Close
About
FAQ
Home
Collections
Login
USC Login
Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
USC
/
Digital Library
/
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
/
The Attitude Of Resistance To The Adoption Of An Older Child
(USC Thesis Other)
The Attitude Of Resistance To The Adoption Of An Older Child
PDF
Download
Share
Open document
Flip pages
Contact Us
Contact Us
Copy asset link
Request this asset
Transcript (if available)
Content
INFORMATION TO USERS
This malarial was producad from a microfilm copy of the original document. Whila
tha moat advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document
have bean used, tha quality is heavily dependant upon tha quality of the original
submitted.
Tha following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand
markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction.
1. Tha sigi or "target" for pages apparently lacking from tha document
photographed is "Missing Pegs is)". If it was possible to obtain the missing
pege(s) or section, they are spliced into tha film along with adjacent pag es.
This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent
pa ge s to insure you complete continuity.
2. Whan an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it
is an indication that the photographer suspected that tha copy may have
moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You w ill find a
good image of tha page in the adjacent frame.
3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was pert of tha material being
photographed tha photographer followed a definite method in
"sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper
left hand comer of a large dieet and to continue photoing from left to
right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is
continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until
complete.
4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content i s of greatest value,
however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from
"photographs" if essential to tha understanding of the dissertation. Silver
prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing
the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and
specific p ag es you wish reproduced.
5. PLEASE NOTE: Soma pages may have indistinct print. Filmed a s
reoeivad.
Xorox Unhrprttty Microfilms
900 Worth Zaato Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 4S10S
74-23,585
GUERNSEY, Dennis fiailie, 1938-
TOE ATTITUDE OF RESISTANCE TO TOE ADOPTION
OF AN OLDER CHILD.
University of Southern California, Ph.D., 1974
I Sociology, general
i
University Microfilms. A XERO X Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED.
THE ATTITUDE OP RESISTANCE TO THE
ADOPTION OP AN OLDEli CHILD
by
Dennis Bailie Guernsey
A Dissertation Presented to the
PACULTY OP THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OP SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OP PHILOSOPHY
(Sociology)
June 1974
U N IVER SITY O F SO U TH E R N C A LIFO R N IA
THK O RA0UATB SCHOOL
U N IV E R S ITY PARK
LOS AM 4M LES, C A LIF O R N IA M O O T
This dissertation, written by
under the direction of h..itL.. Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by The Graduate
School, in partial fulfillm ent of requirements of
the degree of
D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y
Dennis Bailie Guernsey
'Ty i w o
' £ / ' .. D~.
Date.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As I reflect back upon my academic career, three men
in particular have taken the role of "significant other."
First of all, Professor Merl Bonney of North Texas State
University provided me with a role model whose keen mind
led me into an exploration of the human experience.
Secondly, Professor James Peterson with his personal warmth
and support introduced me to the fields of Family Sociology
and Marriage and Family Counseling. And thirdly, Professor
! Carlfred Broderick of the University of Southern California
i i
! carried thiB baton of encouragement as the Chairman of my j
1 Dissertation Committee. My sincere appreciation to them
all.
However, my deepest appreciation is reserved for the
most significant of my "significant others," my wife Lucy. |
I, in all truthfulness, "thank God upon every remembrance
of her."
!
L
TABLE OP CONTENTS
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION 1
General Statement of the Problem
Related Research
Mate Selection
Family Developmental Crises
Socialization Studies
Review of the Literature
Introduction
Exchange Theory and Symbolic Interactionism
Role Theory and Structure-Functionalism
Specific Statement of the Problem
Purpose and Objectives of the Study
Hypotheses to be Tested
Definition of Terms
Description of the Measures
Description of the Population and Sample
Procedure of Data Collection
Analysis of the Data
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION........................... 53
Results
Resistance to an Older Child as an
Adoptive Choice
Discussion
V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Summary and Conclusion
Suggestions for Further Research
Limitations of the Study
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................... 63
i
Appendix...............................................70
II. THEORETICAL BASIS FOR THE STUDY
13
i III.- PROCEDURE OF THE STUDY 40
LIST OP FIGURES
Figure Page
1. Path Diagram and Predicted Direction of
Hypotheses...................................... 27
2. Path Diagram and Path Coefficients.............. 56
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Today in California, there are almost 34,000 children
who are waiting. These are the state's foster
children. Youngsters who, for various reasons, are
unable to live with their natural parents and have
been placed with foster parents, either voluntarily or
by order of a court. This is not a new program nor,
by comparison with other aid programs in this state,
is it a large program. However, the nature of these
children's experiences and the circumstances sur
rounding their removal from the home of the natural
parents roquires that they be considered endangered.
(State of California, S.D.S.W., 1972)
The above study was commissioned by the State of
California, State Department of Social Welfare, as an
attempt to monitor the plight of children in foster care in
California. Of those 34,000 children fully 10 per cent, or
3,400, are or could easily be made available for adoption,
with some basic changes in the law. (Heath, 1971) Many
of these children face an uncertain future with one foster
care placement after another as the norm. The emotional
cost of such a practice is immense, especially from the
point of view of the child.
From the point of view of the State, the cost,
financially, is immense as well.
It costs the taxpayers up to five times as much to
rear a foster child born in 1970, to age 18 ($122,500)
as it would if the child were reared by natural or
adoptive parents ($25»560). Children remaining in
foster care at the end of four years represented a
greater expenditure of money than thoee discharged
within four years. The average cost per child among
discharged children was $8,766 compared to $16,767 for
those remaining in care. The savings in public money
realized by adoption of the study cnildren as opposed i
! to it ? years of roster care averaged more than >oO.o60
^er^study child temphasis added; State of California.
|Although it is not the purpose of a scientific study to
make emotionally laden pleas, it is appropriate to point
out the practical reality of the study to be undertaken.
The above statistics represent part of the burden facing
child welfare workers in every state of the Union. What is
faced by the State of California is not unique. It ia a
fact that children are in foster care who are available for
adoption but are overlooked or rejected by prospective
adoptive parents (Boehm, 1958). It is also a fact that to
maintain these children in foster care is extremely
expensive both emotionally and financially.
It was with these facts in mind that the investiga
tor in his position as the executive director of a licensed
adoption agency, began to investigate the possibility of
finding homes for some of the above children. The investi
gator's naivete was soon unmasked. Even with the most
zealous motives and a well reasoned approach, the agency
began to be faced with another set of facts: The reality
of resistance on the part of the prospective adoptive
parent, it was from the investigator's interaction with
prospective adoptive parents and observation of their
attitudes that the interest to undertake the present study
surfaced.
General Statement of the Problem
Why are prospective adoptive parents so unwilling
;to consider the adoption of an older child? Why do the
vast majority of couples who apply for adoption insist on
an infant? Kadushin has summarized the problem:
For adoptive purposes the child who has reached the
age of 5 is "overage." Few adoptive applicants come
to the agency with an initial preference for accepting
the "adoptable" child over 5 years of age. The older
child is repeatedly identified in the adoption
literature as "hard-to-place,"— or, euphemistically.
"a child with special needs." (Kadushin, 1970, p. 3)
The relevant studies within the adoption literature have
for the most part dealt with both the processes surrounding
the adoption of older children as well as the successes and
failures of those who have been adopted. As such they are
in the main descriptive in nature (Boehm, 1956; Citizens'
Adoption Committee of Los Angeles County, 1953* Kadushin,
1956; Shapiro, 1957; State Charities Aid Society, I960;
Brown, 1959).
Perhaps the most extensive study yet undertaken is
the one by Kadushin as quoted above. That study included
the adoptive experiences of some 95 families who had
adopted white, mentally and physically normal children who,
at the time they were placed in the home of the adoptive
parents, were at least 5» but less than 12 years old.
4
Kadushin*b study, as tha others, is descriptive in nature
and as such does not attempt either explanation nor pre
diction as to why these couples chose to adopt an older
child.
With regard to the general problem of interest to
this study, Kadushin suggests:
Adoptive parents seek to simulate the experience of
biological parents as closely as possible. Conse
quently, they want to adopt a child as young as
possible. The older child comes to the adoptive home
with some established patterns of dealing with the
routines of daily life and with some emotional ties to
previous parent figures. The adoptive parents must,
in some measure, accept the child as he is in his
differences from their own patterns. They must
compete with memories of earlier affectional attach
ments. The older child is, supposedly, a damaged
child. He is different from the infant available for
adoption in that he is more likely to have experienced
deprivation and discontinuity of mothering, the trauma
of separaxion, and a sense of rejection and loss. The
older the child, the older the emotional problems
which result from such pathogenic experiences, and the
more resistive such problems are to change. Such
considerations make adoptive applicants hesitant to
accept an older child. (Kadushin, 1970, pp. 3» 4)
It seemed to the investigator that within the above
paragraph a number of assumptions and assertions exist that
although they may be experientially true to those who have
interviewed prospective adoptive couples, they have yet to
be tested empirically and hence remain theoretically
unexplained.
Such will be the general purpose of this study;
to critically and scientifically investigate prospective
adoptive parents' attitudes toward adopting an older child,
5
with particular attantion to be paid to their tendency to
decide not to adopt an older child. The study has, as a
result, two goals:
(1) To extend the boundaries of knowledge in a
very practical area, and
{2) To seek to begin to formulate a rationale for
a better approach to the solution of a very real human and
social problem, "the children who are waiting."
Related Research
The decision to adopt a child is the behavioral
outcome of a social process within the marital system. If
this is so, it should be measurable and hence predictable.
It was with this assumption that the investigator began a
search of the literature with the hope of finding within
the adoption literature studies of a related nature that
would shed light upon a couple's decision to adopt or not
to adopt a child. Unfortunately, the investigator could
find none. Although there were studies of what happens
after the decision to adopt is made, such as the Kadushin
study, the investigator could find not a single study that
focused upon the factors or attitudes that enter into the
decision to adopt, whether it be the decision to adopt the
infant or the older child.
