The market in children: Analysing the language of adoption in Australia

Journal article

Quartly, Marian and Swain, Shurlee. (2012). The market in children: Analysing the language of adoption in Australia. History Australia. 9(2), pp. 69 - 89.

Authors	Quartly, Marian and Swain, Shurlee
Abstract	Advocates of adoption in Australia have consistently argued that regulation ensures the practice remains a service for rather than a market in children. This article contests such a view, arguing that its claims to benevolence disguise the assumption that has driven most adoption reforms: that prospective adoptive parents have a right to a child. Left unquestioned, this assumption elides the differences that should be maintained between the interests of adopting parents and the children they adopt. It also erases the interests of the birth parents, creating tensions that are still evident in the practice of both in-country and inter-country adoption.
Year	2012
Journal	History Australia
Journal citation	9 (2), pp. 69 - 89
Publisher	Taylor & Francis Australasia
ISSN	1449-0854
Page range	69 - 89
Research Group	School of Arts
Publisher's version	File Access Level Controlled
Place of publication	Australia

Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/850q1/the-market-in-children-analysing-the-language-of-adoption-in-australia

Restricted files

Publisher's version

(1 files)

90
total views
0
total downloads
1
views this month
0
downloads this month

These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Adults claiming child rights : Activism, temporality and abuse in childhood

Wright, Katie, Arvidsson, Malin, Sköld, Johanna, Swain, Shurlee and Braithwaite, Sari. (2023). Adults claiming child rights : Activism, temporality and abuse in childhood. In In Wright, Katie and McLeod, Julie (Ed.). Childhood, Youth and Activism: Demands for Rights and Justice from Young People and Their Advocates pp. 37 - 54 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-46612023003

The politics of twentieth-centruy adoption : An International Comparative Approach

Swain, Shurlee. (2021). The politics of twentieth-centruy adoption : An International Comparative Approach. Annales de Démographie Historique. 142(2), pp. 147-164. https://doi.org/10.3917/adh.142.0147

Women in the city : Identifying the gynocentric zone in Melbourne and Sydney, 1880s to 1920s

Swain, Shurlee. (2021). Women in the city : Identifying the gynocentric zone in Melbourne and Sydney, 1880s to 1920s. Australian Historical Studies. 53(2), pp. 178-195. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2021.1901947

Imagined, intended, forsaken : The status of the mother in a century of Australian adoption advertisements

Swain, Shurlee. (2019). Imagined, intended, forsaken : The status of the mother in a century of Australian adoption advertisements. In In Pascoe Leahy, Carla and Bueskens, Petra (Ed.). Australian mothering : Historical and sociological perspectives pp. 111-126 Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20267-5_5

Gender-based violence in out-of-home care

Swain, Shurlee. (2019). Gender-based violence in out-of-home care. In In Piper, Alana and Stevenson, Ana (Ed.). Gender violence in Australia : Historical perspectives pp. 131-144 Monash University Publishing.

Speaking the unspeakable, naming the unnameable: The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Wright, Katie and Swain, Shurlee. (2018). Speaking the unspeakable, naming the unnameable: The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Journal of Australian Studies. 42(2), pp. 139 - 152. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2018.1467725

What price a child? Commodification and Australian adoption practice 1850–1950

Swain, Shurlee. (2018). What price a child? Commodification and Australian adoption practice 1850–1950. The History of the Family. 23(1), pp. 1 - 19. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2016.1186558

Institutional abuse : A long history

Swain, Shurlee. (2018). Institutional abuse : A long history. Journal of Australian Studies. 42(2), pp. 153-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2018.1455064

Conceptualising and categorising child abuse inquiries : From damage control to foregrounding survivor testimony

Swain, Shurlee, Wright, Katie and Sköld, Johanna. (2018). Conceptualising and categorising child abuse inquiries : From damage control to foregrounding survivor testimony. Journal of Historical Sociology. 31(3), pp. 282-296. https://doi.org/10.1111/johs.12176

Both victim and ‘perpetrator’: finding a voice before inquiries into historical abuse in out-of-home care

Swain, Shurlee. (2018). Both victim and ‘perpetrator’: finding a voice before inquiries into historical abuse in out-of-home care. International Journal of Transitional Justice. 12(3), pp. 464 - 478. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijy015

