When Adoptions Go Wrong: Psychological and Legal Issues of Adoption Disruption

by Schwartz; Lita

• ISBN13: 9780789031822
• ISBN10: 0789031825
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-09-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

What if you were an adopted child and someone tried to remove you from the family you had grown to love? In the last twenty years, changes in laws, judicial decisions, social welfare practices, and the availability of American children for adoption have led to an increase in disrupted adoptions. When Adoptions Go Wrong: Psychological and Legal Issues of Adoption Disruption examines the psychological and forensic aspects of adoption with an emphasis on how negative events can affect children and the families that choose to adopt them--and how you can prevent those events from happening.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Hon. Walter M. Schackman
Acknowledgments	xi
SECTION I: FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY ISSUES
Overview: Providing a Context	3	(18)
Historical Background	3	(2)
Malfunctions in Adoption	5	(1)
Introducing the Adoptive Parents	6	(13)
Tying Adoption to Adoption Disruption	19	(2)
Adoption Disruptions	21	(12)
Types and Causes of Disruptions	21	(10)
Summary	31	(2)
Other Causes Contributing to Adoption Disruptions	33	(16)
Inadequate Social Services	33	(5)
Focus on Foster Care	38	(1)
Other Issues and Impediments	39	(7)
Incompatibility of Child and Adoptive Parents	46	(2)
Summary	48	(1)
Lives Disrupted	49	(14)
Adoptions Dissolved	49	(10)
On the Positive Side	59	(1)
Summary	60	(3)
Effects of the Disruption	63	(14)
Time for Therapy	63	(1)
Restatement of Causes	64	(2)
A Variety of Effects	66	(7)
Summary	73	(4)
SECTION II: LEGAL ISSUES: PRECEDENTS AND PREVENTION
In Whose ``Best Interests''?	77	(12)
``Open Adoption'' and Disruption	77	(6)
Professional Prevention and Intervention	83	(4)
Summary	87	(2)
Where Do We Go From Here?	89	(16)
Preventive Measures	89	(9)
Laws Across the Land	98	(3)
Recognition of Psychological versus Biological Parenting	101	(1)
Summary	102	(3)
Epilogue	105	(4)
Notes	109	(4)
References	113	(12)
Index	125