At first glance, this would seem to be a gaping
hole in the scientific study of a very important field—
that of adoptions. However, a careful reflection of the
present situation provides possible reasons.
In the past, it has been reasonably assumed that
infertility in the marriage and the natural desire to have
|children of one's own provided the basic motivation for
|
!adoption. There have always been babies available to those
couples who wished to adopt. Girls were forever becoming
pregnant and were usually willing to relinquish their
babies for adoption. But in the recent past, the situation
has changed. Most authorities in the adoption field agree
that the increased use of contraceptives, the availability
of abortions, and the lessened stigma upon keeping an
illegitimate child have combined to drastically reduce the
number of babies available for adoption.
Although the number of infants available for
adoption has decreased, the number of couples wanting to
adopt has not. What has resulted is a drastic imbalance
between supply and demand. It would seem, at least to this
investigator, that ms the social system has changed, so has
the adoption prooess. And with the change in the adoption
process has come about an increased sensitivity on the part
of the professional adoption community as to the motiva
tions behind a couple's desire to adopt a child. Very
often the adoption worker is faced not only with the need
to screen out "bad" couples from "good" but also to dis
criminate between the "good," the "better," and the "best."
In summary, tha raduoad number of adoptions has
brought about a sharpened awareness of the professional
adoption community as to the motivations behind the
i
[decision to adopt. This increased "awareness** is, in
i
reality, the by-product of a changing social system. It
therefore only follows that research, such as the present
study, is only now coming to the surface.
Because of the paucity of directly related
empirical research the investigator was forced to turn to
studies of related processes to see if there are in the
empirical literature any parallels and, hence, insights.
Research dealing with mate selection, family development,
and socialization were chosen as areas dealing with
related processes and a search of that literature was
conducted.
Mate Selection
One such decision process that has derived much
attention in the sociological literature is the decision
process of mate selection. Beginning with Strauss'
parental-image theory which built upon Freudian assumptions
(1946) and continuing with the dialogue between the theory
of homogamy (Heiss, 1964: McCormick, 1951) end the theory
of complementary needs (Winch, 1958), the issue of why
people choose one another as nates has been in the fore
front of controversy within family sociology.
8
In recent years the controversy has broadened to
include the proponents of role theory. The role theorists
[
claim a level of viability for their theory that exceeds
t ;
the other major theories in the field. In support of theiri
■ ■ claims the role theorists have generated research that
iseems to support their position. For example, Bermann
(1966) in his study of the stability of dyadic relation
ships among female students at the University of Michigan
found that "whereas need complementarity predicted stabil
ity of the dyadic relationships, role compatibility pre
dicted it even better." In addition to the research of
Bermann, Murstein (1967) describing his empirical compar
isons of role theory, complementary needs theory and
homogamy theory, reported definite support for role theory,
somewhat less support for a theory of homogamy, and no
support whatsoever for the theory of complementarity.
What is suggested by Murstein is that "couples do not
choose each other by needs but by roles." As a result of
such research, role theory in the last few years seems to
have risen to the surface as the most viable explanation
of the social process of mate selection.
It was from the investigator's exposure to the
above literature that the possibility of the applicability
of role theory to the adoptive decision process emerged.
Can role theory be used as a vehicle to explain a couple's
decision to adopt or not to adopt an older child, mueh in
9
the same way as it has been used to explain why couples
choose one another as mates? Succinctly stated, will role
theory explain the dynamics of child selection much in the |
I
same way it explains the dynamics of mate selection? i
i :
i
I Family Developmental Crises
|
i Another tradition within family research has led to
I
the formulation of the concept of "Family Developmental
Crises." According to this tradition, each stage in the
family developmental cycle introduces new role demands upon
the family members and from the internal tension generated
by those demands emerge many of the conflict situations of
everyday life (Glick, 1999; Hill and Rogers, 1964; Rogers,
1964; Campbell, 1970). The above theoretical foundations
have generated research into the crises surrounding role
transitions to marriage (Rhona Rapoport and Robert Rapoport,
1964; Rhona Rapoport, 1964), and literature defining the
advent of parenthood as crisis (LeMasters, 1997; Dyer,
1963; Hobbs, 1963). Both LeMasters and Dyer report the
first experience of parenthood as involving extensive to
severe crises in the lives of their young parent respond
ents.
A somewhat different interpretation of the stage
of parenthood is taken by others (Rossi, 1968; Benedek,
1999; Hill and Hanson, 1960; and Raush, Goodrich, and
Campbell, 1963)* In this latter Interpretation, the
10
transition from one cycle to another may or may not involve
the connotation of "crisis," and according to Rossi (1968)
the exclusion of the concept increases the power of devel
opmental theory's ability to explain both successes and
failures.
However, the relevant point for the present study
is the idea that when an individual or a couple moves from
one stage of the life cycle to another, such a move always
involves the introduction of new role relationships which
may or may not initiate crises within the system. It
naturally follows that the decision to adopt or not to
adopt either consciously or unconsciously involves the
anticipation of such roles changes. The issue therefore to
be tested is the effect such anticipated roles changes
have upon that decision.
Socialisation Studies
Systematic study of socialization has been a per
sistent thread woven through the literature since the turn
of this century. However, with few exceptions, the child
has been the subject of this research. Only recently has
interest in adult socialization begun to emerge. As a
result "at present we have neither a general theory to
explain socialization through the life cycle, nor a body of
solid data upon which to base such a theory" (Cogswell,
1968). Because of this lack of a general theory of
socialization, tha socialization literature is often overly
diffuse, and difficult to syatemize.
One approach to the study of socialization of
interest to the issue at hand is that of Turner (1970), Ini
i
his opinion, "the many disparate processes and reactions
I
| that nake up socialization can be given sone organization
by viewing socialization as the learning of roles through
role taking and role playing," It was with this view in
mind that Cogswell sought to study the process of the
resocialization of paraplegics into the disabled role
(Cogswell, 1967), She found that whenever possible, the
novice in the new role sought out a new audience. Para
plegics found that with new audiences they could operate at
a higher level of physical independence and could more
easily establish self-definitions of personal worth. Also,
it was found that paraplegics make a considerable effort to
seek out the least threatening available others for the tri
al of new role behavior. If successful in these encounters
they proceeded to try this behavior with other people. In
the hospital they would try out new behavior first with
aides and orderlies, then in succession with nurses,
medical students, house staff, and attending physicians.
After returning home, they experimented with new role
behavior with lower status others, and if successful, they
then behaved in this manner with equal statue others.
The relevance of the above can be related to the
12
present study as follows: Fart of tha anticipation of
adopting a child and hsncs part of tha decision to adopt,
has to do with the introduction of new roles into the
marital system. If the novice parent, in Cogswell's
I
|terms, is typically conservative in his approach to new
t
roles, and is particular who views him in that new role,
i
then perhaps part of the conaervativism of prospective
adoptive couples is, in essence, a result of their desire
to maintain some sort of norm of adequacy before their
significant others. Fart of the present study will attempt
to investigate this phenomenon.
Brim has summarized the issues:
The prescriptions for parental role behavior come
from representatives or surrogates, and from other
family members, that is, the other spouse, grand
parents, relatives, and the like. In addition, the
infant himself makes direct demands of an emotional
kind upon the parents, and even though he has little
power of his own, these demands are backed by agents
of society. Students of the family.•.have suggested
that new parents are unprepared for the realities of
actually living with a baby and have romanticized the
role of parenthood, so that there is an observable
impact of the first bom upon the adult personality as
the child's highly immediate and imperative needs
demand the attention of the parent. (Brim, 1966).
The literature is clear as to why young couples
have problems in adjustment after the introduction of a
child into their marital system, but silent about the
anticipation of such a decision. Hopefully, the present
study will be able to generate propositions from the
empirical literature and make predictions concerning the
decision to adopt or not to adopt accordingly.
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL BASIS FOR THE STUDY
Review of the Literature
Introduction
As one attempts to explain any social phenomenon,
it soon hecomes apparent that many theoretical approaches
could he used in that explanation. What the researcher is
thus faced with is the task of selecting out from among
many theories those he feels will most likely shed light
on his research problem. In view of this fact, the present
study will he woven about a "strategy of multiple per
spectives" as elaborated on by Broderick (1971). Such an
approach
...takes advantage of the existence of established
conceptual frameworks, but instead of attempting to
integrate them systematically and across the board,
it attempts only to integrate them around more nar
rowly defined particular social processes such as
courtship or marital decision-making. The process
involved is viewed from each of several different con
ceptual perspectives. To the extent that conceptual
frameworks chosen are based in reality, each should
point toward some valid aspects of the phenomenon
under consideration. Moreover, since the phenomenon
itself is purposely restricted in breadth, it should
be possible to get a glimpse of the whole when these
various perspectives are summed. Hopefully, the
points at which the different frameworks articulate
with each other should become evident in such concrete
instances more than in the abstract.
The "multiplicity" of the present study involves a mixture
13
14
of the investigator's personal experience with that of
major sociological theories. Accordingly, in the following
review of the literature the basic rationale for the study
as well as the relevant hypotheses will be stated as they
|developed; in the interaction between personal experience
i and theory.
i
As was stated in the previous chapter, to the
investigator's knowledge there exists no directly related
empirical research dealing with the decision to adopt a
child, whether that child be an infant or an older child.
It therefore becomes the task of the present study to plow
new ground and develop first impressions that can be tested
by others. As a result the present study relies very
heavily upon two sources of input; various theoretical
models stated in the literature, and the personal exper
ience and impressions of the investigator in his occupa
tional role as the executive director of a licensed
adoption agency. With respect to the latter, the investi
gator has personally Interviewed a number of couples over
a two-year period who had come to the adoption agency for
the purpose of adopting a child. The agency's routine
procedure involves an intake interview. This interview
with the Executive Director systematically includes a dis
cussion of the couple's motivation for adoption and a pre
liminary investigation of their attitudes toward the
adoption of older child as well as other data relevant to
15
the adoption process. It was from this pool of experience
that the investigator drew many of his "theoretical
i
)
hunches." These "hunches" have been defined and redefined i
r
in terms of sociological theory. What has resulted is the i
creation of a very preliminary iconic model designed to
explain in part a very concrete social phenomenon, the
decision to adopt or not to adopt an older child. The
investigator sees his role and his model as being similar
to that of scaffolding. Its purpose is to approximate the
shape of its building so as to provide footing upon which
others will stand as they build. The scaffolding is but
the first step. Hopefully, a strong, tested and practical
superstructure will some day follow.
