Children 2-8 years of age: Factors in their adjustment prior to final adoption

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CHILDREN 2-8 YEARS OE AGE; EACTORS IN THEIR ADJUSTMENT PRIOR TO PINAir ADOPTION

A Thesis Presented to the Eaculty of the School of Social Work The University of Southern California

In Partial Eulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Social Work

by Virginia A. Du Bois June 1950

UMI Number: EP66336

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

Dissertation Rublish»ng

UMI EP66336 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

west' ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346

Su> ‘6-0

P*'*

T h is thesis, w r it t e n u n d e r the d ir e c tio n o f the c a n d id a te ’ s F a c u lt y

C o m m itte e a n d a p p ro v e d

by a l l its m em bers, has been presented to a n d accep ted by the F a c u l t y o f the G ra d u a te S c h o o l o f S o c ia l W o r k in p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f the re ­ q u ire m e n ts f o r the degree o f

MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK

D ean

Da

Thesis

o/-.VIRGINIA..AOT..DUBOIS

Faculty Committee

Chairman

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I.-

II.

III.

PAGE

'INTRODUCTION ............................. The problem .............................

2

Objective of the study .................

4

Methodology .............................

8

Agency setting .........................

9

EXPERIENCE PRIOR TO COMING UNDER CARE OF THE S O C I E T Y ......................

13

Presentation of cases ..................

14

Discussion

^3

• •• •

EXPERIENCE IN BOARDING HOMES ............ Presentation of cases

IV.

26

.................

28

Discussion ..............................

49

EXPERIENCE IN ADOPTIVE HOMES ............

56

The Home Study .........................

56

Supervision ............................ .

59

Presentation of cases

60

.....

D i s c u s s i o n .............................. V.

1

CONCLUSIONS

............................... ‘

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................

78 85 90

LIST OF TABLES TABLE

PACE

I.

The Child--Identifying Information *...*•*

II*

The Adoptive Parents--Identifying Informa­ tion ............

12

55

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Current thinking with regard to Child Welfare in general and Adoption in particular reflects the conviction that every child in so far as possible is entitled to the love and security that is normally a part of permanent family ties.

Until recently, few children beyond the age

of infancy had been considered proper subjects for adop­ tion.

These children for the most part were considered

unplaceable.

The unplaceable child was one who could not

qualify for adoption for a variety of reasons*

psycho­

logically unfit, a poor medical risk, legal obstacles, etcetera.

Children beyond the age of infancy were also

considered unplaceable not by reason of any definable problem, but by reason of age alone.

With some of these

children age was a complication resulting from the long period of study necessary before they were declared adoptable.

For others beyond the age of infancy, there were no

homes available for children of certain races or mixed heritage.

Still others were not in need of adoptive homes

■until they were well past infancy.

The fact that children

such as these are beyond the age of infancy no longer con­ stitutes a valid reason for denying them a home and family

of "their very own.

Children such as these do adjust in

adoptive homes. ' I.

THE PROBLEM

It is the purpose of this study to determine some of those factors that seem to influence the adjustment of children beyond the age of infancy in adoptive homes. Adjustment is a relative term.

The process of ad­

justment is found in varying degrees in each individual. The decision as to whether or not a child has adjusted to his adoptive family and the family to the child is de­ pendent upon the child*s feelings, the family's feelings, and the observations of the case worker who has supervised the adoptive home over a period of twelve months or more. Because of the profound responsibility inherent in placing children in permanent homes and because of the equally profound responsibility on the part of adoptive parents in taking a child and helping him to become their very own, the adjustment of the adopted child receives a great deal of attention.

This concentrated attention on the adjust­

ment of the adopted child may emphasize the rlproblem behavior” of these children out of proportion to the seriousness of such behavior.

Many of the same kinds of

problems may occur in children born to parents and be

considered a natural part of growing up. The adopted' child is in the position of having to more nearly approach perfection than is a child born to parents.

This need to approach perfection in a world

where no child or adult is perfect seems to be a result of the child's desire to please, the adoptive parents* desire that the child adjust almost immediately, and the caseworker1s desire that the adoption be a successful one. The caseworker, aware of the depths of responsibility of placing a child in a permanent home, is anxious that the child adjust to a happy life*

The child, himself, aware

of the anxiety of others, becomes anxious.

Dunbar has

stated, 11Pew parents realize that their problem child often suffers from feelings of guilt and insecurity be­ cause of the trouble he creates”

The fact that a child

beyond the age of infancy has often-times been cared for by rejecting parents, as wrell as been moved from boarding home to boarding home, would indicate that these children have an even greater feeling of insecurity.

According to

Dunbar, therefore, the child beyond the age of infancy who has had such experiences would have more reason to react and give the impression of being a problem child. " "I H. Flanders Dunbar, Your Child's Mind and Bodv (New York: Random House, 1949')“ p.~33T-----------------

The human organism manifests its adjustment to life’s situations in two ways -- physically and emotion­ ally.

These two areas of adjustment are so inter-related

that disturbance in one affects the other,

An emotionally

disturbed child may have somatic symptoms, or a child physically disturbed may manifest this disturbance emo­ tionally. The degree to which an adopted child and adoptive parents adjust to each other can be determined in part by the behavior the child displays.

All of the children in

this study entered adoptive homes with behavior of a kind that indicated they were emotionally disturbed.

With some,

this behavior was their reaction to experiences prior to coming under the care of the Society.

With others, this

behavior was their reaction to experiences in boarding homes, which for some children have been numerous.

How­

ever, all of these children did adjust to the satisfaction of the adopting parents, the Society, and the child. II.

OBJECTIVE OP THE STUDY

Present day literature with reference to adoption shows that interested persons in the field are well aware of the need to find homes for hereto-fore unplaceable children.

Attempts are being made to find adoptive parents

5 who can accept a child who may be of low average mental­ ity, who may have a physical defect, or who is beyond the age of infancy when adoption seems to be the plan best suited to his needs.

In this way, hopefully, as many

children as possible will experience the security and love that are a part of permanent family ties. The Children’s Home Society of California may be listed among those agencies that are making a special effort to find adoptive homes for children beyond the age of infancy, children with special legal problems, or mixed heritage, or children faced with other situations where adoption has not seemed possible or suddenly becomes the plan which would best provide a fulfillment of the child’s needs.

Public Welfare -Agencies, too, have recently

started to provide or expand services in Adoption.

In

all probability these agencies will find themselves in the position of needing homes for children beyond the age of infancy.Many such children are deprived of- homes-due to 'a' fear on the part of prospective adoptive parents that a child beyond the age of infancy will not love them as much as an infant.

Perhaps they, themselves, cannot come to

love the child as much.

The child beyond the age of in­

fancy may present problems in adjustment.

Perhaps he is

more set in his habits — able.

some of which may be undesir­

These parents may feel the older the child, the

greater his problem of re-adjustment to a new way of life. The objective of this thesis is to study the ad­ justment of children, two to eight years of age, in adoptive homes from the point of view of determining some of those factors that seem to be related to that adjust­ ment.

Basic assumptions were that the home in which the -

child was placed had been chosen to fill his needs, and that the placement was a successful one.

In studying

the adjustment and some of those factors that seem re­ lated to this adjustment, an attempt was made to determine the kinds of problems experienced by both the child and his adoptive parents.

In achieving this objective the

plan was to answer these questions: 1

What was the child*s experience prior to the care of the Society?

coming under

The experience described was

that with natural parents, in institutions, or under the auspices of an agency other than the 2

Society.

What was the child’s experience while under the care of the Society?

3

How long was the child under the care of the Society?

4

Why was the child in need of an adoptive home?

7 5

What problems were apparent in the child prior to adoptive placement?

6

What problems were apparent in the child alter adoptive placement?

7

What was the adoptive family's attitude with regard to taking a child beyond the age of infancy?

8

What was the family's attitude with regard to shades of coloring, defects,

9

nationality background, mental and physical and behavior problems?

What was the child's participation in the placement process and how was he prepared for placement?

10

Over how long, a period of time was the placement super­ vised? The nature and scope of this study as stated pre-

eluded answering the following questions: 1

What are the factors that contribute to mal-adjustment in children beyond the age of infancy?

2

Does the adjustment.of children beyond the age of in­ fancy parallel that of infants? Both of these questions would provide topics for

separate theses*

8 III.

METHODOLOGY

This thesis is a descriptive analysis of the in­ dividual child’s adjustment in an adoptive home in rela­ tion to some of those factors which seem to contribute to that adjustment.

The material studied consisted of the

case records of completed adoptions.

These included the

record of the natural parent, of the child, and of the adoptive parents.

In 1940 a study of the Society was made

by the Child Welfare League of America, Inc., and the program re-organized by 1943. dating that year were used*

Only those records post­ Ages included in the study

were those from two to eight years.

The age of the child

was considered from the time he was placed in an adoptive home rather than from the time he first came under the care of the Society.

In the period from 1944 to 1949

there were eleven such cases in which adoption decrees were granted. Atypical cases were considered those in which the child was adopted by his boarding parents in whose home he lived over a period of years. The body of the thesis consists of a chapter on the child’s experience prior to coming under the care of the Society.

Following this is a chapter on the child's exper­

ience in boarding homes under the supervision of the

9 Society.

The fourth chapter is one in which the child1s

experience with his adoptive parents is described.

All

three of these chapters include discussion of the ex­ periences the child had.

The last chapter of the thesis

consists of the conclusions. IV.

AGENCY SETTING

The Children1s Home Society of California, founded in 1891 by Dr. and Mrs. J. R. Townsend, is a private agency licensed by the state to place children for adop­ tion.

The original program was part of the nation-wide

movement to care for homeless children.

The present

program of the Society is state-wide in scope and devotes its services exclusively to children and families in California.

The largest privately supported adoption

agency in the United States, the Society has three dis­ tricts through which clients are served — San Diego, and Northern.

Southern,

Of these the Southern District

is the largest and serves as State Headquarters for the offices of the Society.

It is in this locale that the

thesis was written. Until 1943 the Society provided care and protec­ tion for children in need of temporary help apart from adoption.

The program was re-organised in 1943 and

10 services limited to adoption.

At that time the Society,

as a result of the study mentioned, began to relate pro­ gram more completely to recognized social case work principles and procedures,

The objectives of the Society

as described in the "Brief Statement of Background and Program, 1948-194911, are; 1

2 3

To provide adoption services to children of all races and creeds including; (a) Services to parents wishing to consider adoption for their children, (b) Study and temporary care of children who seem eligible for adoption, (c) Placement of children in homes best suited to them and continued supervision -until adoption is legally completed, and, (d) Services to persons desiring to adopt children. To study and interpret needs and to encourage the development of services in keeping with adoption needs, To help develop standards and sound practices in the field of adoption.2

In keeping with the first objective, the Society has a boarding program for the purposes of studying the children as well as providing care for them while awaiting adoption.

Children are boarded in private homes chosen to

fill their needs.

.Again, in keeping with the first ob­

jective, prospective adoptive parents engage themselves in a Home Study.

During this process they become known to,

2 The^Children1s Home Society of California, Brief ----Statement of Background and Program (Los Angeles: Children's Home Society oF~California, 1948-1949), p.2.

11 and come to know the Society.

The purpose of the Home

Study is to enable the client and the Society — the caseworker —

to become so related as to help

clients take a child rather than to

be given one.

through the Accord­

ing to Hicholson, Director of the Society, n* . .parents cannot be given a child.

