1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This article is designed to highlight the issue of open adoption and postadoption contact when children’s placement and the adoption process take place with the involvement of child welfare services. Case studies of children placed in foster-to-adopt families are used in this research to better identify the issues and considerations affecting open adoption practices in situations in which the child involved is from a family of birth parents who are experiencing significant problems.» (p. 437)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The study is a detailed examination of 16 cases of children who had been in foster-to-adopt families for less than 18 months.» (p. 442) «The majority (n = 12) were infants up to age 24 months. Moreover, of the 16 children whose cases were analyzed in the study, 11 had been removed from their birth families before the age of six months. [I]n terms of family profiles, 11 of the children were placed in heterosexual foster-to-adopt families, two in single parent families, and three in families headed by male same-sex couples. […] Participants were recruited through three different youth centers in the province of Quebec.» (p. 443)

Instruments :
Guide d’entretien semi-directif

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu

3. Résumé

«The present study confirms that distinctive challenges and dilemmas exist for open adoption, in situations in which the child placed in foster-to-adopt family comes from a maltreating family. Despite a context characterized by child vulnerability and parental precariousness, child welfare workers should consider maintaining contact between adopted children and biological parents and address this possibility with the adoptive parents when potentially beneficial for the child. Alternatively, workers must also remain attentive to child behaviors and emotions as such contacts may be associated with distress or become a source of anxiety.» (p. 454-455) «The possibility of maintaining post-adoption contact for children that are under the care of child welfare services and placed in foster-to-adopt families depends on multiple factors and circumstances based essentially on […] the characteristics of the child and the birth parents; […] the nature of the relationship between the foster-to-adopt family and the birth family and […] the relationship between the child and the birth family.» (p. 452)