Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-12T22:12:25.413Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

History Repeating . . . Disaster-Related Intercountry Adoption and the Psychosocial Care of Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2012

Patricia Fronek  and
Denise Cuthbert
Patricia Fronek
Affiliation:
School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University E-mail: [email protected]
Denise Cuthbert
Affiliation:
School of Graduate Research, RMIT University E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Disasters are prevalent with devastating effects on vulnerable populations that include the elderly, disabled, women and children. Historical responses to vulnerable children and families post-disaster raise questions concerning further harms to children rescued by adoption in the aftermath of devastation. This article offers critical and historical perspectives on child removal for adoption in the context of disaster and the psychosocial care of children affected by disaster. It brings into question whether removal, especially permanent removal for adoption, is in their interests. This article concludes that efforts are needed by the international community to ensure that past abuses do not recur.

Keywords

intercountry adoptionpost-disasterchildreninternational communitypsychosocial care of children
Type
Themed Section on Waiting for a Better World: Critical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Intercountry Adoption
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , July 2012 , pp. 429 - 442
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Broadcasting Commission (2011) ‘Post-war effort needed to rebuild Queensland’, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/13/3112015.htm [accessed 07.02.2011].Google Scholar
Ager, A., Boothby, N. and Bremer, M. (2009 ‘Using the “protective environment” framework to analyse children's protection needs in Darfur’, Disasters, 33, 4, 548–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alam, E. (2010) ‘Cyclone disaster vulnerability and response experiences in coastal Bangladesh’, Disasters, 34, 4, 931–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Armistead, A. L. (2010) ‘Reflections on the orphan rescue in Haiti: Critical thinking post-disaster’, paper presented at the Adoption Summit, Stratford, Ontario, University of Waterloo, 23–26 September.Google Scholar
Armstrong, S and Slaytor, P. (2001) The Colour of Difference: Journeys in Transracial Adoption, Sydney, Australia: The Federation Press.Google Scholar
Balsari, S., Lemery, J., Williams, T. P. and Nelson, B. D. (2010) ‘Protecting the children of Haiti’, The New England Journal of Medicine, 362, 9, 25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartholet, E. (2010) ‘International adoption: the human rights perspective’, Global Policy, 1, 1, 91–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BBC News (2007) ‘Profile: Zoe's Ark’, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7067374.stm [accessed 05.12.2010].Google Scholar
Becker, S. M. (2009) ‘Psychosocial care for women survivors of the tsunami disaster in India’, American Journal of Public Health, 99, 4, 654.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belfer, M. (2006) ‘Caring for children and adolescents in the aftermath of natural disasters’, International Review of Psychiatry, 18, 6, 523–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bergquist, K. J. S. (2009) ‘Operation Babylift or Babyabduction?: implications of the Hague Convention on the humanitarian evacuation and “rescue” of children’, International Social Work, 52, 5, 621–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bland, S. (1997) ‘Social network disturbances and psychological distress following earthquake evacuation’, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 185, 3, 188–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bonnerjea, L. (1994) ‘Disasters, family tracing and children's rights: some questions about the best interests of separated children’, Disasters, 18, 3, 277–83, doi: 10.1111/j.1467–7717.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyden, J. O. (1994) ‘Children's experience of conflict related emergencies: some implications for relief policy and practice’, Disasters, 18, 3, 254–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brandenburg, M. A., Watkins, S. M., Brandenburg, K. L. and Schieche, C. (2007) ‘Operation Child-ID: reunifying children with their legal guardians after Hurricane Katrina’, Disaster, 31, 3, 277–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brookfield, T. (2009) ‘Maverick mothers and mercy flights: Canada's controversial introduction to international adoption’, Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, 19, 1, 307–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, B. M. (1980) ‘Operation Babylift and the exigencies of war: who should have custody of orphans’, Northern Kentucky Law Review, 6, 3, 81–92.Google Scholar
Cameron, P. A., Mitra, B., Fitzgerald, M., Scheinkestel, C. D., Stripp, A., Batey, C., et al. (2009) ‘Black Saturday: the immediate impact of the February 2009 bushfires in Victoria, Australia’, The Medical Journal of Australia, 191, 1, 11–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cherot, N. (2009) ‘Storytelling and ethnographic intersections: Vietnamese adoptees and rescue narratives’, Qualitative Inquiry, 15, 1, 113–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crosby, S. S. and Grodin, M. A. (2007) ‘Ethical considerations in crisis and humanitarian interventions: the view from home’, Ethics and Behavior, 17, 2, 203–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuthbert, D., Spark, C. and Murphy, K. (2009) ‘“That was then, but this is now”: historical perspectives on intercountry and domestic child adoption in Australian public policy’, Journal of Historical Sociology, 23, 3, 427–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dambach, M. and Baglietto, C. (2010) ‘Haiti: “Expediting” intercountry adoptions in the aftermath of a natural disaster . . . preventing future harm, International Social Services’, http://www.iss-ssi.org/2009/assets/files/Haiti%20ISS%20final-%20foreword.pdf [accessed 27.11.2010].Google Scholar
