Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2002. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education. Bibliography: leaves 277-294.

Intercountry adoption, where children are born in one country and adopted by families in another country, has become an increasing global phenomenon (Scherman & Harré, 2004). As indicated by a review of the literature, the research in relation to intercountry adoptees provides contradictory findings in almost every area. However, since there is some evidence to suggest that a proportion of intercountry adoptees are at greater risk of developing mental health difficulties (Van Ijzendoorn & Juffer, 2006) further research, particularly in the UK, is required. As Anjudo (1988) posits, parents are their children‟s major reference group, and this research is therefore aimed at exploring the experience of parenting an intercountry adoptee. A qualitative approach, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 1996) was chosen as the most suitable methodology. This approach aims to explore in detail how participants are making sense of their world, and the meanings that experiences hold for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants who had accessed or were accessing support from a specialist Adoption and Fostering team. The analysis of the transcribed verbatim accounts yielded four super-ordinate themes; „the importance of resolve and tenacity‟, „blood versus water‟, „weathering the storm of parenthood‟ and „the complexity of cultivating a heritage‟. The results were consistent with some of the existing theoretical, research and clinical literature. Additionally they also provided some new areas for consideration such as the emotional difficulties in negotiating the process of intercountry adoption. Additionally, areas for future research were proposed. Due to the small sample size, implications and recommendations are considered tentatively and include (1) prospective intercountry adoptive parents would benefit from the provision of pre and post-adoption supportive groups, (2) intercountry adoptive families would benefit from greater availability of multi-disciplinary specialist teams to address their needs, (3) there is a role for cultural consultants to aid both adoptive parents and professionals in their work with intercountry adoptive families. Since the number of children internationally who need new families continues to increase it is important to continue to find improved ways to support intercountry adoptive families.

Intercountry adoption Abstract Intercountry adoption is a global phenomenon. The countries of origin, children adopted abroad mostly come from, have a lot in common. Intercountry adoption comes about only if the child cannot be adopted in the country of origin because of the principle of subsidiarity. That is why it is important to consider, which conditions cause impossibility of domestic adoption and try to eliminate these conditions, as well as conditions causing leaving a child. It is a fight against poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism, insufficient funding of social and legal care of children or racism, like in the Czech Republic, where mostly children of Roma ethnics, whom Czech applicants for adoption do not want to adopt, are adopted abroad. The countries of origin have these social conditions (and others) in common. High number of children adopted abroad is a sign of a certain dysfunctions in the society. In the Czech Republic, Office for Legal Protection of Children with its registered office in Brno is a central body arranging intercountry adoption within the meaning of Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Intercountry adoption means a possibility of growing up in a family to a child, so the cooperation of international community in this area...

Intercountry adoption Abstract Intercountry adoption is a global phenomenon. The countries of origin, children adopted abroad mostly come from, have a lot in common. Intercountry adoption comes about only if the child cannot be adopted in the country of origin because of the principle of subsidiarity. That is why it is important to consider, which conditions cause impossibility of domestic adoption and try to eliminate these conditions, as well as conditions causing leaving a child. It is a fight against poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism, insufficient funding of social and legal care of children or racism, like in the Czech Republic, where mostly children of Roma ethnics, whom Czech applicants for adoption do not want to adopt, are adopted abroad. The countries of origin have these social conditions (and others) in common. High number of children adopted abroad is a sign of a certain dysfunctions in the society. In the Czech Republic, Office for Legal Protection of Children with its registered office in Brno is a central body arranging intercountry adoption within the meaning of Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Intercountry adoption means a possibility of growing up in a family to a child, so the cooperation of international community in this area...

