Abstract
There seems to be a particularly significant burden on Muslim families who want to adopt in the United Kingdom (Ali 2013; Meer and Modood 2009; Frazer and Selywn 2005). Muslim families are less likely than other religious groups to adopt, and there are a number of reasons why these individuals might struggle more to become adoptive parents than others. There are no de facto rules against Muslim families adopting children, but the reality is that Muslim families adopt much less frequently than other groups. They also struggle with ensuring sponsorship to the United Kingdom and other legal standards—these individuals tend to fall victim to the more human side of the government, and they often face discrimination when they attempt to use services. This discrimination is difficult because it is systemic and often invisible. To address the problems that are inherent in the system, it is important to develop new targets and quotas within the government and governmental positions.
In the years following the United States of America’s attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan and the increasing instability in the Middle East, there have been numerous changes in the ways that the citizens of the United Kingdom deal with the Muslim individuals living in the United Kingdom, whether they are immigrants or U.K-born. Unfortunately, the United Kingdom is not free from the dangers or the problems associated with racism, and there are still structures in the United Kingdom that are biased against individuals who practice the Islamic faith.
Before discussing the intricacies of sponsorship and adoption in the United Kingdom, it is very important to understand the different types of discrimination that will be discussed. The first important type of discrimination is de facto discrimination. When an individual experiences de facto discrimination, there is no legal reason for this discrimination. If a customer is ignored because of his or her skin color, for instance, this is de facto discrimination. There is no legal standard that requires the shop owner to discriminate, but discrimination has occurred (Malik 2015).
The second important type of discrimination is de jure discrimination. This type of discrimination occurs when there is a legal barrier for someone to do something; when women could not vote, for instance, this barrier was a type of de jure discrimination. The distinction is very important, because the solutions to problems of discrimination vary based on the type of discrimination that the individual is experiencing (Malik 2015). While neither necessarily has an easy solution, there are solutions that can be implemented to alleviate both types in the long run (Meer and Modood 2009; Leinaweaver 2014; Frazer and Selywn 2005; Ali 2013).
In the United Kingdom, there are thousands of children who are waiting to be adopted; there are tens of thousands of British children who are currently in foster care and do not have the same opportunities as their peers (Barn and Kirton 2012). While there are many families around the United Kingdom who are willing to foster and even adopt children, the system is very slow and it can take a very long time to be approved to become a foster parent or an adoptive parent (Barn and Kirton 2012). While this is unfortunate, there is a very good reason why the system is labor-intensive: the goal is to reduce the number of children who are put in bad or abusive homes (Barn and Kirton 2012).
However, there seems to be a particularly significant burden on Muslim families who want to adopt in the United Kingdom (Ali 2013; Meer and Modood 2009; Frazer and Selywn 2005). Muslim families are less likely than other religious groups to adopt, and there are a number of reasons why these individuals might struggle more to become adoptive parents than others. First and foremost, many Muslim families follow certain parts of Sharia law; this law does not forbid adoptions, by any means, but it does raise questions of inheritance and family that must be addressed by the family before they bring an adoptive child in (Ali 2013; Crabtree, Husain, and Spalek 2014; Meer and Modood 2009). Culture can make it difficult for a family to really engage with the process, particularly for cultures that generally do not have a strong tradition of adopting children (Ali 2013; Crabtree, Husain, and Spalek 2014).
Traditional Muslim families, then, are less likely to engage with the foster care or adoption system than other families in the United Kingdom (Ali 2013; Crabtree, Husain, and Spalek 2014; Meer and Modood 2009). This does not mean that there are no Muslim families that participate in these systems, but there are some cultural barriers that must be broken down before these families have more significant engagement with these social systems (Ali 2013; Crabtree, Husain, and Spalek 2014; Meer and Modood 2009; Frazer and Selywn 2005). However, their relatively low engagement levels with the system cannot be explained merely as a function of their religious group.
There are also inherent forms of discrimination within the system that actively discourages Muslim individuals from participating. Muslim families face serious discrimination when applying for adoption; although there are fewer Muslim families that are applying to adopt, there are also fewer average families who are successful in their application (Crabtree, Husain, and Spalek 2014; Meer and Modood 2009; Frazer and Selywn 2005; Leinaweaver, 2014). There are cultural factors that are associated with adoption that cannot be ignored, and one of the realities is that Muslim families—particularly Muslim women—experience significant discrimination in the process (Leinaweaver 2014; Frazer and Selywn 2005).
Islam is one of the religions that is particularly troublesome for the community at large, but the legal restrictions on adoption in the United Kingdom even include some of the other minority religious groups and sects around the country (Leinaweaver 2014; Frazer and Selywn 2005). There are many reasons why there is such distrust; the current global attitude towards the Islamic faith and the attitude in Europe is quite sour, and there have been a number of issues in recent memory in which people of various sects have committed harm to children in the name of religion (Leinaweaver 2014; Frazer and Selywn 2005; Ali 2013; Meer and Modood 2009).
Even if Muslim families can overcome many of the adoption struggles that they face in the process of being approved, they still might face trouble when it comes time to complete an adoption. There is generally a desire to ensure that families have the appropriate support to engender success of the child; one of the ways that this is done is through a thorough assessment of the applicant’s support network and an analysis of their community (Meer and Modood 2009; Leinaweaver 2014; Frazer and Selywn 2005; Ali 2013). A Muslim support community will often struggle to pass muster when the individual family is being analyzed and considered for an adoptive placement (Meer and Modood 2009; Leinaweaver 2014; Frazer and Selywn 2005; Ali 2013).
There are no de facto rules against Muslim families adopting children, but the reality is that Muslim families adopt much less frequently than other groups. They also struggle with ensuring sponsorship to the United Kingdom and other legal standards—these individuals tend to fall victim to the more human side of the government, and they often face discrimination when they attempt to use services. This discrimination is difficult because it is systemic and often invisible. To address the problems that are inherent in the system, it is important to develop new targets and quotas within the government and governmental positions.
Bibliography
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