In 2016, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) commissioned an Enquiry into the role of the social worker in adoption with a focus on ethics and human rights in order to provide up-to-date knowledge and evidence on this aspect of social work practice with a particular focus on how ethical and human rights issues and legislation are understood and inform practice.
In this report, you will find the Enquiry’s key messages and the process involved in arriving at them. The Enquiry sought the views of adopted people, birth families, adoptive families, social workers, social work managers and other professionals, and created spaces for dialogue about the role of the social worker in adoption with a particular focus on ethics and human rights. One of the main aims of the enquiry to advice social workers, who are central to the implementation of adoption, as being part of the initiation, assessing adopters, matching children and providing post-adoption support.
The main content:
- Section 1 focuses on the current use of adoption, drawing together responses from participants across the stakeholder groups;
- Section 2 considers the role of the social worker in adoption from the perspective of social workers;
- Section 3 explores the role of the social worker from the perspectives of families (birth families, adoptive families and adopted people);
- Section 4 discusses the perspectives of other stakeholders, including legal personnel, academics, related professionals and organisations;
- Section 5 discusses the ethical and human rights implications for social workers involved in adoption.