Abstract
MacDonald’s interpretative phenomenological study offers an in-depth exploration of adoptive parents’ lived experience of parenthood within the context of open adoption. In the study, open adoption is characterised by direct or indirect contact with the adopted child’s birth parents or other birth relatives, an increasingly common practice following both public and private adoption, particularly in the UK and the USA. The focus on domestic non-kin adoption of children from State care, including compulsory adoption, addresses current child welfare concerns. Distinctively, MacDonald engages in a fine-grained analysis of adopters’ experience, connecting this to adoption research, and also to wider sociological theories of family life. In this introduction, MacDonald outlines the social work practice dilemmas associated with public open adoption, which motivated the study.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bridge, C., and H. Swindells. 2003. Adoption: The Modern Law. Bristol: Jordan Publishing.
Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety. 2006. Adopting the Future. Belfast: DHSSPS.
Finch, J. 2007. Displaying families. Sociology 41(1): 65–81.
Grotevant, H.D. 2009. Emotional distance regulation over the life-course. In International Advances in Adoption Research for Practice, ed. G.M. Wrobel and E. Neil, 269–294. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Holstein, J.A., and J. Gubrium. 1999. What is family? Marriage and Family Review 28(3–4): 3–20.
Jones, C., and J. Logan. 2013. Editorial to rediscovering family and kinship: New directions for social work theory, policy and practice. Child and Family Social Work 18(1): 1–4.
Logan, J., 1999. Exchanging information post adoption: views of adoptive parents and birth parents. Adoption & Fostering, 23(3), pp. 27–37.
Mason, J. 2011. What it means to be related. In Sociology of Personal Life, ed. V. May, 59–71. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
McSherry, D., E. Larkin, M. Fargas, G. Kelly, C. Robinson, G. Macdonald, D. Schubotz, and R. Kilpatrick. 2008. From Care to Where. A Care Pathways and Outcomes Report for Practitioners. Belfast: Institute of Child Care Research, Queens University.
Morgan, D.H. 1996. Family Connections: An Introduction to Family Studies. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Morgan, D.H. 2011. Rethinking Family Practices. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sales, S. 2012. Adoption, Family and the Paradox of Origins: A Foucauldian History. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Smith, J.A., P. Flowers, and M. Larkin. 2009. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research. London: Sage.
Smith, C., and J. Logan. 2002. Adoptive parenthood as a ‘legal fiction’—It’s consequences for direct post-adoption contact. Child and Family Law Quarterly 281(3): 1–21.
Sue, D.W., C.M. Capodilupo, G.C. Torino, J.M. Bucceri, A. Holder, K.L. Nadal, and M. Esquilin. 2007. Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist 62(4): 271.
Triseliotis, J., J. Feast, and F. Kyle. 2005. The Adoption Triangle Revisited. London: BAAF (British Association for Adoption and Fostering).
Widmer, E.D., and R. Jallinoja. 2008. Beyond the Nuclear Family: Families in Configurational Perspective. Bern: Peter Lang.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
MacDonald, M. (2016). Introduction. In: Parenthood and Open Adoption. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57645-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57645-3_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57644-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-57645-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)