APPLYING ORGANIZATIONAL ECOLOGY TO THE FAMILY - THE CASE OF WHO PERSISTS IN PROVIDING FOSTER-CARE

This study uses arguments from organizational ecology to explore proce sses underlying the propensity of families to persist in caring for ot hers' children. Through analysis of event history data on a population of 629 foster homes in Ontario, Canada, over a 23-year period, we sho w that the pattern of exists can be explained in part by the ''liabili ty of adolescence'' hypothesis. Risk of exit, initially low, increases with the chronological aging of the family, and then shows a pattern of decline. A finding not anticipated by our theoretical arguments is the propensity for duration of tenure to lose some of its survival val ue after a family has made a successful transition through the liabili ty of adolescence period. These findings, along with findings that the attributes of care-providing families at entry also affect risk of ex it, support using organizational ecology to study dynamics of family l ife.