Adoption: A Study of Six Difficult-to-Place Children With Mental Illness or Mental Deficiency in Their Background the Angel Guardian Home for Little Children, Brooklyn, New York 1960–1961

Mary Collins, Fordham University

Abstract

In the field of child placement, social workers are often confronted with the necessity of understanding the difficult-to-place child. This dissertation is a study of actual adoptive placements of six difficult-to-place children with mental illness or mental deficiency in their background. As a member of the staff of the adoption department at Angel Guardian Home, the writer has become interested in the difference between placing children without pathology in their background in comparison with children placed who had mental illness or mental deficiency in their background. The scope of this study is concerned with mental illness and mental deficiency in the background. The findings can be applied to the wider meaning of the difficult-to-place child. Background of the Study. Adoption places a homeless child in a home, often an otherwise childless home, and gives him a wholesome family setting that can offer the affection, security, and understanding needed for his best development. Adoption is sought for all children who are legally free, whether they be normal or handicapped, in homes that will best suit them. The goal of the adoption agencies is to make the child itself the center of the adoption procedure.

Subject Area

Social work|Social research|Mental health|Social studies education

Recommended Citation

Collins, Mary, "Adoption: A Study of Six Difficult-to-Place Children With Mental Illness or Mental Deficiency in Their Background the Angel Guardian Home for Little Children, Brooklyn, New York 1960–1961" (1962). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30725023.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30725023

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