Exchange Theory and Symbolic Interactionism
In the process of conducting his interviews with
the prospective adoptive couples, the investigator became
aware of a set of phenomena and what seemed to be a series
of relationships between them. In keeping with the method
ology of this study these phenomena will be stated first
of all in terms of the investigator's personal experience
and then they will be described in terms of their socio
logical roots.
The first phenomenon the investigator became aware
of is the apparent effect that interaction rates with
children seem to have upon a prospective adoptive couple's
attitude toward tha adoption of an older child. Thoae
couples who have a more favorable attitude toward the
older adoptive child seem, in the investigator's experience,
to have broader levels of experience with children as a j
iwhole. They have bean around children more. They have
I
!
|occupied numerous roles in their relationships with
children and this exposure seems to have had a beneficial
effect. In general they seem to be more practically
knowledgeable about children as a whole.
The second phenomenon the Investigator became aware
of follows closely upon the first. Not only is the rate
of interaction between a prospective adoptive parent and
children in general important, the success of that inter
action is also important. Conversations with those couples
who are favorably disposed to the adoption of cm older
child are sprinkled with anecdotes of their successes with
older children. Many of them have been teachers and en
joyed their experiences. Others have children who are now
older and have proven to be a source of enjoyment to the
parent. On the whole, what has been observed is an
attitude that is mirrored by a sense of satisfaction
derived from successful contacts with children. In
contrast, those couples who seem to be less open to the
adoption of an older child have usually had little meaning
ful contact with children. Whereas couples who have had
17
negative experiences with children probably will not apply
for adoption in the first placef f those who have applied for
the adoption of an infant yet are resistant to the idea of j
the adoption of an older child are often naive to the role j
of parent or surrogate parent. It has been the inveatiga-
I tor's experience that these couples attach a kind of
romanticism to the role of parent and to the role of child.
Such romanticism has often not been tested in the arena of
experience.
A third phenomenon the investigator has observed
has to do with the tendency on the part of many prospective
adoptive parents to stereotype the older adoptive child as
emotionally damaged, often beyond repair. The older
adoptive child is seen by these couples as an acting out,
sometimes destructive child who would be unable to recipro
cate the love and the affection of even the most patient
and giving parent. The investigator would suggest that
this tendency to stereotype all older adoptive children as
damaged may be more often than not a function of the
prospective adoptive parents' tendency to use stereotyping
as a defense mechanism in other relationships as well.
However, this will not be dealt with in this study. On the
other hand, those couples who seriously consider the
adoption of an older child usually do not resort to
stereotyping but instead seem to be willing to relate to
each child as an individual. This is not to say that they
18
do not see the prospective adoptive child ae a potential
eource of difficulty and even pain. What seems to exist is
a willingness to take each child as he comes without pre
judging him. There is a flexibility about them, and this j
flexibility allows them to consider the possibility of a
relationship that is not absolutely predictable.
The fourth phenomenon the investigator has observed
has to do with the prospective adoptive parent's estimate
of his interpersonal competence. Perhaps because of their
naivete, the investigator experienced many of the resistant
couples to be uneasy and uncertain about their ability to
manage the "exploits" of the older adoptive child. Their
fantasies seem to run wild with the anticipation of the
child's unmanageability. In contrast, the more favorable
couples seem to have a well defined sense of their ability
to skillfully handle children. They tend to have had
significant, successful relationships with children and
have been able to get those children to do what they want
them to do. It would seem that their confidence in their
Ability to manage the children with whom they have inter
acted is generalized into a confidence in their ability to
handle whatever the prospective older adoptive child would
throw at them. They seem to be "ready for the task."
Having observed the above phenomena in practical,
experiential, day-to-day life, the investigator was then
faced with explaining these variables in more sociological
19
terms. To this end the exchange as well as the symbolic-
interactioniat literature proved helpful. The first two
variables (rates of interaction and success of interaction)
i
were conceptualised in exchange terms and the latter two I
variables (stereotyping and interpersonal competence) were '
explained by symbolic-interactionism.
|
Exchange theory, very simply put, focuses upon
goals and sees interaction as the exchange of rewards and
costs (Thiabut and Kelley, 1959; Homans, 1961; and Blau,
1964). Using behavioristic-economic concepts, the above
authors posit human interaction to be the result of the
"profit" the participants gain from it. If the partici
pants view the interaction as more rewarding than it is
costly, then it will be continued. However, if the costs
of the interaction add up to more than the profit, then the
interaction ceases.
Of particular interest to the present study is an
assertion by Homans (The Human Group. 1950) that greater
interaction between individuals produces an effect in
which those individuals are more likely to like one anothen
"Liking" is in part, according to Homans, a function of
rates of interaction.
A tangent strand of theory would also seem to be
relevant at this point, the literature dealing with the
phenomenon labeled by Merton as "anticipatory socializa
tion" (Merton, 1968).
Burr has dsfined anticipatory socialization as
...the procsss of learning the norms of a role before
being in a social situation where it is appropriate
to actually behave in the role. Anticipatory social
ization can be viewed as a continuous variable that
varies in amount from being absent to having relative-
j ly high amounts of training (Burr, 1972).
I Whether it be explained in pure exchange terms such
;as "rates of interaction" or as "anticipatory socializa
tion," it would seem likely that if a prospective adoptive
parent has had previous opportunities for interaction with
older children either as a parent, or as a surrogate
parent, he should, according to the literature, have a more
favorable attitude toward children in general, and perhaps,
older adoptive children in particular.
As far as the second variable is concerned, that of
the success of the interaction, again, Homans provides a
theoretical base in his discussion of the relationship
between stimulus control and its generalization. Homans
proposes that
...if in the past the occurrence of a particular
stimulus situation has been the occasion on which a
man's activity has been rewarded, then the more
similar the present stimulus situation is the past one
the more likely he is to emit the activity, or some
similar activity, now (Homans, 1961, p. 53)
It would seem to follow that if, in the past, prospective
adoptive couples have been successful in their interaction
with children ("rewarded") then their attitude toward
future interaction with children, in this case older
adopted children, would tend to be more favorable.
Having described the variables dealing with the
effectB of the rates of interaction and the success of that
interaction in exchange terms, the investigator then turned
to the description of the variables dealing with tendency
!of the less favorable couples to stereotype the older
i
I adoptive child as emotionally damaged and the variable
J
:dealing with their perceptions of their ability to manage
such a child. It is at this point that the investigator
found symbolic-interactionism to be relevant. In brief,
the symbolic-interactionist holds that language is a form
of behavior which systemizes social interaction. Through
the process of differentiation and valuation (cf Lindesmith
and Strauss, 1968), the individual learns both how to
classify the objects in his world and how he is to react to
those objects. These behavioral expectations are labeled
“roles.*' Actors within this social structure name others,
themselves, and the positions each occupies within the
social structure. In so doing they invoke internal expec
tations of one another's behavior. Social behavior becomes
“the product of a role-making process, initiated by expec
tations, and developed through a subtle, tentative, probing
interchange among actors in given situations.... (Stryker,
1968)
This interaction among actors becomes the seed-plot
for the development of the self, and it is the self that
becomes the arena in which many of the decisions of life
22
are made. It ie the inner-forum of the person in which he
responds to himself as he perceives others will respond, in
which he anticipates their actions and modifies his actions]
accordingly. This critical concept of “self" has been j
i
|defined as "when an actor's incipient or overt acts evoke
within his own reactive system the responses of others to
|
those" (Cottress, 1969). The self is, by definition, a set
of responses of an organism to itself. Likewise, the self
mediates the relationship between role expectations and
role performance (Stryker, 1968). As the mediator between
expectations and performance the self must often choose to
act or behave one way as opposed to another. Such a
decision is usually made upon the basis of which role comes
easier for the self; i.e., more natural and characteristic
ally his (Turner, 1970).
A search of the literature provides an extremely
helpful article in the understanding of the tendency of
couples to stereotype the older child, as well as their
confidence in themselves as parents.
In his discussion of the development of inter
personal competence as reported in the Handbook of Social
ization Theory and Research (Goslin, 1969)» Weinstein
refers to the concepts of "personality stereotyping" and
"Individuation." The former
...involves placing the other into a particular
personality category. Placement is based on the
recognition ofone or two features held by the perceiver
23
to be central to the category. Generalization then
takes place so that the full 'syndrome' of traits and
associated meanings is attributed to the other.
Individuation on the other hand "involves the willingness
to abandon stereotypes and base role-taking on direct j
jexperience with a specific other" (Weinstein, 1969). Thus
|described by Weinstein, "personality stereotyping" and
!
|"individuation" can be thought of as being the two extremes
:of a continuum. When applied to the decision to adopt or
not to adopt an older child, these concepts prove helpful.
The prospective adoptive parent when he considers
the adoption of an older child is forced into a process of
mediation within his "self." This mediation involves a
decision toward the prospective older adoptive child,
whether to perceive of that child in terms of some form of
"personality stereotyping" (which in the investigator's
experience iB often the case) or to perceive of that child
ad an individual to be thought of as a unique person to be
reacted to accordingly.
The discussion by Weinstein of the phenomenon of
personality stereotyping is part of a broader article on
the formation of interpersonal competence. The investigator
would suggest that the managerial confidence that has been
described above ie, in fact, very similar to the concept of
"interpersonal competence." This concept has been defined
by Foote and Cottrell (1955) as the "skill or set of
abilities allowing the individual to shape the responses
24
he gets from others." If the function of the parent is to
socialize his child by equipping him to function as a
i
participating member of society, then no set of skills will;
be as essential to that parent than his ability to get his j
child to think, feel or do what he wants him to. Inter
personal competence is, therefore, the ability to manipu-
1 late the responses of others, in this case the older
adoptive child (Weinstein, 1969).
