Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Authors:Sonia Jackson, Cora Figueira-Bates, Katie Hollingworth Pages: 8 - 23 Abstract: Adoption & Fostering, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 8-23, March 2022. Many thousands of very young children pass through the UK care system every year. Understandably, social workers are reluctant to separate children from their parents, and legal protections designed to prevent the separation from becoming permanent lead to constant delay in making longer-term plans. The aim is that the children should either be returned to their birth families or placed for adoption, but this is not achieved in up to 50% of cases. Consequently, many infants and toddlers remain in foster care, intended to be temporary, for long periods. Yet we know little about their lives in care or who looks after them.Research on foster care and on early childhood education and care (ECEC) has developed on separate and unrelated lines, resulting in an extreme shortage of empirical evidence about the care and education of fostered children under school age. Lack of attention to this critical period of life fails to take account of advances in research both on early brain development and on the lasting effects of adverse childhood experiences. Meanwhile, young children continue to be moved between short-term foster placements for administrative reasons, ignoring the undisputed importance of stable early attachments. The potential of foster care as a learning and therapeutic resource in the early years has also been largely overlooked. Better mental health and educational attainment for children in out-of-home care require a much stronger policy focus on their earliest experiences and developmental progress. This article argues that there is an urgent need for research-based information to guide policy and practice. Citation: Adoption & Fostering PubDate: 2022-03-31T10:26:13Z DOI: 10.1177/03085759221080215 Issue No:Vol. 46, No. 1 (2022)
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Authors:Frank Van Holen, Lisa Van Hove, Ann Clé, Camille Verheyden, Johan Vanderfaeillie Pages: 24 - 40 Abstract: Adoption & Fostering, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 24-40, March 2022. This article describes how 27 foster children aged 12 to 18 years old, placed in Flemish long-term family foster care, experience life in their foster family and how they cope with their feelings. Evidence from a combination of the children's selection of visual images displaying different emotions (emoticons) and semi-structured interviews shows that they mostly express positive feelings, such as happiness and pride, but simultaneously experience difficult emotions like sadness, anger and confusion. Positive feelings are mostly related to being able to feel like an ‘ordinary’ kid and negative ones to strained relationships with birth parents. Investigations into how the children cope with these emotions distinguished two groups: those who talk about their feelings with friends and other supportive figures and those who hide them. The latter group needs to be provided with strategies to better comprehend and express their feelings; among those suggested were activities that offer tranquility, consolation or distraction and having a private place for themselves. More attention to the emotional experiences of foster children and the ways they cope with their emotions is recommended in policy, practice and research if children's well-being is to be enhanced. Citation: Adoption & Fostering PubDate: 2022-03-31T10:26:16Z DOI: 10.1177/03085759221080217 Issue No:Vol. 46, No. 1 (2022)
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Authors:Evelyne Bouteyre, Onsua Halidi, Johanna Despax Pages: 41 - 59 Abstract: Adoption & Fostering, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 41-59, March 2022. Adopted adults are presented in the literature as having a more insecure attachment than the general population. They are also less likely to want to have children of their own, which is significant in that studies have shown that attachment is an important determinant of the desire for parenthood. The aim of the present study was to link these two findings and seek a better understanding of the role of attachment in adoptees’ choice of childlessness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven nulliparous adopted women who did not wish to have children; during these interviews they also undertook the Bird’s Nest Drawing (BND) test. This allows access to participants’ parental representations in addition to measuring their attachment. Analysis of the drawings and associated stories suggested that insecure attachment (especially avoidant) is particularly decisive in the choice of childlessness. Their interview responses stressed adequate or inadequate mothering, self-sufficiency and threat to the family, which further indicated why the women chose not to have children. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed, particularly the value of the Bird’s Nest Drawing test for adults who have experienced early discontinuities in their lives. Citation: Adoption & Fostering PubDate: 2022-03-31T10:26:18Z DOI: 10.1177/03085759221081350 Issue No:Vol. 46, No. 1 (2022)
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Authors:Alessandra Santona, Giacomo Tognasso, Cristiana Carella, Laura Gorla, Marina Raymondi, Marco Chistolini Pages: 60 - 72 Abstract: Adoption & Fostering, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 60-72, March 2022. One way in which intercountry adoptees can elaborate on their past history is through travelling to their country of birth. This article explores the memories and experiences recalled by a group of adoptees who visited their homeland after being adopted as children by Italian families. The sample comprised 34 participants aged between 12 and 40 years who visited their birth country between 2000 and 2013. In 2017–2018, they were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to obtain retrospective recall of their experiences and feelings on return to Italy, and how their ethnic identity and psychological well-being had been affected by the trip. The results revealed that the adoptees’ emotional experiences during the return visit significantly affected their feelings towards adoption itself and that it changed their sense of belonging both to Italy and the country where they were born. Most also perceived their return travel as a momentous occasion which increased their overall knowledge about their birth country and its culture. The results are significant for providing new information about how international adoptees incorporate their homeland culture into their lives. Citation: Adoption & Fostering PubDate: 2022-03-31T10:26:14Z DOI: 10.1177/03085759221080216 Issue No:Vol. 46, No. 1 (2022)
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Authors:Natasha Dalton, Marian McLaughlin, Tony Cassidy Pages: 73 - 87 Abstract: Adoption & Fostering, Volume 46, Issue 1, Page 73-87, March 2022. This study has two aims: to explore the experiences and impact of adoption among five adults (three males and two females, all over the age of 55) adopted from mother and baby homes in the UK and Ireland, and to establish each participant’s state of mind (SOM) with regards to attachment using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (George, Kaplan and Main, 1985–1996). It makes use of all information gained from the AAI by analysing the interview transcripts in two ways: (1) using the AAI scoring system (Main, Goldwyn and Hesse, 2003) to assess SOM; and (2) thematic analysis of the transcripts to produce an inductive set of themes. It was found that all participants had an insecure SOM with regards to attachment. For four out of the five participants, this was unresolved/disorganised, and the category ‘preoccupied’ was the most prevalent underlying three-way classification. Qualitative analysis of transcripts identified four overarching themes: (1) identity and belonging; (2) trauma; (3) ‘silenced’ coping; and (4) adverse parenting which reflected their experiences of adoption. The findings indicate that the participants were highly susceptible to trauma associated with loss. They also highlight the importance of suitable adoption placements and vetting of potential adopters. The clinical and research implications of the results and their contribution to the broader discussion of trauma related to adoption are discussed. Citation: Adoption & Fostering PubDate: 2022-03-31T10:26:12Z DOI: 10.1177/03085759221080211 Issue No:Vol. 46, No. 1 (2022)
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Authors:Roger Bullock Abstract: Adoption & Fostering, Ahead of Print.
Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
