Annotated Bibliography...

Blog Post #5: Writing in the Middle
In this exercise, I am going to locate 5 credible sources (3 of which are biblical sources) that pertain to the conversation on Foster Care problems in society. The three steps that are included in this post are required for a part of my annotates bibliography. A CRAAP analysis helps me to decide whether or not the source that I chose is truly reliable and scholarly. This exercise will show whether or not I have picked good sources and am ready to continue with my paper.




1.) The sources that I chose are listed below. I sorted through about 13 sources in order to figure out which ones I really wanted to include in my essay. The ones listed below were the ones that I decided were the most reliable and included the most information that pertains to my topic.




2.) the following citations are the 5 sources that I picked to do a CRAAP analysis on for my research paper.

Works Cited

Brachear, Manya A. Editorial. Chicago Tribune [Chicago] 2 Mar. 2011: n. pag. State Probes Religious Foster Care Agencies over Discrimination. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-02/news/ct-met-gay-foster-care-20110301_1_care-and-adoption-catholic-charities-parents>.

Fong, Rowena, and Cynthia Franklin. The Church Leader's Counseling Resource Book : A Guide to Mental Health and Social Problems. New York: Oxford University, 2011. Print. ebook from EBSCO

Getz, Lindsay. "Aging out of Foster Care." Social Work Today 2 Nov. 2011: 12. Print.

Johnson, Fern L. "Transracial Foster Care and Adoption: Issues and Realities." New England Journal of Public Policy 25.1 (2013): 1-14. Print.

Tilak, Pradeep. "Adoption and Foster Care: Biblical Guidance." Editorial. Examiner. Worcester Biblical Study Examiner, 5 Oct. 2011. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. <http://www.examiner.com/article/adoption-and-foster-care-biblical-guidance>.

3.) Below are the CRAAP analyses that I wrote up for each of my sources in order to be sure that they are reliable.


Chicago Tribune Article on Foster Care CRAAP analysis: This article is a credible source because it has an author, a reliable publisher and it relates to my topic. The author's credentials include the fact that she writes for the Chicago Tribune and has written other articles that were published by them on significant social issues. Date-wise, this publication is important to include because it is recent and was published in 2011. The author's main goal in this article is to inform the reader on the problem of gay marriage and foster care. The author explains how certain religious foster care agencies are not allowing gay couple to adopt through their services because it contradicts the mission and rules of the agency and of the Bible. The publishing source for this article generally targets an audience of political news paper readers. Most people looking to read this article are looking at political issues in the religious realm of social problems. The audience would be interested in this probably id they are looking to see how the government is playing a role in private agencies that deal with foster care. The audience would probably agree with the author seeing as the author tends to argue in favor of the private agencies not being allowed to service straight couples only. A politically liberal crowd would most likely agree with the information being presented because that is where the argument lies on the political spectrum. There is evidence in the fact that the author addresses other sources, uses statistics and explains their point of view with the support of other experts. However, it is limited because the experts are mostly in favor of the argument so I will have to be careful when reading this so that I realize it may be biased. Based on my research and experiences, I find that allowing a gay couple to do foster care and adoption should not be forced at a private agency because there are rules that the agency sets foe itself in order to avoid situations like this that contradict the Bible. The government agencies can open up foster care and adoption to gay couples but I do not agree with the private agencies being forced to do so. I think it is important to include this article in my essay because it outlines a problem in the foster care system and makes my paper more neutral on the political spectrum when it comes to the issues that I am addressing. It is okay to not agree with every source that I use.




The Church Leader's Counseling Resource Book : A Guide to Mental Health and Social Problems CRAAP analysis: This book is a credible source because it is directly related to social problems and foster care issues and addresses them with a Christian perspective. The author's credentials include that fact that there are two of them and they were published at Oxford University. They are also authors of other works on this topic and are professors and experts on social problems and counseling. Date-wise this article is important to include because it was published in 2011 as well and that is relatively recent and within the last presidency. The authors' main reason or writing this is to make an awareness of social issues in counseling and foster care. The audience could be students, experts or simply an interested individual. The publishers generally target students because it was published at Oxford University. This audience would be interested most likely because they are studying these problems in their major and are looking to understand the field in which they may be working someday. Depending on the individual's political and religious standing, they may or may not agree with the text. However, there are some indisputable facts included in the text that are not biased to religion or politics. There are facts and other sources included which provides a significant amount of evidence. Based on my opinion and experiences, I found that I agreed with this book because they took a Christian view on the topic and presented problems in Foster Care and other social issues with truth and facts. I think this is important to include in my essay because it is a Christian sources that provides a biblical view of social problems and relates to my topic.




