Secrecy and Openness in Adoption: An Historical Perspective

The issue of whether there should be continuing contact between those who are adopted and their birth relatives is one of the most contentious issues in current adoption practice (see for example DoH, 1993; McWhinnie and Smith 1994). The view traditionally taken is that adoption in England and Wales has been secret since its legal origins in 1926 and any moves to more fully disclosed information and indeed contact between the parties in adoption is a recent development (see for example DoH 1992). This article considers the history of birth family contact and access to records in adoption from 1926 to the 1958 Adoption Act and examines the factors that favoured the development of closed models of practice where there was no contact between the parties and records became secret. In doing so it challenges the accepted view that adoption has always provided for secrecy in England and Wales and establishes that both the thinking of policy makers and the legislation itself until 1949 provided for more open forms of adoption than we enjoy today. Secrecy, it is claimed, developed as a consequence of a collusion between professionals and the judiciary which disregarded the legal rights of birth parents and failed to respect their entitlement to a proper say in the decisions about the future of their children.     

Face-to-Face Contact Post Adoption: Views from the Triangles

The importance of ongoing contact for children with membersof their birth families is currently a matter of great concernto both practitioners and academics and there is ongoing debateabout the merits or otherwise of the different forms of postadoption contact. Research evidence remains largely inconclusiveand the Prime Minister in his review of adoption highlightedthe urgent need for more research evidence to assist professionalsin making decisions about adoption and contact. To date, muchof the research does not adequately differentiate between typesand frequency of contact, the conditions under which contactis arranged and members of birth families who are involved.Whilst the needs of the child should be at the forefront ofany decision about contact, it is also important to considerthe repercussions for others involved in contact arrangements.This paper reports the findings from a sample of eleven adoptivekinship networks. Adoptive parents, children and birth relativesfrom the same kinship networks who were sharing direct, face-to-facecontact were interviewed. We were able to explore the developmentof relationships between adults and the ways in which theirinteraction affected the experience of contact as reported tous by the children. By focusing on issues associated with theconvergence or divergence of attitudes, feelings and perceptionswe identify factors that facilitate or impede beneficial contactand contribute to its maintenance. Understanding similaritiesand differences between participants in the adoption triangleprovides important information for adults and children involvedin face-to-face contact and for those professionals attemptingto facilitate the openness process.     

Social Work and Child-centred Family Court Mediation

Correspondence to Dr Greg Mantle, APU, Ashby House, Floor 2, Brook Street, Chelmsford CM1 1UH, UK. E-mail G.J.Mantle{at}apu.ac.uk Summary In April 2001, the Children and Family Court Advisory SupportService (CAFCASS) became responsible for family court work,including the provision of mediation services. Family courtmediation offers a gateway for social work with children andfamilies whose needs are largely left untouched by current services,and could thereby play an important part within the broaderextension of prevention, early intervention, parenting and supportservices recommended by government. Over the past two decades,mediation has become a popular approach to reducing conflictand resolving disputes in a wide range of inter-personal, communityand organizational settings. Given the professional interestthat social workers have in helping their clients achieve moreharmonious lives, the space for mediation would appear considerableand yet the connections between mediation and social work are,as yet, insufficiently mapped and analysed, in terms of boththeory and practice. This paper draws on literature and recentresearch to review the relationship between family court mediationand social work.     

Adoption Advice: A New Service

Summary In the summer of 1975, Barnardo's Yorkshire divisional officelaunched an adoption advice service for anyone with any problemsrelating to adoption. At that time there was no service of thiskind in operation and people with adoption problems had no focalpoint to which to refer for help and advice. The following articledescribes the thinking on which this project is based and describesthe type of problems with which the counsellor had to cope andthe necessary information and social work skills which wereneeded to assist the people using the advice service. This discussioncovers the period from the inception of the Adoption AdviceService to 31 December 1975.     

A.I.D. and Adoption: Some Comparisons

Summary This paper is an attempt to put forward for discussion someof the similarities and differences between adoption and artificialinsemination by donor, as attempts to solve the problem of childlessness.The legal position and the view of the Church are briefly summarized.It is suggested that work already done in adoption, particularlywith reference to telling the child, has relevance for A.I.D.,and that there are implications for social workers.     

Adoption in Korea: current status and future prospects

This article examines the current status of adoption in Korea and discusses the issues that must be addressed for future development. The nature of adoption has changed dramatically in the last 50 years, and continues to change in Korea. If the first half of modern adoption history were about finding and providing permanent homes for war orphans and children abandoned out of destitution, the second half saw increasing demand for adoption to function as a key component of the continuum of child welfare services providing care for children who need protection and care outside their home. However, responding to this change has been a challenge over the years. Based on the analysis of recent trends of the child welfare system and adoption in Korea, this article reveals that there are significant barriers in the path to improving adoption, especially domestic adoption, so that it can be considered a realistic placement option for children who need protection and care in Korea. Suggestions for the future direction of reforming adoption policy and practice are given.     

