This paper describes a study of the adoptions of 82
"special needs" children placed for adoption in British
Columbia between 1985 and 1989. The adoptions of 41 of these
children were not completed. This study examines variables
related to the children placed for adoption to determine
those factors which appear to be related to disrupted
adoptive placements.
The paper traces the development of adoption through
history and reviews the findings of major research studies
in special needs adoption disruption. Using the findings
from the review and adding hypotheses that appeared to be
missing from other studies, a file review schedule was
developed. With permission from the B.C. Superintendent of
Family and Child Service, the schedule was used to review
the children's adoption files.
Analysis of the data obtained indicated that the age of
the child at the time of adoption placement was a
significant factor in adoption disruption. In addition, the
age when the child was legally free for adoption was found
to be significant. In both cases, the younger the child, the
lower the risk of disruption. An additional important
finding of this study is that children who are members of a
sibling group are more likely to have their adoptions
completed than children without siblings and children placed
alone.
The pre-care experiences of children were thought to be
an important factor in adoption disruption. The study shows
that some experiences have a significant effect, notably
those in which the extent of the biological parents'
disability is clear to the child prior to the adoption
placement. The presence of multiple special needs was not
significantly associated with disruption except in the case
of boys identified as having emotional/behavioural problems.
The paper links the findings to those of other
researchers, identifying implications for policy and
practice. The resilience of the children studied and their
ability to withstand serious trauma in their early years is
an unanticipated finding of the study. Recommendations for
addressing the findings suggest greater emphasis on
maintaining sibling attachment for children in care,
increased emphasis on assisting children to understand their
family and personal history, and broad public education to
eliminate myths about special needs adoption. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/42017 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Berland, Jeremy Quentin |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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