Contributors to disruption and dissolution of older-child adoptions

According to recent evidence, adoptive placements that do not work out are increasingly common. This article reviews research on rates of, and contributors to, adoption and "foster-adoption" disruptions and dissolutions. Implications for practice are included.     

Home study methods for evaluating prospective resource families: history, current challenges, and promising approaches

Every state requires a home study before the placement of foster children for adoption. This article examines the history of home studies, presents results from expert interviews on the changing processes and purposes of home studies, and explores current challenges for the field. The article also introduces the Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE), a uniform home study format that encourages consistent family evaluations across workers, agencies, and jurisdictions. The article clarifies how SAFE may address challenges facing foster care and adoption practice.     

Decomposing the Male/Female Wage Gap: Within and Between Establishment Differences

ABSTRACT: Using Norwegian data from interviews with about 3,500 employees in 759 establishments, the male-female wage differential is decomposed into its between and within establishment components. In the private sector, the gross wage differential of 23 percent is reduced to 13 by checking for human capital and job characteristics, and to 8 by (also) checking for industry and establishment affiliation. Only this within-establishment differential will be affected by equal pay and comparable worth legislation. In the public sector the gross wage gap between men and women is smaller (17 percent). The inter-establishment component is very small, probably due to centralized wage setting and standardized pay schemes. This has not, however, affected the within-establishment differential which is as large as in the private sector.     

Preparation,support, and satisfaction of adoptive families in agency and independent adoptions

Information gathered from over 1000 adoptions in the fourth year of a prospective study of adoptions finds satisfaction levels to be quite high, with those families adopting through private agencies to feel best prepared and satisfied. Differences by adoption auspice are detailed and discussed.The senior authors are Co-Principal Investigators of the California Long-range Adoption Study. This research was supported by the Child Welfare Research Center, Family Welfare Research Group, University of California at Berkeley, through a grant from the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services. The authors wish to thank the families for their participation. Please address correspondence to Mary Berry at the Center for Child Welfare, UTA School of Social Work, P.O. Box 19129, Arlington, Texas 76019.     

Money as a Tool for Negotiating Separateness and Connectedness in the Therapeutic Relationship

It is nothing new to suggest that money has meaning. Whether or not one accepts Freud's (1908)linkage of money and feces, within our culture money is frequently seen as a direct pathway to feelings of power, agency, self-directedness, and personal satisfaction. Trachtman (1999) states, Money, psychologically speaking, is our projection onto coins, bills, bank accounts, and other financial instruments of our beliefs, hopes, and fears about how those things will affect who we are, what will happen to us, and how we will be treated by others or by ourselves...(Trachtman, 1999, p. 283). Yet this material is often unavailable for therapeutic exploration or understanding until it explodes into the therapy, often in unmanageable and countertherapeutic ways. This article will look at some of the ways in which money can be utilized to negotiate the ever-changing tensions between self and other, object and subject, intrapyschic and interpersonal, connection and separation that appear in every relationship. In particular, it will explore some ways that money issues within the therapeutic relationship can be turned into significant tools for understanding and working with anxieties about connection and separateness, both within and outside the therapeutic dyad.     

The Relation Between Emotion Production Behavior and Preschool Social Behavior: In the Eye of the Beholder

Two questions were examined with a sample of preschool children: (a) What is the relation between emotion production behavior and classroom social behavior?; and (b) Does familiarity with a child affect the perception of emotion expressions and the relations between emotion expressions and social behavior? Two theoretical perspectives on the ‘eye of the beholder’ (familiarity) were evaluated: reputation bias and generalized effects. Sixty‐eight (55% female) children were photographed posing emotion expressions (e.g., happy, sad, and angry). Expressions were rated by classmates, peer strangers, and adults. Classmates and teachers evaluated social behavior. Analyses indicated that children who were more negative and dependent had angry production biases and were likely to display happy expressions instead of sad. Results support the reputation bias and generalized familiarity theories.     

Beyond attachment theory and therapy: Towards sensitive and evidence-based interventions with foster and adoptive families in distress

Elements of attachment theory have been embraced by practitioners endeavouring to assist foster and adopted children and their parents. Attachment theory articulates the potential risks of experiencing multiple caregivers; emphasizes the importance of close social relationships to development; and recognizes that substitute parents may not always have close relationships with children who have experienced adversities before joining them. Attachment theory offers concerned parents what they believe to be a scientific explanation about their lack of the close, satisfying parent–child relationship they desire. Yet the scientific base of attachment theory is limited both in terms of its ability to predict future behaviours, and especially with regard to its use as the underpinning theory for therapeutic intervention with children experiencing conduct problems. There is a critical need to review the role of attachment theory in child and family services and to consider its place among other explanations for children's disturbing behaviour. An important step towards pursuing alternative approaches is for researchers and practitioners to understand the reasons the attachment paradigm appeals to so many adoptive and foster parents, given the apparent widespread prevalence of attachment‐based interventions. Such understanding might assist in the development of adoption‐sensitive uses of appropriate evidence‐based treatment approaches.