Attitudes of the Czech Public Towards International Adoption of Minors

Soňa Vávrová, Jitka Vaculíková

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Attitudes of the Czech Public Towards International Adoption of Minors

Soňa Vávrová, Jitka Vaculíková

Medailon autora:

Dr. Soňa Vávrová obtained her PhD in Social Work from the University of Ostrava where she also completed habilitation in social work. At present, she is a researcher at the Research Center of the Faculty of Humanities, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, and at the Faculty of Social Studies, University of Ostrava. Her research deals with the role of social work and the position of social workers in social services, the quality of social services and the process of their transformation associated with deinstitutionalization.

Dr. Jitka Vaculíková studied Social Pedagogy at the Faculty of Humanities, Tomas Bata University in Zlín and obtained her PhD in Pedagogy from Masaryk University in Brno. She is the managing editor of the Sociální pedagogika / Social Education journal and a research fellow of Faculty Research Centre at Tomas Bata University in Zlín. Her research interest is within quantitative research strategies, computer-assisted learning, self-regulation and proactive coping.

Abstrakt:

OBJECTIVES: The authors focused on the attitudes of the Czech public towards the international adoption of minors from and into the Czech Republic. THEORETICAL BASE: 500 children aged from 1 to 9 were adopted internationally since 2000 according to the Czech Office for International Legal Protection of Children. METHODS: The research was based on a quantitative methodological approach using explorational methods of questioning. The representative research sample involved the Czech adult population (N = 1.050). Quota selection was realized according to sex, age, education, and place of residence. OUTCOMES: The results suggest that respondents largely do not support the international adoption of minors from the Czech Republic (M = 6.7, SD = 2.89) and into the Czech Republic (M = 6.2, SD = 2.84). A strong positive correlation was found between support of international adoption from and into the Czech Republic (rrho = .70, p < .001, r2 = 49%). The level of support for international adoption varied by region of the Czech Republic and type of household. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: Many indications imply the absence of greater awareness among the Czech public about the system of adoption, by which the presumption of the authors concerning so-called white space which should be covered.