In-between and beyond: Moving images and finding families – Using digital media in the adoption process

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-324
Author(s):  
Maggie Grant ◽  
Karen Lury
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Images ◽  
Adoptive Parents ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Adopted Child ◽  
Life Narrative ◽  
Moving Images ◽  
Introductory Material

This article explores the use of digital images as part of the adoption process. Based on a series of semi-structured interviews with adoptive parents, social workers and foster carers, it explores the responses of these stakeholders and reflects on the value and effect of digital images as they are employed when a child is placed for adoption. The research reveals how the kinds of information ‘moving images’ can offer become significant, not just as introductory material for potential adoptive parents – operating within the in-between space for the parent waiting to adopt and the child waiting to be placed – but as facilitating a virtual, present-tense dialogue (in-between adopters, foster carers and the child) once a placement has been agreed. Another unanticipated revelation was the extent to which clips were valued beyond their instrumental use in these in-between spaces and resonated within the future life narrative of the adopted child.

scholarly journals THE GREAT MOVE TOWARDS OPENNESS IN ADOPTION

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Da Rocha
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Adoptive Parents ◽  
Adoptive Parent ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Adopted Child ◽  
Major Step ◽  
Birth Parents ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
The Right

Many noteworthy changes have occurred in South African adoption law in the recent past: With the enactment of the Children’s Act, various new concepts have been provided for. A post-adoption agreement is one such concept. This provision allows the Children’s Court to grant an order confirming an agreement whereby the biological parent/s or guardian/s of a child would have the benefit of either communication or contact with the adopted child, or the right to be provided with certain information concerning such child. An application for judicial approval of a post-adoption agreement is brought before the court simultaneously alongside the adoption order. This is a major step towards the concept widely known in the international community as ‘openness’ in the adoption process, and away from the secrecy which dominated adoptions in the past. Currently in South Africa, adoption may be described as an ‘... order [which] has the effect of creating a legal relationship between the adoptive parent and the adopted child in the interests of the child.’ This involves the severing of legal ties between the birth parents and their child, relinquishing all parental rights and responsibilities and handing them over to the adoptive parents. Therefore in the eyes of the law, the adopted child is, for all purposes, the child of the adoptive parent/s. Due to the fact that this is the first time the South African legislature has sought to provide for and regulate post-adoption contact, this article serves as an exploration into the new possibilities and struggles South Africa may face in this regard.

scholarly journals Fear and Uncertainty: The Surrogacy Triad’s Experience of Social Workers’ Role Ambiguity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Walker ◽  
Liezl van Zyl
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Role Conflict ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Role Ambiguity ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Valuable Role

Abstract In New Zealand, as in the UK, the surrogate is the legal mother of the child until parentage is transferred by the court to the intended parents. Social workers are responsible for assessing the intended parents’ suitability to parent and scrutinising the arrangement. However, courts almost invariably transfer parentage, regardless of their recommendations, with the result that social workers experience a significant amount of role ambiguity. We conducted semi-structured interviews with surrogates and intended parents about their experience of surrogacy in New Zealand, focussing on the changes they would like to see in the regulatory framework, particularly with regards to legal parentage and the involvement of social workers in assessing intending parents’ suitability to parent. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts showed that role ambiguity and role conflict experienced by social workers have their corollary in the experience of intended parents and surrogates, where it manifests as either fear that the adoption could be declined or uncertainty about the purpose of the social worker’s involvement. Although participants recommended that their role be eliminated—along with the adoption process itself—we argue that there is a valuable role for social workers at the beginning of the process.

The impact of COVID-19 quarantine measures on the mental health of families

2021 ◽  
pp. 146801732110117
Author(s):  
Fakir Al Gharaibeh ◽  
Laura Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Strong Shock ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
The Impact

Summary COVID-19 is shaping all aspects of life throughout the world. The unexpected number of people who have been infected with and died from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is evidence that the pandemic has affected families and societies. The strong shock wave that has resulted in the international response has focused more on medical rather than psychosocial interventions. Little has been written or studied about the impact of COVID-19 on families. This article explores the impact of the COVID-19 quarantine on the mental health of families. We conducted 20 in-depth interviews with Jordanian families through snowball sampling. Findings The results show that 20 interviewees described varied and new experiences. Many of the families we interviewed displayed symptoms of mental health problems, including disrupted sleep patterns, changes in eating habits, excessive digital media use, anxiety, depression, excessive smoking, stomach aches, bedwetting among children, and persistent headaches. The study also demonstrated the psychological stress partners felt during the lockdown due to their worries about job security. They also communicated their hope that renewed family commitments might bring more stability to their relationships. During the lockdown, family members spent more time together, and it became harder to conceal any issues from each other. Applications The findings of this research demonstrate a critical need for social workers, and it is hoped that future legislation will include a role for social workers in various fields of crisis. Moreover, social workers should encourage families to ask for intervention to overcome the long-term effects that may result from COVID-19.

