Four‐Year‐Old Children’s Negotiation Strategies to Influence and Deal with a Primary Child Health Care Situation

In Sweden, children’s health and development are promoted through Primary Child Health Care (PCHC) visits. The children participate in these visits from their own perspective through bodily and verbal expressions. This study explores four‐year‐old children’s expressions when they as actors take part in a PCHC situation. The conceptualisation of the children’s expressions reveals various actions that exhibit their affirmative and delaying negotiation strategies to influence and deal with these situations. For PCHC nurses, these findings may encourage to view children as negotiating participants and inspire to sensitivity when inviting children and guiding them through health visits. © 2011 The Author(s). Children & Society © 2011 National Children’s Bureau and Blackwell Publishing Limited     

Identification of risk factors for psychological disturbance in adopted children

A postal survey explored the prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems in 97 adopted children using Achenbach's Child Behaviour Checklist. Possible predictors of high problem scores were sought in the pre-placement history and in aspects of the adoptive placement. The adopted children studied had significantly higher problem scores than a non-clinic population. Problem scores were significantly higher in children with a history of pre-placement abuse. Abused children also had significantly more placements prior to adoption and were older at adoption. Racial congruence of adopted family, sex of child and ethnicity did not affect problem scores. Sibling contact was positively associated with high problem scores. The findings have important implications for adoption policy and the management of intractable child abuse and require further more detailed investigation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conducting Large‐Scale Surveys in Secondary Schools: The Case of the Youth On Religion (YOR) Project

There are few published articles on conducting large‐scale surveys in secondary schools, and this paper seeks to fill this gap. Drawing on the experiences of the Youth On Religion project, it discusses the politics of gaining access to these schools and the considerations leading to the adoption and administration of an online survey. It is concluded that successful research in schools has to be planned carefully in collaboration with key members of staff, and justified as an educational activity. Providing speedy feedback was helpful to ensure schools benefited from the research and to keep them engaged with the project. © 2011 The Author(s). Children & Society © 2011 National Children’s Bureau and Blackwell Publishing Limited     

Attachment Behavior of Children Adopted Internationally at Six Months Post Adoption

The purpose of this pilot study was to describe attachment behavior in children adopted internationally at six months post adoption. Twenty-two children and their adoptive mothers were observed at home for completion of an attachment measure. Mothers also completed a questionnaire on their child's preadoption care. Comparisons of children low and high in attachment security suggested that low secure children showed predominantly ambivalent attachment behavior or that they were still in the process of forming an attachment. Children having foster versus orphanage care prior to adoption differed in quality of preadoption care and in certain attachment behaviors, but not in overall attachment security.     

Child Welfare Social Workers and Open Adoption Myths

Open adoption can have positive effects on the psychological well-being of adopted children. This study's purpose was to explore child welfare social workers' open adoption attitudes and their agreement with open adoption myths in predicting the relationship with their levels of openness toward open adoption. This study showed that open adoption attitudes, open adoption myths, and area of practice have an association with the levels of openness toward open adoption in a group of child welfare social workers. This information could be beneficial to policy makers and professionals who may be interested in increasing the facilitation of open adoption.     

The International Adoption Experience: Do They Live Happily Ever After?

This study presents the perspective of parents who adopted children internationally and their now adult adopted children regarding the impact of international adoption on their lives. Areas explored include adaptation of the child and family, challenges experienced along the way, influence on various aspects of their lives, parent-child relationship, rewards and regrets associated with the adoption experience, recommendations for those considering international adoptions, and an adjective that would describe their journey. The outcome illuminates the success of international adoptions and the life-changing bond that is formed when parents and children transcend all boundaries to form a family to call their own.     

