The Effects of the Microsystem on Adolescent Adjustment After Adoption

The process of adoption has changed dramatically over the last three decades. 1850 marked the year when the United Stated introduced laws and regulations to adoption. Starting in the late 1970’s, couples began to prefer open adoptions, which meant that the whereabouts of the child were not kept secret from the biological parent. By the time the late 1990’s came, the majority of adoption agencies deemed open adoption necessary. After the turn of the century, open adoptions have continued to evolve into increasingly positive relationships between adopted children, adoptive parents, and biological parents. Though many types of adoption still exist, for the purpose of this paper, we will focus on how open adoption and interactions at the microsystems level effect adolescent adjustments by examining three television sitcoms ranging from the 1980’s to 2014.
In the ecological systems theory, Brofenbrenner postulated that in order to completely understand development, the entire ecological system must be taken into account. Each level of the system offers a diverse range of options and sources for growth. The microsystem level - which is what we will be focusing on – contains structures with which the child has direct contact. It embodies the relationships and interactions the child has with their immediate surrounding such as family, school, neighbors, and childcare environments. Relationships that are bi-directional tend to have the strongest influence, meaning the interactions have impact in two directions, both toward the individual and away. The microsystem provides the initial set of interrelations a child has and provides the basis for developing trust with their significant people. For this reason, adopting at the earliest age po...

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... the fact that they are gay and Lily is their adopted daughter, therefore using conversation over conformity as a tactic to deal with adoption questions. They avoided family communication patterns such as protective and laissez-faire types that would put Lily at risk of having adjustment problems.
From examining the three separate families from Diff’rent Strokes, Sex and The City, and Modern Family, we can assume that the microsystem – specifically family – plays a central role in adolescent adjustment and furthers our understanding of adopted adolescent adjustment. It is key that the adoptive parents are open to communicating with the child about their adoption and are sensitive to the stress the child might face when experiencing an ecological transition. Maintaining an open, honest, and nurturing environment is essential to avoiding serious adjustment problems.