Displays of parent suitability in adoption assessment reports

Abstract

Through adoption, the state actively contributes to creating families. It therefore also assumes the role of guarantor of the child's best interests in the adoption process, which entails assessing the suitability of presumptive adoptive parents. In the present paper, we use the concluding sections of assessment reports on applicants for intercountry adoption in Sweden to answer the following question: what must be said about an individual or a couple in order for her/them to be seen as a suitable adoptive parent? We thus assume that report conclusions serve to display parent suitability to their audiences. The assessment aligns with Swedish national adoption guidelines, and the study shows how the assessment handbook comes to serve as a catalogue of arguments that not only define good parenthood but also outline a way of life that is suitable for parenthood. The analysis illustrates how valid arguments for granting consent to adopt refer to three layers of suitability. They include not only the applicants' insights into and knowledge about adoption in particular and children in general but also their conventional and orderly life, i.e. a life free from distractions that could hinder a wholehearted focus on children and family life.

‘It shouldn’t just be these kinds of sunshine stories’: social workers’ discussion of ‘past difficulties’ as a key theme in adoption assessment interviews

“…Woodcock, 2003), and with Noordegraaf et al (2009), pointing to how a capacity to deal with troubles in life is associated with suitability for adoptive parenthood. Furthermore, given that Lind and Lindgren (2017) show that maturity and reflexivity are qualities ascribed to suitable parents, we can conclude that one of the purposes ascribed to talking about troubles in assessment interviews is to offer means to assess two key aspects of suitability: maturity and reflexivity.…”

“…Further, they illustrate how assessment interviews offer an opportunity for applicants to demonstrate their skills, and also to be open and disclose their thoughts, in order to gain the social worker's support and advice (Noordegraaf, van Nijnatten, & Elbers, 2008). In a Swedish context, Lind and Lindgren's (2017) study demonstrates how social workers portray prospective parents whom they consider suited for parenthood, as mature, open and 'good at reflecting on themselves, life and parenting' (p. 58).…”

“…Family assessment has been described as 'one of the most controversial and complex areas of social work' (Holland, 2011, p. 1), especially when there are concerns about a child's welfare. In relation to adoption, and intercountry adoption in particular, this is a truly delicate matter as social workers must examine the suitability of future parents with regard to the welfare of an unknown child (Lind & Lindgren, 2017). In complex practices such as these, social workers' understanding of their undertakings, i.e.…”

Black South Africans’ Perceptions and Experiences of the Legal Child Adoption Assessment Process

“…Worldwide, and in South Africa, the adoption assessment process is the subject of ongoing debate and has been criticised from both within and outside of adoption circles (Lind & Lindgren, 2017;Selwyn, 2015). There are no scientific tests that can predict adoptive parents' suitability to potentially parent an unrelated child (De Wispelaere & De Weinstock, 2012;McLeod & Botterell, 2014), so guidelines need to be developed and directed at meeting the adoptable child's best interests.…”

Interprofessional working: adoption assessments for people living with HIV

“…Although social work adoption assessments should be broadened to incorporate biological, health, social and wider issues that influence the experiences of PLWHIV, the primary focus should be that of determining overall suitability, readiness and capability to offer good parenthood, and this comes from a good analysis of holistic information collated about the applicant (Lind and Lindgren, 2017).…”