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Title: |
‘[W]e find families for children, not children for families’: an incident in the long and unhappy history of relations between social workers and adoptive parents. |
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Reference: |
Social Policy and Society, 11(3), July 2012, pp.415-427. |
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ISSN paper: |
1474-7464 |
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ISSN online: |
1475-3073 |
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Abstract: |
This article gives an account of the conflict between social workers and prospective adoptive parents which developed in Australia in the 1970s. It takes as a case study the conflicting roles of adoptive parent advocates and professional social workers within the Standing Committee on Adoption in the Australian state of Victoria, a body working to establish standards of practice for local and international adoption. In 1976, the work of the Committee was delayed by the representations of the consumer group, Rights for Adoptive Families, who accused social workers of unprofessional conduct and asked that childless or unmarried social workers should have no authority in adoption matters. This article discusses the way in which the Committee dealt with these obstructive tactics, and the implications for the developing language of social work. Its overarching concern lies with the attitudes of the social work profession towards adoption, both domestic and intercountry, as these have developed historically, demonstrating how these changed from an embrace of both adoption and adoptive parents to mutual alienation. The article concludes that the inclusive practice of radical social work could only briefly contain contesting client groups. |
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Format: |
article; |
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Topics: |
adoptive parents; advocacy; case studies; social work history; social workers; |
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Record ID: |
www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk/profile.asp?guid=c9f351b2-dab7-4bfe-bf51-0e2305b181da |
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