The controversies in adoption have extended across a spectrum of policy and practice issues, and although the issues have become clear, resolution has not been achieved nor has consensus developed regarding a framework on which to improve the quality of adoption policy and practice. This book is the second in a series to use an ethics-based framework for analyzing and resolving these complex challenges in adoption while avoiding the divisiveness that has heretofore impeded their resolution. This book considers various aspects of the business of adoption in terms of market factors. With the shifting demographics of infant adoption, international adoption, and special needs adoption, issues are raised in this book about the role of money in adoption, who holds the "power" in adoption, and to whom adoption professionals are accountable. Questions examined in the book include the extent to which there has been a commodification of children placed with adoptive families, how the adoption process is regulated and by whom, the impact of resources on the roles of birth and adoptive parents, the relevance of accountability in adoption, and how market forces undermine ethical adoption practice. The book concludes by noting that although powerful market forces are in play, professionals from all fields of adoption are raising questions about the ethics of current practice and are challenging policies that may have been tolerated, and therefore, the environment may be ready for reshaping the forces that drive adoption. (Contains 194 references.) (KB)

An in-depth examination of the corruption in the adoption industry; the fine line between black and gray market adoption; scams, coercion and exploitation; international adoption; foster care. Foreword by Evelyn Robinson, author, MA, Dip Ed, BSW. Myths that prevail in adoption primarily to replicate motherhood are examined. Myriad of adoption experts are interviewed and quoted throughout who agree that adoption has changed from being child-centered and altruistic social arrangement to one of finding solutions for the medical problem of infertility, putting the needs of adults, and those who profit from their desperation, before the needs of children who need homes. The conclusion asks if adoption can be fixed - the money aspect removed and government controls and regulations put in place - or abolished in favor of permanent guardianship, or informal adoption that does not involve the issuance of a falsified birth certificate present in current adoption to fortify myths of replicating creation. 284 pages 300 footnotes and indexed.

International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Second Edition, Fourteen Volume Set embraces diversity by design and captures the ways in which humans share places and view differences based on gender, race, nationality, location and other factors—in other words, the things that make people and places different. Questions of, for example, politics, economics, race relations and migration are introduced and discussed through a geographical lens. This updated edition will assist readers in their research by providing factual information, historical perspectives, theoretical approaches, reviews of literature, and provocative topical discussions that will stimulate creative thinking. Presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive coverage on the topic of human geography Contains extensive scope and depth of coverage Emphasizes how geographers interact with, understand and contribute to problem-solving in the contemporary world Places an emphasis on how geography is relevant in a social and interdisciplinary context

This collection of papers, originally published in 1981, reviews and evaluates past and possible future advances in a field of central importance to human geography: behavioral geography. The book includes critical studies which show how the approach has contributed substantially to work within four areas of amjor application in behavioral geography: urban travel behavior, environmental cognition, residential mobility and spatial diffusion. The final section of the book focuses on the shortcomings of the behavioral approach and considers the alternative modes of analysis available.

DevOps for Developers delivers a practical, thorough introduction to approaches, processes and tools to foster collaboration between software development and operations. Efforts of Agile software development often end at the transition phase from development to operations. This book covers the delivery of software, this means “the last mile”, with lean practices for shipping the software to production and making it available to the end users, together with the integration of operations with earlier project phases (elaboration, construction, transition). DevOps for Developers describes how to streamline the software delivery process and improve the cycle time (that is the time from inception to delivery). It will enable you to deliver software faster, in better quality and more aligned with individual requirements and basic conditions. And above all, work that is aligned with the “DevOps” approach makes even more fun! Provides patterns and toolchains to integrate software development and operations Delivers an one-stop shop for kick-starting with DevOps Provides guidance how to streamline the software delivery process

Virtualization, cloud, containers, server automation, and software-defined networking are meant to simplify IT operations. But many organizations adopting these technologies have found that it only leads to a faster-growing sprawl of unmanageable systems. This is where infrastructure as code can help. With this practical guide, author Kief Morris of ThoughtWorks shows you how to effectively use principles, practices, and patterns pioneered through the DevOps movement to manage cloud age infrastructure. Ideal for system administrators, infrastructure engineers, team leads, and architects, this book demonstrates various tools, techniques, and patterns you can use to implement infrastructure as code. In three parts, you’ll learn about the platforms and tooling involved in creating and configuring infrastructure elements, patterns for using these tools, and practices for making infrastructure as code work in your environment. Examine the pitfalls that organizations fall into when adopting the new generation of infrastructure technologies Understand the capabilities and service models of dynamic infrastructure platforms Learn about tools that provide, provision, and configure core infrastructure resources Explore services and tools for managing a dynamic infrastructure Learn specific patterns and practices for provisioning servers, building server templates, and updating running servers