Professionalism and the Adoption of Black Children

Correspondence to Paul Stubbs, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Lancaster, Department of Social Administration, Fylde College, Lancaster LA1 4YF. Summary This article poses certain issues about the effects of professionalismin policy and practice in the adoption of black children. Bylocating the practice in its historical context, recent debatesabout ‘bans’ on the adoption of black children bywhite families can be discussed more clearly. This is followed by case studies based on original researchin two London boroughs, examining professionalism in child careand adoption practice, before certain conclusions and alternativesare addressed.     

Adoption as a means of child protection: the law and practice in Malaysia

Adoption in Malaysia is of two kinds; firstly, taking the child of another as a person's own child, where as a result, the adopted child will stand in equal footing with the natural children of the adoptive parents; and secondly, taking a child of another into a person's custody without affecting the biological status of the adopted child. This article wishes to discuss the law and practice of adoption in Malaysia as one of the means of child protection. The article will also examine as to whether the law is adequate to protect children who are the subjects of adoption.     

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.     

Adopted Children Admitted to Residential Psychiatric Care

In an investigation of adopted children admitted to residential, psychiatric care over a five year period it was found that the percentage of adoptees far outnumbered their proportion in the general population. Clinical variables related to adoption were analyzed and early deprivation in the child and family pathology were found to be major factors in many cases. It was suggested that these findings should not discredit adoption as such, but rather that they pointed out areas to which attention could be directed, namely, more careful selection of adoptive parents together with post adoptive counselling and follow-up for the adoptive families.     

Securing permanence for children in care: A cross-country analysis of citizen's view on adoption versus foster care

If children in child protection cannot be cared for by their natural parents, should they be adopted or live in foster home? Results from a study of representative samples of populations (n = 12 330), in eight European countries—Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway and Spain—and California, USA, reveal that people would recommend adoption over foster care, if a child in public care cannot grow up with their natural parent(s). There are cross-country differences between populations, and examining if institutional context such as type of child protection system explains differences, we find that child maltreatment-oriented systems are more supportive of adoption than other types of systems. Citizens having little confidence in the child protection system were only weakly correlated with preference for adoption. In conclusion, people prefer adoption as placement options for children in care are more than foster homes, and possible this finding reflects a sort of refamalialization of children into the private sphere.     

The Treatment of Enuresis amongst Child Clients of a Social Services Department

Summary The adoption of an ‘outpatient’ model of supervisingthe treatment of bedwetting amongst child clients of a socialservices department is described. The treatment technique usedwas the generally effective ‘enuresis alarm’, or‘bell-and-pad’. Fifteen out of a total of 25 concludedcourses of treatment were successful, with an average treatmentduration of 14.9 weeks. Both this outcome, and the rate of drop-outbefore completion of treatment (ten cases) are comparable withthose obtained with non social services clients, and the useof the enuresis alarm with children in care (including thosein residential establishments) was found to be quite practicable.A high relapse rate (43%) was, however, found for social servicesclients, relapse usually following a placement change or othermajor stress.     

A Study of Post-Adoption Contact in Compulsory Adoptions

Correspondence to Murray Ryburn, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT Summary This study examines post-adoption contact between adopted childrenand their birth relatives where adoption orders have been madeagainst the wishes of birth parents following contested courthearings. This area of adoption practice has received very littleresearch attention and the results of this study are surprising,indicating unexpectedly high levels of post-adoption contact.     

Unasked Questions or Unheard Answers? Policy Development in Child Sexual Abuse

Correspondence to Julie Browne, 5 Belsize Crescent, London NW3 5QY Summary Despite an increase in both publicity on child sexual abuseand initiatives from government and voluntary agencies, it isby no means obvious that the position of the majority of sexuallyabused children has been significantly improved. Most sexuallyabused children still do not disclose the fact that they arebeing abused and it has been argued that new ways of approachingthe problem of child sexual abuse are needed. A study was madeof the policy development work being carried Out by the children'scharities and by survivors' organizations in this area. Individualsurvivors were also questioned as to the type of help they neededwhen children to enable them to end or escape the abuse. Itemerged that, in the main, the charities espouse pathologized/legalisticsolutions to the problem of child sexual abuse. In contrast,survivors' organizations tended to adopt a view of the problemwhich challenges societal attitudes, male sexual socialization,and the labelling of victims as passive and damaged. This articleattempts to find explanations for why these different approacheshave been taken and examines the implications for policy developmentin this area. It concludes that social workers and the children'scharities could benefit considerably from greater collaborationwith both survivors and survivors' organizations.     

