Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs ’You Were Born Again With Us’: Narratives of Italian Families Formed Through International Adoption Thesis How to cite: Narzisi, Katia (2016). ’You Were Born Again With Us’: Narratives of Italian Families Formed Through International Adoption. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2016 The Author https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000efa8 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk 31 0350830 4 ‘You were born again with us5: Narratives of Italian families formed through international adoption Katia Narzisi, B.A., M.A., A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Open University Faculty of Health and Social Care Date of submission 1st of June 2015 bfvre \ 3-oiG> ProQuest Number: 13834808 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 13834808 Published by ProQuest LLC(2019). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Acknowledgements I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to my supervisors, Brigid, Martin and Monica; you have been tremendous mentors for me. I would like to thank you for encouraging me in my research and for allowing me to grow as a researcher. Your advice on both my research as well as on my career have been invaluable. I would like to especially thank all of the people that took part to my research, who shared their stories and experiences with me. All of the emotions I felt throughout the research are invaluable. The children, young adults, families and experts made this research unique, and helped to get where I am now. My work would not have been possible without them. To all of my friends and colleagues, thank you for constantly supporting my craziness during this journey. Although it rarely happens, I do not have enough words to express my gratitude to my dearest friend, companion and colleague, Brian. I have learned so much with you; we have laughed, cried and shared so many experiences together. Thank you for being there for me all the time. A special thanks goes to my family, starting with Giulia and Mattia, my special little angels, who taught me how to deal with questions that only children can ask. Mum, Dad, Fabio and Romina, you supported and challenged me throughout these last years; without you I would not have learned what family means. Abstract This thesis presents a qualitative study of adoptive parents, childrens, young adults and experts’ accounts of communication within families about a child’s past. Until now, this particular aspect of international adoption in Italy has received little attention. The aims of this study are to understand how both parents and adoptees’ deal with and manage the origins of adoptees, and also experts’ views of this communication. In addition, this research explores the potentiality of the use of Tife-story work’ amongst this specific sample. This study uses in-depth interviews to unravel the experiences of ten adoptive parents with their five adopted children and five young adopted adults. It also includes the perspectives of seven experts. The findings are embedded in the Italian social and cultural context, which contributes to shaping the meaning of the accounts collected. The findings show that all of the families had developed an adoption story. Visual aids and documents help and support the telling of these stories. Furthermore, the various stories served different functions: they enabled communication, they presented challenges, and they emphasised the relationships with the actors involved in international adoption. The findings show diversity in the approaches to communicative openness: the practices presented by the sample families in this research are organised according to four different approaches to communication. The differences amongst the families, children and young adults are linked to the amount of information available to the families; the child’s attitude to his or her past; the influence of the actors involved in the adoption; the way in which adoptive kinship is understood; the way in which the laws are applied, and the ways in which children’s voices and needs are accounted for by families and accredited bodies. