Formal Adoption of the Developmentally Vulnerable African-American Child

Abstract

SUMMARY This research presents an in-depth study of ten-year adoption outcomes for 24 developmentally vulnerable African-American infants and toddlers and their parents. Overall the families reported feeling well bonded and satisfied with their children's progress, their family life, and the adoption experience. For the most part, the children were also doing reasonably well and had quite positive self esteem. This was despite the fact that some children had learning disabilities, some of the early adolescent males displayed oppositional social behavior, and some parents reported apparent contradictory perceptions of family cohesion and coping.