Showing papers in "Adoption & Fostering in 1996"
TL;DR: The impact of domestic violence on children has been studied extensively as discussed by the authors. But until very recently social work and other child care agencies in Britain have paid little, if any, attention to the impact on children.
Abstract: Until very recently social work and other child care agencies in Britain have paid little, if any, attention to the impact of domestic violence on children. Audrey Mullender — a pioneer of research...
73 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Gill Pugh looked at different ways in which the experience of fostering can affect these young people or "children who foster" both in terms of the pressures they might suffer and the very positive role they can play in the fostering process.
Abstract: One group that tends to be neglected when it comes to foster family care is the biological children of parents who foster. Using findings from her own research study, Gill Pugh looks at different ways in which the experience of fostering can affect these young people or ‘children who foster’, both in terms of the pressures they might suffer and the very positive role they can play in the fostering process. She emphasises the importance of considering the needs of the whole family when making placements, addressing the needs of ‘children who foster’ from an early stage, and making sure they are listened to and always have access to support.
52 citations
24 citations
TL;DR: The quality of relationship between families and professionals is clearly crucial to the development of good social work practice, especially where the care and protection of children are concerned as discussed by the authors, and this model, based on a commitment to partnership is being adapted and used in the UK.
Abstract: The quality of relationship between families and professionals is clearly crucial to the development of good social work practice, especially where the care and protection of children are concerned. After tracing the origins of the Family Group Conference in New Zealand, Murray Ryburn and Celia Atherton describe the procedure and explain how this model, based on a commitment to partnership, is being adapted and used in the UK.
21 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the evolution of the relationship between parents and their adopted children from adolescence to early adulthood and identified three types of adoption, each associated with a distinct pattern of pre-placement care.
Abstract: Problematic behaviour in adopted teenage children often stems from their very early experiences. In examining the evolution of the relationship between parents and their adopted children from adolescence to early adulthood David Howe identifies three types of adoption, each associated with a distinct pattern of pre-placement care. On the basis of this classification the quality of parent-child relationships is explored at two key stages: when the adopted person is 16 and over 23. In addition, the adopters interviewed in Howe's study provided their own long-term views of the adoption process when looking back. Those who managed to survive the most stressful years often reported much more relaxed, reciprocal relationships with their grown-up children. But they also underlined the importance of expert advice and support to help see them through the worst times.Conclusion
17 citations
TL;DR: The quality of relations between social workers and foster carers can virtually make or break a placement as discussed by the authors, and Sellick uses a wide range of social work literature to examine some of the condition...
Abstract: The quality of relations between social workers and foster carers can virtually make or break a placement. Clive Sellick uses a wide range of social work literature to examine some of the condition...
16 citations
TL;DR: Foster carers in Fife have been paid a professional fee plus maintenance allowances, and the fostering service has been managed by two specialist teams of social workers as discussed by the authors since 1990.
Abstract: Since 1990, all foster carers in Fife have been paid a professional fee plus maintenance allowances, and the fostering service has been managed by two specialist teams of social workers. Using find...
15 citations
TL;DR: Linda Katz strongly advocates a commitment to concurrent planning — defined here as ‘the process of working toward family reunification while at the same time establishing an alternative plan’, usually in the form of permanency with a relative or secure foster/adoption placement, both in the USA and overseas.
Abstract: The introduction of legislation in favour of ‘permanency planning’, in 1980, led to a marked decline in the number of North American children entering the public care system for much of that decade. In recent years, however, the number of children in care in the USA has been steadily rising. A major cause of this reversal is the country's drug epidemic, which has also had a significant affect on the type of child most likely to enter the system. Linda Katz highlights a failure to respond to these and other changes, outlined below, and argues for a radical upheaval of what she sees as a grossly outdated and underfunded child welfare system. On the basis of fifteen years' experience leading the Permanency Planning Programme at the Lutheran Social Services, she strongly advocates a commitment to concurrent planning — defined here as ‘the process of working toward family reunification while at the same time establishing an alternative plan’, usually in the form of permanency with a relative or secure foster/a...
15 citations
13 citations
TL;DR: Positive findings show that children, especially pre-adolescents, often have quite a realistic understanding of the situation leading up to their placement in care with less of a tendency to blame themselves or idealise their birth families than has previously been suggested.
Abstract: Based on interviews with children, birth parents, foster carers and social workers in the province of Ontario, Kathleen Kufeldt, James Armstrong and Marshall Dorosh explore some of the benefits and...
12 citations
TL;DR: The Romanian Orphanage Trust as mentioned in this paper has been one of the main sources of information about adoption and foster care in the Romanian orphanage system, focusing on the aims and achievements of that organisation, and describing attempts to develop alternatives to residential care.
Abstract: Compared to Western Europe, Romania has a very high proportion of children in residential care. Most of these children live in the type of large institutions, erroneously labelled as ‘orphanages’, which featured so prominently in Western media coverage of the country immediately after the 1989 overthrow of President Ceausescu. Jonathan Dickens and Julia Watts have worked since October 1994 for the Romanian Orphanage Trust. Focusing on the aims and achievements of that organisation, they describe attempts to develop alternatives to residential care in a society beleaguered by financial hardship and in which social work has only recently re-emerged as a profession, following some twenty-five years of abolition under communist rule. They show how the Trust has deliberately moved away from directly providing and managing services for children and families towards an approach bent on stimulating and helping the growth of Romanian led and managed initiatives. Despite the high number of children in institutions, and obstacles such as poverty and traditional attitudes to substitute family care, the authors conclude that adoption and fostering have an important role to play in an overall programme of prevention, rehabilitation and anti-poverty measures in Romania.
