Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:142-145
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
The treatment of adopted versus neglected delinquent children in the court: a problem of reciprocal attachment?
DO Lewis, D Balla, M Lewis and R Gore
The authors investigated the discrepant treatment by a juvenile court of
adopted versus neglected delinquents. Adopted delinquents received harsher
dispositions in spite of the fact that neglected delinquents often faced
more serious charges. The two groups are compared in terms of family
structure and the criminal and psychiartic histories of their parents; none
of these seems to account for the adoptees' harsher treatment. The authors
hypothesize that an interplay of late adoption intrinsic vulnerabilities in
the children, and weakness of parental bonds accounts for the differential
outcomes.
