Adoption prioritised based on race/culture - is this not a bit outdated?

Whilst I don't agree with it I do sadly understand why they do this.
The world is still full of aholes that do judge on colour and race. It would be complete hell for the kid on the playground. British society has a couple more generations to go before it can handle this kinda stuff.
 
Efour said:
Whilst I don't agree with it I do sadly understand why they do this.
The world is still full of aholes that do judge on colour and race. It would be complete hell for the kid on the playground. British society has a couple more generations to go before it can handle this kinda stuff.
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Yes on the playground, insulted by other kids.

Stuff like, "what happened to your real parents", they abandoned you, they are drug addicts, they are dead etc etc..

The skin color is just to know they are not your real parents.
 
I am sure there have been cases where local authorities have stopped potential adopters
because of them admitting voting UKIP or other more right leaning legal political parties.
 
Source?

I'd be rather surprised if it was just for voting or supporting UKIP.

I could understand it if they had involvement in hard far right agendas at the more extreme end of the UKIP supporter/hard right spectrum because that's not a good environment for a child.
 
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Efour said:
Whilst I don't agree with it I do sadly understand why they do this.
The world is still full of aholes that do judge on colour and race. It would be complete hell for the kid on the playground. British society has a couple more generations to go before it can handle this kinda stuff.
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See I both agree and disagree. I don't think young kids are the problem. I found when I was younger it was the parents.
Im white British. My best friend was black with Caribbean heritage, we played with a Pakistani Muslim, Indian hindu and British jew as our group. Race, religion or background didn't even come in to it. However the Indian was never invited to the Pakistanis house to play by his parents and vice versa.
 
Six6siX said:
Source?

I'd be rather surprised if it was just for voting or supporting UKIP.

I could understand it if they had involvement in hard far right agendas at the more extreme end of the UKIP supporter/hard right spectrum because that's not a good environment for a child.
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"The head of children’s services in Rotherham has defended the decision to remove three ethnic minority children from foster parents, saying that their affiliation to the UK Independence Party (Ukip) meant they opposed ‘multiculturalism.’

  • Joyce Thacker, head of children's services in Rotherham, defends decision to take three children away from Ukip member foster parents
  • Fears over Ukip's views on multiculturalism main reason for decision
  • 'Exemplary' foster parents cared for three children from ethnic minorities
  • Staff from Rotherham council told couple that Ukip had 'racist' policies and their membership of it made them unsuitable carers
  • Couple left 'bereft' when the children were removed within a week
  • Education secretary says social workers at the council made 'the wrong decision in the wrong way for the wrong reasons'"


Rotherham of all places, we all know how well the Pakistani population can be around kids, and how well Rotherham Social Services protected them from exploitation, sexual assault and other serious offences, don't we.....? But a UKIP voting couple, oh deary me, no no, can't have them with foster kids...

Source:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-away-Ukip-couple-insists-social-workers.html
 
Efour said:
Whilst I don't agree with it I do sadly understand why they do this.
The world is still full of aholes that do judge on colour and race. It would be complete hell for the kid on the playground. British society has a couple more generations to go before it can handle this kinda stuff.
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It will be four more generations to go if we persist with such practices as this. Then five generations, then six... Change doesn't just happen, we as a society change things. And children will pick on each other for any reason. You have weird definition of "complete Hell". Your argument equally applies to same-sex couples whose children might be teased about their parents - so are you against same sex couples adopting or using in-vitro? What about parents who are disabled? Quit trying to molly-coddle kids, they're tough and if you asked a child that had been raised by parents who are different ethnicity / same sex / disabled whether they'd like to give up that parent that loved them because some idiot kid in the playground tried to tease them about it, I'm pretty ******* sure that child would say "no."

reflux said:
Having spoken to a social worker I know, this is the general guidance amongst local authorities and councils. It might make you sick but the evidence they have available shows that children develop better and have a more grounded understanding of their identity when they are raised with parents who share their heritage. It is not racist or discriminatory. The media seems to be trying to turn it into that unfortunately.
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And is such evidence due to inherent differences between races (aka ********) or due to society around them having prejudice? And does such "evidence" say this is so problematic that it should stop a couple who are good parents from adopting and that a kid should be kept back and in a home rather than a family because it is so terrible? This "evidence" bears examination.

