The biographic and professional influences on adoption and fostering panel members’ recommendation-making

In the UK, decisions to approve adoptive parents and foster carers and authorise adoptions rest with specialist panels. While their formal role and function are clear, there is concern that their composition and the biographies and background characteristics of members could introduce bias and influence the decisions made. This article examines the validity of these criticisms with findings from a study of eight agencies, 15 panels and 22 members. It was found that the panel system achieves its aims in terms of having a representative constitution and providing considered recommendations in a timely manner to senior managers, but that individual biography affects panel members in carrying out their role to an unexpectedly high degree, possibly leading to flawed decisions. Actions to remedy this problem, at both an individual and group level, are suggested.

How adopters’ and foster carers’ perceptions of ‘family’ affect communicative openness in post-adoption contact interactions

This article explores the constructions of communicative openness following adoption. Data from three waves of interviews with six adoptive mothers and four foster carers were collected, transcribed verbatim and analysed in keeping with a social constructivist grounded theory methodology. The results show that the way ‘family’ is constructed can both facilitate and impede communicative openness. Those who hold a fluid, child-centred concept of family, are willing to construct it as different and can accept the ebb and flow of family membership intuitively and view such openness as a natural part of caring for children. Those with a more traditional, nuclear construction of family may associate adoption with fear, a sense of biological related competition and the need to control the controllable, all of which act as barriers to communicative openness. The study demonstrates that communicative openness is person and context sensitive and emphasises the need to think creatively and flexibly about the very nature of family.

Mental health and behavioural difficulties in adopted children: A systematic review of post-adoption risk and protective factors

Previous research suggests that adopted children are at a greater risk of experiencing psychological and behavioural difficulties or accessing mental health services than non-adopted peers and that post-adoption variables are significant risk and protective factors producing this situation. This review seeks to summarise the post-adoption variables associated with adopted children’s mental health or behavioural difficulties to inform future research and shape interventions. A search for publications that assess associated risk and protective factors using Web of Science, Psychinfo, Medline and Sociological Abstracts identified 52 studies that met rigorous methodological criteria. Children’s and adolescents’ mental health and behavioural outcomes were associated with parent, parent–child and wider family factors and by contextual variables. The findings highlight the importance of focusing on the multitude of systemic factors surrounding a child following adoption. Clinical implications and direction for future research are discussed.

Positive parenting in foster care: A video-feedback intervention to promote positive parenting – theory and practice

Foster children are known to be at high risk for developing attachment problems. Moreover, their associated behavioural problems can be a burden for the foster family and increase the risk of placement breakdown. A sensitive parenting style promotes a secure attachment which, in turn, can reduce the chance of difficulties arising and protect against placement disruption. Interventions using video-feedback of parent–child interactions offer a method of increasing parental sensitivity and improving the quality of the parent–child attachment. The intervention discussed in this article was part of a wider initiative, Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD), fashioned to promote sensitive parenting, secure attachment and a reduction in children’s behavioural problems. Its effectiveness has been shown for a variety of target groups. A variant of the approach was developed specifically for foster and adopted children, Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline – Foster Care/Adoption (VIPP-FC/A). This article discusses the design and delivery of the intervention and illustrates these with case material.