Maternal men-perverts and deviants? Making sense of gay men as foster carers and adopters

Journal of GLBT Family Studies

Volumn 2, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 93-114

  Hicks, Stephen ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Adoption; Foster care; Gay men; Homosexuality; Parenting; Social work assessment

Indexed keywords

EID: 33645750546     PISSN: 1550428X     EISSN: 15504298     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1300/J461v02n01_05     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. Bailey, J. M., Bobrow, D., Wolfe, M., & Mikach, S. (1995). Sexual orientation of adult sons of gay fathers. Developmental Psychology, 31(1), 124-129.
2. Baron, C. (October 4, 2004). Scandal of the gay dads: How could couple be allowed to adopt three little children? The Daily Express, pp. 1-2.
3. Barret, R.L., & Robinson, B.E. (1990). Gay fathers. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
4. Barrett, H., & Tasker, F. (2001). Growing up with a gay parent: Views of 101 gay fathers on their sons' and daughters' experiences. Educational and Child Psychology, 18(1), 62-77.
5. Barrett, H., & Tasker, F. (2002). Gay fathers and their children: What we know and what we need to know. Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 3(1), 3-10.
6. Bersani, L. (1995). Homos. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
7. Bigner, J. J., & Bozett, F.W. (1990). Parenting by gay fathers. In F. W. Bozett & M. B. Sussman (Eds.), Homosexuality and family relations (pp. 155-175). New York: Harrington Park Press.
8. Bigner, J. J., & Jacobsen, R. B. (1989). Parenting behaviors of homosexual and heterosexual fathers. In F.W. Bozett (Ed.), Homosexuality and the family (pp. 173-186). New York: Harrington Park Press.
9. Bozett, F. W. (1981). Gay fathers: Evolution of the gay father identity. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 51(3), 552-559.
10. Bozett, F. W. (1985). Gay men as fathers. In S. M. H. Hanson & F. W. Bozett (Eds.), Dimensions of fatherhood (pp. 327-352). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
11. Bozett, F. W. (1987a). Children of gay fathers. In F. W. Bozett (Ed.), Gay and lesbian parents (pp. 39-57). New York: Praeger.
12. Bozett, F. W. (1987b). Gay fathers. In F. W. Bozett (Ed.), Gay and lesbian parents (pp. 3-22). New York: Praeger.
13. Bozett, F. W. (1989). Gay fathers: A review of the literature. In F. W. Bozett (Ed.), Homosexuality and the family (pp. 137-162). New York: Harrington Park Press.
14. Brodzinsky, D. M., Patterson, C. J., & Vaziri, M. (2002). Adoption agency perspectives on lesbian and gay prospective parents: A national study. Adoption Quarterly, 5(3), 5-23.
15. Brooks, D., & Goldberg, S. (2001). Gay and lesbian adoptive and foster care placements: Can they meet the needs of waiting children? Social Work, 46(2), 147-157.
16. Brown, H. C. (1991). Competent child-focused practice: Working with lesbian and gay carers. Adoption & Fostering, 15(2), 11-17.
17. Buss, D., & Herman, D. (2003). Globalizing family values: The Christian right in international politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
18. Butler, J. (2004). Undoing gender. New York: Routledge.
19. Cameron, P. (1993). Medical consequences of what homosexuals do. Washington, DC: Family Research Institute. Retrieved from http://www.qrd. org/qrd/religion/anti/cameron/medical.consequences.of.what.homosexuals. do.txt.
20. Cant, B. (2004). Facilitating social networks among gay men. Sociological Research Online, 9(4). Retrieved from http://www.socresonline.org.uk/9/4/cant.html.
21. Check, J. (2000). Postmodern and poststructural approaches to nursing research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
22. Christian Institute (2002). Adoption law-Sidelining stability & security. Newcastle-upon-Tyne; UK: Christian Institute. Retrieved from http://www.christian.org.uk/html-publications/adoption_briefing2.htm.
23. Demo, D. H., & Allen, K. R. (1996). Diversity within lesbian and gay families: Challenges and implications for family theory and research. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 13(3), 415-434.
24. Department of Health (2001). Adoption: National adoption standards for England. London: The Stationery Office. Retrieved from www.dh.gov.uk/ assetRoot/04/01/47/01/04014701.pdf.
25. Department of Health (2002). Fostering services: National minimum standards, fostering services regulations. London: The Stationery Office. Retrieved from www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/07/35/66/04073566.pdf.
26. Dunne, G.A. (1999). The different dimensions of gay fatherhood: Report to the Economic & Social Research Council. London: Gender Institute, London School of Economics.
27. Dunne, G.A. (2000). The different dimensions of gay fatherhood: Exploding the myths. London, UK: Gender Institute, London School of Economics. Retrieved from http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/ genderInstitute/pdf/gayfatherhood.pdf.
28. Dunne, G.A. (2001). The lady vanishes? Reflections on the experiences of married and divorced non-heterosexual fathers. Sociological Research Online, 6(3). Retrieved from http://www.socresonline.org.uk/6/3/ dunne.html.
29. Fenstermaker, S., West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (2002). Gender inequality: New conceptual terrain. In S. Fenstermaker, & C. West (Eds.), Doing gender, doing difference: Inequality, power, and institutional change (pp. 25-39). New York: Routledge.
30. Golombok, S. (2000). Parenting: What really counts? London: Routledge.
31. Golombok, S., & Fivush, R. (1994). Gender development. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
32. Halperin, D.M. (1995). Saint Foucault: Towards a gay hagiography. New York: Oxford University Press.
33. Hicks, S. (1993). The experiences of lesbians and gay men in fostering and adoption: A study of the impact of the process of assessment upon prospective carers. Unpublished MA thesis, Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, UK.
