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Resilience in maltreated children: implications for special needs adoption
1School of Social Administration, Temple University, Harrisburg, PA, USA.
Child Welfare
|September 29, 1999
Summary
Adopted children’s coping mechanisms, developed in response to abuse, offer vital insights into their experiences. Recognizing these skills as communication cues, not behavioral problems, is key to building trust in adoptive families.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Adoption Studies
- Trauma-Informed Care
Background:
- Children in the child welfare system experience significant loss during adoption.
- Repeated moves disrupt a child's sense of safety and security.
- Resilient children develop coping skills to navigate abusive environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To reframe children's coping skills from "challenging behaviors" to valuable communication cues.
- To understand the child's perspective within the adoptive placement.
- To establish a foundation for building secure adoptive relationships.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative analysis of resilient children's narratives.
- Deconstruction of children's language into thematic patterns.
- Exploration of five key themes to access children's worldviews.
Main Results:
- Identified five core themes in children's deconstructed language.
- Provided a new perspective for assessing adopted children's behaviors.
- Highlighted the importance of understanding children's coping mechanisms.
Conclusions:
- Adoptive parents and professionals should recognize coping skills as adaptive responses.
- Understanding children's language provides access to their internal world.
- This approach fosters a stronger foundation for adoptive family relationships.