TL;DR: Foster carers are usually required to take part in a series of training sessions, both before and after their approval as carers as discussed by the authors, and the style and content of these sessions have contin...
Abstract: Foster carers are usually required to take part in a series of training sessions, both before and after their approval as carers. Over the years, the style and content of these sessions have contin...
TL;DR: Life story work has long been established as a highly effective means of helping children separated from their birth families to come to terms with a history of abandonment, rejection and loss as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Life story work has long been established as a highly effective means of helping children separated from their birth families to come to terms with a history of abandonment, rejection and loss. How...
TL;DR: The last two decades have seen a welcome increase in the recognition of children's rights, in terms of both public opinion and legislation as mentioned in this paper. But when it comes to adoption, however, are children's wishes...
Abstract: The last two decades have seen a welcome increase in the recognition of children's rights, in terms of both public opinion and legislation. When it comes to adoption, however, are children's wishes...
TL;DR: The adoption reunion registry was finally established in the Canadian province of British Columbia in 2011 as mentioned in this paper, and Perlita Harris, a former counsellor with this registry, examines the findings of a recent study evaluating its practice, highlighting the key issues that are important for consideration in the development of services in Britain.
Abstract: Five years have passed since an adoption reunion registry was finally established in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Perlita Harris, a former counsellor with this ‘active’ registry, examines the findings of a recent study evaluating its practice. She also highlights some of the key issues that are important for consideration in the development of services in Britain.
TL;DR: The long-awaited publication of the British Government's Draft Adoption Bill, broadly welcomed here by Caroline Ball, has been discussed in detail in this paper, where she makes clear when outlining the historical context, there...
Abstract: March 1996 saw the long-awaited publication of the British Government's Draft Adoption Bill, broadly welcomed here by Caroline Ball. As she makes clear when outlining the historical context, there ...
TL;DR: In this article, social workers come into contact with refugee children in the course of their work in the UK, but it has not always been clear what is best practice when considering how to make sensitive ass...
Abstract: ‘Some social workers come into contact with refugee children in the course of their work in the UK, but it has not always been clear what is best practice when considering how to make sensitive ass...
TL;DR: In this paper, Ballantyne explores the potential uses of the Internet in relation to child care issues, with specific reference to adoption and fostering, as well as the commercial nature of adoption in North America.
Abstract: The Internet is here to stay. From its origins as an experimental US military project in the 1960s, this highly decentralised system of communication is today used by some 40 million people worldwide. Among them are a growing number of social care organisations, Neil Ballantyne explores its actual and potential uses in relation to child care issues, with specific reference to adoption and fostering. Currently leading the field in Britain is the National Institute for Social Work, which operates two electronic mailing lists as well as offering access to papers and other social work related sites. Attention is also focused on the many more sites in the USA. These incorporate — among other items — journals, advice for prospective adopters, legal services, campaigning information on attempts to change adoption law, and photolists of children waiting for adoption. Here the unregulated nature of the Internet is underlined, as is the commercial nature of adoption in North America which clearly raises concerns ab...
TL;DR: Ji Sun Sjögren was born in Korea and brought up in Belgium, where she was adopted by her Swiss mother and Swedish father at the age of two as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Ji Sun Sjögren was born in Korea and brought up in Belgium, where she was adopted by her Swiss mother and Swedish father at the age of two. The following account, inspired by the experience of visiting her native Korea for the first time, aged 26, is a moving testimony of what it can feel like to be caught between two worlds, despite a loving and largely happy upbringing. Above all she speaks up for the right of every child to know her or his origin and to be the rightful owner of a birth certificate. Ji Sun's account was written with the help of her adoptive father, Eric Sjögren, who is a journalist living in Brussels. Twenty years earlier, he himself had written a ‘misty-eyed, infatuated’ account of the first few years of living with his adopted daughter. It is partly in the light of the huge sympathetic response to that article that he encouraged Ji Sun to tell her own story.
TL;DR: Gill Gregson and Nicki Rooney as discussed by the authors discuss the benefits of such an informal network from their respective positions as social work practitioner and adopter, based on the experience of setting up an independent support group for adopters.
Abstract: The professional back-up for adopters provided by adoption agencies, however valuable, clearly has its limitations. Consequently, in response to the need for a less formal approach, adopters are increasingly turning to each other for mutual support. Based on the experience of setting up an independent support group for adopters, Gill Gregson and Nicki Rooney each discuss the benefits of such an informal network from their respective positions as social work practitioner and adopter.
TL;DR: A detailed examination of Statement Validity Analysis (SVA) can be found in this article, where the authors discuss the potential obstacles involved when interviewing child victims of sexual abuse, including risks of false allegations and the interviewer's difficulty in maintaining true objectivity.
Abstract: The interviewing of witnesses is crucial to the process by which any reported crime is passed on to the prosecution service. Seldom straightforward, it is particularly problematic in cases of child sex abuse when the burden of proof often has to rest on a child's testimony alone. Helen Street begins by discussing some of the potential obstacles involved when interviewing child victims of sexual abuse, including risks of false allegations and the interviewer's difficulty in maintaining true objectivity. The importance of tailoring the whole procedure to the child's developmental level, skills and knowledge is strongly underlined. There follows a detailed examination of Statement Validity Analysis (SVA). This refers to a series of methods, first developed in Germany, to try to determine the credibility of a child's statement. Although evidence suggests that, when it comes to distinguishing between true and false statements, SVA is more reliable than common sense, Street advocates the need to approach the techniques described with some caution. SVA highlights the information professionals should consider but several key problems most notably its dependence on obtaining a reliable statement from the child still need to be addressed if it is ever to be accepted as a source of evidence in a British court of law.