Social Support and Adoptive Families of Children with Special Needs

Family social support networks have been widely acknowledged for the last ten years by researchers and practitioners as important for understanding family life. This article conceptualizes definitions for social support, reviews the functions of social support, and analyzes the structure and function of social support networks in adoptive families who parent children with special needs. Results indicate that the parents with difficult adoptions (children with behavioral/emotional problems or physical disabilities) perceive that they do not have enough help, despite post-adoptive services. Implications for practice and service delivery for adoptive families are highlighted