Transformations in daily life of families who adopt older children: the point of view of fathers and mothers

Abstract

In Brazil, a large part of adopted children and adolescents were sheltered after a protective court order. In the adoption process, after the steps of gradual contact, children and parents start to live together permanently, when they experience the process of building a new daily life, in which activities and interactions already known undergo transformations. The study aimed to understand the deinstitutionalization process by adoption from the point of view of fathers and mothers who adopted children over two years. It was support by references that constitute the understanding of everyday life in the scope of occupational therapy, from a perspective that denaturalizes it, putting into view its complexity in the constellation of human interactions. It took place through the collection and analysis of interviews with adopting fathers and mothers. The results composed thematic axes gathering the perspectives of the parents, indicating that: a) their projections about future daily life were relevant in defining the profile of the children to be adopted; b) children's daily experiences in SAI were not properly presented to them prior to the phase of definitive coexistence; c) the process of building parenthood was essentially linked to the constitution of a common daily life, in family. It is essential to pay attention to the centrality of everyday life to build bonds and a stable socio-relational environments It is essential to pay attention to the centrality of everyday life to build bonds and stable socio-relational environments that are conducive to the development of children and adolescents.