Communicative Openness About Adoption and Interest in Contact in a Sample of Domestic and Intercountry Adolescent Adoptees

Adolescent intercountry (n = 122) and domestic (n = 40) adoptees and their adoptive parents were asked about their views on communicative openness. The adoptees were also asked for their thoughts on birth parents and contact. A modest association between communicative openness and feelings about adoptive status and self-esteem was found. Girls were more interested in many aspects of their adoptions than boys. Compared with the situation at 11 years of age, there was greater parent-child agreement on whether the child had difficulties talking about adoption. Nevertheless, at age 15, children were still nearly twice as likely to report difficulties talking about adoption issues than their adoptive parents realized. At the age of 15, the majority of the adoptees expressed a desire for contact with birth relatives, but this was a reduction from the numbers at age 11. They also reported finding it easier to talk about adoption issues than they did at the age of 11. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Many Faces of Openness in Adoption: Perspectives of Adopted Adolescents and Their Parents

Parents and adolescents (mean age, 15.7 years) from 177 adoptive families participating in the second wave of the Minnesota/Texas Adoption Research Project were interviewed about their post-adoption contact arrangements. The sample included families with no contact, stopped contact, contact without meetings, and contact with face-to-face meetings between the adolescent and birth mother. Openness arrangements were dynamic, and different openness arrangements were associated with different experiences and feelings. Adoptive families with contact reported having higher levels of satisfaction about their openness arrangements, experiencing more positive feelings about the birth mother, and possessing more factual and personal knowledge about the birth mother than did families without contact. Adolescents and adoptive mothers in the contact with meetings group reported the greatest satisfaction with their openness arrangements; those with no contact or stopped contact reported the least satisfaction with their arrangements. Participants having no contact were more likely to want the intensity of contact to increase in the future rather than stay the same. Many participants already having contact wanted it to increase in the future. Fewer than 1 percent of all participants wanted to see the intensity of contact decrease.     

The Impact of Openness on Adoption Agency Practices

ABSTRACT

This article reports the results of a longitudinal study of the changing openness-related practices of private U.S. adoption agencies. Staff from private adoption agencies were interviewed at three points in time, in 1987–89, 1993, and 1999, about their current practices and attitudes regarding openness in adoption and any changes that may have taken place since the previous interview. From 1993 to 1999 agencies continued a trend toward offering and encouraging more open adoptions. During this period fully disclosed arrangements became more common and had the greatest growth since 1987, while confidential adoptions continued to decrease in frequency. Mediated adoptions remain the predominant arrangements. Changes in the adoption options offered by the agencies at all three time periods have been driven primarily by the demands of the birthmother for greater openness. However, by final data collection in 1999, most agencies in this sample changed from viewing the birthmother as their primary client to viewing the adopted child as their primary client. Implications for agency practices are discussed.     

Communicative Openness Within Adoptive Families: Adoptive Parents' Narrative Accounts of the Challenges of Adoption Talk and the Approaches Used to Manage These Challenges

Policy and practice relating to openness in adoption have changed substantially in the last 30 years. There is a growing body of empirical research that supports both structural and communicative openness, and there is widespread consensus that communicative openness is desirable within adoptive families. Despite this, there is evidence that some adoptive parents and their adopted children struggle to achieve the level of communicative openness to which they aspire. This paper presents data from a small-scale exploratory study of adoptive family life. It draws on the narrative accounts of adoptive mothers and fathers to explore some of the sensitivities of adoption talk, the communication challenges experienced by adoptive parents, and the ways that adopters manage these challenges. Finally, some suggestions are made for practice.     

Ethnic and Racial Identity of Internationally Adopted Adolescents and Young Adults

Abstract

Results of studies to determine how well children who have been adopted internationally have adjusted consistently raise a concern about identity issues. This paper reports the results of interviews about their sense of racial and ethnic identity with 155 adolescent and young adults who were adopted internationally in Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. The findings are discussed in relation to the rights conferred on these children through the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act.     