They must take him, actively

choose him, accept him, make him their own, else the adop­ tion will not w o r k .11^ Approximately 90$ of the children served by the Society are infants.

The remaining

up to twelve years of age with half school children.

4

10$ represent children of these being pre-

Children from two to eight years of age

fall within this latter group, and it was with reference to them that the thesis was written.

“ “ ' 3 Marian B. Hicholson, Choosing the Adoptive family. Unpublished paper read at the Third General Ses­ sion of an Adoption Institute given at The University of Southern California, August, 1949. Git.

4 The Children’s Home Society of California, op. p.10. > —t

12 TABLE I THE CHILL— IDENTIFYING- INFORMATION

RE~ AGE * AGE ** NAT. SOURCE OF SEX RACE LIGION REFERRED PLACED DECENT REFERRAL Irish Bureau / 99 English Public / - Allen M W 95 -— Scotch Assistance^ French_____________ German Mother 29 English and legal / 24 Bobby Scotch father v Irish Swedish____________ * English Mother l/ 33 Irish___________ Carl M W English Juvenile 67 Mexican Prob. Dept. Donna F W 64 English Juvenile 42 Ellen F 45 Mexican Prob. Dept,' 0 W y £4 Mexican Mother - Frank M W English Mother Gene M W 40 French and legal 39 Irish father Italian English Juvenile c vA Howard M W 30 38 Irish Prob. Dept* German Irish Mother Irwin M W .2 C 51 Armenian Spanish Mother * Jack M W 2 C 31 Greek Scotch Mother F - Kathy W C 32 39 Irish English German CASE

y7

%

Age in months* Age placed for adoption.

CHAPTER II EXPERIENCE PRIOR TO COMING UNDER CARE OP THE SOCIETY The experience of these eleven children prior to coming under the care of the Society was varied*

Pour of

the children, Carl, Prank, Irwin, and Jack, were referred to the Society by their natural mothers at the time of birth or within a few weeks thereafter* cluded in this chapter.

They are not in­

The remaining seven children,

Allen, Bobby, Donna, Ellen, Gene, Howard, and Kathy, were under the care of natural parents, other individuals or agencies for a period of time ranging from twelve to forty-eight months. With all children relinquished for adoption, there is involved an element of parental rejection and/or an element of immaturity.

The case work done in helping the

natural parent arrive at a decision around relinquishing her child is important .because the manner in which the parent handles this situation -- that of separating from the child —

can have a direct bearing on the child*s

ability to move on.

Adoption as a process begins before

the child is placed in his permanent home.

The process

unfolds when the natural parent engages herself with the caseworker in considering the advisability of an adoptive

14 plan for her child.

As in all casework, a relationship

is formed which involves the client, the worker, and the Society. service —

The client comes to the Society requesting a in this case an adoptive plan for her child.

The worker as a representative of the Society is the per­ son from whom the client receives help in using this ser­ vice. The part of the caseworker in helping a client around such a problem as this involves bringing any con­ flict the parent may have over relinquishing her child into the relationship.

Only as the parent has been able

to express, to react to, and to come to terms with these conflicts may the worker feel free to accept relinquish­ ment as the decision the parent makes.

In our culture

parents are expected to care for their children if at all possible.

The very fact that an agency exists which gives

services to parents who do not feel able to care for their children is to say that an adoptive plan is one way of providing such care. I.

PRESENTATION OP OASES

The children in this study divide into three groups with regard to the marital status of their parents.

The

first group is that of the children who were born out of

15 wedlock.

Five of the children were relinquished by un­

married mothers.

Three of these were not cared for by

their mothers, but came under the care of the Society at the time of their birth.

The other two —

Howard and

Kathy — * were cared for over long enough period of time so that they had some awareness of the thing that was happening to them. The case of Howard came to the attention of the Society on a referral from the Juvenile Probation Depart­ ment,

He was thirty months of age at the time.

Howard

had never been cared for by his mother but had been left with a friend of hers of "questionable character” .

Little

was known of this child's experience with his mother's friend.

It was known, however, that this person wished to

adopt Howard,

She was denied the privilege because of the

evidences of neglect that Howard showed.

When the boy's

mother was contacted by the Society she had little interest in him.

She stated that she had no way of supporting him,

and signed the relinquishments readily. Kathy was referred to the Society by her mother when thirty-three months of age. worker

Her mother was felt by the

to be an unstable and disturbed person.

had a history of poor work habits.

She also

During the thirty-three

months that Kathy was under her-care, she held positions

16 as a domestic in twenty-one different homes.

On all but

two occasions she took Kathy with her into these homes. Kathy, according to her mother, was always well accepted in the homes.

Her mother considered adoption the best

plan for Kathy as she felt the child needed a permanent home. On the two occasions when Kathy was not with her mother, she was placed by her in the home of Kathy*s paternal grandparents. severely disciplined.

There she was treated cruelly and She was often threatened with an

umbrella or a policeman1s club.

On numerous occasions

her mother had had Kathy's father in the Courts on charges of failure to provide.

She reported that she still loved

the child's father and had planned to marry him. however,.married another.

He had,

Kathy!s mother impressed the

worker as feeling bitter and resentful of this. A second group with regard to marital status of parents into which three of these children fall is that of married individuals, but the child1s being born of an extra-marital relationship or out of wedlock.

Nicholson

has said of these individuals: The married woman pregnant by a man not her husband presents quite another kind of problem. Here we have

17 to do with a rift in the marital relations which in­ evitably becomes a part of the casework situation.5 In a situation such as this we see the child as a causal factor in the possible break-up of a family. Here the child is a symbol of infedelity to the legal father or step-father.

The mother of the child is torn

between her possible love for and feeling of respons­ ibility for her child and her love for her husband. Possibly her husband rejects the child more completely than she does.

The child therefore feels the rejection

of two parents, and often of other siblings who become aware of their parents1 attitude and realize that the child is not accepted in the home. Of the three children that fall into this group, one was relinquished by his mother and legal father at the time of his birth and so was not aware of their re­ jection.

The two that were aware of parental rejection

were Bobby and Gene. Bobby was referred to the Society when he was twenty-four months of age.

His legal father had learned

that Bobby was b o m of an extra-marital relationship when the child was eighteen months of age and after this time ~ T T a r l a h B. Nicholson, The Decision to fielinquish ^or Adoption, Second General Session, Adoption institute•' The University of Southern California, August, 1949. p. 4,

18 was unable to accept him.

Bobbyfs mother rejected him .

as a symbol of her extra-marital relationship.

Two older

children in the home "picked on" Bobby and were not disciplined by their parents for doing so.

Bobby was

described by the worker as a "shy anxious child who wanted to stay with me at the clinic rather than return to his parents".

Bobby*s awareness of rejection seemed obvious.

His parents planned to explain his disappearance from the home by telling friends and relatives that he had been killed in an accident while on a vacation they supposedly were taking at the time he was relinquished.

This seems

to point up the profound rejection they felt toward him. It was as if to deny to themselves his existence.

How

much Bobby was aware of these plans was unknown. Gene came to the attention of the Society on a re­ ferral by his natural mother and step-father.

Gene was

b o m out of wed3.ock prior to his mother*s marriage.

He

was thirty-nine months of age at the time he was referred for adoption.

He was included in this group because his

experience in his home involved relationships with both his mother and a father figure. Gene*s mother rejected him as a symbol of illeg­ itimacy as well as a symbol of the hardships she endured during her pregnancy.

She talked at great length of the

19 cruel treatment she received in the maternity home and of the hard work she was forced to do there. mother stated that she actually disliked him.

Genefs His step­

father was more patient with Gene than was his mother. Due to Genefs presence in the home, however, the situation was tense. Gene spent the first two years of his life in an institution in England. ment in this institution.

Little was known of his adjust­ Psychological tests done at

the time of referral showed, ” (...) definite and unusual blockings in certain areas, and give indication of in­ adequacies in early environment.”

Because of the im­

personal nature of the institutional setting, the assump­ tion may be made that these inadequacies were in the area of emotions.

Freud and Burlingham in studies done of in­

stitutional children report: The institutional child in the first two years has advantages in all those spheres of his life which are independent of the emotional side of his nature; he is at a disadvantage where the emotional ties to the mother or the family are the mainspring of development such as speech and habit training (...) changes of condition with reference to emotional life cause serious qualita­ tive changes. The institutional child has his basic emotional needs blunted-— early attachment to mother-— and after awhile ceases to search for another substitute and fails to develop all the more highly organized forms of love which should be modeled after this first

20 pattern; or dissatisfactions have an opposite effect-child overstresses desire/to find a mother and changes allegiances all the time. Gene1s behavior in his home bore this out.

His

mother described him as a stubborn child who ” (...) made bids for affection with strangers . 11

The workerfs ex­

perience with Gene was also indicative of his need for love and affection.

He related to her immediately and

wished to go home with her. tion by his parents.

Gene was aware of his rejec­

Beyond this he seemed ready to change

his home situation which had nothing to offer in the way of love, affection, and emotional security. The third group into which these children fall is that in which the mother has either died or abandoned her child.

The responsibility for relinquishment in these

cases fell to the child*s father.

The children in this

group are Allen, Donna, and Ellen. Allen was referred to the Society by the Bureau of Public Assistance when he was ninety-five months of age. His mother had died when he was six months of age. was then moved to the home of various relatives.

Allen Allen's

home life with these relatives was upsetting as they lived ..........Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlingham, Infants Without Families. (Few York: International University Press, 13T47] pp. 26-27.

21 in a crowded shack.

In these homes he was considered an

additional burden to an already overwhelming life situation.

At the age of two Allen was referred to the Bureau

of Public Assistance and placed by that agency in various boarding homes where he remained for two years* time A l l e y s father had re-married.

By that

He removed Allen from

the boarding home and took him into his own home.

Allen

was well accepted by his step-mother and given a great deal of love and affection. with her. years.

On the whole he seemed secure

He remained in the home of his parents for three

Then his father and step-mother separated as a re­

sult of his fatherfs being sentenced to prison on a felony charge.

Allen1s step-mother referred him to the Bureau of

Public Assistance for foster care.

His father was con­

tacted by that agency with regard to an adoptive plan for Allen. Donna and Ellen, sisters, were referred to the Society by the Juvenile Probation Department when Donna was sixtyfour months of age and Ellen was forty-two months of age. Both girls were rejected by their mother who blamed them for the failure of her marriage.

Both had come to the at­

tention of the Juvenile Probation Department because of neglect and unfit home conditions.

In all, Donna had been

cared for by her parents for a total of forty-eight months.

22 Ellen had been cared for by them for twenty-two months. Ellen had had a particularly stormy infancy.

She had been

hospitalized twice with the diagnosis of acute malnutri­ tion. Their mother abandoned them after she separated from her husband.

The father of the girls was described

as the T,blacksheepTt of a family well known in the com­ munity.

He was interested in Donna and Ellen only to the

degree to which they affected his own situation.

He felt

that he was being persecuted in the community because of them. The girls were under the care of the Juvenile Probation Department for eighteen months.

Donna was

twenty-seven months of age when first referred to that agency.

Ellen was five months of age at the time.

After

eighteen months, the girls were returned to their parents who kept them for five months and then le ft them with relatives.

Donna and Ellen were again referred to the

Juvenile Probation Department where they remained under care for fourteen months.

Little was known of their ex­

perience in the boarding homes under the supervision of the Department.