It would naturally follow that those prospective
adoptive parents who perceived of themselves as being
capable of handling children well would also be more likely
to be favorably disposed to at least the possibility of
adopting an older child. The perception of one's self as
being able to manage others thus becomes the fourth
variable in the present study.
It was stated above that it w s b the investigator's
purpose to construct a model that would be isomorphic with
a prospective adoptive parent's decision to adopt or not to
adopt an older child. Thus far, four variables have been
identified as having evolved from the interaction between
the investigator's experience, exchange theory, and
symbolic interactionism. They are (1) the level of pre
vious experience with children; (2) the successfulness of
that interaction; (3) the stereotyping of the older child
as emotionally damaged; and (4) the prospective adoptive
parent's sense of interpersonal competence.
On the basis of the aforementioned experience and
theory, the investigator suggests the following hypotheses:
I. Prospective adoptive parents' levels of
experience with children will be inversely related to their
|stereotyping of the older adoptive child as emotionally
i
!damaged.
II. The success of prospective adoptive parents'
experience with children will inversely influence their
stereotyping of the older adoptive child as emotionally
damaged.
III. The success of prospective adoptive parents'
experience with children will positively influence the
relationship in hypothesis II between the level of previous
experience with children and the stereotyping of the older
adoptive child as emotionally damaged.
IV. Prospective adoptive parents* sense of inter
personal competence will inversely influence their stereo
typing of older adoptive children as emotionally damaged.
V. Prospective adoptive parents' sense of inter
personal competence will inversely influence their resist
ance to an older child as an adoptive choice.
VI. Prospective adoptive parents* stereotyping of
the older adoptive child as emotionally damaged will
positively influence their resistance to an older child as
their adoptive choice.
A path diagram representing the investigator's
26
model of the attitude of resistance to the adoption of an
older child and the predicted direction of relationships
within that model is found in Figure I.
Role Theory and Structure-Functionalism
The investigator would also suggest that the
i
iprospective adoptive parent approaches the decision to
j
adopt or not to adopt an older child with other predisposi
tions as well: the notion about the role of parent. Some
definition of the role of parent seems to be well estab
lished in the mind of any prospective parent, let alone
the prospective adoptive parent. The investigator's
experience with prospective adoptive parents would indicate
that part of the decision to adopt necessitates some form
of definition of the situation in which they pre-determine
what will be required of them as parents as well as what
they can legitimately require of the prospective adoptive
child. It is in an understanding of this definition of the
role of parent that role theory becomes of special useful
ness. Role theory is of value to the family researcher in
that it
.•.supplies a comprehensive pattern for bringing the
processes of bonding, decision making, conflict-
harmonization, and socialization into a closer inter
relationship and for understanding the effect of the
society on the working of these processes within the
family (Turner, 1970)
Families, to the role theorist, are viewed as groups of
interacting individuals whoss behavior and activity can be
Other
Directedness
Previous
Experience with
Children
Interaction between
Previous Experience
with Children and
the Success of that
Experience
Success of Previous
Experience with
Children
Interpersonal
Coapetence
Need for
Reciprocated
Love and
Affection
Interaction between
the Need for
Reciprocated Love
and Affection and
Stereotyping of the
Older Child as
Damaged
Stereotyping of the
Older Adoptive
Child as finotionally
Damaged
' S L C + ' )
Attitude of
Resistance
to an
Older Child
as an
Adoptive
Choice
Figure II* Path Diagram and Predicted Direction of Hypotheses
described in terms of the roles they occupy within the
group. "Holes are the closely interrelated units which
comprise the family system and cannot be added nor sub-
I tracted nor modified without changing the other roles or
| the overall system" (Cogswell* 1966). Thus conceived* a
family is not the sum total of the individuals nor roles*
but a system of interrelated parts* none of which are
static but rather in a constant process of change. It is
this process of redefining and "predefining" the situation
that the writer feels is of central importance to the
thesis of the present study.
Prospective adoptive parents as experienced
by the investigator seem very aware of some sort of "norm
of success*" sometimes almost to the extreme* attached to
the role of parent. The investigator would suggest that
this "awareness of the norm of success" on the part of
prospective adoptive parents is* perhaps* another crucial
variable in their decision process. This dimension* as
reflected in both role and structure-functionalist
theories* has to do with the effect of normative expecta
tions surrounding parenthood upon the decision process of
the prospective adoptive parent. That norms for parental
behavior exist is a well established fact (Brim* 1959).
Also* in their interaction* or anticipated interaction with
a child*
29
...parents and other socialisation agents generally
have some conception of what the child is “supposed
to become" and of the role which any particular child
rearing practice may play in achieving or hindering
the desired outcome. In other words* both the
practice and the study of child socialisation are
inherently "forward looking*" (Inkeles, 1968).
However, it is not the question of the existence of such
norms that is of importance here. It is the question of
their source and structure.
An attempt to trace the source of parental norms
can begin with a concept already mentioned above, that of
competence. The investigator would like to suggest that
the idea of competence can take the form of both inter
personal competence (Weinstein, 1969; Foote and Cottrell,
1955) and institutional competence or "conventionality."
the latter being defined as the desire on the part of the
parent or prospective parent to conform to the norms of
parenthood defined for him by his social system (Inkeles,
1969). In the case of both interpersonal and institutional
traditions, competence is a matter of capacities for role
performance. What differentiates the two concepts is the
frame of reference within which role performance is con
ceived. The idea of interpersonal competence has already
been dealt with and will not be reiterated here. Of
importance at this time is what the investigator has chosen
to define as conventionality. The notion for such a
designation lies in the writings of Inkeles. Inkeles
defines competence in the structural tradition of role-
30
status theory (Linton, 1936; Gross, Mason and McEachern,
1956). In this tradition, adequacy of role performance
is to be measured against the role requirements of the
various statuses or positions in the social structure that
a person may occupy.
In their explanations the role and structure-
functionalist traditions may disagree as to the "why** of
role performance, yet each tradition agrees on the "what,"
i.e., the parent is faced with a norm of competence or
success attached to the role of parent. The parent or
prospective parent is conceived of as an agent of social
ization given the task of socializing the child in what
the social system deems "right" or "just" or "proper."
Thus, as stated by Levine
In role theory terms, social structure consists of
institutionalized roles antedating any particular
generation of individuals. If the structure is to
survive, persons must be found to fill these roles.
Socialization of the child is a necessary but by no
means a sufficient method of attaining this goal.
Most mature persons have been adequately socialized to
be responsive to societal demands and incentives, but
the problem remains of placing them in positions
where they will contribute more effectively to the
maintenance of the social system* (1969)
Following this line of reasoning, the investigator
would suggest that the parent as a member of the broader
social system experiences internal demands for conformity
to norms of competence in role performance which entail
punishment for failure to conform as well as rewards for
31
conformity. Faced with such sanctions the parent or
prospective parent will choose pathways to gain the
positive rewards and seek to eliminate the presence or
! possibility of punishment.
It follows, and such has been the experience of the'
| investigator, that those prospective adoptive parents who
i
t
] are more aware of this norm of success and who are more
sensitive to the demands of the broader society, will be
less likely to "risk" adopting an older child because of
the child's pre-established patterns of behavior. However,
simply stating that a "norm of success" exists does not
satisfy the empirical demands of this study. What is
needed is a means of identifying this norm in measurable
terms. For this purpose the investigator turned to
Riesman's theory of other/inner directedness.
In his classic The Lonely Crowd (1950) David
Riesman interprets much of the social malaise present in
modern society to be the result of a shift from inner-
directedness to other-directedness. The former is defined
sb the normative orientation of those individuals in
society who are guided by consciences which have internal
ized the rather authoritarian indoctrination of family and
other groups in a stable community. In contrast, the
latter is defined as referring to those individuals who
because of a lack of coherent tradition or a stable
community are left with no clear guides to conduct except
32
the judgments of other people. Of particular interest to
the present study is the other-directed personality.
i
According to Shostrom
The other-directed person appears to have heen moti- i
vated to develop a radar system to receive signals
from a far wider circle than just his parents. The
boundary between the familial authority and other
external authorities breaks down. The primary control^
feeling tends to be fear or anxiety of the fluctuating
voices of school authorities or the peer group. There
is a danger that the other-directed person may become
over-sensitive to *others'' opinions in matters of
external conformity. Approval by others becomes for
him the highest goal. Thus, all power is invested in
the actual or imaginary, approving group. (Everett L.
Shostrom. Personal Orientation Inventory Manual.
1966)
If, as Shostrom believes, the other-directed person is
"overly sensitive to the opinions of others in matters of
external conformity," the investigator would suggest that
what has been referred to in this study as "conventional
ity" can be thought of as the "other-directedness" of the
prospective adoptive parent.
VII. In light of the above reasoning, the
investigator would posit a seventh hypothesis: the degree
of other-directedness, that is, the conventionality, of
prospective adoptive parents will positively influence
their resistance to an older child as a adoptive choice.
The last variable of the investigator's model is
directly related to the conventionality or other-directed
ness of the prospective parent. It was noted by the
investigator that a persistent thread of reasoning seems
to underlie a couple's decision to adopt an infant rather
than an older child. It is assumed by most of the couples
that an infant will be more likely to reciprocate the love ;
and affection of the parent than will an older child. This;
is probably true. But the importance of the issue lies noti
in what it says about the difference between an infant and
an older child but what it says about the needs of the
prospective parent. The investigator has observed that
many of the couples most resistant to the consideration of
an older adoptive child were especially sensitive to the
assumed inability of the older child to reciprocate thsir
love. In contrast, those couples who are more favorably
disposed to the adoption of an older child seem not to need
this reciprocated love as much.
In his consideration of the issues of the present
study the investigator found this variable the most
difficult to pin down and define in operational terms.
The greatest help was found in the writing of Shostrom
dealing with the self-actualized personality.