Aging out of Foster Care CRAAP Analysis: This article is a credible source for my research because I found it in a relevant source (Social Work Today Magazine) where the facts are checked and the research true. This is considered a primary source because it addresses the issue that I am writing about. Aging out of Foster Care is also written in 2011 and is not a biblical source but still focuses on a specific issue in foster care as of recent years. The author's main purpose was to inform the reader of the complications that go along with aging out of Foster Care. The publishing source targets an audience of mostly social workers and counselors who work closely with social workers. Social Workers would be interested in this article because it is a huge aspect of their job that they cannot control and wish would change. The readers would most likely agree with the author's stance based on the experience involved and the facts/statistics that are used throughout the text. However, this information is limited because it comes from a social worker stand point and could seem biased to an outsider. Based on my opinion, experiences and research, I found that I agreed with this author because their viewpoint on social justice issues are similar to mine and they see things from a social work perspective which I am learning to do as well. This article is important to include in my essay because even thought it may not be a biblical sources, it exhibits a specific issue that is prevalent in social work which is what I am trying to write my paper around.


"Transracial Foster Care and Adoption: Issues and Realities" CRAAP Analysis: This article is a credible source because it is in a Journal of Public Policy that addresses the government influence in the foster care system and the issues that are involved in the field of social work. The author's credentials are that she (Fern Johnson) is on faculty as a professor of English and community and culture at Clark University. The author's main goal is to outline the issues that are prevalent in Foster Care and adoption today. Date-wise, this article was written in 2013, so it is very recent and is current on the policies and issues that are ingrained in our culture. The publishing source targets students and social workers who are looking at issues that exist in the foster care system. Theses students and social workers would be interested in this article because it expresses what issues there are in the social system and how they can hopefully be solved. Students and social workers alike are always pining for answers like this because they are not often available. There is not much to agree or disagree with because the article is straight-forward in that it simply outlines the problems and shows what the reality looks like in transracial foster care and adoption. It targets one specific issue (transracial foster care) which is helpful for my essay so that I have another issue to address. The evidence that the author provides includes the statistics and experts referenced in the article. The information is limited because of the fact that is focuses solely on the transracial aspect of foster care and adoption so all of the facts and statistics are based off of that topic meaning that there is not a whole lot of variety involved in the research. Based on my experiences, opinions and research, I agree with this article and find it interesting because it involves research on one problem in foster care. This is good for my paper because it will give me focus and another issue to focus solely on in the content of my essay.


Adoption and Foster Care: Biblical Guidance CRAAP Analysis: This article is a credible source because it is biblical, has a listed author and a publication company that is reliable. Pradeep Tilak's credentials  include the fact that he is a Bible student and a doctoral candidate. He has written articles before and is aware of social issues. This article was written in 2011 as many of the other articles are that I am using for this essay. The main goal of this article is to promote foster care as a positive thing that aligns with scripture and biblical teaching. This will be good to include in my paper because I need a positive voice to counter some of my negative choices. The publishing source generally targets people who are deciding whether or not to be foster parents and any social workers who are looking to delve deeper into how foster care is perceived on a lighter note than usual. This would be interesting to potential foster parents and social workers because it promotes the positive aspects of foster care and involves truth as well as optimism. The audiences would most likely agree with the article because it is not showing any false information and is explaining that though there are flaws in the system, there is also good that can come of social systems like foster care. Tilak incorporates evidence from the state laws to biblical truths. It my be limited however, because Tilak is very biblical in his approach to the subject and does not support his argument with many other sources than the Bible. Based on my opinion, I agree with this article because my family has done foster care 3 times now and are trying to do it again this year. I find that foster care can be extremely rewarding both for a child and for potential parents. This article will enhance my paper because of the positive content that it holds and the fact that is so biblically inclined.


Above are my CRAAP Analyses for the 5 sources that I selected for my research paper on foster care. The CRAAP Analysis for each one outlines specific guidelines and standards that the article must live up to in order to pass as a good source for my paper. All of my sources passed the CRAAP analysis in my opinion and are ready to be incorporated into an essay.