The Effects of Adoption Throughout the Life Course: A Personal Reflection on Adoption, Work and Family

Authors

  • Pamela A Viggiani College at Brockport, SUNY Brockport

Keywords:

life course perspective, oppression, privilege, human relationships, social justice

Abstract

This article presents the personal narrative of the author, who discusses her experiences with adoption across her life course. The narrative relates the author’s personal experiences with adoption to her decision to enter the social work profession, and her use of life course perspective to inform her teaching. The article also discusses the way in which adoption experiences relate to the author’s commitment to studying, teaching and changing structures of oppression through increasing students’ awareness and commitment to righting social injustices. The importance of human relationships is also discussed both within the context of personal experiences with adoption and professional experiences in social work. The author concludes that familial experiences with adoption profoundly affect both choice of profession and theoretical perspective.

 

Key words: life course perspective, oppression, privilege, human relationships, social justice

Author Biography

Pamela A Viggiani, College at Brockport, SUNY Brockport

Assistant Professor

GRC-MSW Program

Downloads

Published

2016-10-18

How to Cite

Viggiani, P. A. (2016). The Effects of Adoption Throughout the Life Course: A Personal Reflection on Adoption, Work and Family. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 21(4), 63–67. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/1248