Exploring Birth Countries: The Mental Health Implications of Heritage Travel for Children/Adolescents Adopted Internationally

Heritage trips are increasingly recognized as beneficial for children adopted internationally for myriad reasons. For example, a large percentage of adults adopted transracially during childhood report birth country travel to be a critical aspect to their ultimate development of positive racial identity. Although generally perceived to be a helpful experience for youth and families, heritage travel is not always without psychological distress. This article describes the theoretical basis for heritage travel, reviews the emerging literature on the mental health impact of heritage trips, and provides anecdotal vignettes to highlight mental health considerations and implications for heritage travel.     

Conduct Problems in Adopted and Non-Adopted Adolescents and Adoption Satisfaction as a Protective Factor

The present study compared the level of conduct problems at age 17 in a large nonclinical sample of adopted participants placed in infancy and children in non-adoptive families matched to the adoptive families on demographic characteristics. Higher levels of adolescent and parent adoption satisfaction were associated with lower levels of conduct problems. Gender by adoption status interactions were not significant. However, female adopted participants had higher levels of conduct problems than female non-adopted participants, whereas male adopted and non-adopted participants had similar levels of conduct problems. In the overall sample, differences between adopted and matched control participants on all conduct problem measures were nonsignificant.     

Known and Unknown Identities: Openness and Identity as Experienced by Adult Adoptees

This qualitative study investigates the relationship between openness and identity among 15 adoptees. Several studies have argued that a high degree of openness is important for the identity of adoptees. However, few have explored this relationship. Two types of openness (biographical knowledge and communicative openness) are used to categorize the empirical material, making it possible to shed light on how different types of openness influence identity. The findings suggest that there is no direct link between a high degree of openness and positive identity formation. Rather, the relationship appears to be situational and changeable as adoptees come of age.     

Incorporating Struggles with Racism and Ethnic Identity in Therapy with Adolescents

Ethnic and racial minority adolescents enter therapy with the behavioral, emotional, social, familial, and educational problems common to clinical practice. However, therapy with these youth necessitates attention to the effects of racial discrimination on their psychological functioning and to matters of how their ethnic or racial identities are integrated. Of the myriad issues that become part of therapy with minority adolescents, the profound effects of racism and the process of ethnoracial identity development can be seen in adolescents' sense of self and behavior. Experiences with racism and with their own ethnic reference group and others may have led to distortions and partial understanding of their identities that may affect adaptation and functioning. In this paper, the author draws from experiences in clinical practice with minority youth to highlight issues of racism and ethnic identity emergent in treatment. Three cases illustrate discussions of struggles with racism and ethnic identity as they emerged in therapy. In each case, the struggles were made salient by the therapist's purposeful eliciting of them to clarify issues of transference, family relations, peer group relations, and achievement.     

Adoption as a Contingency of Self-worth: An Integrative Approach to Self-esteem in Adopted Individuals

A significant limitation of current adoption theory is the lack of identification of clear mechanisms by which macro-societal attitudes toward adoption and adopted persons influence processes of self-esteem. Building on current efforts, a new integrative theoretical approach to self-esteem in adopted persons is presented, incorporating contingency of self-worth theory. Motivation to manage one's self-esteem while imbedded within a larger social context is identified as a key mechanism in the formation of self-esteem and identity. Valuation of one's adoptive status as a positive source of self-esteem will depend largely on the attitudes pervasive in the social environment.     

The Ethnic Identification of Same-Race Children in Intercountry Adoption

Intercountry adoption is a worldwide phenomenon that has been drawing an ever-increasing amount of research attention. The vast majority of that research has focused on transracial adoptive relationships and, in particular, the ethnic socialization and adjustment of children adopted into racially different families. Very little is known about the ethnic identity development of internationally adopted children who are racially similar to their adoptive parents. In the current study, 50 children adopted into New Zealand from Eastern Europe were interviewed on their ethnic self-identification and self-concept. The adoptees scored in the midrange on an ethnic identity scale and in the high range on a self-concept scale. However, no correlation was found between the two indices, suggesting that ethnic self-identification and self-concept operate independent of each other. These results, plus additional data collected during the interviews, are discussed in light of the New Zealand context and as they relate to the transracial adoption literature.     

