The Attitudes of Socio-judicial Workers Towards the Adoption of a Child by LGBTQ+ People
The rights of LGBTQ people have advanced considerably in recent decades as evidenced by their increasing inclusion in social, legal and political discourse. Canada and Quebec are well known for having pioneered legislative advances that have brought greater legal equality to LGBTQ communities. In Quebec, families whose parents belong to the LGBTQ communities have particularly benefited from these legislative advances, as they have had the same rights and responsibilities as heteroparental families since 2002. The fact that it is possible to consider forming a parental project in which both members of the couple are legally recognized as parents has resulted in a significant increase in homoparental families, whether in Quebec, Canada or elsewhere in the world where such legislation exists. Among the ways of accessing parenthood, local adoption is one of the ways in which a significant number of LGBTQ individuals and couples turn to. Despite the progress of rights, certain manifestations of heterosexism, cissexism or heteronormativity can color the professional practices of those in charge of evaluating adoption candidates, which can discourage these couples from considering this mode of family entry.
Conducted in collaboration with the LGBT+ Family Coalition, the Adoption project aims to describe, understand and compare the attitudes and representations of various groups of professionals (from the fields of social work, psychology and law) regarding the adoption of a child by a person or couple from the LGBTQ communities. We wish to identify the best predictors of a favorable attitude towards adoption by a person or couple from the LGBTQ community. The results of this research will allow us to better target the training needs of social and legal professionals who work with LGBTQ families.
** In French Only **