It was known that the girls were in a

series of six homes, the last of which was considered definitely sub-standard.

It was also known that the girls

23 were always together.

This faot may have given them

some measure of security. II.

DISCUSSION.

In all the seven children who were cared for by their parents or others prior to coming under the care of the Society, there are indications of overt rejection of the children by their parents.

There might be some ques­

tion of this with regard to Kathy whose mother seemed really to have loved her but felt that adoption was the best plan.

On the other hand, Kathy1s mother apparently

used her as a threat to her natural father whom her mother still loved.

Once her mother realized the futil­

ity of this situation, she may have had no further need of Kathy as a tool for punishing her father. With those parents who referred children to the agency, rejection seemed to have crystallized at the point the parents contacted the Society.

In the cases

where referral came through another agency, rejection seemed to have crystallized when the child came to the attention of that agency. Maslow and Mittlemann in speaking of rejection of children by parents have said 5

24 Parental rejection is the method par excellence for creating insecurity in the child, an insecurity that is likely to persist through life unless something is done about it. Symonds summing up the studies of par­ ental rejection, finds that the rejected child is likely to be characterized as aggressive, rebellious, hostile, jealous, attention getting, annoying in school, hyper­ active, etc.' These kinds of behavior are the child’s reaction to his past.

Although the factual knowledge of the experience

of these seven children was meager, they were expected to react with some type of behavior that was indicative of insecurity.

It may be fear of this kind of behavior that

deters prospective adoptive parents in considering a child beyond the age of infancy. Another factor evident in these children, was that often they were a symbol of discord in marital relations. In some instances they were actually the causal factor in this discord. point this up.

The cases of Bobby and G-ene particularly In other cases the marital discord seemed

to be projected upon the children. instances of this.

Donna and Ellen were

Regardless of the basic underlying

cause of the marital discord, the child suffered from the lack of love in the part of the parents.

7 Al 17 Maslow and B. Mittelmann, Principles of Abnormal Psychology (New York: Harper & Brothers Pub"^ TisEers, 1941), p. 249.

25 The child*s behavior which resulted from the rejec­ tion is best seen in his experience in the boarding homes and adoptive homes.

CHAPTER III EXPERIENCE IN BOARDING HOMES A period of care in a boarding home provides for the child a fulfillment of his need for individualized attention; for the Society, this period provides a time during which the child can be observed, his physical needs and emotional reactions noted and treated accordingly. During the boarding care period the Society is able to decide whether or not the child is a proper subject for adoption.

The boarding care period offers the child —

particularly the disturbed child -- the opportunity to work through his conflicts around being rejected by his parents.

This period gives him the opportunity to ex­

perience the security of family ties and to know the feel­ ing of being wanted.

Furthermore,

for the

boarding home is a testing period.

He may

child, the test the board­

ing parents to the limits of their patience in order to prove to himself that they love him in spite of his be­ havior.

For this reason, it takes a very special kind of

boarding parent to cope with children in this age group. Often, the right boarding home for a particular

child

is

found by a trial and error method. In his relationship -with the caseworker during the

27 period of boarding care, the child is given the oppor­ tunity to react to the thing that is happening to him. With the children in this study, the workers had the ad­ vantage of their being able to verbalize to a degree their feelings. The children were given the chance to participate in plans made for final adoptive placement.

This is not

to say that the choice of the home was up to the child. It is to say that plans made for the child were shared with him and that he was given the chaiice to react to them and to begin to work through any conflict he had with regard to them.

Dunbar states:

A child1s capacity for making decisions comes from a freedom to make decisions, from contact with people who criticize the decisions of others. However, if he is required to decide about every issue which arises, the weight of responsibility becomes too heavy for him to bear and he will one day lose that capacity.® In line with this the worker decided upon the choice of a particular home that seemed to best suit a child1s needs.

The child, on the other hand, decided

after placement whether or not he received satisfaction from the relationships established in the home.

Had the

home not been satisfactory, the child would not have re­ mained. ^

H7 Flanders Dunbar,

0

£. cit. p. 127.

28 A committee appointed by the Welfare Council of Los Angeles to make a study of an institution for adolescent girls reported: Modern child placing has learned that actually children cannot be placed against their own wills, They can be engaged with another person in the process of determining what they are willing to do and to accept^ and they can be helped to move where they have to go*^ This is true with regard to boarding homes as well as permanent adoptive homes, I.

PRESENTATION

OF CASES

Boarding home experiences of the children in this study varied with regard to the time spent in the homes, the number of replacements that were necessary, the par­ ticular problem -- physical, psychological, or social — that the child may have presented, and with regard to the kind of parents a particular boarding home had to offer. It is obvious that a child who experiences a number of replacements suffers more trauma than does the child who finds security and love in one boarding home.

The child

who moves from boarding home to boarding home tests each 5 Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles, "Progress Report on a Study of Rosemary Cottage." Un­ published report prepared for the Council, Los Angeles California, August, i948. *

J

29 set of parent-figures before he can adjust.

Such a child

may also suffer loss of self-esteem as a result of these frequent moves,

Furthermore, he may feel guilty by reason

of being considered a problem child and a trouble-maker. Replacements of the children in this study occurred for a variety of reasons.

The child may have exceeded the

age limit for which a particular home was licensed.

A

boarding mother may have received more satisfaction from a younger child and did her best work with such a child, A child’s insecurity was so great that he was not accept­ able to a particular boarding home and a series of replace­ ments resulted before just the right home was found for him.

A boarding father could not accept a child because

of dark coloring.

In addition to this, there were external

factors that made replacement necessary -- illness of the child, illness of the boarding mother, or illness of a member of the boarding family; or the boarding family moved from the state. In considering the boarding experiences of the eleven children in this study, it was found that five of them -- Allen, Bobby, Donna, Ellen and Gene -- were in one boarding home while under the care of the Society. of the children —

Carl, Howard, Irwin and Jack —

Four were

30 each in a series of six boarding homes while under the care of the Society.

One child -- Kathy -- was in three

boarding homes, and one child -- Erank —

was in two board­

ing homes while under the care of the Society. Of the five children who were in only one boarding home while under care, three -- Allen, Donna and Ellen had been in an unknown number of boarding homes while under the care of other agencies.

Little was known of their ex­

periences in these homes, When Allen came under care of the Society at ninety-five months of age, he was in a boarding home super­ vised by the County,

At the time, there were five other

boys boarding in this home.

Allen remained in this home

for the six months that the Society had him under care. He was described by his boarding mother as being, “bossy, stubborn and sneaky.1*

At the same time, she felt that

he was an appealing child and a “good“ boy. eneuritic child in this home.

Allen was an

fo the worker, Allen seemed

a shy tense child who had a short span of attention. did not respond to strangers readily. thusiastic about school or friends.

He

He was not en­ In school, however,

Allen was considered of average intelligence.

According

to his teacher, who described him as "well-behaved and

31 obedient” , Allen was well liked by the other children.

He

made excessive bids for affection and attention from the teacher, talked baby-talk, and at times lisped in a baby­ ish way. The boarding mother with whom Allen lived was a strict disciplinarian and impressed the worker as being inflexible.

She handled Allen’s unacceptable behavior by

telling him that it was “wrong".

She felt that he re­

sponded well to this type of discipline and that she could see some improvement in his behavior.

Allen, one of six

boarding children, was declared by the boarding mother to be her favorite. Psychological tests done at the time of referral showed that Allen had an I.Q. of ninety-three*

The

Psychologist reported: The tests he failed showed a disturbed personality rather than a lack of intelligence. The I.Q. did not reflect his full potentialities. Pailure in certain areas were felt to have a counterpart in their own ex­ periential history. Donna and Ellen, sisters, sixty-four and thirtynine months of age respectively, when referred to the Society by the Juvenile Probation Department, were in a boarding home under the supervision of the Department* They remained in this boarding home during the three months they were under care.

They too had a history of a sequence

32 of boarding homes -- the last of which was considered sub­ standard,

The boarding mother in this sub-standard home

considered both girls

11

happy, active, friendly children , 11

In the relationship with the worker, both girls seemed starved for affection.

On first meeting her, they ran to

her and threw their arms around her, were friendly and talkative. Psychological tests done on these girls revealed the following: 100.

Donna had an intelligence quotient of

This was considered tentative because of the childfs

inadequate environment.

During the tests she was friendly

and socially at ease but lacked self-confidence. had an intelligence quotient of 102,

Ellen

This too was consid­

ered tentative because of her inadequate environment. Ellen was self-reliant and spontaneous during the tests and was believed by the Psychologist to offer greater potentialities. Bobby was referred to the Society by his mother and legal father when twenty-four months of age.

Born of an

extra-marital relationship, he suffered extreme rejection by his family.

He was in one boarding home for a period

of six months while under care.

While there, his boarding

mother thought of him as having a great deal of insecurity.

33 The worker recorded: He seems to be adjusting slowly and is becoming more used to them. She feels that he has accepted her father, who is an elderly man, much more completely than either the boarding father or herself. (...) He wants to know where his mother is, and seems ready to leave at a momentfs notice. After four months in the home, during which time Bobby gradually accepted his home situation, the picture of him was as follows-: After being in the home for several weeks, the child seemed to be able to go for a ride with the boarding family and meet strangers without difficulty. He is ex­ tremely fond of the boarding father at this time, and the boarding father devotes a great deal of time and ef­ fort to the child. With the boarding mother, Bobby is very affectionate, and although he is attached to her, he shows very little of the apprehension when she is out of the room that he displayed in such situations with his own mother. The boarding mother reports that in his re­ lationship with other children in the neighborhood, Bobby plays adequately with children his own age, but does not seem to feel the need for companionship that might be expected. During the last two months in the boarding home Bobby gave constant evidence of his feeling of security. In contacts with the worker in the early part of the boarding period, Bobby seemed to be a submissive, anxious child showing few, if any, aggressive tendencies. After four months in the home, Bobby gave evidence of being able to hold his own with either children or adults. worker reported: The apathy which characterized much of Bobbyfs

The

34 activity during the early part of this period had en­ tirely disappeared and he is becoming a very masculine little boy. He has very little fear of anything and will climb anything that is climbable. He is, however, not an overactive child, and is very able to play quietly without strain. In early contacts with Bobby, the worker noted that he seemed retarded in his speech.

He progressed in his

ability to talk after a few weeks in the boarding home. Bobby was disturbed by the worker1s visits in the home indicating that he associated her with separation from his parents. Psychological tests done when Bobby was first re­ ferred showed him to be shy and extremely lacking in selfconfidence.

He was considered of average to high average

intelligence, except for language development which was retarded.

His language difficulty was believed to be due

to his feeling of insecurity.

Tests done later when Bobby

was ready for adoptive placement confirmed the initial im­ pression of average to high average intelligence,

language

expression was not yet at the expected level, but improve­ ment had been made.

The Psychologist reported:

Bobby's difficulty seems tobe emotionally toned rather than of an intellectual nature; and the impression is that his language difficulty will be adequate when he feels greater security and has an increased feeling of self-worth.

35 Gene was referred to the Society by his mother and step-father when thirty-nine months of age.

He was placed

in one boarding home by the Society and remained there for a period of one month.

In the boarding home, Gene had

nightmares for the first few nights.

This in itself

seemed to be an indication of mental suffering.

