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EXTRACTS of Infancia y adopción , number 2, july-december 1997
 

Physical punishment of children

"To beat people is not good. Children are also people." With this sentence, the EPOCH organization sets its theoretical basis for its rebuttal of to the use of physical punishment, that is to say, violence on children.
In the present report, EPOCH gives evidence of the fact that in all languages there is a specific vocabulary from which we can differentiate between physical punishment to children and violence ("a big slap", "six of the best", "a wallop just in time") which reflect, at the same time, a unanimous social approval in relation to the use of such practices against children. Despite the fact that society in general condemns physical punishment in adults -the employment of violence to solve conflicts- the condemnation is much less important when we refer to children who, too frequently, undergo physical punishment with the aim of hurting or annoying them: beating with the hand or other objects, shaking up, pushing, scratching, pinching, tearing the hair, locking in or tiding them up. In most societies, children are the only group of people who are not protected against such physical aggression. From all this it can be inferred that, in general, children are considered "less" people than adults, that is to say, as having fewer rights.
 

The ECAI and ethics in international adoption

The Entidades Colaboradoras de Adopción Internacional, ECAI (Collaborating Organizations for International Adoption), were set up in our country by a delegation of public bodies which have competence in the matter of adoption in order to cover those services of management, training, procedure, support and service that the Administration itself cannot assume. With its creation and following what has been established by international law, it is intended to finish with those private mediations that rendered it impossible to control the legality of the adop- tions made beyond our own borders. But lately, the legality and the ethics that sustain it, is clashing with everyday action of the people, bodies and institutions, ultimately endangering the respect of children's rights from all over the world in relation to adoption (...).
In this sense, we witness a massive accreditation of Collaborating Organizations in some of our Autonomous Communities without any previous selection among Organizations to only accredit those whose path, experience and professionalism would guarantee the seriousness and sensitiveness required by this kind of work.
Finally, another subject that fills all the points of view with doubts at an ethical level concerning the adoption of children between various countries is what already constitutes a common practice among a large number of private agencies for adoption from all over Europe besides being an accepted practice in many countries of origin: we are referring to financing by the very same "adoption agencies" of those Homes that "furnish" the children liable for adoption (...). In our country, while some ECAI express in their ideology that their contribution helps those institutions of the country of origin that have in their charge children who are not liable for adoption, others foresee, with absolute clarity, their intention to help economically the Homes "with whom they work"... In this context, the respect of some principles considered by the The Hague Agreement for international adoption becomes very difficult, such as those which force the authorities of the country to appeal to international adoption only after having found that there is no possibility of placing the child in his state of origin and therefore lead the states to treating children like a merchandise. The dignity and the rights of children and of the countries needs special care for all concerned in this field.
 

Adoption "with guarantees" or "free" adoption

The guarantees that at a legislative level are appearing here and there in this process of adjusting to the The Hague Agreement which started to be applied in our country just two years ago are however being weakened a clash caused by some logo holes and contradictions, also legislative, endangers the principle itself of inspiring and guaranteeing; according to this principle, that the adoption procedure has to be made from central body to central body (directly or through the corresponding Accredited Organization by the public authority) without the intervention of non-authorized mediators. This is a direct allusion to what has been recently legislated by the Reglamento de Protección de Menores y de la Adopción (Regulations for the Protection of Minors and of Adoption, approved by the Generalitat de Catalunya on January 7 and partially modified in May 27, 1997. In my opinion, it implies nothing more than a dubious legal introduction of the so-called "free adoption" in its most controversial aspect, the one that affects the control of it and the real support to the families that choose this method.
(...) Indeed, exceptional situations should be foreseen by the law as far as possible. Nevertheless, it is a pity that since the The Hague Agreement, not enough special emphasis has been put on exceptionality, dealing with necessary severity, those cases in which what has been previously legislated is not fulfilled; that is to say, the intervention of the competent public authorities in the adoption process. Just simply taking into consideration this possibility which, what is more, contradicts what has been previously legislated by the very same Agreement, there might be a risk of opening a second method which some not extremely scrupulous citizens might take advantage of. These citizens may rely also on obtaining a posteriori -avoiding all the controls foreseen by the Administration- the patria potestas of the child that is already living with them. The legislations and the legislative practice derived from this article and which is being introduced by some governments constitute an additional risk. Not in vain, the European Parliament has already published a Resolution (A4-0392/96) concerning the adoption of minor's in which it is established that "the contractual character of adoption established by some national ordinances that do not foresee a jurisdictional control other than in the phase of homologation, may create some ethical and judicial problems that go beyond the relationship between the biological parents and the adopting parents".
 

Andalusian adopting families (1988-1993)

From what can be implied in this study promoted by the Junta de Andalucia (Andalusian Autonomous Government), the adoptions carried out between 1988-1993, as a whole, are going very well although there might be some adopting families that have to face more problems than others. One of the conclusions reached by the researchers is that adopted children present a similar psychological development compared to their present classmates. These children have a greater advantage over the other children with whom they would have related that they remained with their families of origin and, even more, over children living in institutions who, generally speaking, seem to have more difficulties.
 

Who may become an adopting parent?

The obtention of a suitability certificate to have access to adopting fatherhood/motherhood is in our legislation, as well as in international legislation, an essential requirement. In this way, it aims to guarantee to the homeless young the attention and the care of a true family, trying to prevent people with very conflictive psychological or emotional situations from taking the responsibility of a child due to the harm such a relationship could cause him/her. The zeal of the Administration, when it aims at defending the rights of the children is easy to justify. Nevertheless, still some voices, among the candidates to become adopting parents rise to ask who selects the person responsible for the selection, what professional experience is required of her/him, under what criteria a person is considered suitable or non suitable for adoption and in reality how wide is the gap between professional zeal in favour of the minor and the unfair obstruction of a possible adoption.