ALVES, J. R.; HUEB, M. F. D. Famílias por adoção na visão das crianças e de seus pais [Families by adoption in the view of children and their parents]. Tempo psicanal. [online]. 2020, vol.52, n.1, pp. 299-327. ISSN 0101-4838.
This collective case of study aimed to investigate the family representation of children who experienced the adoption process from the child’s own perspective as well as to evaluate their emotional development, and also to understand the parents’ view about the adoption. Two families with two daughters each, totaling four children aged from five to twelve incomplete years old, and their respective parents participated in the study. In order to collect data with the children, three different procedures were carried out: a Play Session, the Drawing-of-Family-and-Story Procedure and a session of more investigation/intervention on the drawings, besides a semi-structured interview with the parental couple. The data obtained were analyzed and interpreted according to the method of free inspection of the material from the comprehensive process based on the Winnicottian psychoanalytical framework. The results showed that the feeling of belonging to the family is built along the coexistence of the child, going through different phases. It was also found that some of the difficulties identified with the children were related to the universe of adoption and not to the way the couple who led the family constituted themselves, and regardless of the family configuration, the family representation was linked to the way the children experienced the family and the role of each member in the family. The study points to the importance of the children finding in the family by adoption a safe and welcoming environment that will survive their attacks and provide a space where their life story is respected.