Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/23336
Title: Open Adoptions of Children from Foster Care in New South Wales Australia: Adoption Process and Post-Adoption Contact
Contributor(s): del Pozo de Bolger, Andrea  (author)orcid ; Dunstan, Debra  (author)orcid ; Kaltner, Melissa (author)
Publication Date: 2018
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1080/10926755.2018.1448915
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/23336
Abstract: In Australia, adoptions from care are infrequent and mostly conducted in New South Wales (NSW) despite being legislated in other states. This qualitative study explored the experiences of the adoption process and post-adoption contact of eight foster parents adopting children in their care through the public welfare agency in NSW. The interviews were analyzed following a structured approach, by means of thematic networks. The study revealed that adoption processes and maintenance of birth family relationships depend on a number of factors (e.g., the behavior of the professionals, adoptive and birth parents, children's reactions, policy and practice contexts). However, the adoptive parents' experience of the adoption process was largely determined by the system, and in most cases this appeared to subsequently influence post-adoption connection in the families. The findings and the adoptive parents' recommendations are likely to apply beyond specific geographical jurisdictions. In addition, the reported complexities regarding connections through open adoptions at times resemble those tensions faced by children living in other family types such as those referred to in the foster care literature. Further research on some of these commonalities may expand in some countries the debate regarding adoption as an inherently contestable practice.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Adoption Quarterly, 21(2), p. 82-101
Publisher: Routledge
Place of Publication: United States of America
ISSN: 1544-452X
1092-6755
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 160702 Counselling, Welfare and Community Services
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 440902 Counselling, wellbeing and community services
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 940112 Families and Family Services
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 230107 Families and family services
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Psychology

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