S/O Adopted Child Syndrome

FranticFrummie ↓

Sun, Feb 18 2018, 9:22 pm

http://www.crimemagazine.com/a.....child

This is an issue that is very close to me, because my DD is adopted.

Saying that Cruz was adopted is part of why he is a killer leaves a lot out of the equation.

Were his birth parents alcoholics or drug addicts? Fetal alcohol syndrom causes impulse control problems and severe bouts of rage. Drug addicted babies grow up to have problems making good decisions.

Was he adopted after the age of 3? Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) prevents a child from bonding with their care givers, and creates and emotional and empathetic void in the psyche.

Was he zexually abused at any point in his life? Bullied?

Did he spend any time in the foster system? (Not saying that foster care is evil, but that it can cause a feeling of instability and impermanece.)

Was he under any psychiatric care, or seeing a therapist?

At what age was he told that he was adopted?

Did he ever get to meet his birth parents and get answers?

Were his adoptive parents a dysfunctional family unit?

So, you can't just say "He was adopted, it's his parent's fault." unless you know all of the details.

33055

Sun, Feb 18 2018, 9:45 pm

It seems that among the factors you listed how adopted families handle the situation is important.

"How adoption is handled in the adoptive family is instrumental in its impact on the adoptees’ psyche. Families who recognize their child’s loss and assist them with the feelings inherently create more emotional health whereas families who are silent and secretive create a situation where a child has to bury and dissociate from what they feel. Once an individual has learned to dissociate parts of themselves, it becomes second nature. Anger and rage begin to build within yet the feelings are sequestered until something ignites them."

http://drtracylcarlis.com/adop.....rome/

↑ FranticFrummie

Sun, Feb 18 2018, 9:51 pm

One of the main reasons why I was always honest with DD about her adoption from as soon as she could grasp the word, and why her birth parents were both in her life as much as possible. We all agreed that her health and happiness were the most important thing.

B'H, her birth parents didn't have drug or alcohol problems, and her birth mom took excellent care of herself - she was just not ready to be a mom at that time.

DD has her share of troubles and teenage rebellion, but we did everything we could to do our best for her. Finding out your whole life is a lie is that last thing anyone needs.

gamanit

Mon, Feb 19 2018, 12:30 am

I think one of the reasons for this is that women who were unfortunately raped are more likely to give their babies up for adoption. This means that the biological children of rapists are over-represented among adopted children vs. the general population. There might be some genetic tendency towards violence.

Fox

Mon, Feb 19 2018, 12:58 am

I think a lot of this involves magical thinking.

When we read about someone like Cruz, we can pick out "adoption" as a characteristic and say, "Oh, well, it must have something to do with adoption. Lucky my kid isn't adopted!"

So while we should obviously continue research that helps us figure out how to handle adoptions as successfully as possible, I am a little skeptical that significant differences will be found when we eliminate other variables.

I'm going to hazard a guess that sociopathy is like a lot of other conditions: a mixture of nature and nurture. It would be great if we could isolate and treat the genes that make someone more disposed toward sociopathic behavior, and it would be great if we could identify the environmental triggers that create the perfect storm. But even if adoption is a risk factor, it is likely to be one among dozens or even hundreds.