Purchasing Power and Self-Determination: Social Worker Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Bailey ◽  
Debbie Plath ◽  
Alankaar Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Management Approaches

Abstract The international policy trend towards personalised budgets, which is designed to offer people with disabilities purchasing power to choose services that suit them, is exemplified in the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This article examines how the ‘purchasing power’ afforded to service users through individualised budgets impacts on social work practice and the choice and self-determination of NDIS service users. Social workers’ views were sought on the alignment between the NDIS principles of choice and control and social work principles of participation and self-determination and how their social work practice has changed in order to facilitate client access to supports through NDIS budgets and meaningful participation in decision-making. A survey was completed by forty-five social workers, and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five of these participants. The findings identify how social workers have responded to the shortfalls of the NDIS by the following: interpreting information for clients; assisting service users to navigate complex service provision systems; supporting clients through goal setting, decision-making and implementation of action plans; and adopting case management approaches. The incorporation of social work services into the NDIS service model is proposed in order to facilitate meaningful choice and self-determination associated with purchasing power.

scholarly journals Assessing and assisting prospective adoptive parents: Social workers’ communicative strategies in adoption assessment interviews

2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502198942
Author(s):  
Madeleine Wirzén ◽  
Asta Čekaitė
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Interaction Analysis ◽  
Adoptive Parents ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Institutional Goals ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
Specific Assessment ◽  
And Function

The assessment of prospective adoptive parents is a complex task for professional social workers. In this study, we examine the structure and function of professional social workers’ follow-up questions in assessment talk with adoption applicants. The analysis shows that adoption assessment through interviews involved a delicate and complex task that was accomplished by using a particular genre of institutional talk. This both invited the applicants’ extended and ‘open-ended’ responses and steered these responses and their development towards the institutionally relevant topics. Detailed interaction analysis demonstrates that social workers used a broad range of question types to steer and guide applicants’ responses, organising talk about specific assessment topics. On the basis of initial open-ended topic initiations and applicants’ responses, the social workers steered topic development by using follow-up moves such as polar questions and clarifying questions that asked for specification, challenged applicants’ ideas, confirmed their knowledge and encouraged self-reflection. These follow-up moves allowed social workers to achieve the progression of talk into relevant areas of investigation and constituted a central and characteristic feature of assessment interviews. We suggest that they allow social workers to accomplish two hybrid institutional goals: i) the assessment of applicants’ suitability and ii) applicants’ preparation for future parenthood.

scholarly journals Social work support for employment of people with learning disabilities: Findings from the English Jobs First demonstration sites

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Stevens ◽  
Jess Harris
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Case Record ◽  
Wide Range

Summary This article brings together two key themes in recent public policy in England affecting social work practice: the value of having a paid job for social inclusion and increasing self-worth, and the personalisation of public services. The article draws on a mixed method evaluation of Jobs First, which was a government-funded demonstration site project that aimed to show how personal budgets (a key mechanism for personalisation) could be used by people with learning disabilities, often with their families, to purchase employment support. The evaluation involved secondary analysis of case record data and 142 semi-structured interviews with a wide range of participants (we mainly draw on 79 interviews with professionals for this article). Jobs First is placed within the frame of Active Labour Market Policy. Findings The attitudes of social workers to Jobs First were broadly positive, which was an important factor supporting employment outcomes. However, social workers’ involvement was often limited to a coordinating role, undertaking basic assessments linked to resource allocation and ensuring that support plans, which had often been developed by non-social work practitioners, were ‘signed off’ or agreed by the local authority. Applications The study points to important elements of the role of social workers in this new field of practice and explores potential tensions that might emerge. It highlights a continuing theme that social workers are playing more of a coordinating, managing role, rather than working directly with individuals to support their choices.

