Adoptive Family Environment In Kerala

Abstract

One of the fundamental rights of the child is the right to afamily. It is in securing their right to family, especially when they areabandoned at an early age, that adoption has come to be recognizedas an important alternative for their rehabilitation (IAPA, 1989). Thisstudy explored and analysed the environment of the adoptive familiesin Kerala using Family Environment Scale developed by Bhatia andChadha (1993). A total of 356 adoptive parents were interviewed to
assess the integration of adoptive child into these families utilizing adescriptive design. The analysis of the three dimensions of the familyenvironment (Relationship, Personal Growth and System Maintenance)revealed that only 53 percent of adoptive families have high relationshipamong the family members. And two third (70%) of these families havegood Personal Growth and System Maintenance. As a whole, it isobserved that three fourth (77%) of the adoptive families have veryhealthy environment and one fourth of these families have averagehealthy environment. Discriminant analysis shows that in families where
cohesion, expressiveness, independence, active recreational orientationand control are higher, the adopted child is highly integrated into thefamily.