Shostrom has noted that the other-directed person
tends to be a manipulator.
Manipulation in the form of pleasing others and
insuring constant acceptance becomea his primary
method of relating. Thus, it can be seen that the
original feeling of fear can be transformed into an
obsessive, insatiable need for affection or reassur
ance of being loved. (Shostrom, 1966)
It was the statement in the above paragraph dealing with
34
the "insatiable need for affection or reassurance of being
loved" that proved to be of help to the investigator in his
attempt to identify the theoretical roots of what he had
observed in experience.
I
| If the other-directed personality is a manipulator
and if a manipulative personality has an "insatiable need
i
■ for affection or reassurance of being loved," then it
logically follows that such a person will seek relation
ships that will meet this need and avoid relationships that
will not. Herein lies a possible explanation as to why
most couples choose to adopt an infant rather than an older
child. The relationship with an infant is seen as being
more potentially rewarding than the relationship with the
older child. An infant is more likely to return the
couple's love than is the "emotionally dasiaged" older
child. Couples who opt for an infant will evidence
greater levels of other-directedness and hence, a greater
need for reciprocated love and affection.
Accordingly, the investigator would suggest the
following hypotheses:
VIII. The other-directedness of prospective
adoptive parents will positively influence their need for
reciprocated love and affection.
IX. The need for reciprocated love and affection
will, in turn, positively influence their resistance to an
older child as an adoptive choice.
35
X. And last of all, prospective adoptive parents*
stereotyping of older adoptive children as emotionally
damaged will positively influence the relationship in the
immediately preceding hypothesis between the need for i
| reciprocated love and affection and their resistance to an
| older child as an adoptive choice.
i
|
Specific Statement of the Problem
Purpose and Objectives of the Study
The primary purpose of this study is to develop an
isomorphic model that will explain, in part, the prospec
tive adoptive parents' attitude of resistance to an older
child as their adoptive choice. As such the study deals
primarily with an attitudinal set. The investigator has
suggested that this attitudinal set is the product of a
series of inputs into the prospective adoptive parents'
attitudinal system. These inputs form the independent
variables in the investigator's proposed model. The
variables have been conceptualized from the interaction
between the investigator's personal experiences and four
major sociological theories: exchange theory, symbolic-
interactionism, role theory, and structure-functionalism.
The objectives of the study are to test the relationships
between the independent variables in the proposed model
and the dependent variable: prospective adoptive parents'
attitudes toward an older child as their adoptive choice.
The specific objectives of the study are:
To establish whether the rate of interaction between
prospective adoptive parents and children in general
significantly influences those parents in their
perceptions of prospective adoptive older children.
To establish whether or not the successfulness of
prospective adoption parents* interaction with children
significantly influences the relationship between the
interaction rate between prospective adoptive parent
and children and their perceptions of prospective
adoptive children.
To establish whether or not the succesBfulness of
prospective adoptive parents' interaction with children
significantly influences their sense of interpersonal
competence.
To establish whether or not prospective adoptive
parents' sense of inter-personal competence will
significantly influence their perceptions of prospec
tive adoptive older children.
To establish whether or not prospective adoptive
parents* Bense of inter-personal competence will
significantly influence their resistance to an older
child as an adoptive choice.
To establish whether or not prospective adoptive
parents' perceptions of prospective adoptive older
children will significantly influence the parentB*
attitude of resistance to an older child as an adoptive
choice.
7. To establish whether or not prospective adoptive
parents' levels of other-directedness will significant-!
1 ly influence their need for reciprocated love and
affection.
8. To establish whether or not prospective adoptive
parents' levels of other-directedness will signifi
cantly influence their resistance toward an older child
as their adoptive choice.
9. To establish whether or not prospective adoptive
parents' need for reciprocated love and affection
significantly influences their resistance toward an
older child as their adoptive choice.
10. To establish whether or not prospective adoptive
parents' perceptions of adoptive older children will
significantly influence the relationship between the
parents* need for reciprocated love and affection and
their attitude toward an older child as their adoptive
choice.
Hypotheses to be Tested
1. Prospective adoptive parents' levels of previous
experience with children will inversely influence their
stereotyping of an older adoptive child as emotionally
damaged.
The successfulness of prospective adoptive parents*
experience with children will inversely influence the
proapective adoptive parents* stereotyping of the
older adoptive child as emotionally damaged. j
The successfullness of prospective adoptive parents*
experiences with children will positively influence the
relationship in hypothesis one between the level of
prospective adoptive parents' experience with children
and their stereotyping of the older adoptive child as
emotionally damaged.
Prospective adoptive parents' sense of interpersonal
competence will inversely influence their stereotyping
of the older adoptive child as emotionally damaged.
Prospective adoptive parents* sense of inter-personal
competence will inversely influence their resistance to
an older child as their adoptive choice.
Prospective adoptive parents* stereotyping of the older
adoptive child as emotionally damaged will positively
influence their resistance to an older child as an
adoptive choice.
The other-directedness of prospective adoptive parents*
will positively influence their resistance to an older
child as an adoptive choice.
The other-directedness of prospective adoptive parents
will positively influence their need for reciprocated
love and affection.
39
9. Prospective adoptive parents' need for reciprocated
love and affection will positively influence their
resistance to an older child as their adoptive choice.
10. Prospective adoptive parents* stereotyping of the
! older adoptive child as emotionally damaged will
positively influence the relationship in hypothesis
] nine between the parents* need for reciprocated love
and affection and their resistance to an older child
as an adoptive choice.
CHAPTER III
PROCEDURE OP THE STUDY
Definition of Terms
One of the stated purposes of this study is to
construct a model of the attitudinal process which results
in a prospective adoptive parent's attitude of resistance
toward an older child as an adoptive choice. The ration
ale for such a model has been stated in terms of a group
of concepts, nominally defined, which correspond to parts
of a specific range or type of empirical phenomena
observed by the investigator in his interaction with
prospective adoptive parents. It is the nature of such
nominally defined terms to be ambiguous and lacking in
precision, thus in need of narrowing in such a way that
they become relatively unambiguous and precise. Such is
the goal of this part of the study.
The subjects of the present study are prospective
adoptive parents. This term is taken to mean married
couples who have undertaken formal application to an
adoption agency for the adoption of a child. They are more
than casual observers. They are participants who have
actively demonstrated their interest in the adoption
process and have formalized that interest with the adoption
agency by making an initial telephone inquiry, attending a
group screening meeting and filling out a preliminary
qua st i onnai re•
The second major term of importance to this study
is the prospective adoptive older child. This term is
taken to mean any child between the ages of five and
twelve who is available for adoption. Such children are
most often in the care of and/or under the control of an
agency designed to provide protective services for them.
They are usually in foster care and have "remained unvisit
ed and ignored by their natural parents over a long period
of time and the likelihood of their return to their own
home is minimal" (Pennypacker, 1961). These children are
"orphans of the living" (Haas, 1959).
Description of the Measures
In the formative process of the present study the
investigator did an extensive search of the research
literature for related studies dealing with the process of
adoptions with particular emphasis upon the attitude of
couples toward the adoption process. As was stated above,
the search was in vain. Consequently, the investigator
was forced to turn to his own experience in the construc
tion of a research instrument that would measure what he
felt to be the relevant variables in the decision to adopt
or not to adopt an older child. The result of that effort
was the Adoptiv Parent Questionnaire. (See Appendix.)
Using tht Adoptive Parent Questionnaire. tha first
two variables ware operationalized. Tha first variabla in
tha investigator'a modal was tha level of a prospective
adoptive parent's previous experience with children. This
concept was designed to signify what Homans has referred to
as "interaction." Interactions are defined by Homans as
occurring when "an activity emitted by one man is rewarded
(or punished) by an activity emitted by another man.”
(HomanB, 1961, p. 35). However, for purposes of the
present study, the level of experience is taken to mean the
level of exposure to and interaction with children at
varying levels of intimacy. This exposure to and inter
action with children was measured by a series of questx ns
submitted as they appeared on the Adoptive Parent
Questionnaire are:
1. Do you have or have you had children of your own,
either natural or adopted? yes no_____
2. Have you ever kept children in your home such as in
foster care, day time child care, etc.? yes no__
3. How many children younger than yourself did your
mother and father have? (write in the total number)
4. Have you ever worked with children as a paid profes
sional. such as a public school teacher, youth
director in a church, etc.? yes no____
If you answered yes, what wart thair ages? ____
5* Hava you avar worked with children as a non-paId
volunteer, such as a Sunday school teacher, scouting
leader, etc.? yes no____
If you answered yes, what were thair ages? ____
Level of experience with children is, therefore, a summa-
tive total of the responses to the above questions.
The second concept in the theoretical model is the
level of success attached to the prospective parent's
experience with children, as reported by the parent him
self. "Success" is interpreted by the investigator as a
positive reinforcer of the individual's behavior which
acts as a form of reward. The reward, in turn, acts as a
stimulus to bring about the repeated behavior (Homans,
1961f pp. 54, 55). "Success" thus distributes itself
along a continuum from the very successful to the very
unsuccessful.
Each prospective adoptive parent reported his own
estimate of the success or failure of his interaction with
the children with whom he had come in contact.
This variable was represented on the Adoptive
Parent Questionnaire with two Likert scales:
1, If you were to total up your successes and failures
with all of the pre-school age children (ages four and
younger) that you have come in contact with, how would you
rate your experience? (please circle the answer that best
represents your experience)
very about very
successful successful average unsuccessful unsuccessful
2. If you were to total up your successes and failures
I with all of the elementary school age children (ages five
i through twelve) that you have come in contact with, how
would you rate your experience? (please circle the answer
I
that best represents your experience)
ve ry about ve ry
successful successful average unsuccessful unsuccessful
The very successful answers were scored with a 5 ranging
to a one for the very unsuccessful. The two scores were
totaled and became the parent's estimate of his level of
successful experience with children.
The third variable in the investigator's model is
the prospective adoptive couples tendency to stereotype
the older adoptive child as being emotionally damaged.