Inter-country Adoption: Australia's Position

Although each Australian state and territory has its own adoption legislation and its own social welfare department, they have combined to send inter-country adoption delegations to Asian countries to negotiate working arrangements on a uniform basis. When a child is adopted by people in another country, care needs to be taken in both countries by authorities, professional workers and parents to ensure that the best interests of the child are paramount. Over 1,000 children from Asian countries have been adopted by Australians. There is a dearth of published research material, but there are indications that most of these adoptions are proving very satisfactory for the children. To protect the child's status in terms of name, nationality and guardianship, it is important that policies and procedures in relation to adoption practice, immigration, and statutory recognition of overseas adoptions adequately complement each other.     

知识与行动：结构化凝视-

一、社会行动视域:言语、举止、意义与知识社会行动的凝视结构和社会行动本原的呈现结构并不是完全相对应的。我进入他是一厢情愿,但是他永远不能是我,我根本代替不了他。原本行动的存活结构是凝视者的对象性在者。(一)社会行动的内容结构所显现的社会结构行动者在行动的时候,既有举止,又有言语。从理解社会学的角度分析,无论是举止还是言语都是表意的,也就是说两者都是行动意义的表达。所以,举止和言语是行动意义的覆盖性表达。单有举止,没有言语,可以表意;单有言语,也可以说明和表达行动的意义;但举止和言语共存,则更是意义的充分表达。这…     

Abortion: A Social-Psychological Perspective

More than most medical procedures, abortion is embedded in a social context that has implications for psychological reactions of patients. Following a brief history of legislation and research on abortion, correlates of post-abortion reponses are reviewed. A social-psychological framework is suggested which views abortion as a stress experience. Responses to the experience will be a function of the nature and meaning of the pregnancy to the individual woman, her defensive and coping style, and the social environment surrounding the abortion experience. Psychological effects of the procedure on the partner and on health professionals who perform abortions are also considered.     

Openness in adoption: Challenging the narrative of historical progress

One significant change in adoption practice that has occurred over the last four decades is the shift away from an expectation of confidentiality towards an expectation of openness in adoption. Openness is typically conceived in terms of the level of contact between adoptive and birth families following adoption or the extent to which adoption is openly discussed within the adoptive family. While these shifts in practice have generated controversy, they are largely supported by research evidence and have become a feature of contemporary adoptive family life. As a result, the narrative that has emerged in relation to openness in adoption is one of historical progress. In this paper, I argue that the lived reality of adoption is less straightforward than this narrative suggests. An analysis of the social and cultural context in which adoption operates suggests instead that the persistent feature of adoption throughout this historical period of increasing openness can be more accurately described as a state of enduring ambiguity regarding the nature of post‐adoption relationships. The paper highlights the potentially damaging consequences of overlooking this aspect of adoptive family life and comments on the role of policy in shaping openness in adoption.     

Adoption breakdown and adolescence

Adoption breakdown has attracted an increasing amount of attention over recent years, and studies coincide in stating that the mean age at which this phenomenon occurs is early adolescence. Nevertheless, the specific factors which influence adoption breakdown, have never been empirically explored. The aim of this article is therefore to analyse these factors by comparing cases of adoption breakdown which occurred prior to the onset of adolescence with those occurring after the beginning of this developmental stage. The study explores 69 cases of adoption breakdown occurring over the course of a decade in one Spanish region, taking into consideration variables related to the adopted children, the adoptive parents, the parent–child relationship, and the professional support services provided to these families. The results reveal a clear difference in the profile of breakdowns occurring before and after the onset of adolescence and identify a series of factors which seem to have a stronger influence in each group, such as violence, timing of problems, and unrealistic expectations regarding the child. These findings have important implications for professional adoption services, such us the importance of early identification of difficulties and the provision of support during adolescence.     

Diversity Training and Intergroup Contact: A Call to Action Research

Diversity training is a type of prejudice reduction and social inclusion intervention in need of "action research"—an integration of research and theory with practice ( Lewin, 1946 ). Hundreds of workplaces and schools use some form of diversity training, but most interventions are not grounded in theory and there is little evidence of program impact. A recent study of a school diversity training program illustrates how action research can address theoretical issues using experimental methods and unobtrusive outcome measures. For future research, the literature on intergroup contact ( Pettigrew, 1998 ) can provide theoretical guidance while testing and refining its principles in the application and investigation of diversity training. Action research will benefit diversity training and the broader theoretical and applied project of prejudice reduction and the promotion of social inclusion.     

The Colour of Difference: Journeys in Transracial Adoption

Sarah Armstrong and Petrina Slaytor (eds) The Federation Press, Sydney, 2001, 200 pp. AUS$33.95. ISBN 1 86287 397 6     

Adoption in South Africa: trends and patterns in social work practice

This paper reports findings from a research study on adoption in South Africa conducted in 2009. The research included secondary data analysis of the South African National Adoption Register to establish trends and patterns of adoption in South Africa between 2004 and 2009, and primary data collection through qualitative interviews with key informants in public and private social welfare services to explore attitudes, knowledge and experiences of social work practice related to adoption. The quantitative findings report the number of national and international adoptions along with trends and socio‐demographic patterns of national adoptions. Qualitative findings report on social work practice, systemic barriers and social worker attitudes as barriers to improved social work practice around national adoptions. The paper highlights comparisons to adoption literature in the USA, a country with a similar legislative framework and cultural complexities, but significantly more resources for implementation. Recommendations are offered for social work practice, national data collection and policy implementation efforts to support efforts to increase adoption.