A long history of faith-based welfare in Australia : Origins and impact

Swain, Shurlee. (2017). A long history of faith-based welfare in Australia : Origins and impact. Journal of Religious History. 41(1), pp. 81-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9809.12342

Reflections on the state of the profession: A review of the Norma Parker Addresses 1969-2008

Swain, Shurlee. (2017). Reflections on the state of the profession: A review of the Norma Parker Addresses 1969-2008. Australian Social Work. 70(S1), pp. 17 - 28. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2014.973552

The interplay between infertility and adoption in policy and practice in Twentieth-Century Australia

Swain, Shurlee. (2017). The interplay between infertility and adoption in policy and practice in Twentieth-Century Australia. In In G. Davis and T. Loughran (Ed.). The Palgrave handbook of infertility in history pp. 415 - 430 Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52080-7

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Wright, Katie, Swain, Shurlee and McPhillips, Kathleen. (2017). The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect. 74, pp. 1 - 9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.09.031

Narratives of innocence and seduction: Historical understandings of child sexual responses

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2016). Narratives of innocence and seduction: Historical understandings of child sexual responses. In In Y. Smaal, A. Kaladelfos and M. Finnane (Ed.). The sexual abuse of children: Recognition and redress pp. 35 - 41 Monash University Publishing.

Introduction

Faulkner, Joanne, Zolkos, Magdalena, Meyering, Isobelle Barrett, Drumm, Elizabeth, Egan, Danielle, Hawkes, Gail, Swain, Shurlee, Soper, Emily and Valentine, Kylie. (2016). Introduction. In In Faulkner, Joanne and Zolkos, Magdalena (Ed.). Critical childhood studies and the practice of interdisciplinarity : Disciplining the child pp. ix-xvii Lexington Books.

Locating the child within the history of childhood

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2016). Locating the child within the history of childhood. In In J. Faulkner and M. Zolkos (Ed.). Critical childhood studies and the practice of interdisciplinarity: Disciplining the child pp. 3 - 14 Lexington Books.

Enshrined in Law : Legislative justifications for the removal of indigenous and non-indigenous children in colonial and post-colonial Australia

Swain, Shurlee. (2016). Enshrined in Law : Legislative justifications for the removal of indigenous and non-indigenous children in colonial and post-colonial Australia. Australian Historical Studies. 47(2), pp. 191-208. https://doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2016.1153119

A motherly concern for children: Invocations of Queen Victoria in Imperial child rescue literature

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2016). A motherly concern for children: Invocations of Queen Victoria in Imperial child rescue literature. In In S. Robinson and S. Sleight (Ed.). Children, childhood and youth in the British World pp. 27 - 40 Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-48941-8_2

Beyond child migration : Inquiries, apologies and the implications for the writing of a transnational child welfare history

Swain, Shurlee. (2016). Beyond child migration : Inquiries, apologies and the implications for the writing of a transnational child welfare history. History Australia. 13(1), pp. 139-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2016.1156212

Transitional justice workers and vicarious trauma

Swain, Shurlee. (2015). Transitional justice workers and vicarious trauma. In In J. Skold and S. Swain (Ed.). Apologies and the legacy of abuse of children in 'care': International perspectives pp. 181 - 190 Palgrave Macmillan.

Giving voice to narratives of institutional sex abuse

Swain, Shurlee. (2015). Giving voice to narratives of institutional sex abuse. Australian Feminist Law Journal. 41(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/13200968.2015.1077554

Why sexual abuse? Why now?

Swain, Shurlee. (2015). Why sexual abuse? Why now? In In J. Skold and S. Swain (Ed.). Apologies and the legacy of abuse of children in 'care': International perspectives pp. 83 - 94 Palgrave Macmillan.

Institutionalized childhood : The orphanage remembered

Swain, Shurlee. (2015). Institutionalized childhood : The orphanage remembered. Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. 8(1), pp. 17 - 33. https://doi.org/10.1353/hcy.2015.0013

Apologies and the legacy of abuse of children in 'care'

Skold, Johanna and Swain, Shurlee. (2015). Apologies and the legacy of abuse of children in 'care' Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137457554

Florence and Rosamund Davenport Hill and the Development of Boarding Out in England and Australia : A study in cultural transmission

Swain, Shurlee. (2014). Florence and Rosamund Davenport Hill and the Development of Boarding Out in England and Australia : A study in cultural transmission. Women's History Review. 23(5), pp. 744 - 759. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2014.906833

Contained and confined: Female incarceration in nineteenth-century Australia

Swain, Shurlee and Musgrove, Nell. (2014). Contained and confined: Female incarceration in nineteenth-century Australia. In In P. Ashton and J. Z. Wilson (Ed.). pp. 3 - 15 Australian Scholarly Publishing.

