‘Adoption & Fostering’ journal: October issue (Vol 49, Issue 3) now available!
According to the latest figures, 56% of the submissions to Adoption & Fostering and almost 40% of articles accepted for publication have come from outside of the UK. These articles not only cement the journal’s international standing, but also offer insights into effective policy and practice in other countries, they help us to understand the experiences of children who enter the UK care system from abroad and bring together a global community of researchers and readers with the shared goal of improving the lives of the most vulnerable children.
Reflecting this community, four out of the five articles in the most recent edition (Volume 49, Issue 3) present studies conducted overseas. Dennis Golm’s editorial addresses the factors that can contribute to regrets among adoptive parents in response to the research of Nicole Martin and her colleagues in Georgia, USA, on intercountry adoptions. 473 international parents were first asked to identify their desired characteristics in a child (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity, special needs status) before they were matched and subsequently rated their satisfaction a year after adoption. A correlation was found between a higher number of criteria and lower satisfaction/more regrets.
Mercy Aladegboye and her colleagues assessed the mental health status of orphans and vulnerable children in residential institutions in Ibadan in South-West Nigeria and the availability of appropriate services. Their work is a call to arms for greater mental health assessment and support for these children. We discussed their work further in an episode for the CoramBAAF Conversations podcast series – a must-listen.
In Europe, Margarita Xanthaki and Lida Anagnostaki interviewed eight foster mothers in Greece on their experiences, motivations, challenges and sense of satisfaction of caring for disabled foster children, uncovering some unexpected findings about abuse and neglect in residential institutions. Marzia Saglietti and Cristina Zucchermaglio analysed the level of participation with birth families in three group homes in Rome, Italy, by observing and analysing dinnertime interactions, making fieldnotes, interviewing caregivers and reading written documents. They advise on how family partnering can be improved in these settings.
Demonstrating the world-class research and practice conducted here in the UK, Saul Hillman and colleagues report their study of the attachment representations of eight teenagers adopted beyond infancy by adoptive parents who were either securely or insecurely attached. When parents were securely attached, this was beneficial to the attachment representations of the teenagers – and these findings can inform the support offered to adoptive families.
In the Health Notes, specialist nurse for looked after children, Ane Lund Ringen, describes the work of her NHS Trust to empower children in their care planning with the use of Health Goal Cards in health assessments. Our regular Legal Notes, written by experts, provide comment on recent cases in the UK. And two of our own CoramBAAF publications on the difficult but important topic of sexual abuse in foster and kinship care are reviewed by Camelia Chowdhury Allen.
The journal wouldn’t exist without our community of authors and readers, or the anonymous reviewers who play a silent but critical role in the publication of each article. So, here’s to continuing to share knowledge, expertise and ideas with colleagues around the world!
Vicky Walker, Journal Production Editor, CoramBAAF.