reflux said:
There is actually nothing stopping this couple from going to a different local authority and applying to adopt a child there instead.
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Much like there isn't anything stopping a gay person or a Black person from going to another shop when the one on their street bans them? And is it fair on the children in a locale when those charged with looking after their wellbeing are turning away good prospective parents because of racial discrimination? It is, after all, about the children - something that your suggestion parents go elsewhere forgets. And is this attitude not prevalent across local authorities rather than one specific instance anyway?

The questions your post generates just keep piling up.

Six6siX said:
Source?

I'd be rather surprised if it was just for voting or supporting UKIP.

I could understand it if they had involvement in hard far right agendas at the more extreme end of the UKIP supporter/hard right spectrum because that's not a good environment for a child.
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Actually, I can believe that UKIP gets taken into account by some social authorities - social authorities are no less prone to prejudice and identity politics than anyone else. Indeed, this very story suggests they are even more prone to prejudice.

EDIT: See, now you've made me agree with Chris Wilson. On a topic about racism no less! :/ :o
 
reflux said:
Having spoken to a social worker I know, this is the general guidance amongst local authorities and councils. It might make you sick but the evidence they have available shows that children develop better and have a more grounded understanding of their identity when they are raised with parents who share their heritage. It is not racist or discriminatory. The media seems to be trying to turn it into that unfortunately.

There is actually nothing stopping this couple from going to a different local authority and applying to adopt a child there instead.
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Of course they are.

There was a study done, I think it was linked on reddit little while back, babies as young as 3 months old start to show a preference towards their own race. I don't know what their reasons (Or why they have those reasons) are for turning this couple down but given we live in a HIGHLY pc culture that crucifies you for tiniest thing i'm pretty sure their reasons aren't just becuz "racist".
 
I can give the perspective of a adoptive parent.

Any adoptive child will grow up without any blood relation to their family, and without careful management of the environment they are going to grow up in it is likely that the match will not end well. As they grow up the child will learn about the adoption and question every aspect of their appearance and personality, and without the natural bond with their parents they will find it difficult to reconcile.

Now imagine that the child has a different skin colour to their parents, grandparents, extended family, and you can see why social workers are keen to adopt children with the same race. It is to mitigate the worst of the damage caused to the child as they come to terms with learning about their past.
 
h4rm0ny said:
And is such evidence due to inherent differences between races (aka ********) or due to society around them having prejudice? And does such "evidence" say this is so problematic that it should stop a couple who are good parents from adopting and that a kid should be kept back and in a home rather than a family because it is so terrible? This "evidence" bears examination.
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I can understand why the decison has been made if the evidence is sound. CREATIVE!11 is absolutely right that we live in a society that is hyper-aware of the littlest sniff of racism these days. If evidence exists that local authorities need to be careful when placing children with different heritage parents then that evidence will exist as result of studies that have been undertaken on assessments and adoptions. I suggest if you're interested in this you investigate further yourself and read some research.

h4rm0ny said:
Much like there isn't anything stopping a gay person or a Black person from going to another shop when the one on their street bans them? And is it fair on the children in a locale when those charged with looking after their wellbeing are turning away good prospective parents because of racial discrimination? It is, after all, about the children - something that your suggestion parents go elsewhere forgets. And is this attitude not prevalent across local authorities rather than one specific instance anyway?

The questions your post generates just keep piling up.
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Invoking homophobia and racism in the same paragraph. Nice.

Let's be honest, it really isn't the same thing is it? Someone, somewhere, has made a policy decision that children are best placed with parents of the same or a similar heritage. Knowing the public sector, this is probably based on a report that has been researched, signed and then countersigned by 45 different consultants and managers, leaving a big paper trail and a lot of accountability. In this particular case, the local authority has made a bit of a hash of the whole thing and it seems like they haven't explained their properly. The couple in question may not be aware that they can adopt from anywhere - it doesn't have to be from their area. If it really is about the children - should the adopters care where the child is located if it is in need?
 