Stakeholders as subjects: The role of historians in the develoment of Australia's Find and Connect web resource

Swain, Shurlee. (2014). Stakeholders as subjects: The role of historians in the develoment of Australia's Find and Connect web resource. The Public Historian. 36(4), pp. 38 - 50. https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2014.36.4.38

History of Australian inquiries reviewing institutions providing care for children

Swain, Shurlee. (2014). History of Australian inquiries reviewing institutions providing care for children

History of child protection legislation

Swain, Shurlee. (2014). History of child protection legislation Australia: Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

Homes are sought for these children': locating adoption within the Australian Stolen Generations narrative

Swain, Shurlee. (2013). Homes are sought for these children': locating adoption within the Australian Stolen Generations narrative. American Indian Quarterly. 37(1-2), pp. 203 - 217. https://doi.org/10.1353/aiq.2013.0004

Market forces: Defining the adoptable child, 1860-1940

Swain, Shurlee. (2012). Market forces: Defining the adoptable child, 1860-1940. Social policy and society. 11(3), pp. 399 - 414. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746412000152

Born in hope: The early years of the Family Court of Australia

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2012). Born in hope: The early years of the Family Court of Australia UNSW Press.

Child rescue as mission in Britain, 1850-1915

Swain, Shurlee. (2011). Child rescue as mission in Britain, 1850-1915. In In C. Rochester, G. C. Gosling and A. Penn & M. Zimmeck (Ed.). Understanding the roots of voluntary action: Historical perspectives on current social policy pp. 109 - 120 Sussex Academic Press.

Fault, gender politics and family law reform

Swain, Shurlee L. and Thornton, Danielle. (2011). Fault, gender politics and family law reform. Australian Journal of Politics and History. 57(2), pp. 207 - 220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8497.2011.01592.x

Failing families: Echoes of nineteenth-century child rescue discourse in contemporary debates around child protection

Swain, Shurlee. (2011). Failing families: Echoes of nineteenth-century child rescue discourse in contemporary debates around child protection. In In M.-L. Kohlke and C. Gutleben (Ed.). Neo-Victorian families: Gender, sexual and cultural politics pp. 71 - 91 Rodopi.

Child, nation, race and empire: Child rescue discourse, England, Canada and Australia, 1850-1915

Swain, Shurlee and Hillel, Margot. (2010). Child, nation, race and empire: Child rescue discourse, England, Canada and Australia, 1850-1915 Manchester University Press.

Birth and death in a new land attitudes to infant death in colonial Australia

Swain, Shurlee. (2010). Birth and death in a new land attitudes to infant death in colonial Australia. The History of the Family. 15(1), pp. 25 - 33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hisfam.2009.09.003

Recognition of violence in the Australian family law system: A long journey

Rhoades, Helen, Frew, Charlotte and Swain, Shurlee L.. (2010). Recognition of violence in the Australian family law system: A long journey. Australian Journal of Family Law. 24(3), pp. 296 - 312.

The 'best interests of the child' historical perspectives

Musgrove, Nell and Swain, Shurlee. (2010). The 'best interests of the child' historical perspectives. Children Australia. 35(2), pp. 35 - 37. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1035077200001048

"being thankful for their birth in a Christian land": Interrogating intersections between whiteness and child rescue

Swain, Shurlee, Hillel, Margot and Sweeney, Belinda. (2009). "being thankful for their birth in a Christian land": Interrogating intersections between whiteness and child rescue. In In L. Boucher, J. Carey and K. Ellinghaus (Ed.). Re-Orienting Whiteness pp. 83 - 98 Palgrave Macmillan.

Sweet childhood lost: Idealized images of childhood in the british child rescue literature

Swain, Shurlee. (2009). Sweet childhood lost: Idealized images of childhood in the british child rescue literature. Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. 2(2), pp. 198 - 214.

