The Routledge Handbook of Adoption

Adoption is practiced globally yielding a multidimensional area of study that cannot be characterized by a single movement or discipline. This handbook provides a central source of contemporary scholarship from a variety of disciplines with an international perspective and uses a multifaceted and interdisciplinary approach to ground adoption practices and activities in scientific research. Perspectives of birth/first parents, adoptive parents, and adopted persons are brought forth through a range of disciplinary and theoretical lenses. Beginning with background and context of adoption, including sociocultural and political contexts, the handbook then addresses the diversity of adoptive families in terms of family forms, attitudes about adoption, and characteristics of adopted children. Next, research examining the lived experience of adoption for birth parents, adoptive parents, and adopted individuals is presented. A variety of outcomes for internationally and domestically adopted children and adoptive families is then discussed and the handbook concludes by addressing the development, training, and implementation of adoption competent clinical practice. With cutting-edge research from top international scholars in a diversity of fields, The Routledge Handbook of Adoption should be considered essential reading for students, researchers, and practitioners across the fields of social work, sociology, psychology, medicine, family science, education, and demography. Interviews with chapter authors can be accessed as podcasts (https://anchor.fm/emily-helder) or as videos (https://bit.ly/2FIoi0a).

Part I: Adoption in context 1. Historical and contemporary contexts of US adoption: an overview Elisha Marr, Emily Helder, and Gretchen MillerWrobel 2. US adoption by the numbers Rose M. Kreider 3. An economic perspective on ethics in adoption policy Mary Eschelbach Hansen 4. Domestic adoption in Ethiopia Sebilu Bodja and Kristi Gleason 5. Intersection of information science and crisis pregnancy decision-making Rachael Clemens 6. Respecting children’s relationships and identities in adoption Elsbeth Neil and Mary Beek 7. The Early Growth and Development Study: using an adoption design to understand family influences and child development Amy L. Whitesel, Andrew Dismukes, Dorothy White, Sally Guyer, Jody M. Ganiban, Leslie D. Leve, and Jenae M. Neiderhiser Part II: Diversity in adoption 8. Unique challenges and strengths for families formed through international adoption Marta Reinoso Bernuz 9. A critical adoption studies and Asian Americanist integrative perspective on the psychology of Korean adoption Adam Y. Kim and Richard M. Lee 10. A nationally representative comparison of Black and White adoptive parents of Black adoptees Elizabeth Raleigh and Rose M. Kreider 11. Racial and gender preferences among potential adoptive parents Kathryn A. Sweeney 12. Adoptive families headed by LGBTQ parents. Rachel H. Farr and Cassandra P. Vázquez 13. Post-institutionalized adopted children: effects of prolonged institutionalization and adoption at an older age Megan M. Julian 14. Adoptees with disabilities or medically involved children:a multidisciplinary approach for preparing parents, assessing the child, and supporting successful family formation Dana E. Johnson, Judith Eckerle, Megan Bresnahan, and Maria Kroupina 15. Adoption in the context ofnatural disaster Peter Selman Part III: Lived experience 16. Birth mothers’ options counseling and relinquishment experiences Elissa E. Madden, Donna M. Aguiniga, and Scott Ryan 17. Transracial adoptees: the rewards and challenges of searching for their birth families Danielle Godon-Decoteau and Patricia Ramsey 18. Communication about adoption in families Lindsey J. Thomas and Kristina M. Scharp 19. Open adoption Harold D. Grotevant 20. How adoptive parents think about their role as parents Albert Y.H. Lo and Krystal K. Cashen 21. Religiosity and adoption Emily Helder and Elisha Marr 22. Adoptive microaggressions: historical foundations, current research, and practical implications Karin Garber 23. Maltreatment of adoptees in adoptive homes Jessica A.K. Matthews Part IV: Outcomes 24. Speech and language development in adopted children Sharon L. Glennen 25. Behavioral and emotional adjustment in adoptees Eveliina Holmgren, Hanna Raaska, Marko Elovainio, and Helena Lapenleimu 26. The neurobiological embedding of early social deprivation in children exposed to institutional rearing Rebecca Lipschutz and Johanna Bick 27. Post-adoption short- and long-term social adaptation and competence of internationally adopted children Tony Xing Tan, Yanhong Liu, and Cherry Smith 28. Academic performance and school adjustment of internationally adopted children in Norway. Monica Dalen and Steinar Theie 29. Parenting stress in adoptive families Marta Santos-Nunes, Isabel Narciso, and Salomé Vieira-Santos 30. Adoption instability, adoption breakdown Jesús Palacios Part V: Adoption Competency 31. Adoption competent clinical practice Anne J. Atkinson 32. Training for Adoption Competency curriculum Debbie Riley and Ellen Singer 33. Awareness of adoption at school Francine Fishman 34. Post-adoption services: needs and adoption type. Darcey H. Merritt, Rachel D. Ludeke 35. Adoption-specific curricula in higher education Bibiana Koh, JaeRan Kim, and Ruth McRoy

Gretchen MillerWrobel, Ph.D., is the University Professor of Psychology at Bethel University, USAand co-investigator on the Minnesota-Texas Adoption Research Project. Dr. Wrobel’s research interests include information seeking related to curiosity about one’s adoption and adoptive family communication. She is past editor of Adoption Quarterly. Emily Helder, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Calvin University, USA. Dr. Helder is a clinical neuropsychologist whose research and training have focused on the impact of early experience on later development, language, and the experience of abuse, neglect, and early deprivation. Elisha Marr, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Gender Studies at Calvin University, USA. Dr. Marr’s research on transracial adoption includes identifying trends in adoption rates, experiences of transracial adoptees and their adoptive parents, and racial preferences of adoptive parents. More recently, Marr has expanded to exploring motivations to adopt.