The foster care triad : Structure and process

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Da circulação de crianças à adoção internacional: questões de pertencimento e posse From child circulation to international adoption: questions of ownership and belonging

Nesse artigo, examino uma prática local - a circulação de crianças em bairros populares de uma grande cidade brasileira - à luz do contexto mais amplo que inclui a adoção nacional e internacional. Inicio com a descrição etnográfica de redes de ajuda mútua e valores familiares de duas mulheres que, por causa de extrema miséria, confiaram seus filhos aos cuidados de outrem. Procuro entender como essas mulheres significam a "circulação" de suas crianças e, num segundo momento, pergunto se, no seu entendimento, as leis regendo a adoção legal seriam inteligíveis. Finalmente, teço uma curta reflexão sobre discursos encontrados entre europeus e norte-americanos que recorrem à adoção, questionando a aplicação diferencial desses discursos no âmbito internacional.<br>In this article, I examine a local practice - the circulation of children in working-class neighborhoods of a large Brazilian city - by situating it within a wider context which includes national and international adoption. I begin with the ethnographic description on mutual help networks and family-related values of two poverty-stricken women who have given their children to be raised by others. I then seek to understand the place child placement holds in the life experience of these women, and, by extension, the way laws governing legal adoption connect with their way of seeing the process. Finally, in the light of this ethnographic material on "child donors", I weave a short reflection on discourses held by Europeans and North Americans on adoption, questioning the particular way these discourses filter through to and operate on the international arena