1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910783761603321

Autore

Adams Marie <1945->

Titolo

Our son, a stranger [[electronic resource] ] : adoption breakdown and its effects on parents / / Marie Adams

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Montreal, : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2002

ISBN

1-282-86061-5

9786612860614

0-7735-7038-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (255 p.)

Disciplina

362.73/4/08997071

Soggetti

Interracial adoption - Canada

Adoptive parents - Canada - Psychology

Indian children - Canada

Adoption interraciale - Canada

Parents adoptifs - Canada - Psychologie

Enfants autochtones - Canada

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [201]-206) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front Matter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Introduction -- Family Profiles -- The Adams Family -- The Roethler Family -- The Brooks Family -- The Graves Family -- The Verdan Family -- The Pelligrini Family -- Conclusions -- Why Do Some People Adopt? -- The Effects of Adoption Breakdown on Parents -- The Search for Answers -- Applying What We Learned -- Epilogue -- My Personal Advice for Parents -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In 1973 Marie and Rod Adams, brimming with idealism and keenly aware of the plight of disadvantaged aboriginal children, adopted Tim, a young Cree boy, two and one half years old. Tim began displaying severe behavioural problems almost immediately, problems that, despite their efforts to find help, only became worse over the years. He left home at the age of twelve and died on the streets when he was twenty-one. Devastated by their loss, the Adams began to search for answers as to why things had gone so horribly wrong. In Our Son, a Stranger Marie Adams describes five white couples whose adoptions of



native children failed to meet their expectations. Using her own experiences as background, she casts a critical eye on the "Sixties Scoop" when governments actively encouraged the adoption of native children by non-native parents - an estimated 95 per cent of such adoptions failed - and discusses why the special issues raised by all trans-racial adoptions need to be carefully considered.