Gene was

fearful in his contacts with the worker and wanted to be assured that she had not come to take him back to his mother. to

In order to give Gene some security with regard

his situation, he

was told:

(...) that he was not going back to his mother but to a new home where he would have a new mother and father. He seemed to understand and accept this, but his reaction was to try to form a closer relationship with the boarding mother, and to ask her repeatedly if she would be his new mother. His anxiety in this regard seemed to indicate a need to be loved and wanted as well as fear around another unknown situation.

There is some question whether a child

of this age should have been required to bear such anxiety over any length of time.

A constant state of anxiety such

as this would interfere with the child’s ability to adjust. Psychological tests done cepted

at the time Gene was ac­

for study indicated that he had an I.Q.

The Psychologist’s evaluation of Gene was:

of 105.

36 An I.Q# of 105 classified G-ene as of average intel­ ligence. . ’. • In light of his experiential history: rejection by his mother, insecurity, etc., this I.Q. should be regarded as tentative. Characterization: G-ene is an appealing, friendly child; but quite docile, The feeling is that he has been over-disciplined and over-directed . . . . He evidenced real anxiety in sit­ uations where he was requested to initiate a task, e.g. in stringing beads. The Examiner took one string and handed him another and saic, 1 Let's see how many we can put on.* He made no attempt to reach into the box for the beads, and when the directions were repeated he seemed to be quite disturbed and said, fI nrusn't touch them;, you give them to m e , H e was finally persuaded we could play the game together, but proceeded timidly. Hext to be considered are the four children who were in a succession of six boarding homes.

The case of

Carl was referred to the Society at the time of his birth. He had been a feeding problem while in the nursery and he was returned there from Boarding Home I after one month because the feeding problem continued.

After a few weeks

in the nursery, he was placed in Boarding Home II where he stayed for three months.

He was again returned to the

nursery -- this time with eczema and possibilities of asthma.

He remained in the nursery for a period of two

months.

Carl was then placed in Boarding Home III where

he remained for nine months.

He was removed from this

boarding home because the boarding family moved from the state,

Carl remained ten months in Boarding Home IV and

was removed because the boarding mother planned to accept employment outside the home.

Of his experiences in these

37 four homes, the worker had this to say: The frequent moves of Carl in the boarding homes have made him insecure and fearful of staff members who take him to new boarding homes, or take him to the clinic. He has, however, shown an ability to adapt to new situations and make adjustment in a new situa­ tion without too much difficulty* Carl remained in Boarding H o m e V six months and was removed on request of the boarding mother who felt she could not continue to care for him when he continued tobe in such poor physical condition and often showed symptoms of being upset, such as vomiting at breakfast time.

Carl did not seem happy in this particular boarding

home.

The boarding family1s own son was active, domineer­

ing, and demanding of Carl.

The family liked Carl, but

were unable to give him care for an indefinite period of time. Carl remained one month in Boarding Home VI, where he adjusted exceptionally well.

The boarding mother was

able to give him reassurance, to understand his anxiety and physical upset, and to help her own five year old son ac­ cept Carl in the home.

Carl was active in his play with

the son and other neighborhood children.

There was a

marked improvement in speech during this time,

Carl was

speaking more distinctly and in more intelligible sen­ tences .

Carl had Psychological examinations on six oc­ casions,

The ratings varied from low normal and retarda­

tion to an I.Q. of 103.

At nine months of age Carl was

unable to hold up his head, was listless and unresponsive At one year of age he had made remarkable strides and was able to pull himself up to a sitting position, was creep­ ing, standing with help, and responding socially.

Since

his environment had been more* favorable it was felt his early failures were due to neglect in that area.

Carl

continued to improve psychologically until two years and two months of age when tests given did not compare favor­ ably with the examination given seven months before.

His

greatest handicap was in language development; he said words only when motivated to do so.

Carl had had a suc­

cession of physical illnesses during the seven months* period between tests.

The Psychologist thought it pos­

sible that Carl's case was one of pseudo-symptomatic re­ tardation and with improved physical condition improved behavior would follow.

A test given three months later

bore out this conviction.

Carl's I.Q. was 103, and the

impression was that at least this level would be main­ tained, granted that language, disability reflected ad­ verse environmental influence rather than real retarda­ tion.

Carl was considered to be much better socially

39 adjusted at that time*

He' was more able to meet People

happily and showed a real interest in a new situation. With regard to Carlfs physical condition -- at birth he was rigid, tense, and emaciated.

At five months

he had eczema and a respiratory condition.

He was con­

sidered a feeding problem from the time of his birth.

At

the age of twenty-three months, his facial expressions were those of a hypo-thyroid and bone-age studies were comparable to those of a newborn.

A course of thyroid was

prescribed and Carl began to show improvement.

He was

declared medically placeable when twenty-nine months of age. Carl is an example of a child who had a medical problem that was aggravated by inadequate care in a suc­ cession of boarding homes.

In view of the kinds of ill­

nesses that Carl had -- feeding problem, eczema, and asthma -- the question of the psychosomatic implications of these illnesses immediately arises.

English and Pearson

list the ingestion and digestion of food as one of the three functions of the upper portion of the gastro­ intestinal tract which are frequently disturbed by dis­ orders in the individual’s emotional life . 1 0 ~ JSngTish, O.S., and Pearson, G. H. J. , Common N eurosis of Children and Adults (W.W. Norton and C o .. Inc. New York, 19577), p. 8S7 -----’ ’

40 With regard to asthma, Maslow and Mittelmann state: Asthmatic patients often suffer from various emo­ tional conflicts and their attacks are correlated with certain emotional reaction patterns, particularly with anger and resultant anxiety . 1 1 Howard was referred to the Society by the Juvenile Probation Department when he was thirty months of age. He experienced a. succession of six boarding homes before he was placed in an adoptive home,

Howard was in Boarding

Home I for two months and in Boarding Home II for two months.

Removal from both of these homes was necessitated

by reason of inadequate care. Howard was

In Boarding Home III,

described as being moderately active and re­

sponsive to attention.

His boarding parents noticed that

he stammered when excited.

However, the worker felt that

he seemed more secure in this home than he had in his previous ones. months.

Howard remained in this home for three

The reason for his removal is unknown.

Howard

was prepared for separating from these parents by a visit to those in Boarding Home IV.

He seemed aware of the thing

that was happening to him and cried on learning that he must remain in Boarding Home IV. new home for two months.

XI p. 439.

Howard remained in his

He was replaced because the board-

A. H. Maslow and B. Mittelmann, op. oft., ---

41 ing mother became ill.

He was then placed in Boarding

Home V and remained there for two months.

Replacement

was again due to the illness of the boarding mother.

The

emergency nature of these moves prevented Howard’s being prepared for separation from either set of boarding par­ ents.

In Boarding Home VI, Howard was described by the

boarding mother as being very excitable and as stuttering when excited.

The boarding mother in this home seemed able

to give Howard some sense of security.

He was felt by the

caseworker to have made a fairly good adjustment during the three months that he remained in the home. psychological tests showed that Howard had an I.Q. of 90.

He was inarticulate and his language difficulty

was believed by the Psychologist to be due to the lack of stimulation. The experiences that Howard had while under the care of his mother’s friend as well as the frequent moves he made from boarding home to boarding home were causal factors in his behavior.

According to English and Pearson:

Stammering is the most frequent type of speech dis­ order. Stammering is a symptom of a neurosis. It is usually the mild, shy, gentle individuals who show no normal aggressiveness toward the world and who are afraid of their own aggressive impulses that stutter or stammer.1^

S. English and G-. H. J. Pearson, ojd. e f t., p. 60.

42 Maslow and Mittelmann seem to be in accord with this theory.

They state:

The stutterer has difficulty enunciating certain words.because he cannot articulate the first consonant* In some individuals the stuttering is almost always present; in others it appears in situations of stress. . . . The psychodynamics of stuttering is, however, a moot question; hence only tentative interpretations can be made. Speech is a form of self assertion and an at­ tempt to contact other individuals. Fear in these sit­ uations may lead to a disturbance in this function. The consequent embarrassment may make the stutterer shy and cause him to lose self-confidence. Another factor may be considerable unconscious pre-occupation with oneself, particularly with the bodily function of speech. For the stutterer, speech may have the connotation of a hos­ tile attack and the consequent fear of injury.13 Howard*s excitability and stuttering probably re­ sulted from his feelings of frustration and anger around his relationship with parent-figures. Irwin came under the care of the Society when re­ ferred by his mother at the time of his birth.

Of Armen­

ian and Irish descent, he was of extremely dark coloring. Adoptive plans for Irwin were further complicated by ru­ mors in the Armenian community where his mother lived that he was of Negroid descent.

Out of town inquiries

came to the Society with regard to Irwin.

When photo­

graphs of the child were sent, the question again arose of the possibility of his being part Negro.

p. 421.

13

In order to

A. H. Maslow and B. Mittelmann, op. cit. ------ ’ —

43 rale out any doubt, the Society consulted an Anthropo­ logist whose decision was; Skin is light brown, eyes dark brown, and hair dark brown. Hair is curly. Hose high at' root and bridge. Probably belongs to Armenoid or Genoric race of Caucesoids, a racial type common in Asia Minor and Southeast Europe among lurks, Armenians and Slavick speaking peoples. He is not Hegro, During the fifty-six months that Irwin was under the care of the Society, he experienced six boarding home placements.

The first three of these were of an in­

stitutional type.

He remained in the Society’s nursery

in the Southern District for five months.

He was then

sent to the Northern District Nursery where he remained for four months.

In both nurseries, his dark coloring

prevented his being placed in an adoptive home.

Irwin’s

third institutional experience was in the Toddler’s Cottage which the Society maintained at the time.

He re­

mained in the Cottage for nine months and was then placed in a boarding home because of his age.

The boarding home

in which Irwin was placed was a Negro home.

The boarding

mother had been a housemother in the Toddler’s Cottage and requested that Irwin be placed in her home. in this home for nineteen months. was felt to be fairly good.

He remained

There his adjustment

The boarding family was fond

of Irwin, and were so attached to him that they requested he be removed from the home.

They felt that they could not

44 give him up if "they kepi him over a longer period of time. The impression of "the caseworker was that "this boarding mother had a tendency to over-protect Irwin. Irwin was then placed in his second boarding home where he remained for five months.

He was described by

the boarding mother as being unsociable, being resistant to direction, being anxious and being withdrawn. seemed not to like strangers.

He

He was an eneutritic child.

Irwin was removed from this home when the boarding family moved out of the state.

Irwin was prepared for his move

into his third boarding home by a visit there prior to actual placement.

This was a Mexican home where the

family was of dark coloring. the first few days.

Irwin was unhappy there for

This particular boarding family, how­

ever, seemed able to give Irwin the feeling of belonging. His eneuresis continued.

He was aggressive and active as

compared to his former attitude of withdrawal.

Irwin was

able also to verbalize his wish for permanent family ties by asking the boarding mother if he might stay with this family always and have her for his mother. worker, Irwin was fearful and anxious. associated her

With his case­

Undoubtedly he

with the frequent moves he had made.

Psychological tests indicated that Irwin was of

45 below average intelligence.

His failure in the intel­

lectual and personal-social areas were thought due to negativism, insecurity and lack of social and selfconfidence,

He was retarded in language development,

Irwin1s ability to express some of his aggressive tendencies in his last boarding home seemed due to the understanding the boarding mother had of his problem and the consequent acceptance irwin felt.