Whiteness, maternal feminism and the working mother, 1900-1960

Swain, Shurlee Lesley, Warne, Ellen Mary and Grimshaw, Patricia. (2009). Whiteness, maternal feminism and the working mother, 1900-1960. In In J. Carey and C. McLisky (Ed.). Creating White Australia pp. 214 - 229 Sydney University Press.

Brighter Britain': Images of empire in the international child rescue movement, 1850-1915

Swain, Shurlee. (2008). Brighter Britain': Images of empire in the international child rescue movement, 1850-1915. In In H.M. Carey and Hilary M. (Ed.). Empires of Religion

The value of the vignette in the writing of welfare history

Swain, Shurlee. (2008). The value of the vignette in the writing of welfare history. Australian Historical Studies. 39(2), pp. 199 - 212. https://doi.org/10.1080/10314610802033171

'The supervision of ... Babies in women's work, and cannot be rightly done by men' Victorian women's organisations and female child welfare inspectors 1890-1915

Swain, Shurlee. (2008). 'The supervision of ... Babies in women's work, and cannot be rightly done by men' Victorian women's organisations and female child welfare inspectors 1890-1915. Victorian Historical Journal. 79(2), pp. 314 - 327.

The Australian labour movement and working mothers in the United Nation's Decade for Women, 1975-1985

Grimshaw, Patricia, Musgrove, Nell and Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2007). The Australian labour movement and working mothers in the United Nation's Decade for Women, 1975-1985. In J. Kimber and P. Love (Ed.). The Time of Their Lives. Melbourne, Australia: Southwood Press. pp. 137 - 152

'Nettles and thistles turned into roses for life' :constructions of childhood in the international child rescue literature

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2007). 'Nettles and thistles turned into roses for life' :constructions of childhood in the international child rescue literature. In Rosie Findlay and Sebastien Salbayre (Ed.). Stories for Children, Histories of Childhood. Tours,France: Presses universitaires Francois Rabelais. pp. 213 - 227

Writing the history of women and welfare

Swain, Shurlee. (2007). Writing the history of women and welfare. Australian Feminist Studies. 22(52), pp. 43 - 47. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164640601145046

Negotiating poverty: Women and charity in nineteenth-century Melbourne

Swain, Shurlee. (2007). Negotiating poverty: Women and charity in nineteenth-century Melbourne. Women's History Review. 16(1), pp. 99 - 112. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612020601049744

Traces in the archives

Swain, Shurlee. (2007). Traces in the archives. Children Australia. 32(1), pp. 24 - 31.

Judicial and couple approaches to contributions and property: The dominace and diffucilties of a reciprocity model

Lewers, N., Rhodes, H. and Swain, Shurlee. (2007). Judicial and couple approaches to contributions and property: The dominace and diffucilties of a reciprocity model. Australian Journal of Family Law. 21(2), pp. 123 - 142.

Finding fault in marital property law: A little bit of history repeating?

Alves-Perini, Nell, Harrison, Margaret, Rhoades, Helen and Swain, Shurlee. (2006). Finding fault in marital property law: A little bit of history repeating? Federal Law Review. 34(3), pp. 377 - 398.

Centre and periphery in British child rescue discourse

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2006). Centre and periphery in British child rescue discourse. In In J. Edmonds and S. Furphy (Ed.). Centre and Periphery in British Child Rescue Discourse pp. 157 - 165 RMIT Press.

Changing attitudes to property distribution and family law since the passage of the Australian family law act, 1975

Swain, Shurlee. (2006). Changing attitudes to property distribution and family law since the passage of the Australian family law act, 1975. Law and History.

Infanticide; savagery and civilization: The Australian experience

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2006). Infanticide; savagery and civilization: The Australian experience. In In B. Bechtold and D. Graves (Ed.). Killing Infants pp. 85 - 105 Edwin Mellen Press.

Whose problem? Experts and the working mother in 1960s Melbourne

Swain, Shurlee Lesley, Grimshaw, Patricia and Warne, Ellen Mary. (2005). Whose problem? Experts and the working mother in 1960s Melbourne. In In O' Hanlon and T. Luckins (Ed.). Go! Melbourne: Melbourne in the Sixties pp. 131 - 147 Circa.

Do you want religion with that?

Swain, Shurlee. (2005). Do you want religion with that? History Australia. 2(3), pp. 79.1 - 79.8.