Conceptions of Family and Adoption Among Older Adoptees

ABSTRACT

Research on older child adoptions that incorporates the adoptee's perspective is noticeably absent from the literature. Drawing on the theoretical, clinical and empirical literature on children's understanding of family and adoption, this paper reports a study that examined older adoptees' conceptions of family and adoption relative to nonadopted peers. Interviews with 15 children adopted between ages 8 and 11 and a sample of 15 demographically matched nonadopted children (47% male; 84% Caucasian, 13% African American, 3% Biracial Asian/American) provided data that were analyzed for differences in children's understanding and elaboration of family and adoption concepts. Although no group differences were found in children's basic understanding of family or adoption, differences emerged in children's ratings of the acceptability and typicality of family constellations, as well as in the nature of concept elaboration. Older adoptees were more likely to accept and view as typical nontraditional family constellations. Whereas nonadopted children relied more on biological themes, older adoptees' concept elaboration was qualitatively richer, reflecting their varied birth family and foster care experiences. Within-group comparisons among older adoptees revealed differences: Children with more experience in foster care and children who lived in the adoptive home longer displayed higher levels of family understanding and a more realistic perspective of the permanence of the placement. Implications for future research and adoption service delivery are discussed.     

Depressive Symptoms in Mothers of Recently Adopted Post-Institutionalized Children

To determine whether depressive symptoms are elevated within months of adoption, we compared women who had recently adopted a toddler from an overseas orphanage to women with children of the same age who adopted more than a year before or were raising a child they birthed. The groups did not differ significantly in means or in percentage with elevated symptoms (Session 1, χ²(2) = 2.5, ns; Session 2, χ²(2) = 1.38, ns). The results provided no evidence of elevated symptoms in the first months following adoption for women who adopted internationally relative to other women with toddler-aged children.     

Creating ‘stability’ for children in step‐families: time and substance in parenting

Children are said to be in need of stability for a ‘successful’ upbringing. This article focuses on the implications of this for parenting and childrearing practices in step‐families. It addresses the ways that conceptions of stability for children in family policy are tied to a particular family form and to maintaining continuity in biological parenting obligations, while parenting research has largely been concerned with measuring the consequences of changing family forms for children. In contrast, parents and step‐parents in step‐families themselves have far more complex understandings about the creation of stability for children in their care, around issues of dis/continuity in linear time and the social and material substantive constitution of stability. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adoption Research: An Assessment of Empirical Contributions to the Advancement of Adoption Practice

This article examines the current state of adoption research as it applies to each member of the adoption triad. It includes a review of the research that has focused on birth mothers and fathers in both domestic and international adoptions; adopted children, adolescents, and adults; and adoptive parents. The paper also examines the areas of research in which a paucity of studies currently exist, and suggests that although major contributions to clinical practice and policy have been made, the dialogue should continue to seek to study issues such as international adoption and the adoption of children in foster care.     

Compassionate,safe and rigorous child protection practice with biological parents of adopted children

There is a worldwide trend towards re‐energizing the use of adoption as a tool of child protection, primarily designed to ensure that children do not languish in care. This paper poses the question: does this trend obscure the rights of relinquishing parents? By inquiring into a specific case, and reflecting on the themes surrounding this practice, the authors suggest that rigorous practice, which attends to the permanency needs of the child, is possible while simultaneously being responsive to the human rights of the biological parents. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From Famine to Feast. A Review of the Foster Care Research Literature

Foster care has become the principal placement of choice for children and young people in public care in the United Kingdom (UK). This has been accompanied by a significant growth in its research scrutiny connected to a busy policy agenda, especially since 1997. With its increased usage, fostering has encountered both difficulties and developments. Children often have emotional and behavioural problems which strain their foster families to their limits and risk placement breakdown. Public sector foster carers continue to be in short supply and keeping them engaged in fostering remains a challenge. Major developments have occurred in response to these difficulties. The use of relatives as kinship carers has increased substantially and the non‐governmental or independent fostering sector has grown rapidly. Until comparatively recently, the knowledge base of foster care in Britain was limited, but the past decade has seen that change and now a substantial body of research knowledge is available in the UK. Copyright © 2006 National Children's Bureau.     

