Transracial adoption (TRA) occurs when the parents and their adopted child are of different races. TRA has been a controversial issue as it is said to affect the child’s racial identity formation and development. Most TRA studies are done in the United States of America (USA) where there is an increasing trend of TRAs. The demand by Caucasian couples for babies is increasing but the babies available for adoption mainly come from African-American or Asian families. In the USA, from 1999 to 2013, the total number children adopted from China and South Korea is 91,002, comprising roughly 36% of the adoptions (Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. State Department, 2013). Thus, it is important to investigate the factors that aid (protective factors) or inhibit (risk factors) transracial adoptees in developing a healthy and positive racial identity so as to ensure the children’s welfare. …show more content…
Firstly, Huh and Reid (2000) argue that talking about adoption and having racial discussions at home is beneficial for the adoptee. Their argument is supported by Liow (1994) who contends that children’s knowledge of their racial and cultural roots is important in forming their personal identities and such knowledge should be conveyed in a manner that coincides with the children’s understanding ability. Secondly, parents should teach their child how to cope with racial discrimination. Studies have shown that the inability to cope with discrimination will result in the child being unable to deal with racism in a way that protects their self-esteem and positive racial identity (Butler-Sweet, 2011). There are also other protective factors like children’s involvement in cultural activities, parents having friends or colleagues who are of the child’s race, being in racially integrated schools and living in a multi-cultural neighbourhood (Huh & Reid, 2000; Liow, 1994; Robinson,
(2015) , finding one’s ethnic identity is key to the well-being and psychological adjustment of the child. Moreover, learning foreign customs places strain on a child’s development. This is supported by Patel (2007), who suggests that having a biracial identity can lead to both inner conflict and conflict within society, especially when adoptees feel racially categorized by others. Thus, does transracial adoption impact the child’s ethnic identity?
Children of color are over-represented in single-parent households with fifty-five percent of Black children and thirty-one percent of Hispanic children being raised in a single-parent household. (Vespa). The lessons parents will teach their son or daughter help provide the children with the skills and traits that will prepare them for adulthood. When one parent is missing, more specifically the father, the effect has an everlasting feel to
Followed by “Overly intrusive questions about adoption” with 86 incidences mentioned and “Assumptions of Bionormativity” with 62. Harrington et al. (2010) conducted interviews with 46 families who have adopted from China with Baden (2015), a contributing author to the Harrington et al., searching online collecting comments or statements from those in the Adoption Triad analyzing for themes related to adoption microaggressions. They found 14 themes specifically related to adoption, of which only 8 apply to the adoptee, of these 3 were the same as suggested by Garber (2014) and Garber and Grotevant (2015). They found the most common theme impacting adoptees was “Biology is best” with 55 incidences reported followed by “Bad see adoptees” with 9 incidences and “Grateful adoptees” with 8 incidences.
Another variable that determines the race of the adopted child varies by the presence of other children in the household. As a matter a fact, they found that “[w]hen there are biologically related children in the household, the adopted child is significantly more likely to be white, like his or her adopting parents and thus, in most cases, like his or her
I have gone through life associated with ownership and being talked of as if I am property. My childhood years of education have consisted of alternative assignments to those in regards to family history or the heredity unit of science classes. Within the faces of young children who stand with their adoptive families, I see a piece of myself and hope they will not struggle to endure the insensitivity to the culture of adoption and that their sense of identity will only be strengthened. I lacked an understanding of what would come of being a trans-racial adoptee and grew blind to ignorance at a young age, never gaining insight on the subject at hand. Although the culture of adoption has created uncomfortable and unfamiliar years, it also led me to challenge convention, embrace individuality, and find unconditional love from an early
Likewise, the value of male dominance in both the Hispanic and Asian roots can create child neglect for the female children in which they may not be provide with the best basic resources like the male child. And the value system of the African American children to assume so much responsibility has often been construed by white child welfare agencies as constituting neglect on the part of their parents (Crosson-Tower, 2013,
The experience of many African American Transracial Adoptees with America’s racial complexities parallels the narrative above, an internal struggle to understand racial discrimination, solely due to the skin they inhabit. Transracial adoption, the placement of children in families of differing racial and cultural, began in the 1950s to provide shelter to Asian orphans displaced after World War II; it later expanded to include African Americans and Native Americans (Barn 1273). However, adoption of blacks into Caucasian families encountered sharp criticism in the black community. In 1970, The National Association of Black Social Workers argued that the adoption of African Americans by Caucasians promotes “cultural genocide”, seeking to protect black’s racial and cultural identity (Bradley and Hawkins-Leon 434). Despite thereof, Multiethnic
How can adoptions increase “Many see adoption as a universal remedy for a host of problems from overpopulation to infertility” (psychologytoday.com). The process of adopting a child is very difficult. There are many problems with adoption such as cost, how long the process takes, and how many kids there are to adopt. To decrease the amount of time it takes to adopt, the process should decrease in price, become more efficient, and awareness should increase to make more homes for parent-less children. The adoption process should be made easier because it creates a better environment for a child to be raised in.
They would be able to see past the color of someone’s skin, and be able to assess who that person is by how they act, instead of judging them by the color of their skin. Ignorance on this issue should be avoided at all costs. In communities where there are a higher concentration of African-Americans it is common to find homes where either the father or the mother is no longer in the picture. In the Canedy family’s case, Jordan lost his father when he was six months old. Growing up without one of the parents in the home is difficult on the development of the child.
The increase in transracial adoptions comes with the added expense of more individuals finding and having conflict with their identity. One individual stated “…black does not equal brown. Brown is in our eyes; “black” is in our mind (Patton, 2000, p. 60). This individual statement sheds light on how transracially adopted individuals’ may feel in comparison to their race. The emphasis on transracial adoptions and the conflict with identity is important for individuals who decide to adopt transracially.
Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria? The book became a classic in modern high school and college classroom settings. It is one of the most popular books that Beverly Daniel Tatum has written.
Kelsey Newton Sarah Condiff 4226-25ZC April 29th, 2022 Struggles Of Adoption Adoption is a complex and multifaceted process that can provide a loving and stable home for children in need. According to the Adoption Network, there are currently over 400,000 children (about half the population of Delaware) in foster care in the United States, and more than 100,000 of these children are waiting for adoption. While the adoption process can be challenging, the rewards of providing a permanent home for a child in need are immeasurable. In this paper, we will explore the experiences of children in foster care, the challenges of adoption, and the process of adopting a child, with a focus on domestic adoption and foster care adoption. By examining these
The author begins his article by describing the typical family that adopts a child. He describes them as a family with “extra love and resources to meet a child in desperate need of both.” Graham then uses statistics to prove the percentage of adopted children with disabilities is higher than the percentage of children
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Single parent adoption In today's society, one of the strongest controversy in the world today is over whether or not single parents should be allowed to adopt. Some believe it is socially acceptable for a single parent to adopt a child and that “single prospective adopters of both genders can have much to offer to an adopted child” (The Telegraph Tim Ross), others think that singles should not be able to adopt. In some eyes they see that a child needs two parents so a child can grow up having a mother and father figure to look up to, and by having two parents, one can fill in the other part when one is sick or tired or so on.