In addition to

this, his aggression was probably a means of testing the boarding mother. Jack came under the care of the Society when re­ ferred by his mother at the time of his birth.

Of Greek

and Spanish descent, he too was of extremely dark color­ ing.

Jack experienced six temporary placements before

adoption. II.

Jack remained only two weeks in Boarding Home

He contracted whooping cough and was sent to

Children*s Hospital.

On recovering from this illness,

Jack was placed in Boarding Home III.

In this home he

was described as being affectionate with small children and adults.

He was a source of discomfort to the board­

ing family because of his dark coloring. father particularly could not accept Jack,

The boarding Bor this

reason, he was removed from the home and placed in Board­ ing Home IY where he was accepted in spite of his dark

46 coloring.

This boarding family was able to give Jack

some sense of security.

He was removed from this home

after six months because the boarding family left the state.

Prior to final removal from Boarding Home IV, Jack

was placed in a substitute boarding home while his regular boarding family was on a six weeks1 vacation.

In this

substitute home, Jack received very little attention. This neglect resulted in excessive masturbation and thumb sucking.

Jack1s final boarding experience -- Boarding

Home VI -- lasted over a period of ten months.

He was

described by the boarding mother as having a great ap­ petite.

He insisted that she feed him rapidly and made

little effort to feed himself. and often became angry.

Jack was easily frustrated

The boarding mother was believed

by the caseworker to be somewhat rigid and lacking in understanding of the child1s problem. Jack’s psychological tests revealed average achieve­ ment in all areas with the exception of language develop­ ment.

His speech ¥7as slow and somewhat indistinct. Jack's great appetite and need to be fed rapidly

seemed to be equated with his need for love.

At infancy

one of the child’s first needs is for the satisfaction of hunger, and a part of his identification with his mother is on the basis of having this need satisfied or met.

47 Another'area of an infant's identification with his mother is in terms of having his need for love and affection realized.

The unconscious equation of food and love are

made in this way.

If an individual does not receive satis­

faction with regard to his need for love and affection, he may unconsciously turn to food as a source of dependency security and gratification.

While it is true that there

may be an organic basis for an abnormal appetite, with a child such as Jack who has known only insecurity, it sould seem that his abnormal appetite was non-organic. Prank, one of the two remaining children in this study, was in two boarding homes.

He was referred to the

Society by his mother at the time of his birth.

Of

Mexican descent, Prank's dark coloring prevented earlier placement for adoption in a suitable Mexican home.

Prank

remained in Boarding Home I for two months and was re­ moved because the boarding mother did not care for him adequately. months.

In Boarding Home II Prank remained twenty

He was described by this boarding mother as self­

ish, negativistic, and given to temper tantrums.

His

toilet habits were good and he fed himself well.

He was

active and energetic.

Prank preferred playing alone even

when there were other children in the home.

This par­

ticular boarding family was fond of Prank and wished to

48 adopt him.

The boarding mother was thought by the case­

worker to be over-protective of Prank, and the child did not impress the worker as being secure in the home because of this. Psychological tests revealed that Prank was of average intelligence in all areas with the exception of language development which was retarded.

Slowness in

speech was believed due to the lack of stimulation. was negativistic during the tests.

Prank

The Psychologist

believed that Prank would improve under wiser guidance and consistent handling with regard to behavior. Kathy, the last of the children in this study, came under the care of the Society when thirty-two months of age.

She experienced three different boarding homes over

a period of seven months. remained one month.

In the first boarding home Kathy

She was tense and anxious in this

home, and the boarding mother could not cope math her ex­ cessive activity.

She was removed from this home at the

request of the boarding mother. remained five months.

In Boarding Home II, Kathy

She was described as making too

much of an effort to be good in this home.

Kathy was re­

moved from this home because of illness of the boarding mother.

She was then placed in Boarding Home III where

she remained for one month.

The boarding mother noticed

49 her immediate response to any kind of correction.

Within

two weeks, however, she began to show signs of aggression. In contacts with the caseworker, Kathy was poised, alert, and co-operative. Psychological tests showed Kathy to be of superior intelligence with an I.Q. of 127*

She was considered

superior in language expression and development. ^ Rorschach tests revealed that she did not respond readily to emotional stimuli.

The impression was that she had

rigid control of herself.

This seemed to be borneout by

her excessive need to be good and her immediate response to any kind of attention. II.

DISCUS SI OK *

The insecurity present in all eleven of these children was manifested in various ways -- shyness, stubborness, negativism,

and fearfulness.

Problem behavior

in some took the form of eneuresis, temper tantrums, ex­ cessive aggression,

and hyperactivity.

An interesting

criterion of the development of the children in this study was the progress they made in learning language.

Retard­

ation in this area resulted from lack of stimulation in the child*s environment.

Lack of stimulation may take the

form of neglect or over-protection.

In either case the

50 result is the same.

The child is not motivated to learn —

in this case language. in this study —

Since the majority of the children

six -- showed some retardation in lang­

uage development, there was room for speculation with re­ gard to the positive attention any one of them received in his boarding home. Pour of the children in this study showed an almost desperate need for love and security by making overt*bids for attention and affection from strangers.

Indications

were that these children had not established a meaningful relationship with any one person in their short span of years. In all eleven cases, the psychological tests re­ flected the inadequacies of early environment.

The I.Q.’s

of these children were valid at the time given but prob­ ably did not reflect the optimum level of achievement for any one of them.

With improvement in the environmental

and emotional factors in the lives of these children, their I.Q.fs probably improved. The numerous replacements necessary for the majority of these children points up vividly the need to know the kind of child a boarding home can best help. said:

Lippmann has

51 . . ♦ failure to know the foster home accounts for repeated replacements and the resulting lack of anchorage for the child who cannot fail but be impressed with the fact that he is a disappointment and therefor not want­ ed. 14 Reasons for replacements varied from behavior dif­ ficulties to difficulties based on physiological factors such as ill health or a child1s coloring.

In addition

to this, there were external factors such as illness in the boarding family, or the boarding family moved from the state.

Regardless of the reason for replacement, the

children in this study suffered from the feeling of re­ jection.

With those children whose nationality descent

resulted in a problem of dark coloring, rejection seemed to amount to rejection by the community rather than by a particular family.

Ro one of these children would have

been under the care of the Society for a number of years had there been a family in the community interested in adoption who could have accepted their dark coloring. A review of the records from which these cases were chosen revealed the fact that these children were be­ yond the age of infancy and this was a deterrent factor in their being placed for adoption.

Those children who

were accepted for study when beyond the age of infancy, 1? H7" S. Lippmann, M. D.-, **Rewer/Trends in Child Placements", The Family. 20: 16-23, February, 1941. p.18.

52 were accepted only after the Society was certain that they had within the file of adoptive applicants, those in­ dividuals who wished a child beyond the age of infancy. Those children who were under the care of the Society from the time of birth were those who were of dark coloring and the one who had a medical problem.

The three children who

were dark complexioned were declared adoptable early in infancy.

The one child who had a medical problem was not

declared adoptable until beyond the age of infancy.

Both

of these problems -- shades of coloring and ill health are of the type over which the child has no control.

Both

of these problems may have been basic to the behavior dif­ ficulties displayed by these children. It was impossible to determine the various degrees of adjustment of these children in their boarding homes. Those children who were prepared for moving into another boarding home showed various reactions*

Replacement de­

mands that the child re-organize himself as well as his way of living.

Replacement imposes upon the child the

fear of leaving the known for the unknown,

Present day

practice in child placing has revealed that the child who participates in placement, whether it be of a temporaxy ox permanent nature, stands a better chance of making a positive adjustment.

53 Ho one of these children adjusted in his boarding home in a manner that might be called satisfactory.

This

is not to say that the boarding home experiences did not offer the child something of a positive nature that was helpful in enabling him to move, on to a permanent home. The fact that these children displayed behavior problems indicated that they were having a voice in what was happening to them.

A child who is able to express him­

self with regard to his placement situation will not feel as though he had no choice in the thing that him.

happened to

The question quite naturally arose as to whether or

not the children in this study did not have a great deal in the way of replacement experiences imposed upon them. All of the children who experienced more than one board­ ing home placement might have been more disturbed than if they had only experienced one placement.

However, the

reality of the placement situation cannot be ignored. Boarding parents often do not know the kind of child they can or cannot accept until the child is in the home. Emergencies do arise and must be handled accordingly. To summarize; the factors that seemed significant in the adjustment of the children in this study t o 'their boarding home situations included such things as; their acceptance by boarding parents; the degree of adequate

54 care the boarding family had to offer; the childfs ex­ perience prior to coming under the care of the agency; the child*s preparation for placement; the stimulation the child received in the boarding home; and the physiological characteristics with which the child was endowed.

55 TABLE II ADOPTIVE PARENTS

CASE

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION RELIGION NATIONALITY DESCENT RACE AGES M. M. F. F. M. F. fi. F.

Allen1s

49

44 W.

W.

P.

P.

Scotch German

Irish Dutch

Bobby1s

46

38 W.

w.

P.

0.

English Irish

French English German -

C arl's

33

31 W.

w.

P.

p.

English German

English German

Donna1s and Ellen1s

50

46 W.

w.

C.

c.

Mexican Spanish

Mexic an French

Frank* s

45

31 W.

w.

c.

c.

Mexican

Mexican

Gene* s

39

39 W.

w.

p.

p.

Scotch English

Scotch English

Howard1s

40

41 W.

w.

p.

p.

Irish English

Dutch German Irish Welsh

Irwin* s

45

31 Ool. Col. c.

c.

Irish English A. Indian A. Indian Ethiopian African

Jack* s

37

35 W.

w.

p.

p.

Armenian

German

Kathy1s

45

38 W.

W.

P.

P.

English

Scotch

CHAPTER I? EXPERIENCE IN ADOPTIVE HOMES When a child is placed in an adoptive home, the in­ tention is that of its being a permanent placement.

The

State Law in reference to adoption specifies that an adoption may be made final in not less than six months after the child is placed in the home.

The Children1s

Home Society of California, however, specifies that an adoption carried out under its auspices may not be made final before the child has been in the adoptive home for a period of twelve months.

Legal relinquishments for a

child are accepted by the Society from natural parents after the child has been declared medically and psycho­ logically placeable.

The twelve months prior to making

the adoption final constitute a time when the adoptive home is supervised by a c a s e w o r k e r .

During the period of

supervision, the Society and the adoptive family -- in­ cluding the child —

decide whether or not the placement

has been the right one. I.

THE HOME STUDY

In arriving at selection, acceptance, and approval of adoptive homes, the Children’s Home Society of

57 California conducts a Home Study.

The Study is carried

out by a caseworker who by very reason of her training has the ability to help the prospective adoptive parents actively participate in an undertaking -- that of taking a child in adoption.

Nicholson in considering the con­

tribution of casework in the matter of evaluating the prospective adoptive home said: People reveal themselves, present themselves, not only in the histories they give of their development and experience, but even more in the quality of the rela­ tionship which they show themselves capable of forming with another person. The caseworker wants to find some measure of flexibility of a family, the degree to which they could let a child grow without needing him to be a particular kind of a child. Priends of the family can tell something. But what of the experience she has had with the couple herself? What is the quality of the relationship they have developed with her? How full of pressure? How able are these people to take the point of view of another? To change? To let what happens in­ fluence them? 3-6 Nicholson has aptly stated the role of the casework­ er in evaluating the adoptive family.

