Preparing to Adopt - Experiences of group preparation for prospective adopters
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Social Work
Abstract
Within adoption, we find the needs of two different groups; adults who wish to parent, and children in need of a permanent home. In my experience working in this field for the last fifteen years, a pressing issue is how to bring together the expectations of parents with the needs of the children.
The children available for adoption are likely to have experienced some early trauma, separation and loss, which is likely to impact on their development and behaviour. "Attachment Research has been used with increasing frequency in recent years to highlight the likely traumatic effects... that have been shown to characterise a child's journey to an adoptive home. (Luckock and Sims et al. 2017) "Research has offered us insight into the experiences of these children, and potentially helpful ways of parenting them. There is little available information currently how adopters first receive this information. How do they begin to think about the potential of meeting these children's needs and their own capacity to offer this? What does this do to their conception of themselves, as not just potential parents but potential adoptive parents?
In my practice, I predominately work with adoptive families, and have observed how parents can adapt to their children's needs, and begin to view the meeting of them as an essential part of their identity as parents. I wish to focus on one aspect of preparation to consider how it informs our understanding of this process by looking at prospective adopters' thoughts around their identity as parents. I would like to do this by considering the compulsory attendance at a group training programme during the assessment period.
In 2008, Rushton reviewed the research picture on preparation for adoptive families. It identified that "Although methods for managing difficult behaviour are sometimes mentioned in these studies, few further details are given on what is offered, what skills are taught and whether any advice is absorbed and carried usefully into the placement. Research is clearly needed on the extent to which preparing adopters with skills in advance of placement is a feasible and useful strategy". I propose a study that would look at some of these details. How do adopters' experience this very early stage of their journey as they are introduced to ideas around children's development and the impact of loss and separation? What do we know about how this is presented to adopters, and whether there any themes that arise from their experiences of this group training? I propose a study to look at the content of the group preparation courses as it relates to children's developmental needs, and to capture and consider the experiences of the families as they receive this information.
I will use a qualitative longitudinal method to be able to gather the experiences of prospective adopters in this process, building on a study of the content that I will complete during my MRes. This could inform practice around how best to identify and prepare parents for children who have a disrupted start to life, across many settings, while also looking at an aspect of transition to parenthood.
The children available for adoption are likely to have experienced some early trauma, separation and loss, which is likely to impact on their development and behaviour. "Attachment Research has been used with increasing frequency in recent years to highlight the likely traumatic effects... that have been shown to characterise a child's journey to an adoptive home. (Luckock and Sims et al. 2017) "Research has offered us insight into the experiences of these children, and potentially helpful ways of parenting them. There is little available information currently how adopters first receive this information. How do they begin to think about the potential of meeting these children's needs and their own capacity to offer this? What does this do to their conception of themselves, as not just potential parents but potential adoptive parents?
In my practice, I predominately work with adoptive families, and have observed how parents can adapt to their children's needs, and begin to view the meeting of them as an essential part of their identity as parents. I wish to focus on one aspect of preparation to consider how it informs our understanding of this process by looking at prospective adopters' thoughts around their identity as parents. I would like to do this by considering the compulsory attendance at a group training programme during the assessment period.
In 2008, Rushton reviewed the research picture on preparation for adoptive families. It identified that "Although methods for managing difficult behaviour are sometimes mentioned in these studies, few further details are given on what is offered, what skills are taught and whether any advice is absorbed and carried usefully into the placement. Research is clearly needed on the extent to which preparing adopters with skills in advance of placement is a feasible and useful strategy". I propose a study that would look at some of these details. How do adopters' experience this very early stage of their journey as they are introduced to ideas around children's development and the impact of loss and separation? What do we know about how this is presented to adopters, and whether there any themes that arise from their experiences of this group training? I propose a study to look at the content of the group preparation courses as it relates to children's developmental needs, and to capture and consider the experiences of the families as they receive this information.
I will use a qualitative longitudinal method to be able to gather the experiences of prospective adopters in this process, building on a study of the content that I will complete during my MRes. This could inform practice around how best to identify and prepare parents for children who have a disrupted start to life, across many settings, while also looking at an aspect of transition to parenthood.
