Intercountry Adoption Policies, Practices, and Outcomes Contemporary Social Work Studies Series

Intercountry adoption represents a significant component of international migration; in recent years, up to 45,000 children have crossed borders annually as part of the intercountry adoption boom. Proponents have touted intercountry adoption as a natural intervention for promoting child welfare. However, in cases of fraud and economic incentives, intercountry adoption has been denounced as child trafficking. The debate on intercountry adoption has been framed in terms of three perspectives: proponents who advocate intercountry adoption, abolitionists who argue for its elimination, and pragmatists who look for ways to improve both the conditions in sending countries and the procedures for intercountry transfer of children. Social workers play critical roles in intercountry adoption; they are often involved in family support services or child relinquishment in sending countries, and in evaluating potential adoptive homes, processing applications, and providing support for adoptive families in receiving countries; social workers are involved as brokers and policy makers with regard to the processes, procedures, and regulations that govern intercountry adoption. Their voice is essential in shaping practical and ethical policies of the future. Containing 25 chapters covering the following five areas: policy and regulations; sending country perspectives; outcomes for intercountry adoptees; debate between a proponent and an abolitionist; and pragmatists' guides for improving intercountry adoption practices, this book will be essential reading for social work practitioners and academics involved with intercountry adoption.

Contents: Foreword; Introduction, Judith L. Gibbons and Karen Smith Rotabi; Part I Policy and Regulations: The rise and fall of intercountry adoption in the 21st century: global trends from 2001 to 2010, Peter Selman; Social policy approaches and social work dilemmas in intercountry adoption, Jonathan Dickens; Implications of the Hague Convention on the humanitarian evacuation and 'rescue' of children, Kathleen Ja Sook Bergquist; Human rights considerations in intercountry adoption: the children and families of Cambodia and Marshall Islands, Jini L. Roby and Trish Maskew; Fraud in intercountry adoption: child sales and abduction in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Guatemala, Karen Smith Rotabi; Perspectives on child welfare: ways of understanding roles and actions of current USA adoption agencies involved in intercountry adoptions, Mary Katherine O'Connor and Karen Smith Rotabi. Part II Sending Country Perspectives: Child welfare in Romania: contexts and processes, Cristina Nedelcu and Victor Groza; Challenging the discourse of intercountry adoption: perspectives from rural China, Kay Johnson; Intercountry adoption and child welfare in Guatemala: lessons learned from pre- and post- ratification of the 1993 Hague Convention on the protection of children and cooperation in respect of intercountry adoption, Kelley McCreery Bunkers and Victor Groza; Ethiopia at a critical juncture in intercountry adoption and traditional care practices, Kelley McCreery Bunkers, Karen Smith Rotabi and Benyam Dawit Mezmur; Maternal thinking in the context of stratified reproduction: perspectives of birth mothers from South Africa, Riitta Högbacka; Exiting or going forth? An overview of US outgoing adoptions, Dana Naughton. Part III Outcomes for Intercountry Adoptees: Review of meta-analytical studies on the physical, emotional, and cognitive outcomes in intercountry adoptees, Femmie Juffer and Marinus H. van IJzendoorn; Medical status of internationally adopted children, Laurie C. Miller; Cognitive competence, academic achievement, and educational attainment among intercountry adoptees: research outcomes from the Nordic countries, Monica Dalen; Families with intercountry adopted children: talking about adoption and birth culture, Femmie Juffer and Wendy Tieman; Post-racial utopianism, white color-blindness and 'the elephant in the room': racial issues for transnational adoptees of color, Tobias Hübinette. Part IV The Debate: The debate, Elizabeth Bartholet and David Smolin. Part V Pragmatists: Improving the Process: Best practices in implementing the Hague Convention, Judith L. Gibbons and Karen Smith Rotabi; Intercountry adoptions and home study assessments: the need for uniform practices, Thomas M. Crea; Understanding and preventing intercountry adoption breakdown, Jesús Palacios; Openness and intercountry adoption in New Zealand, Rhoda Scherman; All grown up: the rise of the Korean adult adoptee movement and implications for practice, Hollee McGinnis; Truth, reconciliation, and searching for the disappeared children of civil war: El Salvador's search and reunion model defined, Carmen Mónico and Karen Smith Rotabi; Looking to the future, Judith L. Gibbons and Karen Smith Rotabi; References; Indexes.

Judith L. Gibbons is Professor of Psychology, Saint Louis University, USA. Karen Smith Rotabi is Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA.