[Placement outside home. 1. Study of the records on 112 children and adolescents placed outside the home in 1990].

A retrospective study was made of the records of 112 children and adolescents who had been placed outside their homes in 1990 in accordance with Section 66 of the Social Assistance Act. The children had been placed either in foster homes, boarding schools, group homes or youth homes. The aim of the study was to examine the social circumstances relevant to placement of the children. It was found that the parents' marital status, their means of income and the recorded problems of both children and parents, all of which were considered to be contributing factors to placement of the children, corresponded with results from previous studies. However, incest and physical abuse were not recorded as a cause of placement. Only a few children were placed directly from their own homes; most of them were transferred from one form of institution or school to another. In more than 90% of the cases, extensive measures of social support had previously been established in an attempt to avoid the first placement outside the home. Although the children received social support during placement, the support given to the parents is still considered insufficient. This is especially the case for parents of children below school age. Compared to the total sample this group seems to have the highest number of recorded parental problems.