Projects per year
Abstract
This research, conducted jointly between the UK children’s charity Coram and the University of Bristol, aimed to address the absence in the academic literature of adopters’ perspectives on their children’s life story books. Forty adopters from England and Wales participated in either focus
group or telephone interviews. While some of the accounts were of positive experiences, there was a broad consensus that many books were of poor quality, children had been inadequately prepared to explore their histories, adoption professionals and agencies did not seem to prioritise
life story books, and that adopters felt poorly prepared in how to use and update them for the benefit of their children. Clear messages for adoption agencies can be elicited regarding the preparation and use of life story books, such as improved training for professionals, monitoring
of the quality of books produced and better access to support and guidance for adopters to engage in this crucial work with their children over time.
group or telephone interviews. While some of the accounts were of positive experiences, there was a broad consensus that many books were of poor quality, children had been inadequately prepared to explore their histories, adoption professionals and agencies did not seem to prioritise
life story books, and that adopters felt poorly prepared in how to use and update them for the benefit of their children. Clear messages for adoption agencies can be elicited regarding the preparation and use of life story books, such as improved training for professionals, monitoring
of the quality of books produced and better access to support and guidance for adopters to engage in this crucial work with their children over time.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 119-134 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Adoption and Fostering |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 25 Jun 2015 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2015 |
Keywords
- Adoption
- Life story book
- IDENTITY
- Adopter perspectives
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Adopters’ views on their children’s life story books'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Supporting the creative use of technology to improve life story work for vulnerable children: trove as a case example from REACT
Watson, D. L. (Principal Investigator), Cater, K. F. (Co-Principal Investigator), Meineck, C. (Collaborator), Metcalfe, T. (Researcher) & Hahn, R. (Researcher)
23/01/17 → 22/10/18
Project: Research, Parent
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Adopted Children’s and Parents’ Experiences of Life Storybooks
Watson, D. L. (Principal Investigator), Latter, S. (Co-Investigator), Bellew, R. (Co-Investigator) & Selwyn, J. (Manager)
1/01/15 → 31/07/15
Project: Research
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Profiles
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Professor Debbie L Watson
- School for Policy Studies - Professor In Child and Family Welfare
- Brigstow Institute - Director Brigstow Institute
- Bristol Poverty Institute
- Migration Mobilities Bristol
Person: Academic , Member