Adoption: Concept, Principles, and Social Construct

Adoption is a complex social phenomenon, intimately knitted into its family law framework and shaped by the pressures affecting the family in its local social context. It is a mirror reflecting the changes in our family life and the efforts of family law to address those changes. This has caused it to be variously defined; in different societies, in the same society at different times and across a range of contemporary societies. It is currently being re-defined in the United Kingdom.

This chapter examines adoption from a developmental perspective drawing largely from law, policy and practice as experienced in England and Wales. It begins with a consideration of definitional matters, the concept and its culture specific determinants. An historical overview then provides some examples to illustrate the different social roles adoption has played in a variety of cultural contexts and to reveal the extent to which its development has been driven primarily by the changing pattern of adopters needs. This leads to a broad consideration of adoption in its English common law context and its gradual statutory transformation into statutory proceedings. The chapter concludes with an introduction to the main elements that emerged to structure statutory proceedings and continue to do so; the “contract”, the parties and the governing principles.