Deborah H. Siegel

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Family and Ecological Systems Perspective

Little has been written about attention-deficit hyperactive disorder from a family systems perspective. The authors describe the impact of this neurologically based disorder on family functioning and explore the utility of systems theory in addressing families needs. Suggestions for widening the levels of intervention beyond traditional treatment parameters are offered.

Open Adoption and Adolescence

In open adoptions, birth and adoptive families exchange identifying information and have contact. Although most adoptions today include some form of openness, much of the public remains wary of this. The purpose of this study was to explore, longitudinally, adoptive parents’ perceptions of their childrens open adoptions. This article reports the findings of tape-recorded interviews with 31 adoptive parents who were first interviewed when their children were infants and toddlers, again 7 years later, and a third time when their children were adolescents. The study found adoptive parents were committed to maintaining contact with the birth family even when discomforts and challenges in the relationships occurred. These findings can be used to guide agency policies and clinical practices that enable a wide range of open adoption options.

Ethical Issues in Open Adoption: Implications for Practice

Total secrecy and confidentiality no longer typify adoption in the United States. Today, most adoptions involve an exchange of information or some form of contact between the birth family and adoptive family–-so-called open adoptions. This article provides a comprehensive overview of ethical issues associated with various forms of open adoption, including issues of privacy, confidentiality, self-determination, paternalism, conflicts of interest, deception, and truth-telling. We present guidelines for social work practice in open adoptions, based on current ethical theory and ethical standards in social work.

Adoption Competency and Trauma-Informed Practices with Adoptive Families:

The tides of national and international adoption policy and practice have shifted remarkably in the past decade. Examples of the sea change include the recognition of the extent of adoption- and trauma-related needs that a great many children experience; the influence that the internet and social media have on shaping the future of pre- and postadoption experiences; and the ways adoption has reconceptualized the extended family, including diverse adoptive family forms and a renewed emphasis on sustaining the childs connections with biological kin and/or the country and culture of origin. Additionally, open adoption has increased across public and private agencies to encourage relational stability and attachment with previous foster families and kinship guardians, even after adoption. Internationally, there are fewer children adopted into the United States from foreign countries, and America is sending fewer children with disabilities to receiving countries abroad.