A Role for a Support Person for Child Witnesses in Criminal Proceedings

Correspondence to John Williams, Department of Law, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Hugh Owen Building, Penglais, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 3DY Summary The 1989 Children Act greatly extends and enhances the roleof the guardian ad litem (GAL) as the officer appointed by thecourt to safeguard and protect the welfare of the child in civilchild protection proceedings. But how do children fare whenthey are involved as witnesses in criminal proceedings? Sincethe latter part of the 1980s it has been recognized that theirimmatunty requires a more sensitive and caring approach thanthat adopted for adults in the criminal courts. As a resulta number of innovative procedures intended to alleviate stressin child witnesses have been introduced. But one outstandingissue of major importance, that of providing support for childrenbefore and during an appearance in a criminal court, needs tobe addressed urgently: the GAL is only available to childrenin civil proceedings. Drawing on the experience of the UnitedStates, where Victim Assistants are used to provide help andsupport for child victims and witnesses, and where the appointmentof GALs for child victims in criminal proceedings is gainingincreasing acceptance, the authors argue that the American exampleoffers much that may usefully be adopted in tailoring the Britishsystem to the special needs of child witnesses. A number ofmodels for the role of the Support Person for child witnessesin the British system are put forward for consideration.     

The Welfare of the Child: An Examination of Judicial Opinion about Medical and Social Work Evidence in Adoption Cases

Summary An examination has been made of judicial decisions concerningadoption and custody of children since 1926. It has been foundthat, despite the legal principle that the 'welfare of the child'should be paramount, the law has been interpreted by judgesin ways at variance with the judgements of doctors and socialworkers about the child's welfare As late as 1969, by the orderof a Judge, a child was removed from adoptive parents and givento the jurisdiction of her natural father, who had strangledthe child's mother. The Law Lords in 1971 decided that medicalevidence about the harmful effects of a child's removal froma secure foster home was generally unnecessary, Judges beingable to decide these issues themselves. Cases are cited, whichhave not reached the courts, of children being taken from securefoster homes and placed in unsuitable surroundings by naturalparents. Some proposals for a change of law are proposed, aswell as in social work practice. The principle formulated isthat greater stress should be laid on the mental health andfuture well-being of the child, than on parental rights overthe child     

A Comment on 'Family Structure as a Factor in the Adjustment of Adopted Children'

Summary Dr. Kraus's paper¹ suggests that ‘a criterion of acceptabilityof childless applicants for adoption should be their childbearingpotential’. This proposal, with its extremely seriousimplications for practice, is based on the results of a questionnairesurvey of couples who had adopted babies seven years earlier.Failings in the statistical analysis, however, cast considerabledoubt on the main finding.     

A Qualitative Study of Social Work Assessment in Cases of Alleged Child Abuse

Correspondence to Dr Dorothy Scott, School of Social Work, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia 3052. Summary While there has been considerable theorizing about how socialworkers think and act, there has been relatively little researchin this area. In the study reported in this paper, in-depthinterviews and observations of practice were used to explorethe process of assessment undertaken by Australian social workersin a hospital specialist service and in a statutory child protectionservice. Using a semi-longitudinal approach which ‘shadowed’10 families (17 allegedly abused children), highly detaileddata were collected from 42 observations of practice and 123interviews with 12 hospital social workers and 15 child protectionworkers on how their assessments evolved over the life of thesecases. While there were some individual differences betweenpractitioners within each organization, of greater significancewere the marked differences between the two groups in the variablesto which they attended. Both groups tended to adopt a proceduralizedmodel of practice which narrowed the range of factorsconsideredin assessment.     

Adoptions in West Germany: Attitudes of Social Workers

Correspondence to Dr Martin R. Textor, Hessstrasse, D-8000 München 40, Germany. Summary After a short overview of adoption services in Germany, thelegal situation, and the number of adoptions the results ofinterviews with 117 social workers arc presented. All of themwere responsible for adoptions and worked at agencies of localauthorities or welfare organizations in Bavaria. Their attitudestowards adoption as an alternative to abortion, towards birthmothers, adoptive families, searching adoptees, internationaladoptions, open adoptions, and the placement of children arcexplored. It was found that the attitudes were very heterogeneousand that they had changed during the last 20 years: The respondentsespoused a more positive view of birth mothers and searchingadoptees, considered uncommon groups of applicants (e.g. singles,remarried couples) and children (e.g. handicapped or older ones)for adoption, and took a more positive stance towards half openand open forms of adoption. They did not see adoption as analternative to abortion, were against private adoptions, andstrove for more open forms of adoption.     

