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Adoption Policy in Great Britain and North America*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

H. David Kirk  and
Susan A. Mcdaniel
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Abstract

This paper has two purposes. First, to explore what existing adoption legislation may indicate about the meaning and function of adoption practices in North America and Great Britain. Second, to consider some possible policy implications revealed by clearer understanding of the social meaning of existing adoption laws. The first part of the paper summarizes briefly the history of legal adoption. The second examines what is explicitly and implicitly revealed by adoption law and policies about the social purposes of adoption and about prevailing social values concerning the family. The third part examines possible avenues of policy change in North America.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 1984 , pp. 75 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

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