"Stereotyping" has been defined in this study as
the
.•.placing of the other into a particular personality
category. Placement is based on the recognition of
one or two features held by the perceiver to be
central to the category. Generalization then takes
place so that the full "syndrome" of traits and
associated meanings is attributed to the other.
(Weinstein, 1969)
For purposes of the present study, prospective adoptive
parents' stereotyping of adoptive older children as
emotionally damaged is taken to mean the perceptions of
prospective adoptive parents that adoptive older children
are different from "ideal” children. The degree to which
the adoptive older child is described by the prospective
adoptive parent in different terms, using an adjective
check-list as compared to his description of an "ideal"
older child, using a similar check-list, is taken to be the
degree to which the prospective adoptive parent "stereo-
i
typeB" adoptive older children. The adjective check-list
used in the present study is the Interpersonal Check List
by Timothy Leary (Leary, 1957).
The I.C.L. consists of 126 adjectives from which
the subject selects and checks those adjectives which he
or she believes describe himself or herself or another.
The 128 adjectives were chosen by Leary to represent eight
dimensions or measures of personality. Each dimension or
octant contains 16 adjectives ranging from favorable to
unfavorable which describe how the subject perceives him
self interpersonally.
In order to operationalize this variable each
parent was given two check lists, one labeled "the ideal
child" and the other labeled "the typical older adoptive
child." The participants were then instructed to check
those adjectives they thought described the respective
child. A descrepancy score between the two lists was then
attained. First of all the adjectives for each list were
totaled and then the two totals were summed providing a
grand adjective total. The smaller total of the two lists
was than subtracted from the larger, and than this sum was
dividad by tha grand adjective total. In othar words, tha
dascrapancy total batwaan tha two lists is in affact a
parcantaga difference between the two, tha largar tha
percentage difference or dascrapancy the greater the per
ceived difference batwaan the "ideal child" and the
"typical older child available for adoption." This per
centage difference or dascrapancy score became the
individual's degree of "stereotyping" the older adoptive
child.
The fourth independent variable in the present
model is that of "interpersonal competence•" It has been
defined as tha "ability to manipulate tha responses of
others" (Weinstein, 1969). In this case those parents who
on the I.C.L. define themselves as able to manage and
shape the responses of others are said to be interperson-
ally competent, whether in reality they are or are not.
What is of importance here is how they perceive them
selves, as able or unable to manage others.
For purposes of measuring "interpersonal compe
tence" the HI and AP scales of the I.C.L. were used. The
HI scale is referred to by Leary as tha self-effacing/
masochistic scale and the AP scale as the managerial/
autocratic scale. The concept of interpersonal competence
was therefore taken to refer to a continuum ranging from
the masochistic personality at one end to the autocratic
personality at ths other. For purposes of scoring those
adjectives which had been labeled by Leary as autocratic
were given a value of A each, those labeled managerial
were given a value of 3 each, those labeled self-effacing
were given a value of 2 each and those labeled masochistic
were given a value of 1 each. Thus, depending upon which
adjectives in which categories were checked the total was
summed for the four categories and the resulting number
was taken to be the individual's score for interpersonal
competence, a high number reflecting high interpersonal
competence and a low score reflecting low interpersonal
competence.
The fifth independent variable iB a measure of
conventionality: the other-directed personality. If the
other-directed personality has lost his sense of inner-
direct ion and, instead, is dependent upon the judgments of
others, then the degree of his dependence or independence
of the judgments of others is the degree of his convention
ality. Those prospective adoptive parents who are more
dependent upon the judgments of others are said to be more
other-directed and, hence, more conventional than those who
are less dependent. The degree of inner-other directednesB
was measured by the I scale from the Personality Orienta
tion Inventory, an instrument developed by Shostrom (1966)
as a measure of the self-actualized personality.
The last independent variable that needs to be
48
defined also is the prospective adoptive parents' "need
for reciprocated love and affection." This variable has
been defined in terms of the C scale on the Personal
1 Orientation Inventory. This scale was constructed to
measure the individual's capacity for intimate contact,
j According to Shostrom, "intimate contact seems to be
i
! encumbered by expectations and obligations" (Shostrom,
1966). Thus, a high score on this measure indicates a
person who relates to others with less expectations and
obligations them does a person with a low score. A high
score indicates an ability to give love and intimacy uncon
ditionally. A low score indicates a need to have love
returned in order to have it offered (Shostrom, 1966).
The above six independent variables have been
arranged in the investigator's model bo as to explain the
variance in the model's dependent variable, the attitude
of resistance on the part of prospective adoptive parents
toward an older child sb their adoptive choice. (See
Figure 1.) This variable, according to the investigator's
experience, is a pervasive phenomenon present in the great
majority of couples who apply for the adoption of a child.
Following the pattern established by Triandis (1971), this
resistance on the part of prospective adoptive parents can
be thought of as an attitudinal set. As an attitude it is
"an idea charged with emotion which predisposes a class of
actions to a particular class of social situations." This
definition suggests that attitudes have three componentsi
(s) a cognitive component, that is, the idea which is
generally some category used hy humans in thinking; (b) an
affective component, that is, the emotion which charges
the idea; and (c) a behavioral component, that is, a pre
disposition to action. Six statements were constructed
by the investigator designed to measure each of the three
components suggested by Triandis. The respondents were
asked to agree or disagree with each statement according
to the degree they felt about the statement. The state
ments as they appeared on the Adoptive Parent Questionnaire
are listed below with the addition of the component they
were designed to measure.
The values assigned to each question have been
added so the reader can perceive the direction of the
question. They were not included on the questionnaire.
1. An older child would probably get on my nerves a great
deal, (cognitive)
109 o 7 6 5 J 3 2 1
2. It would be a mistake for me to adopt an older child,
(behavioral)
axree / / / / / / / // / / disagree
10 9' U T b 5 4^ 3 5 1
3. Adopting an older child would give me a great deal of
satisfaction, (affective)
50
agree / / / / / / / / / / / disagree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 r 9 10
4. I would be intonated in adopting an older child.
(behavioral)
agr.. / / / / / / / / / / / disagree
i 2 3 4 5 5 7 5 5 To
5e An older child would be difficult to control,
(cognitive)
agree / / / / / / / / / / / disagree
'10 '§ B 6 5 4 3 2 1
6. An older child would be responsive to my love,
(affective)
agr.. / / / / / / / / / / / disagree
1 2 3 4 5 5 7 o 9 TO
The attitude of resistance to an older child as an
adoptive choice is therefore defined as the sum total of
the prospective adoptive parent's responses to the above
statements. The greater the total score* the greater the
attitude of resistance.
Description of the Population and Sample
The sample used in this study was drawn from the
waiting list of the Evangelical Welfare Agency* an agency
licensed by the State of California as an adoption agency.
The investigator is currently the Executive Director of
the Agency. The Agency's waiting list of prospective
adoptive parents at the time of the sampling consisted of
151 couples. These couples had contacted the Agency by
51
telephone demonstrating interest In the adoption procedure
and had attended a group meeting at which time the Agency's
requirements for adoption were explained. Their ages
ranged from twenty-five years to forty years and all had
been married for at least two years. Thus, in terms of the*
adoption procedure the couples were more than casual
i
| observers; they were active participants.
Because of the religious character of the Evangel
ical Welfare Agency the couples represent for the most part
a higher than average religious commitment and involvement.
They were also above average in educational statuB having
an educational average of 1.4 years of college. They were
whitet middle class and Protestant. They were all resi
dents of Los Angeles and Orange counties. Host were home
owners.
The sample consisted of a highly homogeneous
population and as such mirrored very similar attitudes.
The investigator readily admits that the study's population
does not represent the "average" prospective adoptive
couple. Howeverf in a study that very much deals with
first impressions it was decided that the limitations of
the sample did not irreparably damage the value of the
study.
52
Procedure of Data Collection
The sampling procedure consisted of a personal j
j
telephone call from one of the professional staff of the
; I
j agency to the prospective adoptive couple. These calls
j were made in the evening hours during the month of August,
| 1973* All 151 couples on the waiting list were called but
!
j
; because it was summer, hence vacation time for many of the
couples, only 82 of the 151 were reached. Of the 82
couples, 78 agreed to participate in the study. Of the 78
questionnaires that were mailed to the participants, 51
were returned for a response rate of 65 per cent. The 51
couples provided the study with a total N of 102.
Analysis of the Data
The investigator considered two major statistical
techniques for the analysis of the data: factor analysis
and path analysis. Because factor analysis sometimes
generates factors that are not theoretically meaningful
and because path analysis more adequately allows for
structural isomorphism, path analysis was chosen as the
study's means of statistical analysis. It has been stated
above that the major purpose of the present study is to
build a model that is isomorphic with reality. The inves
tigator in consultation with his dissertation committee
decided that path analysis accomplished this purpose very
well. (c.f. Duncan, 1966; Land, 1969s Wright, 1960).
CHAPTER IV
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Re nrult 8
It was a major purpose of this study to test the
investigator's model of the prospective adoptive parents'
attitude of resistance to the adoption of an older child.
Seven independent variables were organized into a closed
causal system and were represented in the form of a path
diagram. (See Figure I.) The relationships between these
variables were then stated in the form of ten hypotheses
designed to predict the direction of the relationships
between the independent variables and in relation to the
dependent variable.
The ten hypotheses were:
1. Prospective adoptive parents* levels of previous
experience with children will inversely influence their
stereotyping of an older adoptive child as emotionally
damaged.
2. The successfulness of prospective adoptive parents'
experience with children will inversely influence the
prospective adoptive parents' stereotyping of the
older adoptive child as emotionally damaged.
53
The successfulness of prospective adoptive parents'
experiences with children will positively influence the
relationship in hypothesis one between the level of
prospective adoptive parents' experience with children
and their stereotyping of the older adoptive child as
emotionally damaged.
Prospective adoptive parents* sense of interpersonal
competence will inversely influence their stereotyping
of the older adoptive child as emotionally damaged.
Prospective adoptive parents' sense of inter-personal
competence will inversely influence their resistance to
an older child as their adoptive choice.