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III ABSTRACT_____________________________________________________________________ IV CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 11 A im s a n d R a t io n a l e 12 T h e s t r u c t u r e o f t h e t h e s is 14 CHAPTER 2 INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION IN ITALY: THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT 17 S t a t is t ic a l information 17 T h e fa m il ie s 1 7 T h e r e a so n s f o r a d o p t io n 2 0 T h e c h il d r e n 2 1 Co u n t r ie s o f o r ig in 2 2 Ge n d e r , ag e a n d h e a l t h 2 2 A c c r e d it e d b o d ie s 2 4 T h e It a l ia n f a m il y 25 F e r t il it y 2 9 T h e Ca t h o l ic Ch u rc h 2 9 M ig r a t io n a n d Ra cism 3 1 Ita lia n Cit iz e n s h ip 3 2 T h e L e g a l B a c k g r o u n d 34 T h e c o n t e x t o f international a d o p t io n 3 4 T h e d e b a t e a r o u n d international a d o p t io n 3 7 T he Ita lia n c o n te x t 3 9 T h e r o le o f so cia l ser v ices 4 2 T h e sea r c h f o r o r ig in s 4 5 S u m m a r y 48 CHAPTER 3 ADOPTION STUDIES________________________________________________ 49 F a m il y s t u d i e s 50 A d o p t iv e K in s h ip 5 3 D o in g a n d d is p l a y in g f a m il ie s 5 5 T h e FAMILY AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE 5 7 A d o p t iv e p a r e n t in g 5 9 O p e n n e s s a n d communication in a d o p t i o n 63 D e f in it io n o f o p e n n e s s 6 4 R a t in g communicative o p e n n e s s 6 7 R e s e a r c h o n o p e n n e s s 7 0 T h e a d o p t io n s t o r ie s 7 4 S e c r e c y 7 7 S e a r c h a n d r e u n io n s 7 9 A d o p t iv e id e n t it y 81 E t h n ic it y , nationality a n d id e n t it y 8 6 T r a n s r a c ia l a d o p t io n 8 9 'S u c c e s s ' s t u d i e s 91 T h e m e a n in g o f c h il d h o o d 100 S o c io l o g y o f c h il d h o o d a n d developmental t h e o r ie s 1 0 2 A d o p t i o n f r o m t h e c h il d r e n ’s perspective 105 UK STUDIES ON DOMESTIC ADOPTION 105 I nternational s t u d ie s 1 1 1 S u m m a r y 114 R e s e a r c h q u e s t io n s 116 CHAPTER 4 METHODS________________________________________________________ 120 6 T h e DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH 1 2 0 T h e theoretical a p p r o a c h 1 2 0 T h e r a t io n a l e f o r t h i s r e s e a r c h : T h e m e t h o d 1 2 1 T rustworthiness 1 2 6 E t h ic s 1 2 7 S a m p l in g a n d participants 1 2 9 T h e in t e r v ie w s w i t h t h e a d o p t i v e p a r e n t s 1 3 4 In t e r v ie w s w i t h c h il d r e n 1 3 7 I n t e r v ie w s w i t h y o u n g p e o p l e 1 3 9 I n t e r v ie w s w i t h t h e e x p e r t s 1 4 0 R e c o r d in g a n d transcribing t h e in t e r v ie w s 1 4 1 A n a l y s is o f t h e d a t a 1 4 2 MY ROLE AS RESEARCHER 1 4 5 CHAPTER 5 THE FAMILIES_____________________________________________________ 148 F in d in g s f r o m f a m il ie s 148 T h e t e l l in g o f t h e a d o p t i o n s t o r y 149 T h e TOOLS DEVELOPED TO AID THE TELLING OF THE STORY 152 Child-friendly stories 1 5 2 INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION 155 D o s s ie r 1 5 8 THE ROLES OF THE STORY 1 6 2 Adoption as a positive experience 1 6 2 Responding to curiosity 1 6 6 Being available and empathic 1 6 8 T h e c h a l l e n g e s f a c e d b y t h e s t o r ie s 1 7 1 The environm ent outside the fam ily 1 7 1 7 Sensitive topics 1 7 5 T h e w o r d s 1 7 6 T h e relationships w i t h t h e a c t o r s in t h e s t o r ie s 178 T h e COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 1 7 9 B irth family 1 8 2 The State and the accredited bodies 1 8 6 T h e d y n a m ic s d u r in g t h e in t e r v ie w s 188 Lif e s t o r y w o r k 190 Families who had a positive response to the life-story w ork 1 9 3 Families w ith mixed reactions 1 9 5 S u m m a r y 197 CHAPTER 6 YOUNG PEOPLE_____________________________________________ 201 N o r m a l it y - integration 202 R a c is m 206 H o n e s t y 207 M a k in g o f t h e f a m il y 212 R elationships 215 R e s e a r c h in g o r ig in s : t h e r o l e o f institutions 217 Ch il d r e n 220 K n o w l e d g e 2 2 0 A d o p t io n a w a r e n e s s 2 2 5 M e m o r ie s 2 2 6 S u m m a r y 229 CHAPTER 7 PRACTICE FINDINGS______________________________________________ 231 T h e c u l t u r e o f a d o p t i o n a n d t h e d e b a t e s 231 T h e d e b a t e s a r o u n d a d o p t io n a n d t h e professionals ' contributions 2 3 1 S u m m a r y 240 CHAPTER 8 DISCUSSION_______________________________________________________ 242 I ntroduction 242 S t o r ie s o n t h e communicative o p e n n e s s c o n t in u u m 246