Our son, a stranger : adoption breakdown and its effect on parents / Marie Adams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Adams, Marie, 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Interracial adoption--Canada--Case studies.

Interracial adoption.

Adoptive parents--Canada--Psychology.

Adoptive parents.

Psychology.

Canada.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xxxvii, 211 pages, 6 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2002]

Summary:

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, and discusses why the special issues raised by all trans-racial adoptions need to be carefully considered.

Contents:

Part 1 Family Profiles 1

1 The Adams Family 3

2 The Roethler Family 20

3 The Brooks Family 35

4 The Graves Family 48

5 The Verdan Family 61

6 The Pelligrini Family 75

7 Why Do Some People Adopt? 93

8 The Effects of Adoption Breakdown on Parents 106

9 The Search for Answers 132

10 Applying What We Learned 169.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0773524002 :

OCLC:

48163568