Adopted Child Syndrome

Secret Pepper Person, over at The Secret Pepper Society may have started out trying not to pee in people's punch bowls, but I think that she will manage to piss some people off.  She writes about Adopted Child Syndrome, a controversial, but rather descriptive term that tries to explain antisocial behaviors such as problems in bonding/attachment disorders, lying, stealing, defiance of authority and acts of violence, by associating them with a child's adopted status.

In her post, she spoke about the ineffectiveness of foster/adoptive parent training:

Of course the flip side is that if prospective adoptive parents were given the good, the bad and the ugly statistics in their MAPP classes would anyone ever adopt? Certainly those on the fence might climb off leaving behind the seasoned veterans who actually know what they are getting in to but even those seasoned veterans who've already experienced and won battles are sometimes taken by surprise.

She went on to say that so many of the adoptive families she knows have children who are now in trouble with the law:

Of the five families I personally know who have adopted boys, now in their 20's two are currently in jail, the third has been arrested four times and the fourth has been arrested 3 times.

Only the fifth has never had a brush with the law but is currently living at home driving his parent person insane.

Go read her post.

Whether or not Adopted Child Syndrome is accepted in the professional community or should exist as a formal diagnosis, I think it's an accurate way to describe the behaviors of some adopted children, especially those who have been adopted as older children and teens.

Secret Pepper Person is absolutely right in saying that prospective foster and adoptive parents should be educated about just how badly these kids can behave, and that there isn't enough attention paid on this problem before parents come into the system.  People come in with great intentions, and often don't find out until after their adoptions are finalized just how sick their kids really are, and just how few resources are available to help.

So in my book, I think Pepper is right on the mark, and if she ends up peeing in someone's Pollyanna-flavored corn flakes, that's probably for the good.