Prospective adoptive parents' stereotyping of the oldor
adoptive child as emotionally damaged will positively
influence their resistance to an older child as an
adoptive choice.
The other-directedness of prospective adoptive parents'
will positively influence their resistance to an older
child as an adoptive choice.
The other-directedness of prospective adoptive parents
will positively influence their need for reciprocated
love and affection.
Prospective adoptive parents' need for reciprocated
love and affection will positively Influence their
resistance to an older child as their adoptive choice.
55
10. Prospective adoptive parents' stereotyping of the
older adoptive child as emotionally damaged will
positively influence the relationship in hypothesis
nine between the parents* need for reciprocated love
and affection and their resistance to eun older child
as an adoptive choice.
The investigator chose path analysis as the
statistical means for measuring the level of validity of
the model. The results of that analysis are reported on
Figure II. The numbers between the variables are the path
coefficients. The numbers on arrows coming from without
the system are the residuals for the endogenous variables
within the model. None were significant at the .05 level
of confidence.
Discussion
At the outset of this section of the study it
should be noted that all of the path coefficients for the
investigator's model are extremely small and could easily
have occurred by chance. As a result, any discussion is
definitely open to question. However, the investigator
would point out that seven of the ten hypotheses were
reported in the predicted direction. Using a Sign test,
this ratio is significant at the .05 level of confidence.
In retrospect, the investigator feels that much of
the lack of support for the model may very well be a
Other
Directedness
0 6
. 6 0 2
s
Previous
Experience with
Children
- . 3 9 +
Interaction
between previous
experience with
children and the
Successfulness of
that experience
Need for
Beciprocated Love
and Affection
Interaction between
Need for Reciprocated
Love and Affection and
Stereotyping of Older
Child as Damaged
Successfulness of VIStereotyping of the
Previous Experience Older Adoptive Child
with Children s f as Bnotionally
/ Damaged
Interpersonal
Competence
-.067
- . 2 1 9
Attitude
of
Resistance
to an
Older
Child
as an
Adoptive
Choice
I
N
Figure II. Path Diagram and Path Coefficients
57
function of poor measurement rather than one of poor con
struction. In particular those measures that depended
upon the use of the I.C.L. are suspect. The separation of
scales out of the instrument (for example as a measurement
of interpersonal competence) may very well be invalid.
Also, what was defined as the "need for recipro
cated love and affection” may have not been adequately
measured. Of all of the variables, the investigator felt
this one to be of critical importance, yet it was far and
away the most difficult to both identify theoretically
and operationalize.
Needless to say the results are disappointing. One
could easily conclude that nothing had been gained by the
study. The investigator would only remind the reader that
the present study is decidedly one dealing with first
impressions. There remains much work to be done in order
to build an accurate system that reliably can be used to
predict the attitude of resistance to the adoption of the
older child.
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Summary and Conclusion
In his quest for a modal to explain and/or predict
the attitude of resistance to the adoption of an older
child in a prospective adoptive couple the present investi
gator discovered that a monumental gap exists within the
empirical literature. There are, to the investigator's
knowledge, no studies that seek to explore this attitude.
Not only is there a paucity of research in this area,
there exists very little research dealing with the issue
of older adoptive children in general. Most of the
related adoption research dates from the late 1950's and
early 1960's, and most are descriptive in nature.
Because of his position as the Executive Director
of a licensed adoption agency, the Investigator decided to
pursue the topic of the older adoptive child, hoping that
something of social significance might result. Literally
thousands of children are available for adoption but there
are few takers. The question remains— Why? In his search
for an answer the investigator was forced to probe beyond
the usual review of the literature and into an exploration
of both sociological and psychological theory for the
purpose of generating testable hypotheses that would,
hopefully, represent a degree of reality.
The task was more difficult than the investigator
envisioned. Where does one begin? It is easy to conceive
I
! of literally thousands of concepts, ideas and theories
| expounded in the literature that night have significance.
To examine then all was far beyond the scope of the present
study. The investigator was forced to choose another tack.
In order to make some sort of sense out of issue,
the investigator had to assume the position of a partici-
pant-observer who, using the research method of analytic
induction, seeks to forge a theory whose validity is a
mixture of personal experience and theory. Such was the
process that resulted in the theoretical basis for the
study.
Using a mixture of his own experience and theory,
the investigator created a closed causal model presented in
the form of a path model. Ten hypotheses were generated
from the interrelationships between the Beven variables in
the model. (See Figure I.)
Through the use of three research instruments the
eight variables were operationalized. The three instru
ments were (1) an Adoptive Parents Questionnaire con
structed by the investigator, (2) the Leary Interpersonal
Check List. AND (3) the Shostrom Personality Orientation
Inventory.
60
The research population used for purposes of
sampling sere the couples who had applied to an adoption
agency as prospective adoptive couples. At the time of
the sampling the waiting list for the agency consisted
I
!of 151 couples, all of whom had contacted the agency and
i
had demonstrated interest in the adoption process. Their
jages ranged from 25 to 40. All could be considered
middle-class. All were white. All were Protestant.
Questionnaires and tests were mailed to 78 of the 151
couples. Of this number, 5 1 were returned and formed the
Bample population. The final N for the study was 102.
Using path analysis, the ten hypotheses in the
path model were tested. None of the results were signif
icant at the .05 level of confidence. In fact, the
reported path coefficients were extremely small. However,
seven of the ten hypotheses were reported in the predicted
direction.
Suggestions for Future Research
In Chapter II above the investigator stated that
he conceived the present study as taking the form of
scaffolding whose form approximates the shape of its
building. When this statement was written it was written
with bold confidence. Having gone through the process of
testing the model and hence the strength of that scaffold
ing, the investigator would agree that there is much yet
to be done.
61
Because of the very weak statistical data any
suggestions for future research are in the main hased on
the investigator's hunches.
i
One direction future research night take would he |
i
to explore the interrelationship between the concepts of !
i i
love and dominance as they relate to the introduction of
an extremely potentially disruptive force into the balance !
of the family systemt the disruptive force being the older
child. Perhaps the decision to adopt an infant rather
than an older child is based on the couple's need to
maintain the equilibrium of the family system as much as is
possible and to screen out as much dissonance as is
possible. The older child is seen as a threat to parental
power.
Power, love, dominance, equilibrium, system— all
are concepts that might well be applicable to the problem
at hand. The investigator hopes that others will followj
there is, in his opinion, nothing so inane as scaffolding
that is never used.
Limitations of the Study
The investigator would quickly admit that because
of the very restricted sample size and because of the
extremely homogeneous character of the sample, the very
limited conclusions of the present study apply only to this
population and certainly not to others. Any application
62
to other populations must be based upon a more thorough
and broader sampling procedure with strict attention being
paid to relevant criteria.
i
I
I
I
I
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[Benedek, T. Parenthood as a developmental phase* Journal
of the American Psychoanalytic Association* 1959.
7 ," w r rr. — *--------------------
Bermarm, E. A* Compatibility and stability in the dyad.
Paper presented before the American Psychological
Association, September, 1966, as quoted in A Decade
of Family Research and Action. Carlfred B,
Broderick, ed., National Counci1 in Family
Relations, 1971.
Blau* P. U. Exchange and Power in Social Life. John Wiley
* Sons', 19647------- --------------
Boehm, B. Deterrents to the Adoption of Children in Foster
Care~ New York: (JWtA, December, 195b.
Brim, 0. G., Jr. Socialization through the life cycle. In
Orville G. Brim, Jr. and Stanton Wheeler,
Socialization After Childhood: Two Essays. New
Vork: John Wiley f t Sons, 1966.
Brim, 0. G., Jr. Education for Child Rearing. New York:
The Free Press, 1959.
Broderick, C. B. Beyond the five conceptual frameworks:
a decade of development in family theory. In A
Decade of Family Research and Action* Carlfred^.
Broderick, ed., Minneapolis: National Council on
Family Relations, 1971.
Brown. F. Adoption of Children with Special Needs. New
York: CWLA, March, 1959.-----------------
Burr, W. R. Role transition: a reformulation of theory.
Journal of Marriage and the Family. 1972, ii.
407-416.
California, State of. Children Waiting. Health and
Welfare Agency, Department of Social Welfare,
September, 1972.
Campbell, F. L. Family growth and variation in family role
structure. Journal of Marriage and the Family.
1970, ^2, 4 5 ^
Citizens Adoption Committee of Los Angeles County. Our
Children in Poster Hones— A Study of Children
Weeding Adoption. Los Angeles: 1953.
Cogswell, B. B. Rehabilitation of the paraplegic: process
es of socialization. Sociological Inauiry. 1967.
11-26.
Cogswell, B. Socialization into the family: an essay on
some structural properties of roles. In Source
book in Marriaae and the Family. Marvin B. Sussman,
ed., Boston: Houghton MifflinCompany, 1968.
Cottrell, L. S., Jr. Interpersonal interaction and the
development of the self. In Handbook of Socializa
tion Theory and Research. David A. Cosiin, ed.,
Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, 1969.
Duncan, 0. D. Path analysis: sociological examples.
American Journal of Sociology, 1966, 72, 1-16.
Dyer, E. D. Parenthood as crisis: a re-study. Marriage
and Family Living, 1963, 2£, 196-201.
Foote, N. N. Identification as a basis for a theory of
motivation. American Sociological Review. 1951,
J_6, 14-21.
Foote, N., A Cottrell, L. S., Jr. Identity and Interperson
al Competence. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1955.
Glick, P. C. The life cycle of the family. Marriage and
Family Living. 1955, V7, 3-9.
Goode, W. J. A theory of role strain. American Socio-
logical Review, 1960, 2£, 483-496*:
Gouldner, A. W. The norm of reciprocity: a preliminary
statement. American Sociological Review. I960, 25,
161-178. —
Gross, N., McEachern, A. W. & Mason, W. S. Role conflict
and its resolution. In Readings in Social
Psychology. Eleanor E. Maccopy7 T. H. Newcomb, &
E. L. Hartley, eds., New York: Holt, 1958.
Hartmann, H. Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaptation.
