Anna Rastatter

3/27/13
Sociology 001
Paper 1
Humans are social creatures, constantly observing and learning from those in their
environment. It is our surroundings and those individuals inhabiting our environment that mold
our worldview. This method of social learning is termed the sociological imagination by
sociologists. This term was first developed by C. Wright Mills (Scheuble, 2013). The
sociological imagination is the ability to see the impact of social forces and public issues on
individuals, especially on their private lives and personal troubles (Scheuble, 2013). After
applying the sociological imagination to the book On Their Own by Martha Shirk and Gary
Stangler, it was clear that the lives of foster children are greatly influenced by the social contexts
in which they attempt to grow and develop. The environment that they occupy is often damaging
to their ability to establish happy, healthy lives.
Raquel Tolstons situation was initially defined by the deteriorating relationship with her
biological mother. Violence plagued their relationship for the entirety of Raquels youth. Born
prematurely, Raqual was the result of an affair her mother had with a married man. She was used
as an outlet of abuse when her mother was in a bad mood. Raquels mother never tried to hide
her feelings that her daughter was a nuisance. She made it obvious that Raqual hindered her life.
Finally, at the age of twelve, Raquel was placed in foster care by child-protection officials for
good. Raquel is described as a needy, emotionally dependent girl (Shirk & Stangler, 2004, p.
112). It can be assumed that these characteristics are largely a byproduct of the environment in
which Raquel had no emotional consistency. After she was taken away, her mother wanted
nothing to do with Raquel. No one demonstrated committed care throughout her youth. This

causes attachment issues to develop. She had no role models to admire and emulate. Raquels
lack of unconditional love caused her to rebel against the system that was attempting to help her.
She had trouble maintaining employment and a steady residence. Until she finally began to
mature, she hated the rules and structures of the group homes she occupied. If Raquel had
experienced more consistency and commitment during her youth, she might not have had such
trouble adapting during her teenage and adult years.
In a similar story, Casey-Jack Kitos parents were no source of dependence for him either.
Divorced when Casey-Jack was young, both his mother and father physically and emotionally
abused him. After he was placed in the foster care system, Casey-Jack lived in an emergency
shelter, four different group homes, and a family foster home He also spent times in psychiatric
hospitals because of suicide threats (Shirk and Stangler, 2004, p. 139). While Casey-Jack did not
always outwardly convey his emotions, he took to writing poetry as a means of expression.
Casey-Jack certainly flourished throughout high school. He was placed in a great home, got a
job, bought a car, became involved in school, and had goals to join the army. But somewhere
towards the end of Casey-Jacks story, his life went off course. After the military did not work
out, he tried to go to college. He had very little personal preparation for schooling and this led
him to back out of his decision at first. When he did eventually go to Ottawa University, CaseyJack struggled. Without having the personal resources of love and support, Casey-Jack struggled
with emotional problems. He was placed on academic probation. Financially, he was also
becoming burdened. Casey-Jack did not grow up with any privilege. Everything he accomplished
was a direct result of his hard work. While he had many achievements, too many factors in his
environment were working against him. Casey-Jack is unfortunately a product of the instability
in his environment. In the professional sense, he had advisers and advocates working to make his