The Past and Present Cultural Experiences of Adopted Korean American Adults

This study used a mixed-method approach to examine the past and present cultural life experiences of Korean adult adoptees. Open-ended responses across four developmental periods (childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood) were qualitatively analyzed and categorized into seven categories of cultural activities. We then quantitatively investigated the relationship between these domains and ethnic identity. Ethnic identity was positively correlated with only cultural experiences from young adulthood. The practical relevance of the research findings to adopted adults and adoptive families is discussed.     

Ethnic Identity as a Protective Factor for Looked After and Adopted Children From Ethnic Minority Groups: A Critical Review of the Literature

The development of a strong ethnic identity has been considered to relate to psychological well-being. The aim of this article is to critically review the literature relating to ethnic identity and positive outcomes in looked after and adopted children from ethnic minority groups. A literature search of SCOPUS, PsycINFO, and Medline databases from 2000 to 2010 was conducted to identify qualifying published studies. Studies that pertained to ethnic identity development in children in relation to positive outcomes, adjustment, self-esteem, and psychological well-being were reviewed. Overall, evidence from the studies was mixed, with strong ethnic identity not always found to be indicative of improved psychological adjustment. Methodological limitations of the reviewed studies are discussed, and clinical implications and recommendations for future research are presented.     

Comparing the Ethnic Identity and Well-Being of Adopted Korean Americans With Immigrant/U.S.-Born Korean Americans and Korean International Students

This study compared the ethnic identity and well-being of Korean Americans who were adopted internationally with immigrant/U.S.-born Korean Americans and Korean international students, as well as the relationship between ethnic identity and well-being for each group. One-hundred seven college students completed measures of ethnic identity and subjective well-being. Immigrant/U.S.-born Korean Americans had higher ethnic identity scores than the other two groups. Immigrant/U.S.-born Korean Americans also had higher positive affect scores than international students. Ethnic identity was positively correlated with positive affect for all three groups (r = .27 to .34) but was negatively correlated with negative affect for international students (r = –.44). Overall, the results suggest that ethnic identity, although slightly lower than in non-adopted peers, is relevant to the well-being of adopted Korean American college students.     

Influence of Age on Transracial Foster Adoptions and Its Relation to Ethnic Identity Development

In the United States, ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in the foster care system and underrepresented among potential adoptive parents. The need to find permanent homes for foster children has led to an increase in the controversial practice of transracial adoption (TRA), wherein ethnic minority children are placed in adoptive homes with Caucasian parents. While many child welfare scholars and dependency stakeholders support TRA as a positive alternative to foster care, others are concerned that such adoptions may inhibit the ethnic identity development of transracially adopted children. This article documents the large number of ethnic minority children who are adopted through TRA prior to the onset of ethnic identification and how age influences which children are adopted out of foster care. The findings indicate that young ethnic minorities are significantly more likely to be adopted through TRA compared to older children, an effect especially prominent among African Americans. Implications for the child welfare system are discussed.     

Family Cultural Socialization,Ethnic Identity,and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Using a Web-based survey, this study of 82 adult international adoptees examined the relationship between parental support for cultural socialization and its effect on adoptees' selfesteem. Feelings of belongingness and ethnic identity were predicted to serve as mediators between the central variables. The results showed a positive relationship between cultural socialization and selfesteem, which was mediated by a feeling of belongingness and one aspect of ethnic identification (marginality) among Asianborn international adoptees. These data suggest that counselors should raise awareness and knowledge of adoptive parents about the importance of cultural continuity in the child's upbringing.     

Positive and Negative Aspects of Transracial Adoption: An Exploratory Study From Korean Transracial Adoptees' Perspectives

Participants, 92 Korean-born transracial international adoptees, responded to two open-ended questions designed to explore both positive and negative aspects of transracial adoption. Almost all of them reported experiencing both benefits and challenges, suggesting that transracial adoption is more complex than the polarized “success or failure” paradigm that underlies much of the transracial adoption research. Participants described negative features that are consistent with themes in the extant literature, including racism, alienation from their White families and peers, unfamiliarity with Korean culture, and identity confusion. They also described positive aspects that have been less frequently explored, such as greater learning and awareness and advantages of belonging to multiple cultures. Of interest, facets that some adoptees considered to be positive aspects of transracial adoption were considered by others to be negative aspects.