Cette étude visait à examiner les représentations parentales et l’estime de soi chez 33 participants placés en fratrie et 25 placés séparément, tous âgés entre 10 et 18 ans. Puis, les relations entre représentations parentales et estime de soi ont été examinées dans chacun des groupes. Ces deux dimensions ont été respectivement mesurées par l’échelle d’estime de soi de Rosenberg et par le Parental Bonding Instrument. Les résultats ont montré que les participants placés en fratrie étaient moins déprimés et avaient une meilleure estime d’eux-mêmes que ceux placés séparément. De plus, en dépit du fait que, dans les deux groupes, les soins parentaux étaient défaillants, les participants placés en fratrie avaient des représentations des soins parentaux plus positives. Enfin, les liens entre les représentations parentales et l’estime de soi étaient différents dans les deux groupes. Chez les enfants placés en fratrie, plus l’image des parents était positive et plus l’estime de soi était faible, confirmant ainsi l’hypothèse selon laquelle une représentation positive des soins parentaux pourrait renforcer l’idée négative que ces enfants ont d’eux-mêmes.

Despite abuse, children placed in childcare homes have parental representations which are marked by ambivalence. This ambivalence is characterized by the coexistence of negative and positive representation towards their biological parents. However, the fact that positive representations towards neglecting parents persist can possibly harm self-esteem. Placement aims not only to protect the child, but also to offer him the possibility of reconstructing his self-image with more secure attachment figures. When a placement is decided, the children are entrusted to Child Welfare and are placed either with their siblings or separately. This study aims to examine the parental representations and the self-esteem of 33 children that are placed with siblings and 25 children that are placed alone; all children were between the ages of 10 and 18. Then, the relation between parental representations and self-esteem was examined in each group. Those two dimensions have been respectively measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale and the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The results show that participants placed with their siblings were less depressed and had a better self-esteem than participants placed separately. Moreover, although the two groups had neglecting parents, the participants placed with their siblings had significantly better parental care representations. This study also put into light that the links between parental representations and self-esteem are significantly different whether the participant is placed with his siblings or not. Among children placed with siblings, the more positive the images of the father and the mother, the lower the self-esteem level. These results confirm the hypothesis according to which a positive parental care representation could reinforce the negative image those children have of themselves. The results also question the effects (positive or negative) of the defensive exclusion process on the evolution of self-representations among placed children. Finally, from a therapeutic point of view, they stress the importance of working on self-esteem with placed children.