ABSTRACTThe conflation of various illicit intercountry adoption activities under the umbrella of “child trafficking” has caused confusion in the adoption literature. Utilizing a pragmatic approach, this article explores the cacophony of opinions that have arisen with regard to trafficking in illicit adoption activities and identifies the concept of exploitation as a useful framework for differentiating among them. To improve and increase the accuracy of research, policy, and programming, the authors suggest the new labels child trafficking, the sale of children, birth mother trafficking, and abuse of process for use in identifying and discussing different forms illicit adoption.

ABSTRACTResearch highlights lasting cognitive and academic challenges in youth internationally adopted from institutional care. However, there is a lack of research examining internationally adopted students' sense of membership at school and associated academic and psychological outcomes. The current study measured sense of school membership and academic and psychological outcomes in post-institutionalized internationally adopted high school students (n = 29) compared to adolescents internationally adopted from foster care (n = 28) and non-adopted adolescents (n = 32). Post-institutionalized males had a lower sense of school membership than males adopted from foster care or non-adopted males. Group differences in school membership were mediated by academic achievement and psychological well-being.

All of Canada's provinces and territories legally recognize the right of gay and lesbian couples to adopt children; however, widespread acceptance of this practice has not been documented. Using an experimental design, with 506 university students, the present study assessed (1) attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and heterosexual adoptive couples; (2) the sex of the child to be adopted; (3) gender role characteristics of the adoptive couple; and (4) predictors of attitudes toward adoption by same-sex couples. Using vignettes describing potential adoptive couples, the results revealed that gay and lesbian couples were rated significantly less favorably than heterosexual couples when asked about outcomes for the adoptive child. Participants were more likely to approve of child placements with lesbian adoptive couples whose gender role characteristics emulated the traditional masculine/feminine dyad as compared to lesbian couples in which both partners displayed feminine characteristics. Statistically significant predictors of negative attitudes toward adoption by lesbian couples were religiosity and non-essentialist beliefs about homosexuality as well as endorsement of modern homonegative attitudes predicted negative attitudes toward adoption by gay male couples. Targeted education for social workers and adoption agency workers should be developed to ensure objective assessments of prospective same-sex adoptive couples regardless of their gender role characteristics.

Despite a 60-plus–year history of international adoption (IA) placements, the body of research exploring counseling and psychological interventions for those affected by IA is still in its infancy. This critical review of the state of the literature addresses research, theory, and practice relevant to the international adoption triad (adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoptees). We highlight the lack of empirical attention to the clinical needs of birth parents, the tendency to overlook the clinical needs of adoptive parents both pre- and post-adoption, early childhood vulnerability in international adoptees, and adolescent identity challenges and the attendant clinical issues.

An attachment-sensitive formulation is presented for a 9-year-old adopted girl with a complex presentation of oppositionality, separation anxiety, and attachment problems. Session-by-session observational data of an evidence-based treatment demonstrates the transactional nature of the carer-child interactions that drove an improvement in attachment behaviors, as well as oppositional and anxiety symptoms at home. Most importantly, a placement in imminent danger of breakdown was stabilized, allowing the child more time to negotiate a reliable attachment to her new carer. Thus, the evidence-base can be used to develop personalized treatment packages for complex adoption cases consistent with the relevant practice parameters.

A significant limitation of current adoption theory is the lack of identification of clear mechanisms by which macro-societal attitudes toward adoption and adopted persons influence processes of self-esteem. Building on current efforts, a new integrative theoretical approach to self-esteem in adopted persons is presented, incorporating contingency of self-worth theory. Motivation to manage one's self-esteem while imbedded within a larger social context is identified as a key mechanism in the formation of self-esteem and identity. Valuation of one's adoptive status as a positive source of self-esteem will depend largely on the attitudes pervasive in the social environment.

The historical roots of international adoption are often attributed to the first adoptions of Korean children following the Korean War. Those more aware of adoption history may cite the placement o...

We tested a model for predicting adoption attitudes: that remembered parental warmth is associated with more positive attitudes toward adoption and that this relationship is mediated by motivation to parent and liking of children. One hundred and eighty-seven university students participated in the study. Controlling for participant gender and adoption experience, the model was supported for maternal warmth, but not for paternal warmth. Specifically, the relationship between recalled maternal warmth and more positive attitudes toward adoption was mediated positively by liking of children and negatively by motivation to parent. The results implicate both childhood experiences and contemporary motives and preferences in adoption attitudes.

Theoretical literature on adoption discusses what are known as the “core issues in adoption.” The original core issues have been modified specifically for the adoptive family system and include 1) loss and grief, 2) entitlement, 3) claiming, 4) unmatched expectations, 5) family integration, 6) bonding and attachment, 7) identity, and 8) mastery and control. Using a self-report survey, this descriptive research assessed the degree to which adoptive mothers (N = 104) reported experiencing these core issues individually, and in their marriages. Results indicated that all of the core issues were experienced, but in varying degrees. Although challenging, some participants reported that their marriage was strengthened as a result of having encountered these issues. Qualitative data illuminated what was difficult and supported the need for skill-building marital interventions for adoptive parents.