Ethnic and Racial Identity of Internationally Adopted Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

Results of studies to determine how well children who have been adopted internationally have adjusted consistently raise a concern about identity issues. This paper reports the results of interviews about their sense of racial and ethnic identity with 155 adolescent and young adults who were adopted internationally in Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. The findings are discussed in relation to the rights conferred on these children through the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.     

The Area and Community Components of Children's Well‐being

Until recently, mainstream services for children in the UK have largely relied upon individual and reactive approaches to safeguarding children's welfare. However, recent legislative and policy reforms require the development of a more preventive orientation, capable of promoting the well‐being of all children. This will require that agencies responsible for the integrated delivery of children's services develop strategies that, for the first time, take full account of the area and community components of children's well‐being. The challenges presented by these reforms, to existing organisational and professional cultures and ways of working, are examined in the light of recent research evidence. Copyright © 2006 The Author(s).     

Children’s Experiences of Completing a Computer‐Based Violence Survey: Ethical Implications

This article aims to contribute to the discussion about the ethics of research on children when studying sensitive issues such as violence. The empirical analysis is based on the accounts given by children (11 377) who completed a computer‐based questionnaire about their experiences of violence (‘The Finnish Child Victim Survey 2008’) and their reflections on the survey. We argue that experiences of violence should not be excluded from the research agenda on children due to ethical reasons, but that a more sophisticated practice should be developed instead to meet the needs and rights of children as informants. © 2010 The Author(s). Journal compilation 2010 National Children’s Bureau and Blackwell Publishing Limited.     

Adoptions by Single Parents

Adoptions by single parents are thought by the public and by adoption professionals to be a plan for children needing adoption which is less advantageous for the child than a two parent adoption. For this reason, children who are difficult to find homes for are often placed with single parents; these are usually older children whose experiences have led to emotional and behavioral problems. Single persons who wish to parent an infant often adopt a child from another country. A review of the literature concerning single parent adoptions, and examination of the findings of a longitu- dinal study, indicate that the single persons who adopt are well able to carry out the responsibilities of parenting. They handle the special issues of adoption competently. Because children placed with single parents are frequently children with complex needs, and because single parents do not have a partner to share the responsibilities of parenting, continuing support from family and friends, the commu- nity, and from the adoption agency are important. Children adopted by single parents are as well adjusted as children adopted into two parent homes. There is some evidence that single parent homes may have unique strengths and be the placement of choice for some children.     

Preadoption Risks,Family Functioning,and Adoption Secrecy as Predictors of the Adjustment of Filipino Adopted Children

Using a correlational multivariate research design, partial least squares (PLS) was applied to examine the direct and indirect influence of pre-adoption risks, family functioning, and adoption secrecy on the adjustment (which is defined in this study as the internalizing and externalizing behaviors) of Filipino adopted children. Thirty-two sets of Filipino adoptees and their respective adoptive mothers participated in the study. Family functioning was found to predict the adjustment of Filipino adopted children while adoption secrecy predicted family functioning. Adopted children's perception of their family functioning and adoption openness buffer the impact of the early adversity experienced by the adopted children. Implications on the clinical practice and adoption practices in the Philippines are discussed.     

Joined‐Up Services for Young Children and Their Families: Papering Over the Cracks or Re‐Constructing the Foundations?

The idea that services can be provided for young children within their families in a seamless way that serves the interests of children and families simultaneously is problematic. A theoretical flaw underpinning the ideal of integrated services is that families are assumed to be homogenous units. This article explores competing goals for children and families by examining data from the evaluation of three Early Excellence Centres in the north of England piloted by the Department for Education and Employment from 1999 to 2002. The article recommends that extended childcare services should be clearly targeted to the needs of the child‐within‐the‐family, thereby providing a clear theoretical foundation for re‐conceptualising joined‐up services. © 2006 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2006 National Children's Bureau.     

MEDIA REVIEWS

Abstract

This article looks at print coverage of various adoption issues: adoption vs. abortion, a famous birth mother's story, revisiting Baby Richard, and the perils of internation adoption. Two prime time programs are reviewed, one drama on foster care and open adoption, the other a newsmagazine segment on failure to disclose medical problems in adopted children.