Adoption and Fostering, 17(2), Summer 1993, pp.44-47.
Publisher:
Sage
Based on a presentation at a BAAF seminar in March 1993, on the theme 'Adoption Panels: promoter of good practice or rubber-stamp?', looks at the expectations of panels and how they might be improved.
Based on a presentation at a BAAF seminar in March 1993, on the theme 'Adoption Panels: promoter of good practice or rubber-stamp?', looks at the expectations of panels and how they might be improved.
In the UK, decisions to approve adoptive parents and foster carers and authorise adoptions rest with specialist panels. While their formal role and function are clear, there is concern that their composition and the biographies and background characteristics of members could introduce bias and influence the decisions made. This article examines the validity of these criticisms with findings from a study of eight agencies, 15 panels and 22 members. It was found that the panel system achieves its aims in terms of having a representative constitution and providing considered recommendations in a timely manner to senior managers, but that individual biography affects panel members in carrying out their role to an unexpectedly high degree, possibly leading to flawed decisions. Actions to remedy this problem, at both an individual and group level, are suggested.
(Edited publisher abstract)
In the UK, decisions to approve adoptive parents and foster carers and authorise adoptions rest with specialist panels. While their formal role and function are clear, there is concern that their composition and the biographies and background characteristics of members could introduce bias and influence the decisions made. This article examines the validity of these criticisms with findings from a study of eight agencies, 15 panels and 22 members. It was found that the panel system achieves its aims in terms of having a representative constitution and providing considered recommendations in a timely manner to senior managers, but that individual biography affects panel members in carrying out their role to an unexpectedly high degree, possibly leading to flawed decisions. Actions to remedy this problem, at both an individual and group level, are suggested.
(Edited publisher abstract)
... In his recently self-published book, Ever After (Fathers and the Impact of Adoption), Coles writes for "all those people whose lives have been changed by adoption, but in particular for men who have lost a child through adoption". It describes the adoption boom of the 1960s and 1970s (peaking in 1971-72 with 9978 adoptions) that is not often canvassed.
Coles was not present at the birth of his first child in May, 1967. Named "Peter" by his mother, Kay - the woman Coles describes as his "first love" - the boy spent his first 11 days of life in a hospital nursery before being taken into the home of a couple who would be his adoptive parents. It was a decision that Coles and Kay, who were barely in their 20s, had determined was best. With no family support in an era when single motherhood was frowned upon, the young lovers felt that there was no other choice. That moment signalled the start of what business process analyst Coles, 58, came to call his "wasted years" - more than two decades of building a wall around himself and distancing himself from career, friends and even family. Twenty years of wondering what had become of "Peter". In his recently self-published book, Ever After (Fathers and the Impact of Adoption), Coles writes for "all those people whose lives have been changed by adoption, but in particular for men who have lost a child through adoption". It describes the adoption boom of the 1960s and 1970s (peaking in 1971-72 with 9978 adoptions) that is not often canvassed.
GREAT BRITAIN. Department for Education and Skills
Publisher:
Great Britain. Department for Education and Skills
Publication year:
2004
Pagination:
10p.
Place of publication:
London
The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) became operational in England on 30 April 2004. It is operated by BAAF on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. The Independent Review of Determinations (Adoption) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/190) (as amended by SI 2004/1081) give prospective adopters the right to refer their case to the review panel where an adoption agency (the agency)
The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) became operational in England on 30 April 2004. It is operated by BAAF on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. The Independent Review of Determinations (Adoption) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/190) (as amended by SI 2004/1081) give prospective adopters the right to refer their case to the review panel where an adoption agency (the agency) proposes not to approve them as suitable to adopt a child. This is known as a “qualifying determination”.
Genetic advances raise challenging questions for social workers trying to find the best placement for a child up for adoption. Asks how much genetic factors will influence future decision-making.
Genetic advances raise challenging questions for social workers trying to find the best placement for a child up for adoption. Asks how much genetic factors will influence future decision-making.
Adoption and Fostering, 17(3), Autumn 1993, pp.39-45.
Publisher:
Sage
The process by which decisions are made for the compulsory adoption of children is one which has been largely ignored in adoption literature. Examines the use of the adversarial court process to make decisions and considers the effect of this process on social work assessments in contested adoptions.
The process by which decisions are made for the compulsory adoption of children is one which has been largely ignored in adoption literature. Examines the use of the adversarial court process to make decisions and considers the effect of this process on social work assessments in contested adoptions.
Records the views and experiences of members of twelve families who had children compulsorily removed from their care, and considers whether the recommendations of the Adoption Law Review Working Party will ensure that their voices are heard in the future.
Records the views and experiences of members of twelve families who had children compulsorily removed from their care, and considers whether the recommendations of the Adoption Law Review Working Party will ensure that their voices are heard in the future.
Subject terms:
social workers, adoption, birth parents, decision making;
A small scale study based on interviews with mothers to ascertain their feelings of attachment to the child, the influence of other family members, and how much support they received.
A small scale study based on interviews with mothers to ascertain their feelings of attachment to the child, the influence of other family members, and how much support they received.
British Journal of Social Work, 42(4), 2012, pp.652-668.
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
... on to a decision-making process and applied to the area of adoption without parental consent.
There may be a tendency in the field of social work ethics to approach ethical theories in a manner that sees them as mutually exclusive. This article argues that social work must try to maintain an openness to the discordant themes within ethical theory and moral philosophy. It starts by providing a brief summary of some of the key ethical theories underpinning social work practice, such as utilitarianism and deontology. The idea of keeping countervailing ethical perspectives in social work in tension is amplified by drawing on Isaiah Berlin's notion of value pluralism and its contribution to social work. The article then summarises and categorises some of the traditional and emergent theories shaping social work according to metaphors of the ‘head’ (the justice-oriented, rational approaches) and the ‘heart’ (the grounded, particularistic and care-focused approaches). Berlin's value pluralism is then adopted to contend that social work needs to hold both ‘head’ and ‘heart’ ethics in a vital equilibrium to generate the ethics of the ‘hand’ (the practical response to contested areas of need) and the ‘feet’ (the commitment to change and well-being). These metaphors are then mapped on to a decision-making process and applied to the area of adoption without parental consent.
Subject terms:
social work, social work theories, adoption, decision making, ethics;