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.     

Current Issues in Child Protection: An Overview of the Debates in Contemporary Journals

Correspondence to Celia Doyle, School of Behavioural Studies, Nene College, Northampton NN2 7AL Summary This article provides an overview of the current debate andconcerns in child protection work as reflected in current, mainlyBritish, academic and professional journals. Some of the concernswhich have been expressed during the past twenty years are stillpart of contemporary discourse. These include the divide betweenphysical punishment and abuse, child fatalities, assessment,procedures, intervention and prevention. Some more recent themeshave also emerged, in particular ritual abuse, the links betweendomestic violence and child maltreatment, children as witnessesand the plight of children with disabilities and young corers.Perhaps the most prominent feature is the overwhelming pre-eminenceof articles about child sexual abuse. Physical neglect remainson the sidelines while emotional abuse, as the main or soleform, merits barely a mention.     

The Beckford Report: A Critical Appraisal

Correspondence to Nigel Parton, Department of Behavioural Sciences, The Polytechnic, Queensgate Huddersfield HDI 3DH. Summary This paper provides a critical analysis of the Beckford Reportand its implications for social work and the personal socialservices. Four interrelated themes are explored: the relationshipbetween social work practice, statutory responsibilities andthe law; the attitudes of social workers towards children andfamilies; the social work skills required; and the assumptionsthat are made about child abuse and the role of social workers.This is then related to recent research findings in the areaof policies and decision making in child care. It concludesby arguing that the report is in great danger of misdirectingour attentions from the major issues concerned with social workwith children at risk.     

Caring for the Elderly Widowed--the Burden on their Supporters

Summary This paper examines how caring for elderly widowed people affectsthe lives of their ‘familiars’. This study is partof a larger national study on widowhood in old age carried outby the Institute for Social Studies in Medical Care. The familiarstended to be the children of the widowed, particularly theirdaughters. Children of the widowed, again often daughters, weremore likely than other familiars to suffer life restrictionsbefore and after the death because of the care and support givento the deceased and the surviving spouse. In addition to theircaring role familiars were often committed to full or part-timeemployment and most also had their own families to support.The care they provide for the elderly is not always withoutcost. The contribution towards community care given by suchinformal helpers deserves greater recognition and the social,psychological and financial costs thus incurred merit greaterrelief. As the help is needed by a minority only of such informalcarers, adoption of a policy relieving them as far as possibleof the costs they incur, would not involve intolerable financialoutlays.     

Constructing Interracial Families Through Intercountry Adoption*

Objective. This article analyzes the role of race and ethnicity in constructing American families through intercountry adoption. We argue that such adoptions illustrate the fluidity and tenacity of specific racial boundaries in American families. Methods. Data are drawn from the U.S. 2000 Census—the first to contain information on children's adoptive status—to examine whether race of parents and adopted children match and whether racial matching varies by the characteristics of adoptive families and adopted children. Results. Our findings indicate that minority‐race parents are more likely than white parents to adopt a child of the same race as themselves, and that the odds of white parents, in particular, adopting a white versus nonwhite child from abroad are related to factors such as the age, sex, and health status of the child, as well the presence of other children in the household. Conclusion. Parents weigh a constellation of factors, including attributes of the adopted child and the children already in the household, when adopting a child of the same or different race from abroad.     

Assessing Adoptions in Difficulty

Correspondence to Dr David Howe, Lecturer in Social Work, University of East Anglia, School of Economic and Social Studies, Norwich NR4 7TJ. Summary Although most adoptions are judged a success, a small numberof families and their adopted children run into behaviouraland relationship difficulties. The Post-adoption Centre, London,is a specialist agency which works with a number of client groups,including adopters and their families. The assessments madeby the Centre's counsellors of adoptive families were analysed.Two dimensions defined the counsellors' assessments. One recognizeda strong developmental perspective and owed much to the recentwork of David Brodzinsky. The other emphasized the complex emotionalinteractions that can take place between parents and child.Because of its originality and ability to refine the qualityof assessments, the analysis concentrates on the second dimension.When the developmental and interactional perspectives are combined,five assessment themes emerge. These are described and illustratedwith case examples.     

Tracing the Causes of Stress in Families with Handicapped Children

Summary Variations in the level of stress in mothers with very severelydisabled children do not appear to be associated with the characteristicsof the disabled child or the social and economic circumstancesof the family. The level of stress in a sample of mothers didnot change after they had received help from the Family Fund.