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"Families We Need: Disability, Abandonment, and Foster Care's Resistance in Contemporary China" by Erin Rafferty is a book that examines China's foster care practices through the stories of three foster children and their foster mothers. The book explores topics such as kinship, disabilities, adoption, power dynamics, inequality, and global politics. It highlights the temporary nature of foster care in China and the desire for kinship-like ties among participants. The book provides valuable insights into the need for improved foster care policies and practices, particularly for vulnerable children with disabilities in China. [Extracted from the article]

The current study examined the attachment development of 92 internationally adopted Chinese girls, focusing on the influence of type of pre-adoption care (institutional versus foster care) and sensitive adoptive parenting. Although the children were more often insecurely attached than non-adopted children 2 and 6 months after adoption (Times 1 and 2, N = 92), they had similar levels of secure base script knowledge (SBS knowledge) as a non-adopted comparison group at age 10 (Time 3, N = 87). Furthermore, concurrently observed sensitive parenting was positively associated with SBS knowledge. Finally, a significant interaction between type of pre-adoption care and early-childhood sensitive parenting indicated that the post-institutionalized children showed a stronger increase in security than the post-foster children when parents were more sensitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We tested whether adoptive parenting played a role in the association between pre-adoption experiences and children's adaptive (responsiveness) and maladaptive (internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems, attention and sleep problems) behavioral adjustment over time. Ten-year-old girls, adopted at 13 months from institutional care (n = 50) or foster care (n = 42) in China to the Netherlands, participated 2 months (Time 1, N = 92), 6 months (Time 2, N = 92), and 9 years after adoption (Time 3, N = 87). At Times 1 and 2, the adoptees showed significantly fewer behavioral problems in many areas than non-adopted youth, with medium to large effect sizes. At Time 3, the adoptees showed similar rates of behavioral problems as non-adopted youth, with the exception of somewhat elevated levels of internalizing problems. Pre-adoption experiences were not associated with their behavioral adjustment. Furthermore, adoptive parenting did not moderate the association between pre-adoption experiences and behavioral adjustment over time. Nevertheless, the finding that the adoptees generally did not show above-average levels of behavioral problems illustrates that adoption had a positive impact on their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most orphaned children in China are cared for by their extended families or become state wards under the guardianship of child welfare institutions. Some exceptions are children who are found and cared for by families in the community, without a formalized adoption or foster relationship. In some locations, institutions now accept guardianship for these children and support the informal adoptive family to continue to care for them. This article examines the outcomes for these children as they became young adults by comparing these 12 children raised within the system as they approach or have approached young adulthood (now aged 16-40 years-old). Some of the participants were either informally adopted or lived in institutional care. The results of this study found that the family environment was more conducive to the young people's wellbeing as they approached or entered adulthood. The participants raised in informal care appeared to be treated similar to the biological children in these families. When the institution formalized the state guardianship responsibility, it also meant the families had state resources for support to protect the children's rights to economic security, education, health care, and social participation. This practice by the institution supported the addition of informal adoption, as one step closer to permanency than foster care. Future implications include considering this option to help promote the family system assisting these children, families, and the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a short-term longitudinal design we investigated maternal sensitivity, child responsiveness, attachment, and indiscriminate friendliness in families with children internationally adopted from institutions or foster care in China. Ninety-two families with 50 postinstitutionalized and 42 formerly fostered girls, aged 11–16 months on arrival, were studied 2 and 6 months after adoption. Maternal sensitivity and child responsiveness were observed with the Emotional Availability Scales, attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation procedure, and mothers reported on children's indiscriminate friendliness. The postinstitutionalized children showed less secure attachment, whereas the former foster children did not differ from the normative distribution of attachment security. However, at both assessments the two groups of adopted children showed more disorganized attachments compared to normative data. Adoptive mothers of postinstitutionalized and former foster children were equally sensitive and their sensitivity did not change over time. Postinstitutionalized and former foster children did not differ on indiscriminate friendliness, but children with more sensitive adoptive mothers showed less indiscriminate friendliness. The former foster children showed a larger increase in responsiveness over time than the postinstitutionalized children, suggesting that children's responsiveness is more sensitive to change than attachment, and that preadoption foster care is more beneficial for the development of children's responsiveness after adoptive placement than preadoption institutional care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on qualitative information from in-depth interviews and quantitative data from a survey of 425 adoptive families conducted in summer 2001 in rural China, this study attempts to explain the social and demographic patterns of adoption and investigate the roles of the State and families in adoption processes in contemporary rural China. Within the changing context of the new political economy, culture, and social conditions brought about by market reforms (1978) and the "one-child" policy (1979), this study shows that adoption is now increasingly used as a strategy for the childless as well as reproductive couples to reach ideal family size and particularly ideal sex composition of children. Moreover, Chinese families are willing to adopt girls, though strong son preference persists. Overall, it appears that individual adoptions of children in rural China follow increasingly individual desires rather than State directives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the controversial issue of trans-racial adoption (TA) in Hong Kong, China. It presents a cultural analysis of the trans-racial adoption and explores the reason why the Chinese children are usually placed with the Caucasian families. Several case studies have been used as illustrations. It demonstrates that TA is the only alternative for many children living in countries outside the West to lead a life of prolonged permanence. It discusses that the changes in the policy and practice might lead to an increase in placements with the same-race. However, much is needed to be done to meet the needs of the children without families.