosity in these tales depicted on TV or in films, the researchers encourage storytellers to make use of these platforms to boost consciousness with the aim of making a extra knowledgeable and empathic public. This may also require that these tales problem the widespread stereotypes of overly inspiring or totally hopeless foster youth, and as a substitute painting these concerned within the foster care system as who they’re—advanced individuals with wealthy tales and backgrounds, identical to the remainder of us.
Maybe then, because the researchers counsel, “Storytellers can play an important position in reshaping public perceptions of the foster care system and contributing to a extra correct and compassionate understanding of this necessary social situation.”
