Effects on kids

Unfortunately, one of the risks of adopting a child from China is not knowing what problems might appear after the adoption process.  A lot of these issues are related to children psychology which is convenient since I am currently in a child psychology class.  We have learned about all the different attachment theories and how attachment to someone by the age of two is very important.  Some researchers believe that if you don't form an attachment to anyone, you will have trust issues for the rest of your life.  Also, forming a good attachment bond will provide emotional security for the child (Pendry). Depending on the age of the child being adopted, attachment might not happen properly resulting in problems for the child.  Lulu was almost two when my aunt got her, which is the end of the attachment period.  Fortunately, after a while my aunt was able to form a good attachment with Lu.  The attachment was so good that my aunt couldn't leave her sight, or Lulu would freak out. 

Classical conditioning is another psychology term that can relate to adoption as well.  According to thefreedictionary.com, classical conditioning is a process of behavior modification in which a subject learns to respond in a desired manner such that a neutral stimulus is repeatedly presented in association with a stimulus that elicits a natural response until the neutral stimulus alone elicits the same response(definition). For example, you were driving down a bumpy road and got car sick.  While you were in the car you ate an  apple.  Now every time that you see an apple, you get nauseous and you don't eat apples anymore.  When babies want something like food, water, or a clean diaper they cry.  Babies in orphanages learn not to cry because when they cry, nothing happens.  They have experienced classical conditioning because they have paired crying with no response over and over again until they have finally learned that crying won't get you anything.  In some orphanages and hospitals, the only time the children are being touched is when they need something done.  If a child is sick, the only time they could get attention is when they need another dose of medicine, another needle poked into their arm, or another shot.  For these poor children, they too experience classical conditioning in a different way.  These children pair touch with pain, because the only time they are being touched is when the nurses need to do another test or IV. Since these children have developed this, no matter who is touching them, they are going to automatically associate touch with pain.