One of the difficulties with family work is that it is a fast changing and complex discipline which requires organised and proactive reactions to new advances in the many fields it incorporates. It also requires meticulous application of knowledge combined with a sensitive and skilled approach to child welfare matters, much of which is often missing inside the family courts, either in part or in whole. This latest open letter written by established legal and medical professionals calling on the justice system and the professionals who work in it to proceed cautiously when diagnosing Shaken Baby Syndrome, is a good reminder of the need to be extremely careful when handling cases inside the family courts.
Shaken Baby Syndrome is a growing area in terms of our knowledge about it and there is still a lot of room for error. The lack of resources inside the system combined with a need for speedy resolution of cases in a system which is backlogged and under new time restrictions, all causing a sense of urgency and added pressure, mean that the margin for error increases. Do read this letter if you have time, as it is considered and thoughtful.
Researching Reform 
In a speech to the Society of Editors in London, Lord Justice Munby, currently President of the Family Division of the High Court, has said of these powers that in the absence of the death penalty, “orders of the kind which family judges are typically invited to make in public law proceedings are amongst the most drastic that any judge in any jurisdiction is ever empowered to make. When a family judge makes an adoption order in relation to a twenty-year old mother’s baby, the mother will have to live with the consequences of that decision for what may be upwards of 60 or even 70 years, and the baby for what may be upwards of 80 or even 90 years. We must be vigilant to guard against the risks.”
This is only partially correct. Upwards of 90 years may refer to the living generation but it does not take into consideration the effects of future generations as it alters the family tree. Nor does it take into consideration the effects on siblings and their future generations who are often separated either to be adopted as well or remain in long term foster care.
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Exactly and all this was known from research in Australia re the Aborigines and the Native Americans and the Irish.
http://www.originsnsw.com/mentalhealth/id2.html
Adoption was a social experiment in which babies born to unmarried mothers were taken at birth and given to strangers for adoption. It was claimed to be in the best interests of the child, who would be protected from the slur of illegitimacy and would have a better life in the adoptive family. Adoption enabled infertile married couples to have a family, and the State saved money on its welfare bill.
In fact there were reports from Britain and the USA, from 1952 onwards, that a large number of children seen in child guidance clinics and other psychiatric services were adopted.
In 1952 a British psychiatrist, Wellisch, drew attention to a problem of adoption – the lack of knowledge of and definite relationship to one’s genealogy, which he termed genealogical bewilderment, and which could result in the stunting of emotional development in adopted children and could lead them to irrational rebellion against their adoptive parents and the world as a whole, and eventually to delinquency. This was echoed in 1955 by Winnicott, who said ignorance about their personal origin made adolescence more of a strain for adopted children than other children, and in 1964 by Sants who wrote that genealogical bewilderment is a factor which frequently appears to be present in adoption stress.
There were reports in 1953 that adopted children manifested severe pathology including a preponderance of impulsive behavior, with characteristic ‘acting out’, both sexual and aggressive. (Eiduson and Livermore, 1953). Overt aggression and sexual acting out were also noted by Schechter who claimed, in 1964, that there was substantial evidence from many sources that the nonrelative adopted child may be more prone to emotional difficulties. In adopted adults he found more alcoholism, sexual acting out, and more suicide attempts. “
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http://poundpuplegacy.org/
Inspired by stories shared by birth parents, adoptive parents, and adult adoptees, PPL explores the dark side of adoption, and the consequences illegal and unethical actions have on future family-life and the well-being of those affected by adoption.
Too many children are placed for the benefit of agencies and based on the demands of prospective adoptive parents.
Too many children are placed in inappropriate homes because the business interests of adoption agencies have higher priority than the safety of children.
PPL documents and archives cases where the child placement system did not work in the best interest of the child and we offer a platform for those who want to express their thoughts and feelings about the dark side of child adoption.
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Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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