Contact after Contested Adoptoins

Ryburn, Murray

doi:10.1177/030857599401800407

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The work of Wallerstein and Kelly (1980) and Mitchell (1985) suggests that if the adults are able to cooperate, contact may be beneficial to the child. There are also numerous studies of children in state care which suggest that for older children, continuing contact with families of origin is a protective rather than a destabilizing factor (Borland et al, 1991;Fratter et al, 1991Fratter et al, , 1996Ryburn, 1994;Wedge and Mantle, 1991).…”

Section: Research Influencing Changes In Adoption Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Adoption with contact: a study of adoptive parents and the impact of continuing contact with families of origin

Sykes

2001

Journal of Family Therapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Adoption practice has seen an increase in adoptive families where contact continues with families of origin. This study, based on responses from adoptive parents at least two years after placement, aims to enhance understanding of the meaning of these experiences for adoptive parents. Data from thirty questionnaire responses indicate that attitudes change, while there are gender differences in the degree of comfort with contact. Fifteen adopters participated in follow-up interviews. The analysis has considered (1) the impact on parenthood, exploring themes of control, entitlement to parent, communication, bonding and ownership, and (2) relationships between adoptive and birth parents, exploring themes of fear, anger and blame, competition and empathy. The findings suggest that passage of time and a greater sense of control assist in establishing confidence, while a more empathic view towards birth mothers develops. This has emotional costs to the adoptive mother. The implications for practice are discussed.

show abstract

Section: Research Influencing Changes In Adoption Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Adoption with contact: a study of adoptive parents and the impact of continuing contact with families of origin

Sykes

2001

Journal of Family Therapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Advocates of continuing contact have drawn largely on experiences from the field of divorce (Wallerstein and Kelly, 1980;Mitchell, 1985), which suggest that if the adults are able to co-operate contact is beneficial to the child. There are also numerous studies of children in both foster and adoptive homes which suggest that for older children, continuing contact with families of origin is a protective rather than a destabilising factor (Fratter, 1991(Fratter, , 1996Borland et al, 1991;Wedge and Mantle, 1991;Ryburn, 1994).…”

Section: Research Influencing Changes In Adoption Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…She suggests that a proportion of adopters are helped to achieve some sense of kinship with the people who gave their child birth. Ryburn (1994) drew optimistic conclusions from his postal questionnaire of adopters known to have been involved in contested adoptions. A recent large-scale study (Lowe et al, 1999) collected data about contact from 226 families, which emphasised the importance of adopters being positive about contact for it to be experienced as beneficial.…”

Section: Research Influencing Changes In Adoption Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Adoption with Contact: A Study of Adoptive Parents and the Impact of Continuing Contact with Families of Origin

Sykes¹

2000

Adoption & Fostering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Adoption practice in the 1990s has seen a substantial increase in adoptive families where there continues to be contact with families of origin. This study by Margaret Sykes, based on postal questionnaire responses from 30 adoptive parents in 17 families, followed up by interviews with 15 adopters in nine families, considers adoptive families at least two years after placement, and aims to enhance our understanding of the meaning of these contact experiences for adoptive parents. The analysis of the narratives from the interviews has considered 1) the impact on parenthood, exploring themes of control, entitlement to parent, communication, bonding and ownership, and 2) the relationships between adoptive and birth parents, examining themes of fear, anger and blame, competition and empathy. The findings suggest that the passage of time and a greater sense of control assist in establishing confidence, while adopters develop a more empathic view towards birth mothers. This has emotional costs to the adoptive mother. The study suggests that contact is more likely to be sustained where adoptive parents are able to develop a coherence in their understanding of their own past experiences. The implications for practice are discussed

show abstract

“…Feelings of anger, guilt, shame, and worthlessness are commonly experienced by parents and grandparents and these feelings may stand in the way of people wanting to, or being able to, work with adoption professionals (Charlton et al, 1998;Neil, 2007b;Ryburn, 1994;Sellick, 2007). But most birth relatives value post-adoption contact with children very highly, and helping parents to stay involved in some limited way with their child may be a good way to engage initially reluctant service users (Young & Neil, 2004;Neil, 2007b).…”

Section: Support For Birth Relativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting Post-Adoption Contact for Children Adopted From Care: A Study of Social Workers' Attitudes

Neil

2007

Adoption Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

New legislation in England and Wales requires adoption agencies to specify the contact adopted children will have with their birth families and obliges agencies to offer all parties support to maintain such contact. This study, based on responses from 112 adoption social workers in England and Wales, used a case vignette methodology to explore workers' attitudes towards supporting post-adoption contact. The findings suggest that social workers think primarily about the child's needs and about providing services to or on behalf of the child. In contrast, adults' needs, especially the relationship between birth parents and adoptive parents, were less often considered. Workers were least orientated toward supporting birth parents. Workers from different agencies had very different attitudes towards the case vignette. This study suggests that supporting post-adoption contact is a complex professional task likely to be influenced by workers' own attitudes. Implications for training, support and supervision are discussed.

show abstract

Contact after Contested Adoptoins

Cited by 12 publications

References 4 publications

Adoption with contact: a study of adoptive parents and the impact of continuing contact with families of origin

Adoption with contact: a study of adoptive parents and the impact of continuing contact with families of origin

Adoption with Contact: A Study of Adoptive Parents and the Impact of Continuing Contact with Families of Origin

Supporting Post-Adoption Contact for Children Adopted From Care: A Study of Social Workers' Attitudes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About