‘It shouldn’t just be these kinds of sunshine stories’: social workers’ discussion of ‘past difficulties’ as a key theme in adoption assessment interviews

Wirzén, Madeleine; Lindgren, Cecilia M.

doi:10.1080/13691457.2019.1709160

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Att sökande inte bara lämnar information, utan också observeras i samband med utredningsintervjuer har visats även i relation till adoptionsutredningar (Wirzén & Lindgren 2020). I intervjuer uppgav socialsekreterare att de inte bara beaktade vad de sökande berättade, utan även vägde in de sökandes beredvilja att dela med sig av och reflektera kring sina barndomserfarenheter i sin bedömning.…”

Section: Observationer Av De Sökandeunclassified

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Lind

2023

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The best interests of the child in assisted reproduction – assessments of parent potential in treatment with autologous and donor gametes Considerations of the welfare of the intended child in assisted reproduction include the assessment of candidates’ capacity to care for the child. Swedish legislation prescribes the evaluation of candidates’ psychological and social circumstances only when gametes from a donor are used for treatment. However, accounts of the evaluation process by fertility clinic staff indicate that candidates’ social and psychological circumstances are also considered in non-donor treatment. While legislation demands that a professional behavioural scientist is involved in the assessment for donor treatment, this is not the case for non-donor treatment. Candidates for non-donor treatment are reported as being evaluated by a counsellor only if they attract the negative attention of clinic staff through self-disclosed information or their behaviour during visits to the clinic. The outcome is an evaluation process in non-donor treatment that is non-transparent and therefore unpredictable for candidates. This article is based on focus group discussions with fertility clinic staff at four public clinics in Sweden.

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Section: Observationer Av De Sökandeunclassified

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Lind

2023

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“…It can be suggested that such communicative strategies provide methods for progressing the assessment interview and guiding interviewees' thinking and responses. Similarly, in an interview study with social workers about adoption assessment interviews, Wirz� en and Lindgren (2020) showed that social workers wanted the applicants to talk and describe their lives in particular, institutionally relevant, ways. To achieve this, they assisted the prospective adoptive parents by encouraging and guiding them to reflect upon their experiences and perspectives; thus, the institutional agenda (i.e.…”

Section: Professionals' Communicative Strategies In Institutional Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing and assisting prospective adoptive parents: Social workers’ communicative strategies in adoption assessment interviews

Wirzén

Čekaitė

2021

Qualitative Social Work

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The assessment of prospective adoptive parents is a complex task for professional social workers. In this study, we examine the structure and function of professional social workers’ follow-up questions in assessment talk with adoption applicants. The analysis shows that adoption assessment through interviews involved a delicate and complex task that was accomplished by using a particular genre of institutional talk. This both invited the applicants’ extended and ‘open-ended’ responses and steered these responses and their development towards the institutionally relevant topics. Detailed interaction analysis demonstrates that social workers used a broad range of question types to steer and guide applicants’ responses, organising talk about specific assessment topics. On the basis of initial open-ended topic initiations and applicants’ responses, the social workers steered topic development by using follow-up moves such as polar questions and clarifying questions that asked for specification, challenged applicants’ ideas, confirmed their knowledge and encouraged self-reflection. These follow-up moves allowed social workers to achieve the progression of talk into relevant areas of investigation and constituted a central and characteristic feature of assessment interviews. We suggest that they allow social workers to accomplish two hybrid institutional goals: i) the assessment of applicants’ suitability and ii) applicants’ preparation for future parenthood.

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“…Adoption assessment interviews are a complex communicative activity in which adoption applicants are thoroughly assessed before becoming parents. The adoption process, including the mandatory parenting course, the assessment interviews, and the written recommendation report, produce and reproduce norms for adoptive parenthood (Lind and Lindgren 2017;Lindgren 2015;Noordegraaf et al 2010;Wirzén and Cekaite 2022;Wirzén and Lindgren 2021). People who want to become parents to an internationally adopted child in Sweden need to display certain characteristics and living circumstances that together portray them as suitable adoptive parents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing future parental suitability: prospective adoptive parents’ communicative strategies in adoption assessment interviews

Wirzén

2022

Text &Amp; Talk

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This study examines how Swedish prospective adoptive parents display parental suitability in assessment interviews with social workers. In adoption assessment interviews, applicants are invited, through question-and-answer sequences, to present their knowledge about adoption-related issues and demonstrate their suitability as future adoptive parents. Adoption applicants are also faced with social workers’ attempts to prepare them for future parenthood with advice and guidance. In this high-stakes interaction, however, guidance might indicate the applicants’ lack of central knowledge or insights, which can have potential face-threatening consequences. The data consist of 36 hours of audio recorded assessment interviews. Using interaction analytical methods, the analysis shows how adoption applicants engage in the multi-layered task of managing social workers’ guidance while also demonstrating parental suitability. Adoption applicants are found to take on the perspectives presented by social workers, and simultaneously to maintain their own standpoint, using a two-step procedure: (i) they eagerly claim their knowledge and align with the social worker, and (ii) they demonstrate their adoption-specific knowledge or personal characteristics that support the presentation of their parental suitability. The findings provide insights into the practice of assessing prospective adoptive parents and contribute to the understanding of how applicants establish their self-presentations as suitable future parents while adjusting to institutional requirements in situ.

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‘It shouldn’t just be these kinds of sunshine stories’: social workers’ discussion of ‘past difficulties’ as a key theme in adoption assessment interviews

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

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Assessing and assisting prospective adoptive parents: Social workers’ communicative strategies in adoption assessment interviews

Constructing future parental suitability: prospective adoptive parents’ communicative strategies in adoption assessment interviews

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