International and Transracial Adoptions

The text begins with an overview of factors which contribute to adjustment in adoption, including the role problems of adoptive parents, adoptions by step-parents, and neglect and abuse of children prior to adoption. Data from the British national child development study analyzed in this book indicate that adoption is a powerful environmental influence on children who without adoption would be at considerable risk for the development of major behavioural problems, delinquency, and mental illness. Several chapters on inter-country adoption highlight the policy dilemmas in this area, and the slow progress towards comprehensive, international agreements to protect the needs of inter-country adopted children. Two follow-up studies are reported of Chinese and Vietnamese children (now young adults) adopted by British parents in the 1960s and 1970s. The excellent outcomes for these children indicate that despite early trauma and neglect prior to adoption, the mental health of these adoptees is as good as mental health profiles in within-country adoptions.