Young mothers in care, contributing to the contemporary debate

Teenage pregnancy has become a broad issue in contemporary society and has become a focus for concern for young women in or exiting the care system. The article draws on interviews with twenty-four young mothers in, or on the fringes of the care system. It highlights the thoughts and feelings of these young women, specifically looking at the relationships that they have with their mothers, the father of their baby and their social workers. The mothers' sources of support and their perceptions of these are discussed. Implications for practice for working with this discrete group of young mothers are explored

The transition into adoptive parenthood: adoption as a process of continued unsafe uncertainty when family scripts collide

Our prospective study investigated couples’ expectations of adoptive parenthood and explored how these changed with their actual experience of parenthood. Six heterosexual couples were interviewed just before placement began and six months after the children had arrived. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse both sets of interview data. Expectations of adoptive parenthood mostly transformed smoothly into adoption experience for couples but challenges were experienced when family scripts collided and a continued feeling of unsafe uncertainty then prevailed within these newly formed family systems. Family script collision seemed a particular problem for couples adopting sibling pairs. To further professional practice in working with families over the transition to adoptive parenting we suggest that professionals keep in mind a framework that includes: Internal and external world influences on family members, Intergenerational issues, Family scripts, and the Structural challenges of adoption (IIFS)

School performance of international adoptees better than expected from cognitive test results

Objective: To investigate school performance of international adoptees in relation to their cognitive competence. Method: From the population of all male Swedish residents born 1973–1976, registered in the census 1985 and with complete test scores from military conscription, the following study groups were identified: Korean adoptees (n = 320), non-Korean adoptees (n = 1,125), siblings (children born by adoptive parents, n = 190) and Swedish majority comparisons (n = 142,024). Global scores from intelligence tests at conscription were compared with grade points from the last compulsory school year (year 9). Linear and logistic regression was applied in statistical analyses. Results: The mean grade points in theoretical subjects were lower in non-Korean adoptees than in the majority population, but when global test scores from military conscription were adjusted for, outcomes were significantly better, equal for physics, than in the majority population. The grade points of Korean adoptees were higher than in the majority population and the same held true after adjusting for global test scores. When SES was taken into account, the risk of poor school performance (only completed lower subject levels) increased in non-Korean adoptees compared to models only adjusted for age and sex. Conclusion: Male international adoptees generally perform better in school than expected by their cognitive competence. A cognitive evaluation is important in the assessment of adoptees with learning difficulties