As a result of this

evaluation which comes out of the Home Study, a particular family is chosen to fulfill the needs of a particular child.

During the process of the Home Study, the prospec­

tive adoptive parents are helped by the caseworker to get ready to take a child into their home.

During the process

16 Marian B. Nicholson, "Choosing The Adoptive Pamilyn , Third General Session, Adoption Institute given at The University of Southern California, August, 1949.

58 of the *Study the couple is helped to realize that adopt­ ing a child is different from having an own child.

This

difference remains throughout the course of their lives. This is not to say that adoptive parents and child cannot love each other as much as do natural parents and child It is to say that the difference is something they come to accept.

In adoptive child is apt to question his

parents about his natural parents.

An adoptive child be­

yond the age of infancy, such as these children were, is apt to remember something of his natural parents, and in remembering may use this as a means of punishing adoptive parents.

An adoptive child may have different nation­

ality backgrounds than his adoptive parents.

These and

other differences may be a source of conflict to the adoptive parents unless they have been helped to express and work through their feelings about such differences that do exist.

They are given the opportunity to do this

during the process of the Home Study.

Their ability or

inability to do so is another criterion the caseworker may use in deciding whether or not the couple would be the kind the Society could use for parents for one of their children.

59 II.

SUPERVISION

All eleven of the children in this study spent a minimum of twelve months in their adoptive homes before the adoption decree was made final.

In some instances

the decree was not granted within the twelve month period. These were not instances, however, of unsatisfactory ad­ justment, but instances wherein the details necessary to make an adoption decree final were delayed,

haring this

period the adoptive home was supervised by a caseworker from the Society. Supervision provides the adoptive family with an opportunity to discuss any problems that may arise with regard to the child.

It provides a time when the adoptive

parents are hslped by the caseworker to accept some of the childfs ’’unacceptable11 behavior*

It provides a time

when adoptive parents receive support from the caseworker in the thing they are doing —

taking a child in adoption.

The supervisory period provides the Society with an op­ portunity to observe the child in his new home; to observe the way in which he seems to be relating to his new parents and they to him; to learn the ways in which he seems to be or not to be adjusting to his new parents and they to him; to know the degree of security the child seems to obtain from his situation.

The supervisory

60 period provides a time when both the adoptive parents and adopted child may decide if thie placement has been the right one.

For a child beyond the age of infancy,

this period provides a time when he will undoubtedly test his new parents,

Testing usually takes the form of unac­

ceptable behavior.

If the child assures himself that they

will love him in spite of his behavior, usually he will adjust. III.

PRESENTATION OF CASES

Allen was placed in an adoptive home when ninetynine months of age.

The original request of his adoptive

parents had been for a girl of school age. decided that they could take a boy.

They later

This family was be­

lieved by the caseworker to be one which could accept a child with the kind of problem that Allen had.

Allen was

prepared for placement with this family without knowing they might be his new parents.

He seemed to relate to

the family immediately and asked if he might return to visit them.

Allen was later taken for a two weeks* visit

to the home and asked the adoptive parents if he might re­ main there always.

This request was granted.

Allen* s adjustment in this home was gradual.

His

eneuresis decreased and finally ceased after ten months in

61 his new home. his eneuresis.

Allen’s mother had been keeping a chart on She discontinued this when the caseworker

suggested that it put too much emphasis on the eneuresis. Allen continued to be retarded in reading.

His adoptive

mother, a schoolteacher, helped him with this.

At the

same time she was concerned that she might be putting too much pressure on Allen to learn.

Allen’s adoptive sister

was described at first as being ’’bossy and jealous” of him.

By the end of the trial period she had completely

accepted him, and the two had become companions. By the end of the supervisory period Allen was felt by the caseworker to have adjusted well.

She recorded:

He improved in school work and is able to take part in group play. He is proud of his adoptive home, has great affection for his adoptive parents, and has become a companion to his sister. Bobby was placed in his adoptive home when twentynine months of age. twelve months.

His adoption was made final after

Bobby’s adoptive parents impressed the

caseworker as, " . . .

a mature couple who had thought

through their needs and limitations."

This family felt

that they could not accept a child with an eye defect. The adoptive father was an Optometrist.

The couple had

rejected one child shown them because he had a crossed eye. The adoptive father who talked of his own sensitivity about his surname, felt a crossed eye in addition to the

62 surname would leave the child open to intense ridicule. The original request of this couple was for a girl from five to six years of age.

They moved to the point where

they felt they could accept a child younger than this but not an infant.

Both believed that an infant for parents

of their age group was somewhat unrealistic.

In this they

seemed more concerned with the child’s needs than with their own desires in that they felt it would be unfair to an infant to grow up with parents so much older than he. Although this family could not accept a child with an eye defect, they could accept a child who presented behavior problems.

They showed a great deal of insight and under­

standing into such a child’s need for love and security. Bobby was prepared for placement by being told of a new mother and father and by a visit with them in the Society’s office.

Bobby related in a positive way to the

couple and went easily with them for a ride.

He showed

his awareness and readiness to move into adoptive placement by telling his boarding parents of his new mother and father. and toys.

Bobby helped his boarding mother pack his clothes The boarding.mother reported that he was very

excited while doing this.

When the caseworker arrived to

take him to the Society for final placement, he was on the front porch vyaiting for her and seemed ready to go.

63 Behavior problems described by his adoptive parents were those of eneuresis, refusal to have bowel movements, negativism, and temper tantrums. continued,

His difficulty in speech

and the adoptive parents expressed concern that

he did not talk.

The concern of his adoptive mother over

these problems seemed to the caseworker to be rooted more in her fear of her own inadequacy than in the fear that Bobby would not adjust.

She initiated frequent contacts

with the caseworker for the first two months following the placement.

During this two month period, with the help and

support of the caseworker, she was able to move to the point where she felt more self-confidence.

She also

realized that much of Bobby's behavior was his reaction to change, the result of his early environment, as well as his need to test the adoptive parents.

Improvement in Bobby's

behavior became apparent after this two months' period and seemed directly related to his mother's increase in her own self-confidence and understanding.

At the end of the super­

visory period, the adoptive parents were, ” , . . delighted at having such a fine boy.”

He improved both physically and

emotionally and impressed the caseworker as having become a member of the family. Carl was placed in an adoptive home when thirtythree months of age.

Supervision extended over a period of

64 twelve months.

The original request of Carl's adoptive

parents was for a boy up to five years of age.

Two year’s

after making this request they stated they could take any boy over six months of age.

This couple had a girl of

nine who had been born to them.

A son born to them had

died and would have been four years of age at the time they applied to adopt.

They were frank to state that they

wished a son to replace their dead son.

They intended to

give an adopted child the name of their dead son.

During

the process of the Home Study they were able to move to the point where they recognized that an adopted child could not replace their dead son.

The caseworker felt that

this was shown by the fact that they could accept a child younger than their dead son and by the fact that they no longer had the need to give an adopted child the name of their dead son.

The time element seems to have been

important in this respect.

It took two years for the

family to come to terms with the death of their son and to the point of realizing that they could not replace him. This couple impressed the caseworker as being one which could accept a child with the kinds of problems that Carl had. Carl was prepared for placement by being told of a

65 new mother and father and by visiting them in the office. The boarding mother too, was able to help prepare Carl by telling him of a new mother and father.

Carl’s board­

ing mother made certain that his toys went with him into placement. Carlfs adoptive parents expressed no particular problems with regard to his adjustment.

They reported

that he seemed to feel more secure once he was certain that his toys were in the home.

Carlfs adoptive parents

gave him a great deal of love and security. physical gain and emotional security.

He showed

His speech showed

improvement after a short time in the home.

At the end

of the twelve months* period, Carl was felt by the case­ worker to have really put down roots in his new home.

The

entire family accepted him completely, and he accepted them. Donna was placed in an adoptive home when sixtyseven months of age.

Her sister Ellen was placed in the

same home when forty-two months of age. tended over twelve months.

Supervision ex­

Donna’s adoption was not made

final until three years after placement.

Ellen’s adoption

had not been made final at the time of this writing.

These

girls were adopted by citizens of Mexico and taken to Mexico to live.

The Mexican Courts were slow in making

66 Donna1s adoption final.

Ellen’s adoption could not be made

final at the same time because Mexican Law decrees that no more than one child may be adopted by a family in any one year. The original request of the girls* adoptive parents was for two girls or a brother and sister two to five years of age.

Shades of coloring were important to this family.

They themselves were of light coloring and had rejected a brother and sister whom they felt would not fit into the family because of dark coloring.

This couple had had a

great deal of experience in caring for the children of relatives.

They were felt by the caseworker to show good

under standing of a child's need for love and security. Donna and Ellen were prepared for adoptive place­ ment by several visits with their adoptive parents in the office.

The girls were effusive with the mother and asked

if the couple would be their parents.

Both girls visited

overnight with their adoptive parents before placement was made and they were taken out of the country. Both Donna and Ellen exhibited destructive and prank behavior once they were settled in their home in Mexico. Neither seemed to know the meaning of the word '’no''.

Their

adoptive mother was somewhat concerned over this and asked if they had behaved that way in the boarding homes.

Con­

67 tact with the boarding mother later revealed that they had not.

The girls1 adoptive parents showed good understanding

of the girls1 behavior and disciplined them with love and affection.

Discipline consisted of depriving the girls of

a favorite toy or dessert, and they responded well to this. Donna and Ellen were well accepted by relatives of their parents and by the community.

They stopped speaking

English soon after settling in their new home in order not to be called "Gringo” by the other Mexican children.

At

the end of the supervisory period, their adoptive father wished the Society to have the girls1 natural father de­ clared dead because an abandoned child was considered a social outcast in Mexico.

He stated that he himself could

accept abandonment, but that he did not wish the security of the girls jeopardized.

He had told friends and rela­

tives in Mexico that the natural parents of these girls were dead.

This request was refused by the Society.

The

caseworker pointed out the unreality of the situation as well as the fact that the girls would probably have ques­ tions about their natural parents when they grew older. Their adoptive father stated that he felt he could handle any questions they might have.

He did not, however, want

it knowni in the community that they were abandoned. Erank was placed in an adoptive home when twenty-

68 four months of age.

Supervision extended over a period of

twelve months.

The original request of this couple was

for an infant.

During the process of the Home Study they

moved to the point of being able to accept a child beyond the age of infancy if he fitted into their home. Drank was prepared for adoptive placement by being told of a new mother and father.

He was placed in the

home of. his. adoptive parents on a visit-basis for a week prior to final placement.

He was insecure when first

placed in his new home and would not permit his adoptive mother to leave. play with him.

He did not like the adoptive parents to He was unfriendly to other children.

His

adoptive parents felt that his behavior in this regard was due5 in part, to the lack of other children in the neighbor­ hood.

Drank1s adoptive mother planned on placing him in

a nursery school once he seemed adjusted to his new home. She felt that this would help to relate to other children as well as learn to share with others.

Drank1s language

difficulty improved but was still apparent at the end of the supervisory period.

At that time he was felt by the

caseworker to have obtained a great deal of love and security in his home, and his parents seemed to have good insight into his needs. • G-ene was placed in an adoptive home when forty

69 months of age.

Supervision extended over a period of

twelve months.

The original request of his parents was

for a boy from one to five years of age.

They impressed

the caseworker as having fear that undesirable personality characteristics in a child could not be changed.

