martin lea

  • Research
    • Adoption Internet Project
    • Collaboration and groupwork
    • Computer-Mediated Communication
    • Computer-Mediated Communication Theory
    • Disaster Management
    • Disaster Resilience
    • Report Psychological and behavioural responses to disasters
    • Email communication
    • Gender and Power
    • Language in communication
    • Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects
    • Video communication
  • Publications
  • Training
    • Email Marketing Tips
    • How to Create a Personal Academic Website or Research Blog
    • Statistics Made Easy
      • Path Analysis Made Easy
    • Learning Jazz Saxophone
    • Adoption Social Media Info
  • Services
    • Business Website Reviews
    • Academic Web Design
    • Website Managed Hosting and Site Care
  • Books
  • Join
  • About

Adoption Internet Project

Research on how the Internet and social media are reshaping post adoption life.


Adoption Relationships Online

Adoption Relationships Online

The world of adoption is changing – for adopted children, adoptive parents, prospective adopters, birth families, foster carers, and adoption professionals – and the Internet has become a central tool for change.

For example, through social networking all parties in the adoption triad have increased opportunities for connection with their peers, and for affiliation and support that were otherwise difficult to find.

Issues for adoptive families primarily relate to the ways in which the Internet and in particular social media, such as Facebook, are facilitating search and reshaping contact between adoptive parents, adoptees, and birth families.

The problems as well as the opportunities that social media can bring have become familiar to adoption professionals through personal experiences and shared anecdotal accounts.

To date however, there has been little systematic research into how adoptive family lives are being reshaped by the Internet. For example, how do adoptive and birth families use online communication to manage their contact? How does emotional distance regulation work online? What factors create problems for the parties, and which circumstances lead to breakdown of online contact?

For 2016 I’m starting some new research to look into these issues.

I’m thinking of three phases for the project.
1. To begin with, I’m aiming to review our existing knowledge about how the Internet, social networking, and mobile technologies are reshaping post-adoption life for adoptive families; to gather current information and advice from around the web; and to nurture ideas for empirical research.

2. Second,  I want to integrate some perspectives from Internet psychology that may help us to understand how the interaction between psychological processes, social activities and communication technologies shapes online communication for adoptive families. At this stage I’m thinking in terms of processes such as acquaintanceship, attraction, identity, trust, privacy, emotion communication and relationship development and dissolution.

3. In the third stage I plan to gather stories, accounts and survey data that will help us further understand how the Internet and digital technologies are integrated into the lives of adoptive families, so that we can learn from each other and develop better strategies to navigate adoption relationships online.

Newsletter

In regular emails I’ll give you:

  • my ideas and articles about the research issues
  • brief notes and links to published research
  • video recordings of presentations by researchers
  • audio recordings of interviews with researchers and professionals
  • information about relevant books concerning the Internet and adoption
  • summaries and links to tips for adoptive families by adoption professionals
  • and anything else that seems useful.

If you’re interested in following the research and learning more about the issues with me, please sign up to join my email list for the Adoption Internet Project.

If you find this article useful, please share so others can read it.

E-mailTwitterFacebookWhatsApp

Connect with me

Contact me
Join my readers
Google Scholar
ResearchGate
Academia

Web Design Services

Personal Academic Websites
Research Blogs
Author Platforms
Managed Hosting
Site Care Packages
Website reviews & redesign

Search for a topic

Martin Lea Research & Design (MLRD)
PO Box 4336/2085, Manchester M61 0BW UK
Acknowledgements · Copyright · Privacy
Copyright © 2021 Martin Lea · Website design and hosting by Martin Lea Web Design

Download My Disaster Resources

Enter Your email to access and download

  • Full-text articles and Full length reports (PDF)
  • Reference lists and Endnote Bibliographies
  • Survey items and Questionnaires
  • Checklists and Recommendations

Get notified about new resources when I add them

Invalid email address
No spam. Only research. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thank you. I've just sent you an email. Please check your inbox for further instructions.