Abstract:
The customary practice of child adoption has long been practised by Samoans and remains predominant in Samoan society today, through formal and informal adoption practices. However, with the scarcity of academic research and literature focusing on formal and informal adoption in Samoa, this thesis examines western and indigenous understandings of children in Samoa. The fieldwork component of this research uses a qualitative study based on interviews with eight key persons from institutions relevant to the field of study. Moreover, the interviews provide key person perspectives and insights on formal and informal adoption practices of Samoan mothers in order to provide a deeper understanding of the contexts of Samoan mothers and their adoption practices. A grounded theory approach was employed to organise the data and the Mo’ui’anga model by Taufa (2015) provided a framework that was used to analyse the research findings. Finally, this research aims to increase awareness around the contributing factors that affect Samoan mothers and lead to formal and informal adoptions, encourage debate and conversations about taboo topics around sex and sexuality within families, villages, the church and wider Samoan communities, and seeks to find positive ways of strengthening indigenous/cultural appropriate methods of supporting mothers and the methods of giving away children in Samoa.