Dr Irene Salvo Agoglia

Profile

I am a psychologist, with an MA in family counselling, and a PhD in psychology. Since 2010, I have been full-time Professor at the Faculty of Psychology of the Alberto Hurtado University (Chile) and I am part of the Doctoral Programme in Psychology at this same university. My commitment to building interdisciplinary and intersectoral bridges between multiple actors in the field of public policy, interventions, and research has been a hallmark of my academic career. Between 2015 and 2016, I worked as a technical assistant and consultant for RELAF, an NGO based in Buenos Aires (Argentina) participating in international and cross-sectoral technical cooperation projects with UNICEF in several Latin American countries (e.g. Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay) with key stakeholders on alternative care and adoption issues. Also, teaching is a crucial component of my academic profile and is intimately entwined with my professional and research experience, especially with undergraduates and MA students and adoption practitioners. During a three-year term I was the Academic Director of the Graduate Diploma (b-learning) "Adoption: from theory to intervention,” aimed at Chilean adoption practitioners, which was the first specialized training offer in Latin America. Also, I have developed strong organizing skills by taking part in workshops, seminars and talks, with different institutions and audiences (adopted adults, adoptive parents, researchers, policy makers and practitioners). At the academic level, since 2015, I have specialized in the psychosocial field of adoption research, childhood studies and narrative research. Between 2017 at the present, I was PI of the FONDECYT project No.3170338 Adoptions in Chile: Constructing narratives about 'origins' and identity (2017-2020), PI of the project REDI No.170133 “Network for Interdisciplinary Research on Reproductive and Parental Policies” (2018-2020) and currently, I am PI of the FONDECYT project No.11200491 “Rethinking adoption from the perspective of children” (2020-2023), also funded by the National Research and Development Agency (ANID) Chile. I have published 17 sole and co-authored peer-reviewed articles (in English and Spanish) (e.g. Child & Family Social Work, Children & Society, Families, Relationships and Societies, etc.), edited and co-authored the first book about adoption in Chile ("Adoptions in Chile: Policies, practices and research"), five book chapters and one manuscript under revision by a peer-reviewed journal. Also, I have attended national and international conferences (ASAC 2018, LASA, AFIN, ICAR, EUSARF, among others). At the policy level, I am very committed to making visible and repairing negative past adoption practices, as well as improving current adoption policies at local and international levels supporting in several ways to "Children and Mothers of Silence," a group of people affected by "irregular adoptions" during the Chilean Dictatorship (1973-1990). Also, I was a member of the First Advisory Council of the Chilean Children's Ombudsperson (2019-2021). See more in: https://transformadopcion.com

Research

Publications

Gesteira, S., Salvo Agoglia, I., Villalta, C. & Alfaro, K. (2021). Child Appropriations and Irregular Adoptions: Activism for the “Right to Identity”, Justice, and Reparation in Argentina and Chile. Childhood.

Garcia-Quiroga, M. & Salvo Agoglia, I. (2020). Too Vulnerable to Participate? Challenges for Meaningful Participation in Research With Children in Alternative Care and Adoption. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.

Salvo Agoglia, I. & Marre, D. (2020). Children Forever: The Search for Origins among Chilean Adults Who Were Adopted. Child & Family Social Work, 25(1), 127-134.

Salvo Agoglia, I. & Alfaro Monsalve, K. (2019). “Irregular Adoptions” in Chile: New Political Narratives About The Right To Know One’s Origins. Children & Society 33(3), 201-212.

Expertise