life easier, but he was not provided the emotional support needed to get him through his difficult
personal struggles. He was not taught how to properly process negative emotions. The external
influences eventually become a part of our thinking and motivation (Henslin, 2013, p. 4). For
Casey-Jack, the negative external influences took a grave toll on his ability to fully succeed.
The renowned sociologist, Emilie Durkheim extensively researched different degrees of
social interactions. One of his prominent principles was social integration, or the extent to which
people are tied to their social group. After extensive research on suicide rates in different
countries, Durkheim concluded that those who have weaker social ties are more likely to commit
suicide than those who have a stable social group (Henslin, 2013, p. 7). Social integration was
lacking for both Raquel and Casey-Jack throughout most of their lives. Based on Raquels
emotional and needy personality, Durkheim would conclude that she was missing strong
necessary ties to a social group. In her younger years, Raquel frequently ran away, insinuating
that she had no social ties at all (Shirk & Stangler, 2004, p. 116). Raquel demonstrated
behavioral problems both in school and in her group home (Shirk & Stangler, 2004, p. 117).
Casey-Jack outwardly struggled with thoughts of suicide (Shirk & Stangler, 2004, p. 139).
Considering Durkheims theories, Casey-Jack had less social integration into modern society,
causing him to become suicidal because of his lack of social ties. Durkheim also hypothesized
that more modern society, like the one that Raquel and Casey-Jack grew up in produce stronger
feelings of isolation (Henslin, 2013, p.7).
The topic of foster children is one that deserves lots of attention. These children will
eventually age-out of the system being left with almost no support. In focusing on the emotional
ramifications that these children face, I would propose a study that focuses on the counseling
provided to foster care children. Ultimately, I would concentrate on how effective consistent

therapy is in the lives of struggling foster children, particularly in the children aging-out. Im
referring to the type of emotional counseling that promotes an open environment in which the
clients could convey their biggest grievances. In order to properly complete this study, a
researcher would need to utilize the method of field research. This method would be ideal
because it would give the researcher the opportunity to observe the foster children under their
usual environmental conditions (Scheuble, 2013). Ultimately, the researcher would observe the
clients throughout their participation in therapy to determine how effective it is in assisting these
children. This research would be executed by first connecting with a social worker or advocacy
center that works predominantly with foster care children. In my opinion, it would be most
effective for the researcher to observe unobtrusively from another room with the consent of the
child or guardian. Another option would be to study tape recordings of each session. I would not
want the researcher to influence how open the child is throughout their counseling experience, so
it would be best served to remain an inconspicuous observer. The researcher would study
whether or not the foster child made progress emotionally. Each week, the child would be asked
to fill out the same questionnaire aimed at judging the mental stability of the child. Throughout
their time in counseling, the researcher would study the impact it had on different children. They
would study the evolution of the relationship between the foster child and the counselor,
depending on how trusting the child becomes. Over time, the researcher could examine how
effective different types of counseling, like individual counseling versus group counseling, are
for foster children. Over time, the researcher would be able to determine how effective, if at all,
different types of counseling are for foster children struggling emotionally.
It is the role of caseworkers, judges, attorneys, foster families, and counselors to ensure
that the foster children are provided a temporary safety net until they are able to provide for

themselves. The unfortunate truth is that more often than not, these foster children are never able
to fully support themselves. In 2010, approximately 1 in 45 children were homeless (Scheuble,
2013). This is a social issue that deserves attention. In her youth, Raquel struggled with the
structured environments of group homes and shelters that she repeatedly ran away (Shirk &
Stangler, 2004, p. 120). These foster children are predominantly on their own in a society that is
unaware of their situations. According to Emilie Durkheim, had Casey-Jack committed suicide, it
would have qualified as an egoistic suicide due to his low societal and individual integration
(Scheuble, 2013). When he was struggling emotionally, he lacked loving support (Shirk &
Stangler, 2004, p. 139).
In prioritizing modern societys current issues, the welfare of foster children deserves
more attention than it currently receives. As a society, it is time to reevaluate what is important.
In my opinion, the innocent youth, regardless of their circumstances, should be of the utmost
importance. There are too many stories similar to Raquel and Casey-Jacks experiences. By not
being proactive, society may be sacrificing the wellbeing of a huge population of the next
generation. By disregarding the wellbeing of these children, society is robbing itself of future
individuals who might have positively contributed, had they been given more supportive
circumstances. Too often these foster children are robbed of their education, shelter, and
resources. As a nation, it is time to support that youth that are currently left to fend
predominantly for themselves.

References
Henslin, J. M. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston:
Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2013. Print.
Shirk, M., and G. J. Stangler. On Their Own: What Happens to Kids When They Age out of the
Foster Care System? Boulder, CO: Westview, 2004. Print.
Scheuble, L. (2013). Introductory Sociology Lecture. University Park: The Pennsylvania State
University.