During

the process of the Home Study this fear proved to be one around movement into adoption itself* Dene was prepared for adoptive placement by being gold of a new mother and a new father.

After a visit with

his adoptive parents in the office, he told his boarding mother that he was going to a new home with his new mother and new father.

On the day of placement, he impressed the

caseworker as being ready and even anxious to go with his adoptive parents. The problem described by his adoptive parents was Gene’s ability to relate so easily to everyone. excessive bids for attention.

He made

Because of this there was

some doubt in his adoptive mother* s mind that he cared for her.

The adoptive parents seemed defensive that Gene

did not adjust more quickly.

With the help of the case­

worker they were able to see that Gene was reacting to •his past experience, recent change, as well as testing their love for him. Toward the end of the supervisory period, Gene’s

70 adoptive father showed a desire to control the Society in that he wished to handle the legal aspects of the final adoption himself and in this way lower the Society’s fee. This was interesting as the family had an above-average income. By the end of the supervisory period, Gene was felt by the caseworker home.

to have adjusted well in his adoptive

The attitude of his adoptive parents toward him

was one of complete acceptance.

They impressed the case­

worker as having experienced a difficult re-adjustment of a child who remembered much of his past experience and previous unhappiness. Howard was placed in an adoptive home when thirty months of age.

Supervision extended over a period of

thirteen months.

The original request of his adoptive

parents was for a girl up to five years of age.

During

the Home Study they moved to being able to accept a boy up to five years of age.

Their attitude toward Howard upon

hearing about him was open to question.

They stated that

if they did not keep him, at least they could have needed surgery done,

This seems now to be an indication that

they were not yet ready to take a child in adoption. Howard was prepared for adoptive placement by being told of a new mother and a new father whom he was to meet.

71 He related to them slowly during their visit in the of­ fice.

When his adoptive parents saw Howard,

any doubt

they might have had about him was dispelled. Problems described by Howard’s adoptive parents were stuttering and moderate excitability.

The parents

impressed the caseworker as having good acceptance and understanding of Howard’s behavior.

Howard himself im­

pressed the caseworker as being more alert, bright, friendly, and observant.

By the end of the supervisory

period Howard seemed to have adjusted wrell to his parents, and they to him. Two years after Howard’s adoption became final, the Society received a letter from his adoptive parents in which they requested background material on Howard*

He

was extremely nervous,had a pronounced screwing of his face when looking at anything, and rolled his head from side to side.

His nervousness was accompanied by stuttering and

stammering. glasses.

An eye condition had been corrected by

Their family Doctor thought that Howard’s con­

stant state of excitement and nervousness might be hereditary and wished to know something of his background. The family was offered an appointment to discuss their re­ quest but at the time of this writing had not taken ad­ vantage of the offer.

It is impossible to evaluate the

72 meaning of Howard’s behavior without knowing whether or not it was organically based.

However, with a child who

has had the experiences that Howard had, we might speculate that his difficulty was emotionally toned rather than or­ ganically based,

further speculation might lead to the

belief that his parents really were not ready to take him in adoption; that they did not make use of the case work services offered them during the supervisory period; or that this particular child could not adjust within a twelve month period of time.

Again, we might speculate

that the home in which he was placed was not the right home for him. Irwin was placed in an adoptive home when fifty-one months of age.

Supervision extended over a period of

twelve months.

The original request of his parents had

been for a boy up to three years of age.

They felt that

a child older than this would have a difficult time ad­ justing.

In the process of the Home Study they moved to

being able to accept a child beyond three years of age. Irwin was of Armenian and Irish descent and of extremely dark coloring.

The adoptive parents with whom he was

placed were of Hegro, American Indian, English and Irish descent.

The adoptive mother was of dark brown coloring.

73 The adoptive father

was of light coloring and could pass

as a person of the white race. coloring was unimportant.

This family stated that

They would like a child no

darker than the adoptive mother and no lighter than the adoptive father.

This left a wide range of coloring.

Irwin was prepared for placement by being told of a new mother and a new father.

During the office visit

he related slowly to them, and then asked if he might go home with them.

Irwin impressed the caseworker as being

more accepting of dark skinned people.

He seemed more

relaxed with these adoptive parents than he had ever been. Irwin helped his boarding mother pack his clothes and did this with enthusiasm.

He had some difficulty saying good­

bye to his boarding mother but seemed ready to move on to final placement. Af‘ter placement in his adoptive home Irwin had no eneuresis.

He began learning words at an "alarming” rate.

His adoptive mother reported that he seemed more attached to her than he did to his father. adoptive father was hurt.

As a result of this, the

Irwin's mother showed good in­

sight in understanding that this might have been a carry­ over of his experience in various boarding homes where the mother figure was probably the person to whom he related more readily.

Irwin's mother handled this situation by

74 creating opportunities for Irwin and his adoptive father to be together more often.

The fact that Irwin did relate

more readily to his adoptive mother may have been due to his being more comfortable with dark skinned people.

His

adoptive mother was more nearly like him in shades of coloring than was his adoptive father. Six months after Irwin1s placement, his adoptive father went to a foreign country as a white man.

He ac­

cepted a position as foreman of a group of native labor­ ers.

Plans were being made for Irwin and his adoptive

mother to follow when the adoption became final.

At the

end of the supervisory period, Irwin1s mother revealed that she had been working since before Irwin’s placement in their home. child. well.

Her own mother had been caring for the

In- spite of this Irwin seemed to have adjusted However, there was some question that the family

had solved their own racial problem and feeling of belong­ ing.

Irwin’s adoptive parents had stated that shades of

color were unimportant.

This is contrary to the findings

of Daniels who reports: Because of the strong cultural emphasis on color we find the Negro adoptive parents being much more * exacting about color-matching with emphasis almost

75 invariably on matching the lighter member of the pair where there is variation. 17 This adds credence to the caseworker’s feeling that Irwin’s adoptive parents were in some conflict over their racial problem.

The importance of this as regards an

adopted child cannot be underestimated. as Irwin —

of the white race,

placed with a Negro family —

With a child such

of dark coloring,

and

there would seem to be even

greater possibilities of conflict later in life.

Parents

who have been unable to handle their own conflicts in this regard may not be able to help their child handle his.

The

fact that Irwin is of the white race may continue to be a threat to them throughout their lives. Jack was placed in an adoptive home when thirty-one months of age. period.

Supervision extended over a twelve month

Jack’s parents were contacted by the Society with

specific reference to him.

They were known by the com­

munity to be interested in adoption, but felt that they could not qualify because of their age group.

They had no

particular request with regard to age but did feel that a child of three would best fit their age group.

Although

17 Bernice J. Daniels, "Significant Considerations »n .?-!:ao-inS Infants for Adoption", Journal of the Child Welfare League of America, 2 9 : 8 - 1 1 , p.9.

Jack’s natural mother was Catholic, she stated that she did not care in which religion he was reared.

F o r this

reason the Society felt that he could be placed in this adoptive home which was Protestant.

Coloring was important

to this family who felt that Jack’s would fit into the family, especially that of the adoptive father’s relatives with whom the adoptive parents spent a good deal of time. Jack was prepared for placement by being told of a new mother and father.

He visited them in their home

for one day and later for one week.

He related to his

adoptive parents immediately and did not wish to leave them after his first visit.

Por the first few weeks in

his adoptive home Jack was hyperactive. appetite continued.

His vorascious

His adoptive parents were accepting

of his hyperactivity for the first few weeks.

Then

gradually they began to set up limits to which he responded wrell.

His ability t o Rcalm downR seemed related to the

limits set up.

This seems an indication that this child

at least was more comfortable when limits were defined. Jack’s speech improved after a few months in his adoptive home. By the end of the supervisory period, Jack was be­ lieved by the caseworker to have adjusted well.

His

adoptive parents were particularly pleased with his af-

77 fectionate personality. Kathy was placed in an adoptive home when thirtyseven months of age. month period of time.

Supervision extended over a twelve The original request of this family

was for a girl up to two years of age.

During the Home

Study they were able to accept a girl beyond this age. This was a Protestant family of superior potentialities. Kathy had been baptized Catholic and her natural mother had been concerned that she would not be placed in a Catholic home.

Because of Kathy1s superior intelligence,

her need for a permanent home, and the opportunity offered her by this family, however, she was placed with them. There was no Catholic home available which could fulfill Kathy’s needs. Kathy’s natural mother had thoroughly prepared her for going into an adoptive home.

The caseworker prepared

Kathy for movement into her adoptive home by telling her of a new mother and father.

She related to them im­

mediately during the office visit, and asked if they were to be her new mother and father. After placement in her adoptive home, Kathy dis­ played much destructive behavior which consisted of lit­ tering the floor with torn cigarettes, and throwing clothes on the floor and trampling them.

There were some instances

78 of sulleness.

Kathy also related too well to the neigh­

bors and often refused to leave their homes.

She seemed

more attached to her adoptive father than to her adoptive mother.

With the help of the caseworker, however, her

mother was able to realize that her past experiences could account for an inability to differentiate between mother figures.

With further help of the caseworker, this

family was able to understand and accept Kathy1s behavior as her need to test them and as resulting from her re­ actions to her past experiences.

By the end of the super­

visory period, Kathy seemed to have adjusted well to this family.

She responded well to discipline given in a firm

consistent manner. IV.

DISCUSSION

The eleven children in this study being beyond the age of infancy had developed certain habit patterns;, and some exhibited what is commonly looked upon as problem behavior.

In spite of this, homes were found for all of

these children.

The fact that all these adoptions were

made final indicated that the homes chosen for the child­ ren were those which fulfilled their needs.

There might

be some question about this in regard to the ease of Howard.

However, no decision can be made here because of

79 the lack of knowledge as regards the total causative factors in his behavior. Readiness of the adoptive parents to move into adoption is another factor that seemed significant in the adjustment of an adopted child. of Howard —

To again cite the case

his adoptive parents really did not seem

ready to take a child in adoption,

Gene's parents too

seemed to have a fear of adoption and illustrated it by their wish to control the Society toward the end of the supervisory period. The Home Study seemed to be a significant factor in the adjustment of these particular children.

During

the process of the Home Study each set of parents was able to be flexible with regard to the age of the child they could accept.

In no instance was a child placed with a

family that did not either request a child that age, or move to the point of being able to accept a child of the age placed with them. The value of the time element involved for adoptive parents who are waiting to take a child is particularly pointed up by the case of Garl whose parents waited "two years before they were able to work through their conflict over replacing their dead son.

Carl was the only child in

this study who did not display problem behavior after

80 being placed in an adoptive home.

This seemed unusual in

that Carl had been in a series of boarding homes as well as the hospital during his young life.

Ordinarily it

would be expected that his insecurity would be so great that he would have had a difficult time adjusting.

The

fact that he did adjust so readily may be accounted for by two facts.

The first is that his adoptive parents were

really ready to accept him in their home.

The other fact

is that the continuity of his environment was not complete­ ly severed.

Carl was permitted to take his favorite toys

with him into placement.

They offered him an element of

security and acted as something of a bridge in his change. Cowan, in speaking of the adjustment of foster children states: It seemed that the behavior problems arising from the general emotional situations known as insecurity might be directly reL ated to the occurrence of a break in the environmental continuity in the life of the preadolescent child.18 Bobby and Irwin too, took their toys with them into placement.

In addition to this they helped their boarding

mothers pack their clothes and in doing so actively par­ ticipated in the move they made.

