JNSS 2025, 16(1):31-37 | DOI: 10.32725/jnss.2025.001

The Romani ethnicity in foster care

Marek Medeiros¹, Hana Hejná², Alena Hricová^{2, *}

¹ Alternative Family Care Center, Association, Prague, Czech Republic

² Prague College of Psychosocial Studies, Prague, Czech Republic

Goals: This research examines how foreign foster parents perceive the ethnicity of children of Romani origin that they adopt, and how this influences their family and community relationships. It focuses on transracial adoption, the child's cultural identity, and inclusion within foster care. Particular attention is paid to how parents have implemented strategies for integrating the child into the new family and how they deal with possible prejudices from the surrounding environment.

Methods: The research is based on a qualitative thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with five foreign surrogate parents living in the Czech Republic. The respondents represent diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, providing deeper insight into different approaches to transracial adoption and the child's integration into both the family and broader society. The analysis focused on the individual experiences of the parents and their subjective perception of the ethnicity of the adopted children.

Results: We found that foster parents emphasise supporting the child's cultural identity and try to integrate this into family life. Some deliberately seek contact with the Roma community, while others face challenges associated with prejudice in their environment. Although their approach to adopting a child of another ethnic origin is conscious and responsible, concerns about discrimination and social stigma persist. We also noted differences in parents' strategies for raising children with Roma roots, especially when maintaining their contact with the culture.

Keywords: Cultural competence; Cultural identity; Ethnic prejudice; Foster care; Intercountry adoption; Qualitative research; Romani children, Social work; Thematic analysis; Transracial adoption

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Received: February 6, 2025; Accepted: March 31, 2025; Prepublished online: March 31, 2025; Published: July 10, 2025  Show citation