New Yorlc? international trnTversities Press, 1950.
Heath, W. Letter to California Association of Adoption
Agencies, 1971.
Heiss, J. S., A Gordon, Michael. Need patterns and sutual
satisfaction of dating and engaged couples. Journal
of Marriage and the Pamily. 1964, 26, 337-339.
Hill, B. f t Hansen, D. A. The identification of a concep
tual framework utilized in family study. Marriage
and Family Living. 1960, 22, 299-311.
Hill, R., f t Rodgers, R. H. The developmental approach.
In H. T. Christensen, ed., Handbook of Marriage and
the Family. Chicago: Rand Hcfrally and Company,
1964.
Hobbs, D. F. Parenthood as crisis: a third study. Journal
of Marriage and the Family, 1963> 27* 367-372.
Homans, G. C. Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms.
New York! Harcourt, hrace and Company,1961.
Homans, G. S. The Human Group. New York: Harcourt, Brace,,
1950.
Inkeles, A. Society, social structure and child social
ization. In Socialization and Society. John A.
Clausen, ed., Boston: Little, Brown and Company,
1968.
Kadushin, A. The legally adoptable, unadopted child.
Child Welfare. 1958, X L , 238-241.
Kadushin, A. Adopting Older Children. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1970.
Kirkpatrick, C. Inconsistencies in marriage roles and
marriage conflict. International Journal of Ethics.
1936, 46, 444-460.
Land, K. Principles of Path Analysis in Sociological
Methodology, ed., Edgar B. Borgatta, San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1969.
Leary, Timothy. Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality.
New York: The Ronald !^ress Company, 1957.
LeMasters, E. E. Parenthood as crisis. Marriage and
Family Living. 1961, J S , 352-355.
67
Lindesmith, A. R. A Strauss, A. L. Social Psychology.
Naw York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 196b.
Linton. R. The Study of Man. New York: Appleton-Csntury.
1936.
Maas, H. Children in Heed of Parents. New York: Columbia
University Press,
McCormick, T. C., A Sundal, A. P. Age at marriage and mate
selection. American Sociological Review. 1951» 16,
37-48.
Merton, R. K. Social Theory and Social Structure.
Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1968.
Miller, N. E., f t Pollard, J. Social Learning and Imitation.
New Haven: Yale University Press, ig4l.
Mullahy, P. The Contributions of Harry Stack Sullivan.
New York: Hermitage House, 1952.
Murray, H. A. Explorations in Personality. New York:
Oxford University ^resB, 193b,
Murstein, B. I. Empirical tests of role, complementary
needs and homogamy theories of mate selection.
Journal of Marriage and the Family. 1967, 29.
689-696.
Pennypacker, K. Reaching Decisions to Initiate Court
Action to Free Children in Care for Adoption.
Child Welfare. 1961, 40, 402-406.
Rapoport, R. The transition from engagement to marriage.
Acta Sociologies. 1964, 8, 36-55.
Rapoport, R., f t Rapoport, R. New Light on the honeymoon.
Human Relations. 1964, 2Z» 33-56.
Raush, H. L., Goodrich, W., f t Campbell, J. P. Adaptation
to the first years of marriage. Psychiatry.
1963, 26, 368-380.
Riesman, D. The Lonely Crowd. Garden City, N. Y.:
Doubleday Anchor Books, 1950.
Rodgers, R, H. Toward a theory of family development.
Journal of Marriage and the Family. 1964. 26.
wt-mr. ------- “
68
Rossi, A. S. Transition to parenthood. Journal of
Marriage and the Family. 1968, 30, Zb-39.
Shapiro, M. A study of adoption practice, Vol. Ill,
Adoption of Children with Special Needs. New York:
ml;" " April, 1957. ------ -----------
Shostrom, E. Man. the Manipulator. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 1967.
Shostrom, E. Personal Orientation Inventory. San Diego:
Educational and industrial testing Service, 1966.
State Charities Aid Society. Adoptability— A Study of 100
Children in Foster Care. New York: dhild Adoption
Service, I960.
Stone, G. P. Appearance and the self. In Human Behavior
and Social Processes. Arnold M. Rose, ed., Boston:
Houghton, Mifflin, 1962.
Strauss, A. The influence of parent-image upon marital
choice. American Sociological Review, 1946, 11,
554-559. _
Stryker, S. Identity salience and role performance: the
relevance of symbolic interaction theory for family
research. Journal of Marriage and the Family,
1968, ^o, sot-to:--------- -------------------
Theabut, J. W. & Kelley, H. H. The Social Psychology of
GroupB. New York: John Wiley f t Sons, 19$9.
Triandis. H. C. Attitude and Attitude Change. New York:
John Wiley f t Sons, 1971.----------
Turner. R. H. Family Interaction. New York: John Wiley
& Sons, 1970/ -------
Weinstein, E. A. The development of interpersonal
competence. In Handbook of Socialization Theory
and Research. David A. Goalin, ed., Chicago: Rand
McNally and Company, 1969.
Whiting, J. W. M., and Child, I. L. Child Training and
Personality: a Cross-Cultural study. Hew Haven:
Yale University Press, 1953.
Winch,
Wright
69
R. P. Mata Selectioni A Study of Complementary
Needs. New York: Harper and Bow, Tg^B.
S. Path coefficients and path regressions:
alternative or complementary concepts? Biometrics.
I960, 16, 189-202.
AFPSHDI X
71
ADOPTION QUESTIONNAIRE
Do you have or have you had children of your ownt either
natural or adopted? yee no__
Have you ever kept children in your home such as in foster
care« day time child care, etc.? yes no__
How many children younger them yourself did your mother and
father have? (write in the total number) __
Have you ever worked with children as a paid professional.
such as a public school teacher, youth director in a
church, etc.? yes no___
If you emswered yes, what were their ages? _____________
Have you ever worked with children as a non-paid volunteer,
such as a Sunday School teacher, scouting leader, etc.? :
yee no___
If you answered yes, what were their ages?
If you were to total up your successes and your failures
with all of the pre-school age children (ages 4 and
younger) that you have come in contact with, how would you
rate your experience? (please circle the answer that best
represents your experience)
very about very
successful successful average unsuccessful unsuccessful!
If you were to total up your successes and your failures
with all of the elementary age children (ages 5 to 12)
that you have come in contact with, how would you rate
your experience? (please circle the answer that best
represents your experience?
very about very
successful successful average unsuccessful unsuccessful
If then were a difference of opinion between you and your
spouse with regard to adopting a child, whose opinion
would carry the most weight?
yours ___, your spouse's___
72
How would you estimate your ability to successfully raise
a child if you were to adopt that child when he or she was
elementary school age? (please check the answer that best
describes your opinion)
I would probably have very little trouble. ____
I would probably handle it even if I had
some trouble.
I'm not too sure how I would do.
I must admit, I probably wouldn't do a very
good job.
To be honest, I would probably be a total
failure.
Below are listed a series of statements with which you are
asked to agree or disagree. Please place a check in that
square which best indicates how you feel about that
particular statement.
j
: An older adoptive child would probably get on my nerves a
: great deal.
i
agree/ / / / /_ J _ _ / / / / / disagree
It would be a mistake for me to adopt an older child.
agree/ / / / / / / / / / / disagree
Adopting an older child would give me a great deal of
satisfaction.
agree/ / / / / / / / / / / disagree
I would be interested in adopting an older child,
agree/ / / / / / / / / / / disagree
An older child would be difficult to control,
agree/ / / / / / / / / / / disagree
An older child would be responsive to my love,
agree/ / / / / / / / / / / disagree
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
Conceptually similar
PDF
The Parameters Of Singleness: An Inquiry Into Some Factors Influencing The Choice Of Singleness Over Marriage As A Way Of Life
PDF
Coalition Formation In Conjoint Marriage Counseling
PDF
The Effect Of Counselor Gender And Sex-Role Attitudes On Change Of Female Clients' Sex-Role Attitudes
PDF
An Analysis Of The Positive And Negative Functions In The Contemporary Usage Of An Ancient Rite Of Passage
PDF
Adoption Of Children With Residual Medical Conditions
PDF
A Sociological Approach To The Etiology Of Female Homosexuality And The Lesbian Social Scene
PDF
A Longitudinal Model Of Residence Change
PDF
An Investigation Of Complementary Needs Between Marital Partners
PDF
The Effect Of Differential Treatment On Attitudes, Personality Traits, And Behavior Of Adult Parolees
PDF
A Psychosociological Study Of Fertile And Infertile Marriages
PDF
On Becoming A Parent: Attitude And Feeling Changes
PDF
A Study Of The Relationships Between Religious Affiliation, Religious Practices And Marital Adjustment
PDF
Personality Characteristics: Ideal And Perceived In Relation To Mate Selection
PDF
Strategies Of Marital Communication
PDF
Determinants Of Intercounty Migration: California, 1970-1973
PDF
Status consistency and its effects on marital adjustment and stability
PDF
Attitudes Toward Sex In Marriage And Patterns Of Erotic Behavior In Dating And Courtship Before Marriage
PDF
An Analysis Of Factors In The Family'S Withdrawal Of A Patient From A Hospital For The Mentally Retarded
PDF
Power Relationships In Marital Discord
PDF
An Exploratory Analysis Of Two Dimensions Of Family Separation
Asset Metadata
Creator
Guernsey, Dennis Bailie
(author)
Core Title
The Attitude Of Resistance To The Adoption Of An Older Child
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Program
Sociology
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
OAI-PMH Harvest,sociology, individual and family studies
Language
English
Contributor
Digitized by ProQuest
(provenance)
Advisor
Broderick, Carlfred Bartholomew (
committee chair
), Acock, Alan C. (
committee member
), Milner, John G. (
committee member
)
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-851246
Unique identifier
UC11356630
Identifier
7423585.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-851246 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
7423585.pdf
Dmrecord
851246
Document Type
Dissertation
Rights
Guernsey, Dennis Bailie
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
Tags
sociology, individual and family studies