{"title":"Who am I? The Politics of Lying, Not Knowing and Truth-Telling in the West German History of Child Adoption","authors":"B. Hitzer","doi":"10.1177/03631990221079782","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article traces the history of the West German debate about whether, how, and why adoptive parents should or should not tell their children the truth about their origins. Concepts of biological and social parenthood, family, parental love, and the maternal bond play a role in this context, as does the ensuing legal discussion on full and partial adoption, anonymous adoption, and finally the novel instrument of “open adoption” that was developed in the 1970s. The conclusion attempts to place these discussions within the context of a more comprehensive history of truth. In drawing attention to how the current trend towards unconditional truth-telling has been shaped by changing historical contexts, the paper reveals that the answers are context-bound, that it is advisable to carefully ponder what effects the overarching emphasis on a single form of truth (or secrecy) may have, and what dangers it may hold.","PeriodicalId":45991,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Family History","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Family History","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/03631990221079782","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article traces the history of the West German debate about whether, how, and why adoptive parents should or should not tell their children the truth about their origins. Concepts of biological and social parenthood, family, parental love, and the maternal bond play a role in this context, as does the ensuing legal discussion on full and partial adoption, anonymous adoption, and finally the novel instrument of “open adoption” that was developed in the 1970s. The conclusion attempts to place these discussions within the context of a more comprehensive history of truth. In drawing attention to how the current trend towards unconditional truth-telling has been shaped by changing historical contexts, the paper reveals that the answers are context-bound, that it is advisable to carefully ponder what effects the overarching emphasis on a single form of truth (or secrecy) may have, and what dangers it may hold.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Family History is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes scholarly research from an international perspective concerning the family as a historical social form, with contributions from the disciplines of history, gender studies, economics, law, political science, policy studies, demography, anthropology, sociology, liberal arts, and the humanities. Themes including gender, sexuality, race, class, and culture are welcome. Its contents, which will be composed of both monographic and interpretative work (including full-length review essays and thematic fora), will reflect the international scope of research on the history of the family.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
