Imagining a Study of Human Adoption Laws by an Interstellar Intelligence
What if an alien intelligence were to land on Earth and view our human legal systems as we might view the ad hoc methods of ants or bees? Would its conclusion be that we, like them, are drones that follow some instinctive path, driven by primitive emotions and fears? Or would it see in the dense thicket of laws that clutter our civil society more sophistication than that which rules the very real lives of social insects? Of course, it would be unable to articulate these concepts. It would not view ant colonies as normal. But we might.
So what if we were to experience this study of human legal systems as aliens?
To begin with Washington adoption laws, we must first be in a position to view this information in what is called a non-ethnocentric perspective. Like an alien, we will not let our human emotions cloud the process. With that in mind, what can we make of Washington adoption law?
Washington Adoption Laws Explained to Non-Humans
As someone who is from another world, we will assume you are completely unfamiliar with human culture. We will also assume however, that you are learning English at an alarming rate due to your ability to absorb knowledge at light speed (as you humans say).
The main adoption process in Washington involves a “parentage” case which leads to terminating the rights of existing biological parents if needed, and then a petition for adoption by the prospective adoptive parent. A court will grant the adoption assuming the existing parent(s) rights have been properly terminated, and that the pre-adoption process has been appropriately followed (including a home study or other requirements set forth by law). There is much to explain, but we will continue by describing some aspects of the adoption process that seem uniquely human and perhaps strange to you.
Unique Aspects of Human Adoption Law?
Human families have a long history of taking in relatives and neighbors, where this process was called fostering. They would also take in others under what was known as indentured servitude, where the individual would be required to work for the family until they either “paid off” their debt or reached a certain age. As a result, there was not a clear line between family and non-family. As humans became more affluent and the law more codified, the processes became more formalized and for most did not feel like a way to simply help those in need. The trickle-down effect results in the adoption laws we have now. However, this does not tell you very much about the substance of the law, only the superficial opinions of those drafted it.
Now, the court will look closely at things such as the mental health of the adoptive parents, their finances, prior history of any form of violent crime, history of addiction or abuse, and other personal issues. They will look at whether the adopting couple is married or not, and whether the child is being adopted into a marital relationship or just by a single parent. They will look at the history of the child and any potential issues that have resulted in the parents seeking adoption in the first place. In short, they want to ensure that the home and financial situation is adequate, the psychological state of the prospective parents is intact, that the child will actually be going into a good home, and that there is truly something wrong with the existing parents to warrant termination of parental rights.
How Would an Interstellar Intelligence View These Processes?
The human desire to have children is perhaps the closest thing to a hive-mentality that exists within a human being. The motivation of a select few individuals to adopt a child will seem outside the norms we create for ourselves in society. The alien will attempt to understand the emotions that drive this process, but will spend much time looking at the empty shell of law trying to figure out what it means. Yet, the alien will have no idea how we have limited the process and restricted the adoption to only those families who can afford the lengthy and costly processes. It will wonder why some chose to steal children while others quite openly put up “for adoption” signs. When we attempt to explain how humans act, we cannot help but find ourselves in the view of the alien, attempting to explain how all of this makes sense to someone who is a product of an entirely different evolutionary process.
Why Learning Washington Adoption Laws Helps Humans Understand Each Other
One of the most problematic issues with any set of laws is the human emotion behind the laws. Our biggest problems tend to reside within those areas where human emotion mixes and clashes with something outside of the individual. For example, when we teach our students to understand the law, we often notice that they apply the law in an objective manner where neither side of the dispute amounts to anything more than a series of numbers on a spreadsheet. This causes the law to exist largely in the abstract; a set of rules that a robot could easily understand. Yet, its application is anything but an easy exercise in mathematics.
So far the law in our current discussion is fairly simple: in order for a child to be adopted by another family, the existing biological parents must terminate their rights. But, usually there is a lot that is not being said about the parents. They usually have some form of issue that requires the intervention of the state before termination. This brings us back to what the alien sees. To them, the vast majority of parents would likely be good parents once they get the help they need. But to set the aliens straight, we must explain that each humanoid is a product of his or her environment. They came from families of crime or poverty, or simply had their own issues as children that prevented them from being good parents. Or they may have had their parental rights terminated because some prison clan adopted them as their new parent. This sudden twist and turn of fate is hardly unique. Listing the problems the child now experiences because of the situation would be a futile exercise because they too are similar.
Aliens are known for being a little more logical than us on Earth, however, even they would have a hard time understanding these “bizarre but normal” issues that led to the termination of parental rights and subsequent adoption.
So how might viewers of iCollege, with minds that are likely far superior to ours, use this knowledge? For more information on adoption laws, you can visit Child Welfare Information Gateway.