Constructing the working mother: Australian perspectives; 1920-1970

Swain, Shurlee, Warne, Ellen and Grimshaw, Patricia. (2005). Constructing the working mother: Australian perspectives; 1920-1970. Hecate: an interdisciplinary journal of women's liberation. 31(2), pp. 21 - 33.

Toward a social geography of baby farming

Swain, Shurlee. (2005). Toward a social geography of baby farming. The History of the Family. 10(2), pp. 151 - 159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hisfam.2005.02.001

Maids and mothers: Domestic servants and illegitimacy in 19th-century Australia

Swain, Shurlee. (2005). Maids and mothers: Domestic servants and illegitimacy in 19th-century Australia. The History of the Family. 10(4), pp. 461 - 471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hisfam.2005.09.007

The historical invisibility of the working mother

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2005). The historical invisibility of the working mother. In In P. Grimshaw, J. Murphy and B. Probert (Ed.). Double Shift: Working mothers and social change in Australia pp. 86 - 102 Circa.

Reflections & refractions of empire child rescue discourses in the British world

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2004). Reflections & refractions of empire child rescue discourses in the British world. In In K. Darian-Smith, P. Grimshaw and K. Lindsey et al (Ed.). Exploring the British World pp. 1088 - 1101 RMIT Publishing.

Welfare

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2004). Welfare. In In P. Yle (Ed.). Carlton: A History pp. 146 - 155 Melbourne University Press.

In whose interest? Voluntarism & child care 1880 - 1980

Swain, Shurlee. (2004). In whose interest? Voluntarism & child care 1880 - 1980. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood. 29(4), pp. 24 - 32.

Ignorance is not innocence

Swain, Shurlee Lesley, Warne, Ellen Mary and Hillel, Margot Lesley. (2004). Ignorance is not innocence. In In G. Nelson and M. Martin (Ed.). Sexual Pedagogies: Sex Education in Britain, Australia and America pp. 33 - 52 Palgrave Publishing.

Numerous enough to swamp the votes of honest white': The indigenous franchise in Canada

Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2003). Numerous enough to swamp the votes of honest white': The indigenous franchise in Canada. In In J. Chesterman and D. Philips (Ed.). Selective Democracy: Race; Gender and the Australian Vote pp. 50 - 59 Circa.

Women in conversation: A wartime social survey in Melbourne; Australia; 1941-43

Swain, Shurlee, Warne, Ellen, Grimshaw, Patricia and Lack, John. (2003). Women in conversation: A wartime social survey in Melbourne; Australia; 1941-43. Women's History Review. 12(4), pp. 527 - 545. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612020300200372

Equal subjects; unequal rights: Indigenous peoples in British settler colonies; 1830s - 1910

Evans, Julie, Grimshaw, Patricia, Philips, David and Swain, Shurlee Lesley. (2003). Equal subjects; unequal rights: Indigenous peoples in British settler colonies; 1830s - 1910 Manchester University Press.

In these days of female evangelists and hallelujah lasses: Women preachers and the redefinition of gender roles in the churches

Swain, Shurlee. (2002). In these days of female evangelists and hallelujah lasses: Women preachers and the redefinition of gender roles in the churches. Journal of Religious History. 26(1), pp. 65 - 77.

Confronting cruelty: Historical perspectives on child abuse

Swain, Shurlee Lesley and Scott, Dorothy. (2002). Confronting cruelty: Historical perspectives on child abuse Melbourne University Press.

Derivative and indigenous in the history and historiography of child welfare in Australia: Part two

Swain, Shurlee. (2002). Derivative and indigenous in the history and historiography of child welfare in Australia: Part two. Children Australia. 27, pp. 5 - 9.

Even in this distant and obscure corner of the world; the british character does not degenerate': Philanthropy in the Australian colonies

Swain, Shurlee. (2002). Even in this distant and obscure corner of the world; the british character does not degenerate': Philanthropy in the Australian colonies. Voluntary Action. 5(1), pp. 107 - 117.

But the children... : Indigenous child removal policies compared

Swain, Shurlee. (2002). But the children... : Indigenous child removal policies compared. In In T. Banivanua Mar and J. Evans (Ed.). pp. 133 - 143 RMIT Publishing Informit Library.