Introducing the study -- Family as cause and cure: the emergence of adoption -- Contested involvements: adoption before the Second World War -- Differences denied: the normalisation of adoption -- Differences and identities: the making of modern adoption -- Contested attachments: the controversial emergence of "open adoption" -- Introducing the archive study -- Knowing or transforming the self: tracing letterbox contact -- Identity through injury: unfit mothers and direct contact -- Conclusions
Summary
"It is now over 20 years since 'open adoption' was first introduced, but it remains a controversial and contested part of social work practice. This innovative and far ranging book sets out to understand why the practice of keeping adopted children in touch with their kinship origins is still so questioned in contemporary adoption work. Written by an experienced practitioner in the field, this book applies, for the first time, Foucauldian methodology to analyze and understand adoption social work, making it essential reading for a wide audience in the social sciences"--Provided by publisher