34. Hicks, S. (1998). Familiar fears: The assessment of lesbian and gay fostering and adoption applicants. Unpublished PhD thesis, Applied Social Science, Lancaster University, UK.
35. Hicks, S. (2000). "Good lesbian, bad lesbian...": Regulating heterosexuality in fostering and adoption assessments. Child & Family Social Work, 5(2), 157-168.
36. Hicks, S. (2003). The Christian right and homophobic discourse: A response to "evidence" that lesbian and gay parenting damages children. Sociological Research Online, 8(4). Retrieved from http://www.socresonline.org.uk/8/4/hicks.html.
37. Hicks, S. (2005a). Is gay parenting bad for kids? Responding to the "very idea of difference" in research on lesbian and gay parents. Sexualities, 8(2), 153-168. DOI: 10.1177/1363460705050852
38. Hicks, S. (2005b). Sexuality: Social work theories and practice. In R. Adams, L. Dominelli, & M. Payne (Eds.), Social work futures: Crossing boundaries, transforming practice (pp. 141-153). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.
39. Hicks, S. (in press a). Queer genealogies: Tales of conformity and rebellion amongst lesbian and gay foster carers and adopters. Qualitative Social Work.
40. Hicks, S. (in press b). Lesbian and gay foster care and adoption: A brief UK history. Adoption & Fostering.
41. Hicks, S., & McDermott, J. (Eds.) (1999). Lesbian and gay fostering and adoption: Extraordinary yet ordinary. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
42. Holloway, J. (2002). Homosexual parenting: Does it make a difference? A re-evaluation of the research with adoption and fostering in mind. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK: Christian Institute. Retrieved from http://www. christian.org.uk/html-publications/homosexualparenting.htm.
43. Jackson, S., & Scott, S. (Eds.) (2002). Gender: A sociological reader. London: Routledge.
44. Kaeser, G. (photographs), & Gillespie, P. (Ed.) (1999). Love makes a family: Portraits of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents and their families. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
45. Kessler, S. J., & McKenna, W. (1978). Gender: An ethnomethodological approach. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
46. Mallon, G. P. (2000). Gay men and lesbians as adoptive parents. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 11(4), 1-22.
47. Mallon, G. P. (2004). Gay men choosing parenthood. New York: Columbia University Press.
48. Miller, D. A. (1992). Bringing out Roland Barthes. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
49. Mills, S. (1997). Discourse. London, UK: Routledge.
50. Morgan, P. (2002). Children as trophies? Examining the evidence on same-sex parenting. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK: Christian Institute.
51. O'Brien, C. A. (1999). Contested territory: Sexualities and social work. In A.S. Chambon, A. Irving, & L. Epstein (Eds.), Reading foucault for social work (pp. 131-155). New York: Columbia University Press.
52. Phillips, M. (1999). The sex-change society: Feminised Britain and the neutered male. London, UK: The Social Market Foundation.
53. Ricketts, W. (1991). Lesbians and gay men as foster parents. Portland, ME: National Child Welfare Resource Center for Management & Administration, University of Southern Maine.
54. Ricketts, W., & Achtenberg, R. (1990). Adoption and foster parenting for lesbians and gay men: Creating new traditions in family. In F. W. Bozett & M. B. Sussman (Eds.), Homosexuality and family relations (pp. 83-118). New York, NY: Harrington Park Press.
55. Riggs, D. (2004a). Resisting heterosexism in foster carer training: Valuing queer approaches to adult learning and relationality. Canadian Online Journal of Queer Studies in Education, 1(1). Retrieved from http://jqstudies.oise.utoronto.ca/journal/ viewarticle.php?id=3&layout=html.
56. Riggs, D.W. (2004b). The psychologisation of foster care: Implications for lesbian and gay parenting. PsyPag Quarterly, 51, 34-43.
57. Romaine, M. (for British Association for Adoption & Fostering) (2003). Assessing lesbian and gay foster carers and adopters. London: BAAF.
58. Ryan, S. D. (2000). Examining social workers' placement recommendations of children with gay and lesbian adoptive parents. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 81(5), 517-528.
59. Skeates, J., & Jabri, D. (Eds.) (1988). Fostering and adoption by lesbians and gay men. London: London Strategic Policy Unit.
60. Smith, D. E. (1990). Texts, facts, and femininity: Exploring the relations of ruling. London: Routledge.
61. Stacey, J. (1996). In the name of the family: Rethinking family values in the postmodern age. Boston: Beacon Press.
62. Stanley, L., & Wise, S. (1993). Breaking out again: Feminist ontology and epistemology. London: Routledge.
63. Strah, D., with Margolis, S. (2003). Gay dads: A celebration of fatherhood. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
64. Struening, K. (2002). New family values: Liberty, equality, diversity. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
65. Terry, J. (1995). Anxious slippages between "us" and "them": A brief history of the scientific search for homosexual bodies. In J. Terry, & J. Urla (Eds.), Deviant bodies: Critical perspectives on difference in science and popular culture (pp. 129-169). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
66. Thorne, B. (1993). Gender play: Girls and boys in school. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
67. Warner, M. (1993). Introduction. In M. Warner (Ed.), Fear of a queer planet: Queer politics and social theory (pp. vii-xxxi). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
68. Weeks, J., Heaphy, B., & Donovan, C. (2001). Same sex intimacies: Families of choice and other life experiments. London: Routledge.
69. West, C., & Zimmerman, D. (1987). Doing gender. Gender & Society, 1(2), 125-151.
70. Weston, K. (1991). Families we choose: Lesbians, gays, kinship. New York: Columbia University Press.
71. Whisman, V. (1996). Queer by choice: Lesbians, gay men, and the politics of identity. New York: Routledge.