Early indicators of adoption breakdown

Abstract

An investigation of eighty cases of adoption breakdown was made in order to test the hypothesised existence of early indicators of future breakdowns. Adoption breakdown was defined as the removal of the adopted child from his adoptive home either before or after legal finalisation of the Adoption Order, and analysis was limited to those cases where serious problems were evident before the child reached the age of seven. Data were obtained from official adoption files, and a matching control group of files of eighty successful adoptions were also analysed, and findings compared with those in the experimental group. The results of the research are preceeded by an explanation of New Zealand adoption law and procedure, and a description of previous research into adoption breakdowns and relevant general research on adoption. The research findings are described chronologically, beginning with the demographic features of the adoptive parents who apply for a child; the subsequent chapters investigate the significance of the demographic features of the child available for adoption, and the significance of the processes of selection for adoptive parenthood, the placement of the child in the home, and the legal adoption supervision period. Taken alone, demographic features (particularly the age of the child at placement) indicate a strong relationship with adoption outcome, but the researcher suggests that the vulnerability to adoption breakdown indicated by demographic features of the child and parents may be caused or at least exacerbated by administrative social work decisions. This was best illustrated by the social work practice of 'matching for marginality', which was demonstrated as having a strong correlation with adoption breakdown. The responses of the social workers to problems in the adoptive home are examined and the findings are related to both the personal reactions of social workers and the legal adoption system. Some speculation is also made on the strong influence on all the findings of the state of supply of babies available for adoption. The final chapters assess the practical use of the findings; the results of a multiple regression analysis to test the predictive power of some significant variables are discussed, and the researcher suggests that her findings have practical implications for social work policy and practice which, if implemented, would prove more effective in preventing future breakdowns than a simple alertness to significant indicators.