IB Edwina Cowan and Eva Stout, "A Comparative Study of the Adjustment Made by Poster Children after Complete and Partial Breaks in the Continuity of Home Environment” . ■American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 9:330-38, April, 1939.

81 All of the children except Allen were prepared for adoptive placement by being told of a new mother and father they were to meet.

The fact that the children were

told of the thing that was to happen to them may not have made them more accepting of it, but it did give them the opportunity to express their feelings about the situation. .Bobby1s, Irwin1s, and Carl1s boarding mothers were able to help them move on to permanent placement by letting them participate in the packing of their clothes.

This

seemed a significant factor in that these children had the assurance of the boarding mother that it was all right for them to move on.

The fact that their boarding mothers

were in agreement with the plan may also have served to lessen to a degree the fear these children had of going from the known to the unknown. The use made of case work services during the super­ visory period is particularly pointed up by the case of Bobby.

His adoptive mother, feeling inadequate in caring

for a child, often contacted the caseworker who helped her express her feelings and gave her supportive help in the thing she was doing.

Case work services seemed to be

a factor too in the adjustment of Kathy, Allen, and Jack. In the case oi Howard, the adoptive parents might have been more accepting and understanding of his behavior had they

82 been able to use such services during the supervisory period.

The fact that they did not, seems in line with

their not being ready for adoption. The importance of cultural factors in a childfs adjustment is pointed up in the cases of Donna, Ellen, Irwin, Jack, and Prank. and Prank — ing.

Three of these —

Irwin, Jack

had problems with respect to dark skin color­

The families with whom each was placed all felt that

the child would fit into the family* s coloring.

In the

case of Donna and Ellen, the fact that they had been abandoned constituted a disgrace by Mexican standards. The problem here was not with the children but with their adoptive father who could not face telling friends and relatives that they had been abandoned.

We might antici­

pate that this attitude will be ingrained in the children. While their abandonment may not be a source of conflict to them at present, chances are that in the future this will be something they will be faced with.

Their conflict

over their situation at the time they were abandoned was based on the feeling of rejection rather than on a cultural attitude. The behavior displayed by these children after placement in adoptive homes showed the need such children have to test adoptive parents in order to be certain that

83 "they axe loved and wanted.

In spite of this need to test,

the children apparently felt a greater sense of security than they had in boarding homes, as in all cases but three the behavior displayed was modified. children —

Kathy, Donna, and Ellen —

With these three there is the pos­

sibility that they felt a greater need to test.

It is

interesting to note that these three children were the only girls in the study.

Ko attempt was made to evaluate the

significance of the sex in the child as regards adjustment. These three girls, however, were the only children who dis­ played destructive behavior. All of the children who showed language difficulty in boarding homes improved in this area once they were placed in an adoptive home.

This seemed to bear' out the

Psychologists impression that language difficulty was due to lack of stimulation.

Apparently boarding homes, re­

gardless . of their adequacy did not offer enough stimula­ tion to these children to motivate them to learn so that their language developed to the optimum level. Factors common to all of the children in this study were their insecurity and need to be loved and wanted. These children displayed their insecurity in various ways. Ko two children will react in the same way to a given situation.

For that reason it was difficult to generalize

84 with regard to the adjustment of children beyond the age of infancy in adoptive homes.

However, in the last

analysis these children did adjust to their adoptive homes.

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS Factors that influenced the adjustment of these children in adoptive homes were examined in three areas -the child's experience prior to coming under the care of the Society, the child's experience in boarding homes, and the child's experience in his adoptive home during the period of supervision.

Basic to all of these ex­

periences was the child's acceptance or rejection by parent-figures and his ultimate reaction.

Children are

able to detect rejection on a feeling level even though the rejection may not be verbalized.

This was shown by

the behavior of the children in this study.

Much of it

was unacceptable and revealed the need these children had to work through their feelings of being unwanted.

Their

feelings of rejection which resulted from their ex­ periences prior to coming under the care of the Society, and perhaps from their experiences while in boarding homes under the supervision of the Society were seen in the insecurity of all these children.

When these children

were placed in adoptive homes their unacceptable behavior, though modified, continued.

Basic to this continued un­

acceptable behavior seemed to be the need these children

86 had to test their adoptive parents in order to assure themselves they were accepted. The experience these children had in boarding homes seemed important in their ultimate adjustment to adoptive parents.

The boarding homes gave these children the op­

portunity to express their feelings and react to their past experiences.

It was impossible from a study of this

type to generalize with regard to the value-of boarding . homes for all children who are awaiting adoption.

The

fact, however, that the majority of the children in this study' did not receive ample stimulation -- as seen in their language retardation -- points up the need of the adoptive agencies and caseworkers in such agencies to know boarding homes.

In knowing them, the caseworker can help the board­

ing parents in those areas that have a direct relation to the child1s adjustment.

In these particular cases, the

parents in the boarding homes might have been able to use case 'work services around understanding and accepting the behavior of these children. Some of the positive factors in the boarding homes that seemed to help these children to move on to permanent placement were:

the ability of the boarding mother to

separate from the child, the participation of the child in the placement process -- as seen in his visits with the

87 adoptive paxents either in the office or in the home of the adoptive parents, and as seen in the child's helping pack his clothes —

and the continuity of environment

that was maintained by permitting the child to take his favorite toy with him into placement. The behavior of all of these children was modified once they were placed in adoptive homes. question whether

It is a moot

they were able to modify behavior be­

cause of the positive experiences they had in boarding homes or because they felt so assured of their adoptive parents love and acceptance that they did not need to display so much unacceptable behavior. A factor that seemed significant in the adjustment of these children in both boarding homes and adoptive homes was their skin coloring.

This study points up the

importance of choosing boarding parents and adoptive parents who are either nearly like the child in shade of coloring,

or who can accept a child of darker coloring

than they.

This study also points up the feeling of

security and acceptance the children of dark coloring seemed to obtain from their adoptive parents who were like them in shades of coloring.

Indications were that the

emphasis of certain nationality and racial groups on shades of coloring had its counterpart in the couples of

88 the white race and Northern European descent who placed emphasis on the physical likeness of child to parent and expressed this by the thought that similar nationality backgrounds or ethnical origins would insure such likeness. Cultural attitudes were important to individuals of Mexican nationality descent.

It was interesting to note that the

adoptive family that displayed strong cultural ties con­ sidered the child not only from the point of. view of their own feelings but also from the point of view of the child's acceptance by the culture of which the adoptive parents were a part. A factor in the area of adoptive homes that seemed significant in the adjustment of these children was the readiness of adoptive parents to take a child.

All of the

adoptive parents engaged themselves in a Home Study.

During

the process of this Study, many of them moved from their initial request for a child of a specific age or sex to being able to accept one of the opposite sex who was either younger or older than the one they imagined for themselves. Adoptive parents in this study did make use of the case work services offered during the supervisory period. Many of them, with the help of the caseworker, came to a better understanding and acceptance of a particular child's behavior.

Others used case work services to come to terms

89 with their own feelings of inadequacy around caring for a child.

Still others used case work services during this

period to express their fear that the child they had taken in adoption would not adjust. It seems unnecessary to comment that each of these parents impressed the various caseworkers as having the ability to accept a particular child.

This fact, plus

the fact that .they needed and were able to use case work services during the supervisory period, indicated that anticipating a child*s behavior did not necessarily prepare the adoptive parents for understanding and ac­ cepting this behavior.

In other words, the reality of

taking a child in adoption could not be imagined or fully anticipated but had to be experienced. In the last analysis, the child*s acceptance by his adoptive parents and their ability to love him in spite of his imperfections -- whether they were physical or emotional

seemed basic to his adjustment.

For the

children, past experiences, physical condition, and physical structure seemed to contribute to their behavior. For the adoptive parents, the Home Study and the use they made of case work services seemed to contribute to the manner in which they were able to help the child adjust as well as the way in which they were able to* adjust to the children.

90 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 Allen, Fredrick H., M. D. , Psychotherapy with Children. (Hew York: W. W. Horton & Co., Inc., 1942), 311 pp* 2 Clifton, Eleanor and Hollis, Florence, Child Therapy• (lew York: Family Service Association of America, 1948), 216 pp* 3 Clothier, Florence, M. D . , "Some Aspects of the Problem of Adoption,” American Journal of Ortho-psychiatry, 9:500-38, July, 1939 4 Children1s Home Society of California, "Brief Statement of Background and Program, 1948-1949,*’Statement prepared by the Society to acquaint those participating in the work of the Society with its purpose and program. 5 Cowan, Edwina, A., and Stout, Eva, ”A Comparative Study of the Adjustment Made by Poster Children after Complete and Partial Breaks in the Continuity of Home Environment," American Journal of Ortho-psychiatry, 9:33038, April, 19351 6 Daniels, Bernice J., "Significant Considerations in Placing Uegro Infants for Adoption,” Journal of the Child Welfare League of America, Inc., 2 9 :8-ll, January, 19507 7 Dunbar, H. Plunders, Your Child’s Mind and Body. (Hew York: Random House, 1949)^ 524 PP* 8 .English, 0. S. and Pearson, G. H. J., Common Heurosis in Children and Adults. (Hew York: W. W. Horton & C o . , Inc., 1937), y Z T 'v T . 9 Preud, Anna and Burlingham, Dorothy, Infants Without Families. (Hew York: International University Press, 1944), 128 pp. 10 Hutchinson, Dorothy, "Re-examination of Some Aspects of Case Work Practice in Adoption,” Bulletin of the Child Welfare League of America, Inc.. 25:4-7"! November ---- .--* 1946. “ :

91 11 (Hew York:

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(New

14 Maslow, A, H. and Mitt elm ann, Bela, Abnormal Psychology. (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941), b38 pp. 15 Lippmann, H. S., M. P., "Hewer Trends in Ghild Placement," The Family, 20:16-23, February, 1941. 16 Nicholson, Marian B . , "learning in Social Work," Unpublished paper read at the First General Session of an Adoption Institute given at The University of Southern California, August, 1949. 17 _____________________ , "The Decision to Relinquish for Adoption," Unpublished paper read at the Second General Session of an Adoption Institute at The University of Southern California, August, 1949. 18 ___________________ , "Choosing the Adoptive Parents," Unpublished paper read at the Third General Session of an Adoption Institute at The University of Southern California, August, 1949. 19 Potter, Crystal N ., and Igel, Amelia, "Trends in Public Services to Children," Journal Child Welfare league of America, Inc., 28:3-6, October,“1349". 20 Ribble, Margaret A., M. D . , "infant Care and Emotional Growth," Bulletin of Child Welfare league of America,, Inc. , 28:1-3,” October, 1§44. ** 21 Taft, Jessie, editor, The Role of the Baby in the Placement Process. (Philadelphia: UnTversity~oF --Pennsylvania Press, 1946), 112 pp. 22_ , editor, Journal of Social Work Process Vol. I I l l (Philadelphia; University of Penn­ sylvania Pres— 1939) 237 pp.

92 23 Towle, Charlotte, ”The Evaluation of Homes in Preparation for Child Placement/1 Mental Hygiene Quarterly, 11:460-68, July, 1927. 24 Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles, ”A Progress Report on a Study of Rosemary Cottage,” Unpub­ lished report prepared for the Council by a selected com­ mittee, August, 1948. 25 Wolkomir, Belle, ”The Unadoptable Child Achieves Adoption,” Bulletin of Child Welfare League of America, Inc., 26:1-T] February,— 1947.