About the Book
Documenting experiences representative of all those involved in the adoption process - adoptee, adoptive and birth parent and professional, and informed by psychoanalytic and social and cultural theory perspectives, this important addition to the literature on adoption highlights a new dimension in social policy, welfare work and personal accounts in this field.
The Dynamics of Adoption shows that fantasy and emotion are integral parts of the experience and affect the nature of thought itself. Applying this to the complexity of the adoption experience, it combines personal accounts with chapters by professionals. The personal accounts present detailed reflection on the feelings expressed, shedding new light on the problems of loss, feelings of abandonment and the dynamics of attachment. Using a more conceptual and clinical framework the viewpoints of the professionals are also used to explore the feelings and fantasies of the families involved producing new insight into the vexed dynamics involved in adoption.
This book will enable practitioners, policy makers and families themselves to appreciate the many layers of the difficult process of adoption, and to apply this understanding creatively to their own decisions and experiences.
Table of Contents:
1. Narrative and fantasy in adoption: towards a different theoretical understanding, Amal Treacher, Psychosocial Studies, University of East London. 2. The adoption narrative - stories that we tell and those that we can't, John Simmons, Social Work Department, Goldsmiths College, University of London. 3.The Jewish kindertransport from Germany to England, 1938-39, Rebekka Gopfert, Becks Publishing House, Germany. 4. Infertility and the 'bureaucratic' child, some thoughts on the treatment of two adopted patients Julian Lousada, Tavistock Clinic. 5. The adoption experience from a social worker's point of view Barbara Prynn 6. Identity-Formation and the adopted person revisited John Triseolitis, Department of Social Work, University of Edinburgh. 7. The dynamics of projection in trans-racial adoption Barry Richards. 8. Race, ethnicity and transracial adoption. Ravinder Barn, Royal Holloway College, Univeristy of London. 9. Towards the reality of reunion: an adoptive mother's journey through the fantasies and realities in adoption and birth mother reunion Alison Benton. 10. Lesbian and Gay parents as foster carers and adotpive parents Damian McCann, Principal Family Therapist, Barnet Health Care Trust and Fiona Tasker, Department of Psychology, Birkbeck College. 11. Pregnant bodies and rational parenthood Sallie Greenwood, The Waikato Polytechnic, New Zealand. 12. Changing practice in adoption: experiences and lessons from East Sussex Barry Luckock., School of Cultural and Community Studies, University of Sussex. 13. Clinical work with Adults who have been adopted Rose Golberg, Tavistock Clinic. 14. Triangles of adoption - the geometry of complexity, Ilan Katz, Practice Development Unit, NSPCC. With poems by Margot Henderson. Index.
About the Author :
Amal Treacher works on issues of ethnicity, especially those of dual-heritage, and is currently researching childhood subjectivity, through psychoanalytic and cultural theory frameworks. She is Principal Lecturer in Psychosocial Studies at the University of East London. Ilan Katz is Head of the NSPCC Practice Development Unit. His main research interests are child protection, identity and the sociology of childhood. Both editors are directors of CAIS (Centre for Adoption and Identity Studies) at the University of East London.
Review :
The Dynamics of Adoption offers new insights to those of us who sometimes wonder why we do what we do and how we might do it better. As is often the case, the most challenging and searching questions come from those people personally involved with adoption. Social work managers, policy makers and politicians would do well to listen.
The great value of this book if that it shows a complicated, intricate, and labyrinthine process is adoption - and, importantly, it is a lifelong process... The new found openness about the subject draws to the surface and makes official those dynamics about the adoption triangle which have always been there but which the surgical removal of the child from the birth family did not allow... Perhaps adoption can never for most people - adoptee, adopter or birth parent - be a final solution, however happy the outcome of the child. The respective roles, motivations, losses, fears and gains are well explored in a book which, with its emphasis on the dynamic which permeates the adoption drama, shows why the finality may never be achieved.
As a source book for experienced professionals in family placement, and as a resource for education and training purposes it has much thought provoking material to offer. Indeed in a world where simple solutions to complex issues are increasingly not only being sought but proposed, an invaluable strength of this book is that it encourages the reader to address the questions they should be asking themselves about adoption, rather than simply pursuing possible answers.
This book offers new insights to those of us who sometimes wonder why we do what we do and how we might do it better. As it is often the case, the most challenging and searching questions come form those people personally involved in adoption. Social work managers, policy makers and politicians would do well to listen
In the context in the current interest in adoption, and the liklyhood of new legislation for inter-county adoptions, this book provides a useful background to a complex and emotive topic. There are 14 chapters on various aspect of adoption, some of them drawn from a conference organised by the Centre for Adoption and identity studies (CAIS), the University of East London and the Taviscock Clinic. The contributors are from a range of backgroundsand, from different vantage points, provide understanding about the challenges adoption presents.
`The Dynamics of Adoption, edited by Amal Treacher and Ilan Katz, ;looks at the feelings and fantasies of those involved in the adoption process: adoptees, adoptives, birth parents, and professionals…'
…it is a book that reflects the complexity of the adoption experience. It offers windows itno the experience of the different actors within the adoption process: the adopted child/adult, the adoptive parent, the birth mother, the social worker, the therapist. The theme running through the whole book is the exploration of identity and sense of self for the adopted person, and the impact of this on adoptive families, professional practice and social policy in the adoption field. … This is a useful book, particularly for social workers who will get a fresh slant on thinking in the adoption field at a number of levels. First, the psychodynamic ideas underlying much of the discussion add an important dimension that is often lacking in adoption research literature. Second, the personal reflective material will help social workers get in touch with the pain, confusion and anger that is also part of the adoption process and experience. Third, changing practice and policy in post-adoption support may stimulate new attitudes and approaches among practitioners and policy makers. Fourth, chapters addressing lesbian and gay issues and the transracial placement debate bring fresh thoughts to the discussion. … Overall, this book is a valuable addition to the literature on adoption in that it attempts to combine policy perspectives with personal material on different aspects of the adoption experience. It is published at an opportune time and will contribute to the rethink taking place in the adoption field stimulated by the recent White Paper.
This book's strength lies in its exploration of narrative and fantasy of the adoptee, adopted parent, birth mother and professional worker in adoption.
