The purpose of this paper is to present a review of literature on internationally adopted children in the U.S. that provides context, references for normal development, and describes traumatic stress with children. This gives counselors and other professionals who work with young children and families of international adoption a conceptual…

The current article provides a review of adoption research since its inception as a field of study. Three historical trends in adoption research are identified: the first focusing on risk in adoption and identifying adoptee-nonadoptee differences in adjustment; the second examining the capacity of adopted children to recover from early adversity;…

The practice of international adoption of children is critiqued, using an egalitarian concept of a distributive method of social justice. From this perspective, international adoption may be perceived as contradictory to principles of social justice by ignoring the social context within which it occurs. Possible solutions are critiqued and…

Investigates sources of variation in parents' assessment of parental stress and the effects of early institutionalization. Participants included 109 mother-father pairs who adopted children from Eastern Europe. Significant differences between mothers and fathers were obtained on child- and parent-related stress. Results indicated that children's…

Research on transracial adoption indicates that most minority children in transracial placement adjust very well to their mixed-race environments. Most transracial adoptees have a sense of identity with their racial heritage, but the strength of this identity depends, to a large degree, on the commitment of the adoptive parents to foster it.…

For the past 50 years, adults who were adopted during infancy have been research participants for empirical studies with goals ranging from twin studies for heritability, to adjustment following adoption, to attachment. While the research body is broad, it has given little attention to counseling practices with adopted adults. Because empirical…

Literature review indicates adoption status never really ends for any adoptive family; agencies should help whenever help is needed. For families adopting children with special needs, it is imperative help be available at all times. This involves special considerations. Kinds of services needed are discussed, and program designed to provide those…

The policy analysis examines application of permanency planning principles (services in family settings that provide continuity in relationships) to services for developmentally disabled children (through age 21) in Colorado. Section I provides an extensive description of permanency planning principles and a discussion of their theoretical and…

The controversies in adoption have extended across a spectrum of policy and practice issues, and although the issues have become clear, resolution has not been achieved nor has consensus developed regarding a framework on which to improve the quality of adoption policy and practice. This book is the third in a series to use an ethics-based…

The key dependent variable in adoption research is the child's mental health, in the short and the long term. Defining mental health as the development of basic ego strength and a feeling of self-worth, which enable an individual to cope with stresses later in life, this book focuses on how well adolescents and young adults have fared in adoption.…

A selective view of the professional literature indicates that, although most adoptees are well within the normal range of functioning, as a group they are more vulnerable to various emotional, behavioral, and academic problems than their nonadopted peers living in intact homes with their biological parents. Methodological problems associated with…

In this paper, an overview of children's psychological processes is presented within the context of adoption, foster care, or other type of placement which requires the child to develop the coping skills necessary to continue toward optimal growth psychologically, cognitively, and socially. Findings from a research review indicate that children…