Adoption disruption of previously looked after children: the emergence of adolescent to parent violence

The paper will report on the findings of the first national studies of adoption disruption in England and Wales. Examining national databases of approx 39,000 adoptions of children from foster care, over a 12 year period, we... [ view full abstract ]

The paper will report on the findings of the first national studies of adoption disruption in England and Wales. Examining national databases of approx 39,000 adoptions of children from foster care, over a 12 year period, we found the disruption rate was very low (3%) with the majority disrupting in the teenage years. We wanted to understand more about parents and children's experiences and undertook in-depth interviews ( lasting 3-5 hours) with 90 adoptive parents (45 who had experienced a disruption and 45 who were finding parenting very challenging). We were surprised to find that adolescent to parent violence (APV) was responsible for the vast majority of difficulties and disruptions in adoptive families.

APV has received little attention in the social work literature, although it is known to be a factor in families whose children are at risk of entry to care and be responsible for foster and residential care disruptions. Neither does APV sit comfortably within our approach to domestic violence or reflect the psychological theories on the development of aggression. The behaviour patterns that characterise APV include coercive control, domination and intimidation. Crucially, parental behaviours are compromised by fear of violence.

Our studies exposed the prevalence of APV in the lives of families who had experienced an adoption disruption and those who were finding parenting very challenging. Two main APV patterns emerged: early onset (pre-puberty) that escalated during adolescence, and late onset that surfaced during puberty and rapidly escalated. The stigma and shame associated with APV delayed help-seeking. The response from services was often to blame the adoptive parents and to instigate child protection procedures. The factors associated with disruption and the development of APV will be considered including children’s early histories of trauma and movement in care.