Doyle, J. (2010) Misguided Kindness: Making the Right Decisions for Children in Emergencies, London: Save the Children Fund, http://www.crin.org/docs/Misguided_Kindness.pdf [accessed 06.01.2011].Google Scholar
Edwards, P. (1997) A Nation at War: Australian Politics, Society and Diplomacy during the Vietnam War 1965–1975, St Leonards, NSW: Allen &Unwin.Google Scholar
Enarson, E. and Phillips, B. (2008) ‘Invitation to a new feminist disaster sociology: integrating feminist theory and methods’, in Phillips, B. and Morrow, B. H. (eds.), Women and Disasters: From Theory to Practice, USA: International Research Committee on Disasters, pp. 41–74.Google Scholar
Foster, D., Davies, S. and Steele, H. (2003) ‘The evacuation of British children during World War II: a preliminary investigation into the long-term psychological effects’, Aging and Mental Health, 7, 5, 398–408.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fronek, P. (2009) ‘Intercountry adoption in Australia: a natural evolution or purposeful actions’, in Spark, C. and Cuthbert, D. (eds.), Other People's Children: Adoption in Australia, Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Press, pp. 37–54.Google Scholar
Fronek, P. (2012) ‘Operation Babylift: advancing intercountry adoption into Australia’, Journal of Australian Studies, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fronek, P. and Cuthbert, D. (2012) ‘The future of intercountry adoption: a paradigm shift for this century’, International Journal of Social Welfare, 21, 2, 215–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fronek, P. and Tilse, C. (2010) ‘Controversy and its implications for the practice of contemporary social work in intercountry adoptions: a Korean–Australian case study’, Australian Social Work, 63, 4, 445–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hearst, A. (2010) ‘Between Restavek and relocation: children and communities in transnational adoption’, The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, 3, 2, 267–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobfoll, S. E., Watson, P. J., Bell, C. C., Bryant, R. A., Brymer, M. J., Friedman, M. J., et al. (2007) ‘Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma interventions: empirical evidence’, Psychiatry, 70, 4, 283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Human Services (HRSCFHS) (2005) Overseas Adoption in Australia: The Report on the Inquiry into Adoption of Children from Overseas, Canberra: House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Human Services.Google Scholar
IASC (2007) IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, Geneva: Inter-Agency Standing committee, WHO.Google Scholar
IASC (2010) Guidance Note for Mental health and Psychosocial Support Haiti Earthquake Emergency Response – January 2010, Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, World Health Organisation.Google Scholar
ICRC (2004) Inter-Agency Guiding Principles on Unaccompanied and Separated Children, Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross.Google Scholar
International Social Services (ISS) (2010) ‘The grey zones of intercountry adoption’, Hague Conference on Private International Law, The Hague, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Kelley, M. (2010) ‘Commentary: should international adoption be part of humanitarian aid efforts? Lessons from Haiti’, Bioethics, 24, 7, 373–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauten, A. W. and Lietz, K. (2008) ‘A look at the standards gap: comparing child protection responses in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean Tsunami’, Children, Youth and Environments, 18, 1, 158–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leivesley, S. (1980) ‘The social consequences of Australian disasters’, Disasters, 4, 1, 30–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lesnick, B. and Urek, M. (2010) ‘Traps of humanitarian aid: observations from a village community in Sri Lanka’, European Journal of Social Work, doi: 10.1080/13691451003690908.Google Scholar
Margesson, R. and Taft-Morales, M. (2010) Haiti Earthquake: Crisis and Response, USA: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.Google Scholar
Mark, C. (2008) ‘Disaster mythology: looting in New Orleans’, Disaster Prevention and Management, 17, 4, 519.Google Scholar
Meyer, M. (1982) ‘Tracing: an aspect of disaster assistance’, Disasters, 8, 2, 149–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, J., Van Ommeren, M., Belfer, M., Saxena, S. and Saraceno, B. (2007) ‘Children and the Sphere standard on mental and social aspects of health’, Disaster, 31, 1, 71–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, J. (2006) ‘Addressing the psychosocial needs of children following disaster’, Journal of Specialist Pediatric Nursing, 11, 2, 133–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicolas, G., Schwartz, B. and Pierre, E. (2009) ‘Weathering the storms like bamboo: the strengths of Haitians in coping with natural disasters’, in Kalayjian, A., Eugene, D. and Reyes, G. (eds.), International Handbook of Emotional Healing: Ritual and Practices for Resilience After Mass Trauma, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, pp. 93–106.Google Scholar
Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J., Watson, P. J., Byrne, C. M., Diaz, E. and Kaniasty, K. (2002) ‘60,000 disaster victims speak: Part I − an empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981–2001’, Psychiatry, 65, 3, 207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omar, H. and Alanon, N. (1994) ‘The continuity principle: a unified approach to disaster and trauma’, American Journal of Community Psychology and Psychiatry Journal, 22, 2, 273–86.Google Scholar
Pack-Patton, D. K. (2010) International Disaster Psychology: Moving toward a Standardized Model, Newberg, OR: George Fox University.Google Scholar
Payne-Price, A. C.,(1981) ‘Ethnic variations on fosterage and adoption’, Anthropological Quarterly, 54, 3, 134–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfefferbaum, B., Houston, J. B., Reyes, G., Steinberg, A. M., Pynoos, R. S., Fairbank, J. A., et al. (2010) ‘Building national capacity for child and family disaster mental health research’, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41, 1, 26–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poe, A. (2010,) ‘UNICEF's effective attack on intercountry adoption’, Washington Post, 30 November, http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/red-thread-adoptive-family-forum/2010/nov/30/unicefs-effective-attack-inter-country-adoption/ [accessed 14.03.2011].Google Scholar
Raphael, B. (2005) ‘Crowds and other collectives: complexities of human behaviors in mass emergencies’, Psychiatry, 68, 2, 115–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rofi, A., Doocy, S. and Robinson, C. (2006) ‘Tsunami mortality and displacement in Aceh province, Indonesia’, Disasters, 30, 3, 340–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rotabi, K. S. and Bergquist, K. J. S. (2010) ‘Vulnerable children in the aftermath of Haiti's earthquake of 2010: a call for sound policy and processes to prevent international child sales and theft’, Journal of Global Social Work Practice, 3, 1, http://www.globalsocialwork.org/vol3no1/Rotabi.html [accessed 14.03.2011].Google Scholar
Ruzek, J. I., Brymer, M. J., Jacobs, A. K., Layne, C. M., Vernberg, E. M. and Watson, P. J. (2007) ‘Psychological First Aid’, Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 29, 1, 17–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarri, R., Baik, Y. and Bombyk, M. (1998) ‘Goal displacement and dependency in South-Korean – United States intercountry adoption’, Children and Youth Services Review, 20, 1/2, 87–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selman, P. (2009) ‘The rise and fall of intercountry adoption in the 21st century’, International Social Work, 52, 5, 575–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2007) ‘Ethical considerations in crisis and humanitarian interventions’, Ethics and Behavior, 17, 2, 187–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sphere Project (2004) Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, Geneva Switzerland: Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR).Google Scholar
Thirumurthy, V., Uma, V. and Muturam, R. N. (2008) ‘Tsunami: hope in the midst of disaster’, Childhood Education, 85, 1, 39–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, G. (2010) ‘After Haiti quake, the chaos of US adoptions’, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/world/americas/04adoption.html [accessed 23.11.2010].Google Scholar
Tribe, R. (2007) ‘Health pluralism: a more appropriate alternative to western models of therapy in the context of civil conflict and natural disaster in Sri Lanka’, Journal of Refugee Studies, 20, 1, 21–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machel, G. (1996) Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children: Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (Machel Report), United Nations Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development (DPCSD), http://www.unicef.org/graca/a51-306_en.pdf [accessed 01.01.2011].Google Scholar
UN/ISDR (2007) Disaster Statistics, http://www.unisdr.org/disaster-statistics/occurrencetrends-centurv.htm [accessed 06.12.2010].Google Scholar
UNICEF (2009) ‘Orphans’, press release, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_45279.html [accessed 05.12.2010].Google Scholar
UNICEF (2010) ‘UNICEF's position on inter-country adoption’, press release, http://www.unicef.org/media/media_41918.html [accessed 05.12.2010].Google Scholar
Vernberg, E. M., Steinberg, A. M., Jacobs, A. K., Brymer, M. J., Watson, P. J., Osofsky, J. D., et al. (2008) ‘Innovations in disaster mental health: Psychological First Aid’, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39, 4, 381–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. (2006) ‘The psychosocial consequences for children and young people who are exposed to terrorism, war, conflict and natural disasters’, Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 19, 4, 337–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R., Alexander, D., Bolsover, D. and Bakke, F. K. (2008) ‘Children, resilience and disasters: recent evidence that should influence a model of psychosocial care’, Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 21, 4, 338–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zigler, E. (1975) ‘The Vietnamese children's airlift: too little and too late’, http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=trueand_andERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED119827andERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=noandaccno=ED119827 [accessed 13.03.2010].Google Scholar
Zigler, E. (1976) ‘A developmental psychologist's view of Operation Babylift’, American Psychologist, 31, 5, 329–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed