Observing Children

Observing Children

For an accurate observation, children should be seen in the most safe and comfortable environments. Children should also be observed in different contexts, where they are balancing multiple relationships. This provides an accurate understanding of how children function in day-to-day contexts and how they interact with different individuals. It might be tempting to pull children out of their natural environments for an observation for convenience, unforeseen circumstances, or limited resources. However, when children are in unfamiliar environments or do not have access to their parent/caregivers, their behaviors may show an inaccurate or inappropriate picture of their daily behaviors and challenges. Home visits are one place where observations will need to take place, since this is one of children’s most natural environments. Unfortunately, many parental visits take place in very difficult circumstances and in unfamiliar environments like child welfare offices or fast food restaurants. The stress of these situations, coupled with an unfamiliar environment, is not conducive to observing the typical patterns of parent/caregiver and child play, talk, and care giving. Ask questions of biological and foster parents about what is typical of children.

When making observations, make special efforts to ensure that visits are conducted in settings that replicate the unique social and cultural environments in which attachment relationships would normally develop.

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