At twelve years old Donna is separated from her family and lives in foster care with a number of children, some of whom are also fostered. The referral was made because she had very low self esteem. Through the very nature of the foster placement in which she found herself, it was very difficult for her to secure individual attention. Her cultural experience outside her immediate environment was extremely limited and one of her main devices for securing attention was to use an exaggerated lying process.
Seven months into the friendship the lying has been addressed and stopped. The older friend has helped the development of self esteem to the point where the girl is thinking of trying to progress to further/higher education. The wider cultural experience has been a revelation to the youngster, giving her ideas and aspirations for the future and the older friend is now helping with the very simplest of “social graces†that the child missed in her early upbringing.
(NB. names have been changed)
