A disturbing look at how the lives of "America's modern-day
orphans" are sacrificed for the often unrealistic goal of keeping
troubled families together. Bartholet (Family Bonds: Adoption and
the Politics of Parenting, 1993), an expert on family law and an
adoptive mother herself, traces the historical, political, and
cultural reasons why battered and neglected children are far more
likely to spend years in "foster limbo," or be sent back to abusive
homes, than to be adopted by loving families. The author charges
that despite recent legislation that bars race as a factor,
everyone from private foundation administrators to judges, lawyers,
and bureaucrats continues to be guided by the notion that children
should be cared for by relatives, or adopted by families who look
like them. Back in 1972, the National Association of Black Social
Workers denounced transracial adoption as a form of "racial
genocide." Though "race-matching policies have gone underground"
since then, Bartholet believes they resurface in criteria like
"kinship" and "cultural competence." Because other relatives may
not be up to the task of parenting, and because there are not
enough minority families to adopt all the children who need them,
the author asserts that race-matching essentially condemns many
youngsters to lasting physical, cognitive, and emotional damage.
Whereas wife beaters are treated like criminals, child abusers,
often plagued by poverty and substance abuse, tend to be seen as
victims themselves. Bartholet expresses sympathy for their plight
but demands that social workers stop using precious child-welfare
resources to prop up deeply disturbed families. "What matters," she
insists, "is that the children get into homes where they can
thrive." She also suggests, somewhat unrealistically, that the
state could take a proactive role in reducing child abuse by
instituting "universal visitation" of all families before and after
birth. The author makes her case intelligently, fearlessly, and
exhaustively. Curiously, since her subject matter is so wrenching,
Bartholet's writing lacks emotional power. Nobody's Children
ultimately appeals not to the heart, but to the head. (Kirkus
Reviews)
Argues that the current system of adoption in the United States is
not in the best interest of the children.
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