Adoption is a process that involves numerous positive benefits for children in a difficult situation. However, given the challenges for adoptive families and minors, it can be considered as a social issue that needs to be approached in different ways. As for the key ideas, adoption presents a process informed by the basic human values, but the associated risks should also be considered to maximize its advantages for children.
The idea of adoption aligns with the key assumptions concerning mutual help and healthy development, and this is why it is positively evaluated in the majority of cases. For instance, speaking about the major benefits of the issue, modern researchers state that this process helps to create “permanent and life-long connections between parents and children” (Lee et al. 63). Adoption often causes positive changes in children’s quality of life, making them less likely to think that they are different from their peers (Lee et al. 63). Therefore, it is extremely positive for orphans’ and vulnerable minors’ mental health and psycho-social development.
The key factor that makes adoption a positive option for some children is the amount of time that they spend with adults who are responsible for them. According to the National Council on the Developing Child, those living in public institutions for vulnerable children spend less time with adults than their peers growing up in families (Tarullo et al. 371). The lack of “mutually rewarding face-to-face interactions” has a negative impact on a person’s normal development, and adoption can alleviate this problem (Tarullo et al. 371). Thus, by adopting children, adult people can rescue them and help vulnerable girls and boys to develop healthily.
At the same time, despite the widely recognized benefits of the issue, this approach to managing the life of minors without parental care should not be idealized. More precisely, in some instances, adoption is associated with mental health risks for children. To avoid negative outcomes, these risks are to be thoroughly analyzed and addressed prior to placing particular children for adoption. The first important factor to be considered is the financial situation and lifestyle or the potential families (Tarullo et al. 372).
However, making sure that a family has financial and material resources to raise a child is not enough. Since the goal of adoption is to provide boys and girls who do not have parental care with emotional support, children’s reactions to their potential caregivers should be monitored (Lee et al. 63). Thus, to get maximum advantage for children, it is pivotal to take a critical approach to evaluate adopters.
One more assumption that should inform people’s attitudes to adoption is the need for specific education helping to adopt families to facilitate children’s psychological acclimatization. For instance, orphans’ behavioral issues associated with psychological trauma are among the key causes of dissatisfaction among adopting families in the United States (Lee et al. 63). To avoid the exacerbation of children’s mental condition resulting from low placement stability, people willing to become parents of an orphan should undergo a number of procedures and demonstrate their readiness to take risks.
To sum it up, the idea of adoption aligns with the universal human values, which explains people’s positive attitudes to it. However, there are certain risks associated with adoptive parents’ attitudes to children, the presence of resources, and difficulties surrounding the process of integration into new families. These potential problems require society to take a responsible approach to adoption and improve the current risk analysis techniques to maximize benefits for children.
Works Cited
Lee, Bethany R., et al. “Parent Perspectives on Adoption Preparation: Findings from the Modern Adoptive Families Project.” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 85, 2018, pp. 63-71.
Tarullo, Amanda R., et al. “Emotion Understanding, Parent Mental State Language, and Behavior Problems in Internationally Adopted Children.” Development and Psychopathology, vol. 28, no. 2, 2015, pp. 371-383.