Critique and the video production classroom: providing students the skills to navigate new media literacies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Nixon
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
New Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Video Production ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Media Literacy ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate how teaching the discourse of critique, an integral part of the video production process, can be used to eliminate barriers for young people in gaining new media literacy skills helping more young people become producers rather than consumers of digital media. Design/methodology/approach This paper describes an instrumental qualitative case study (Stake, 2000) in two elective high school video production classrooms in the Midwestern region of the USA. The author conducted observations, video and audio recorded critique sessions, conducted semi-structured interviews and collected artifacts throughout production including storyboards, brainstorms and rough and final cuts of videos. Findings Throughout critique, young video producers used argumentation strategies to cocreate meaning, multiple methods of inquiry and questioning, critically evaluated feedback and synthesized their ideas and those of their peers to achieve their intended artistic vision. Young video producers used feedback in the following ways: incorporated feedback directly into their work, rejected and ignored feedback, or incorporated some element of the feedback in a way not originally intended. Originality/value This paper demonstrates how teaching the discourse of critique can be used to eliminate barriers for young people in gaining new media literacy skills. Educators can teach argumentation and inquiry strategies through using thinking guides that encourage active processing and through engaging near peer mentors. Classroom educators can integrate the arts-based practice of the pitch critique session to maximize the impact of peer-to-peer learning.

The Role of the Pediatrician in Adoption With Reference to "The Right To Know"

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-379
Author(s):  
◽  
Donald Lewis ◽  
George C. Cypress ◽  
Joseph H. Davis ◽  
Ruth C. Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Birth Certificate ◽  
Adoptive Parents ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Court Order ◽  
Adoptive Family ◽  
Just Cause ◽  
The Right To Know ◽  
Original Record ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

The adoption process in our country traditionally has been designed to safeguard the rights of adoptive parents, insure the solidarity of the adoptive family, and preserve the anonymity of the natural parents. To accomplish this, when adoptions are finalized, the original birth certificate is "sealed" and a new certificate is issued in the name of the adoptive parents. Once sealed, the laws of most states specify that the original record can be opened only by court order and for "just cause." A few states have provisions for opening of the records on demand of the adoptee when that person becomes an adult. This provision often turns out to be true in theory but not in practice, and the definition of "just cause" has varied greatly from court to court. Most adoptive parents have warm and loving relationships with their adoptive children. Most try to pass on to them, at appropriate times, as much of the birth information as they know and are able to provide. Most adoptees have a warm and loving and truly bonded relationship with their adoptive parents. In spite of this, and regardless of their attachment to the adoptive parents, some adoptees, as they reach maturity, have a compelling desire to learn of their natural parent or parents. Many adult adoptees and adoption specialists see this search as essential to the establishment of a sense of identity. Most reports of reunions indicate that adoptees have been pleased with the meeting and that their ties to their adoptive parents have been strengthened thereby.

Team Managers in Local Social Service Departments in Israel as Bottom-Up Social Policy-Makers

2021 ◽  
pp. 324-345
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Psychosocial Services ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
New Policies

Following on Felice Perlmutter's work on the managerial role of social workers in social services, this article contributes to the still limited knowledge on the role of social workers in middle-management positions in formulating new policies `on the ground`. The study expands knowledge about policies determined by team managers in local social service departments in Israel. It occurs in the nexus between street-level bureaucracy, professionalism and managerial positions. Semi-structured interviews with 28 team managers revealed that they formulated `new` policies with regard to the provision of psychosocial services and material assistance (who gets what, when and how). This occurs when they resist official policy, when it is vague or non-existent. Most of their policy decisions are not documented and draw upon consultations with colleagues and superiors though not with clients. The team managers perceive these policies as a means for achieving balance between clients' well-being and budgetary constraints. Yet their decisions lack transparency, are decided upon without public discourse and may lead to greater inequity between clients

Of Digital Images and Digital Media

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 74-102
Author(s):  
Nicole Karapanagiotis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Jersey ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Digital Images ◽  
The United States ◽  
Digital Marketing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Imagery

This article is a theoretical and ethnographic investigation of the role of marketing and branding within the contemporary ISKCON movement in the United States. In it, I examine the digital marketing enterprises of two prominent ISKCON temples: ISKCON of New Jersey and ISKCON of D.C. I argue that by attending to the vastly different ways in which these temples present and portray ISKCON online—including the markedly different media imagery by which they aim to draw the attention of the public—we can learn about an ideological divide concerning marketing within American ISKCON. This divide, I argue, highlights different ideas regarding how potential newcomers become attracted to ISKCON. It also illuminates an unexplored facet of the heterogeneity of American ISKCON, principally in terms of the movement’s public face.

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