It is now over 20 years since 'open adoption' was first introduced, but it remains a controversial and contested part of social work practice. This innovative and far ranging book sets out to understand why the practice of keeping adopted children in touch with their kinship origins is still so questioned in contemporary adoption work. Written by an experienced practitioner in the field, this book applies, for the first time, Foucauldian methodology to analyze and understand adoption social work, making it essential reading for a wide audience in the social sciences.

SALLY SALES Psychoanalyst in private practice in South East Cornwall and Chair of Training for the Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis in both London and the South West, UK. She also teaches part-time at the University of East London, UK, on the Psycho-Social Studies degree course. She has worked professionally in the field of adoption for many years as a researcher, consultant and trainer.

Acknowledgments PART I: A GENEALOGY OF ADOPTION Introducing the Study Family as Cause and Cure: the Emergence of Adoption Contested Involvements: Adoption before the Second World War Differences Denied: the Normalisation of Adoption Differences and identities: the Making of Modern Adoption Contested Attachments: the Controversial Emergence of 'Open Adoption' PART II: THE OPEN ARCHIVE Introducing the Archive Study Knowing or Transforming the Self: Tracing Letterbox Contact Identity through Injury: Unfit Mothers and Direct Contact Conclusions Notes Bibliography