Thesis ( Ph.D.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Recent sociological literature on family life focuses on the apparently increasing scope for individual choice in forming meaningful, intimate relationships. One important arena for the exercise of such choice is adoption, which is increasingly taking place across national boundaries, taking the form of intercountry adoption. Little attention, however, has been paid to this aspect of contemporary family life by these broader accounts of family change. The research which deals specifically with intercountry adoption focuses on the development and trends of the practice as well as outcome studies, often undertaken in the fields of social work and psychology, and there is little research which investigates the interaction between the general trends in family structure and intercountry adoption. This study responds to these gaps in the literature by examining the experiences of individuals choosing to form families through intercountry adoption in the Australian social policy environment. Documentary evidence was used to understand the development of Australian intercountry adoption and provide the historical and social policy context for the qualitative component of the study. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted to develop an understanding of the choice participants made to form their family through intercountry adoption, and to examine how the state manages this area of social policy. My study found that individuals choose to form families through intercountry adoption because children are a crucial means by which they can add meaning to their lives and intimate relationships by providing another human being to love and nurture. This child focus was seen as ‘natural’ and, for some, as an inevitable extension of their relationship. The research also generated findings about the nature of relationships within intercountry adoptive families and the factors which influence how these families are different from biological families. The complex policy environment in Australia creates difficulties for individuals negotiating the system and diversity in legislation and practice among states results in an unclear policy orientation. The movement of children across international boundaries, while not new, has been influenced by a number of global forces including improved transport, enactment of international treaties, media coverage and the introduction of the internet. These advances have resulted in increased knowledge and access to information about intercountry adoption and a more developed understanding of how the process operates in other countries, which impacts on the experience of the process in Australia. The sociological account of family formation involving intercountry adoption in Australia that I have developed in this thesis confirms that relationships of choice are being formed in postmodern society, despite messages from a variety of authorities regarding family life which are often mixed, contradictory and dominated by particular family types, rather than by the concept of choice. My study differs from existing studies on intercountry adoption in its achievement of an account of the personal experiences of the intercountry adoption process and family life that links the two together, to show both how broader issues in postmodern family formation structure intercountry adoption, and how intercountry adoption constitutes a vital element of contemporary family formation.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Recent sociological literature on family life focuses on the apparently increasing scope for individual choice in forming meaningful, intimate relationships. One important arena for the exercise of such choice is adoption, which is increasingly taking place across national boundaries, taking the form of intercountry adoption. Little attention, however, has been paid to this aspect of contemporary family life by these broader accounts of family change. The research which deals specifically with intercountry adoption focuses on the development and trends of the practice as well as outcome studies, often undertaken in the fields of social work and psychology, and there is little research which investigates the interaction between the general trends in family structure and intercountry adoption. This study responds to these gaps in the literature by examining the experiences of individuals choosing to form families through intercountry adoption in the Australian social policy environment. Documentary evidence was used to understand the development of Australian intercountry adoption and provide the historical and social policy context for the qualitative component of the study. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted to develop an understanding of the choice participants made to form their family through intercountry adoption, and to examine how the state manages this area of social policy. My study found that individuals choose to form families through intercountry adoption because children are a crucial means by which they can add meaning to their lives and intimate relationships by providing another human being to love and nurture. This child focus was seen as ‘natural’ and, for some, as an inevitable extension of their relationship. The research also generated findings about the nature of relationships within intercountry adoptive families and the factors which influence how these families are different from biological families. The complex policy environment in Australia creates difficulties for individuals negotiating the system and diversity in legislation and practice among states results in an unclear policy orientation. The movement of children across international boundaries, while not new, has been influenced by a number of global forces including improved transport, enactment of international treaties, media coverage and the introduction of the internet. These advances have resulted in increased knowledge and access to information about intercountry adoption and a more developed understanding of how the process operates in other countries, which impacts on the experience of the process in Australia. The sociological account of family formation involving intercountry adoption in Australia that I have developed in this thesis confirms that relationships of choice are being formed in postmodern society, despite messages from a variety of authorities regarding family life which are often mixed, contradictory and dominated by particular family types, rather than by the concept of choice. My study differs from existing studies on intercountry adoption in its achievement of an account of the personal experiences of the intercountry adoption process and family life that links the two together, to show both how broader issues in postmodern family formation structure intercountry adoption, and how intercountry adoption constitutes a vital element of contemporary family formation.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1986.