The Longer View: Intergenerational Dynamics and support needs in analysis of life stories of adopters (now grandparents) and adoptees (now parents).
11 September, 2025 at 10:00am - 1:30pm
Online
Expert-led training session delivered by Dr Julia Rimmer (from research led by Prof. Elsbeth Neil, with Dr. Irina Sirbu and intern Emma Speer)
Who this is for
Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.
Details
Although adoption is often described as a ‘lifelong’ experience (Brodzinsky, Schechter and Marantz-Henig, 1992) its meaning and impact in adulthood, including in the roles of adoptee as parent and adopter as grandparent are relatively unexamined. This webinar shares new research findings from analysis of life story interviews with two generations (16 adoptee parents and 21 adopter grandparents) who are cross generational dyads, triads or quads, in 14 English adoptive families.
The domestic adoptions discussed (from the 1980s) are primarily ‘from care’ and took place when there was less understanding of the adversities faced and less available specialist support, post adoption. This is also the time when adoptions were moving away from being closed, to more being more open.
The workshop will explore (from different generational perspectives) the trajectories of the intergenerational dynamics across the life stories, with participants keen to share learning from the challenges faced, if/how these were overcome, and finally how relationships have been impacted by the arrival of the next generation.
The webinar will develop your learning about the long-term support needs of families at key junctures, focusing particularly upon the arrival of the next generation: how this can ‘stir the pot’ for both generations, how families connections and relationship with others widen/change (birth, reproductive and in-laws), and finally around the continued investments given of love, support and commitment, long after access to funded support ends.
Learning 0utcomes
- To learn about the trajectories of relational dynamics of adopters and adoptees in 14 families in the first ‘pioneer’ (adoption from care) generation, as adoptees become parents.
- To explore the various support needs of adoptive families at key junctures, focusing on the arrival of the next generation.
- To consider how best to support adoptees and adopters in their family networks, as they welcome the next generation.
About the trainer
Dr Julia Rimmer
Julia gained her PhD at University of Sheffield and has almost 20 years’ research experience working on a number of projects across Faculties of Health and Social Sciences at a number of universities, often working with mixed methods but specialising in qualitative research. Since 2018 she has been working as a Research Fellow with Prof. Beth Neil at University of East Anglia, more recently on evaluation projects with Adoption England. She is also an adoptive parent.
Instructions
A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.
If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.
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