If there is any tendency for a baby to prefer its own race in a baby (IF), where is the evidence that such a tendency is worth denying a child adoption by secure, loving parents? Where is the evidence that it doesn't fade with age or get swamped by other factors? Good and secure parents are such a precious resource, why elevate any such studies to the level of barrier?
 
h4rm0ny said:
If there is any tendency for a baby to prefer its own race in a baby (IF), where is the evidence that such a tendency is worth denying a child adoption by secure, loving parents? Where is the evidence that it doesn't fade with age or get swamped by other factors? Good and secure parents are such a precious resource, why elevate any such studies to the level of barrier?
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It's not about the child's preference for another race, it's about the differences between them and their family. There's plenty of research on attachment and life story for adopted children out there. The best description I've come across is the "Cracked Plate". When a child is separated from its birth mother you can imagine a plate cracking. Now, as an adoptive parent you can try to shape your half of the plate as closely as possible to match the child's half, but there will always be a fault that is irreparable. This would be further compounded by each half of the plate being a different colour.

If this couple live in an area with lots of white adoptive parents and lots of white children in care, then it's unfortunate but they will be bottom of the list. They will have been made aware at the start of their adoption training that for the first few months they will only be able to look at matches from the surrounding area, but after a certain amount of time they will be able to look nationally.
 
My parents friends adopted two kids and they both caused no end of trouble growing up. Always rebelling against the parents and continually wanting to find their biological parents. Obviously not everyone turns out bad but i can certainly see why they would want to pair kids with the same nationality/ race to adopters.
 
Bassmansam said:
My parents friends adopted two kids and they both caused no end of trouble growing up. Always rebelling against the parents and continually wanting to find their biological parents. Obviously not everyone turns out bad but i can certainly see why they would want to pair kids with the same nationality/ race to adopters.
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It's an unfortunate possibility, but that highlights the importance of life story for adopted children. It's essential that they know as much as possible about their birth parents and the reason for them being taken away (age appropriate of course). In both my kids cases they will learn the reality when they are ready for it. If only to quell any fantasy about a long-lost loving family that they were torn away from, when the truth is, sadly, far from that.
 
Six6siX said:
Would said evidence also suggest that a male child is best raised by two male parents in order to have a better understanding of their sexual identity?
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I don't recall girls raised by single fathers or boys being raised by single mothers being more likely to be gay as adults... so why would gay parents influence things? If that were the case, no hetero couples would have children that are gay, and the obviously do :p
 
Funny you should say that Bassman, for whatever reason I know quite a lot of people who were adopted and nearly as many adopters who in hindsight look back with some regret. Two adopted children were local to me, adopted by unrelated families, but who became friends. As young 20 odd year adults one burgled his parents home, cleverly and maliciously framing the cleaner, and the other robbed his parents pub over a period of time, causing three different members of staff to be investigated, again, he cleverly tried to frame innocents for his own pilfering. Stupidity got him in the end when he staged a "break in" by smashing the pub door glass before ransacking the tills and the stock when his parents were away. Most burglars smash the glass from the outside though.... Both sets of adopters were left stigmatised and traumatised as they both offered dream homes to these two barstewards.
 
krooton said:
I don't recall girls raised by single fathers or boys being raised by single mothers being more likely to be gay as adults... so why would gay parents influence things? If that were the case, no hetero couples would have children that are gay, and the obviously do :p
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Maybe gender identity would have been a better way to put it :p - i didn't mean sexual orientation.

So they should say that a boy must only be adopted by two men and a girl by two women (neither couple has to be gay) so that the child is able to better identify with their respective genders.

Although this then raises the problem of assuming the child's gender....
 
Gender of couples can be taken into account in some circumstances, but not in the way you'd expect. For example, if a child was subject to significant abuse by a man, it may be the case that the social worker would give preference to a lesbian couple as the intimate exposure to a male parent might be considered detrimental to their development.
 
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