Marshall D. Schechter

Bio: Marshall D. Schechter is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Trace (semiology) & Open adoption. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 469 citations.

The Psychology of adoption

Abstract: PART I: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ON ADOPTION ADJUSTMENT: David M. Brodzinsky: A stress and coping model of adoption adjustment Remi J. Cadoret: Biologic perspectives of adoptee adjustment Paul M. Brinich: Adoption from the inside out: a psychoanalytic perspective Marshall E. Schechter & Doris Bertocci: The meaning of the search PART II: RESEARCH ON ADOPTION: Michael Bohman & Soren Sigvardsson: Outcomes in adoption: lessons from longitudinal studies John Triseliotis & Malcolm Hill: Contrasting adoption, foster care and residential rearing Kenneth Kaye: Acknowledgment or rejection of differences? Janet L. Hoo pes: Adoption and identity formation Harold D. Grotevant & Ruth G. McRoy: Adopted adolescents in residential treatment: the role of the family Arnold R. Silverman & William Feigelman: Adjustment in interracial adoptees: an overview Trudy Festinger: Adoption disruption: rates and correlates PART III: CLINICAL ISSUES IN ADOPTION: Ann Hartman & Joan Laird: Family treatment after adoption: common themes Christina Lindstrom & Judith Schaffer: Solution-focused therapy with adoptive families Wells Goodrich, Carol S. Fullerton, Brian T. Yates, & Linda Beth Berman: The residential treatment of severely disturbed adolescent adoptees PART IV: SOCIAL POLICY AND CASEBOOK ISSUES IN ADOPTION: Elizabeth S. Cole & Kathryn S. Donley: History, values, and placement policy issues in adoption Anne B. Brodzinsky: Surrendering an infant for adoption: the birthmother experience Anne Baran & Reuben Pannor: Open adoption Andre P. Derdeyn: Foster parent adoption: the legal framework References Author index Subject index.

Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self

Abstract: As recently as a generation ago, being adopted seemed no different from being raised by one's birth family. In recent years, however, studies have shown that being adopted can color many aspects of the adoptee's life. This ground-breaking book uses the voices of adoptees to trace the experience over a lifetime.

Adoption and cognitive development: a meta-analytic comparison of adopted and nonadopted children's IQ and school performance.

Abstract: This meta-analysis of 62 studies (N=17,767 adopted children) examined whether the cognitive development of adopted children differed from that of (a) children who remained in institutional care or in the birth family and (b) their current (environmental) nonadopted siblings or peers. Adopted children scored higher on IQ tests than their nonadopted siblings or peers who stayed behind, and their school performance was better. Adopted children did not differ from their nonadopted environmental peers or siblings in IQ, but their school performance and language abilities lagged behind, and more adopted children developed learning problems. Taken together, the meta-analyses document the positive impact of adoption on the children's cognitive development and their remarkably normal cognitive competence but delayed school performance.

The Emanuel Miller Memorial Lecture 2006: Adoption as intervention. Meta-analytic evidence for massive catch-up and plasticity in physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development

Abstract: Background: Adopted children have been said to be difficult children, scarred by their past experiences in maltreating families or neglecting orphanages, or by genetic or pre- and perinatal problems. Is (domestic or international) adoption an effective intervention in the developmental domains of physical growth, attachment security, cognitive development and school achievement, self-esteem, and behaviour problems? Method: Through a series of meta-analyses on more than 270 studies that include more than 230,000 adopted and non-adopted children and their parents an adoption catch-up model was tested. Results: Although catch-up with current peers was incomplete in some developmental domains (in particular, physical growth and attachment), adopted children largely outperformed their peers left behind. Adoptions before 12 months of age were associated with more complete catch-up than later adoptions for height, attachment, and school achievement. International adoptions did not lead to lower rates of catch-up than domestic adoptions in most developmental domains. Conclusions: It is concluded that adoption is an effective intervention leading to massive catch-up. Domestic and international adoptions can be justified on ethical grounds if no other solutions are available. Humans are adapted to adopt, and adoption demonstrates the plasticity of child development. Keywords: Adoption, meta-analysis, catch-up, developmental plasticity, ethics, growth, attachment, behaviour problems, brain damage, malnutrition, residential care, resilience, self-esteem. Adoption may be defined as the permanent, legal placement of an abandoned, relinquished or orphaned child within a family of relatives (kinship adoption) or within an unrelated family (non-kinship adoption). Selman (2005) estimated the number of children adopted across the borders of countries (international, mostly non-kinship adoption) to be at least 40,000 in 2003, which is an increase of 100% since the late eighties. The number of adoptions within countries (domestic adoptions) is harder to estimate. In the USA alone, 120,000 children are adopted annually, their total number amounting to

Maternal sensitivity, infant attachment, and temperament in early childhood predict adjustment in middle childhood: the case of adopted children and their biologically unrelated parents.

Abstract: In a longitudinal study, internationally adopted children (N = 146) placed before 6 months of age were followed from infancy to age 7. Results showed that girls were better adjusted than boys, except in cognitive development, and that easy temperament was associated with higher levels of social, cognitive, and personality development and fewer behavior problems. Higher quality of child-mother relationships, in terms of attachment security and maternal sensitivity, uniquely predicted better social and cognitive development. The combination of attachment disorganization and difficult temperament predicted less optimal ego-control and lower levels of cognitive development. It is concluded that even in adopted children, who are not biologically related to their adoptive parents, early mother-infant interactions and attachment relationships predict later socioemotional and cognitive development, beyond infant temperament and gender.

What does it mean to be a donor offspring? The identity experiences of adults conceived by donor insemination and the implications for counselling and therapy

Abstract: In the absence of research with adult donor offspring, this study begins to bridge that gap by asking individuals about their experiences as donor offspring and considering the implications for psychotherapeutic and counselling practice. Sixteen participants (13 male, three female, age range 26-55 years) recruited through donor insemination support networks in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia, were sent semi-structured questionnaires by E-mail and post. Using identity process theory as a framework for understanding participants' accounts, the data were qualitatively analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Participants consistently reported mistrust within the family, negative distinctiveness, lack of genetic continuity, frustration in being thwarted in the search for their biological fathers and a need to talk to a significant other (i.e. someone who would understand). These experiences could be postulated as being indicative of a struggle to assimilate, accommodate and evaluate information about their new identities as donor offspring. Psychotherapists and counsellors need to be aware of these identity issues if they are to meet the needs of donor offspring within therapeutic practice.