Adoption Policies in Canada and Norway: A comparative study of the Adoption Act in British Columbia, Canada and the Adoption Act in Norway
Master thesis
Permanent lenke
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2399457Utgivelsesdato
2016-05Metadata
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Sammendrag
In my research, I studied social work policies on adoption in British Columbia,
Canada and in Norway. I focused on British Columbia (BC) because Canada has
provincial as opposed to federal legislation on adoption. It is pertinent to note that the
relevant demographics of the Canadian province and the nation of Norway are similar
in many respects.
The aim was to shed light on the social policy intentions, or the official ‘wish lists’, so
to speak, of the political elites who authored BC’s Adoption Act and Norway’s
Adoption Law (Adopsjonsloven).
I explored the texts on adoption using document analysis, with a grounded theory
framework. Analysis revealed nine distinct categories: Best Interests of the Child;
Continuity of Care; Maintenance of Pre-Adoptive Relationships; Family Membership;
Child’s Perspective; Identity Preservation and Aboriginal Rights; Birth Parents’
Rights; Adoptive Parents’ Rights vs. Requirements; Authority of the Court and
Ministry.
This research highlights important aspects of policymaking aims with regard to BC’s
Adoption Act and Norway’s Adopsjonsloven. Social workers in both settings are
expected to act upon social policy guidelines, and my study sought to tease out these
specifics. An important aim was to obtain knowledge on existing comparative
policies. With that, I hope to encourage other researchers to delve deeper into crossnational
learning in the field of adoption protocols in different settings, both locally
and globally.
Beskrivelse
Master's thesis in Social work