“It Was Like This,I Think”: Constructing an Adoption Narrative for Chinese Adopted Children

Using qualitative survey data from 35 adoptive parents of children from China, I explore the type of narrative parents construct about their child's “abandonment.” Parents tell the story they know best—the child's adoption story—being careful to not overly burden the child with harsh abandonment realities. Most parents opt to tell a dominant narrative, portraying the child's Chinese birth parents as parents who loved their child and struggled with the decision to give up their child pressured by outside forces to do so. Any counternarrative told seems to be for the adoptive parents themselves, not for their children.     

Predictors of White Adoptive Parents’ Cultural and Racial Socialization Behaviors With Their Asian Adopted Children

This study investigated the role of White racial identity statuses, cultural and racial socialization beliefs, cultural socialization self-efficacy, and racial socialization self-efficacy in predicting White adoptive parents’ (N = 200) cultural and racial socialization behaviors with their Asian adopted children. Only cultural and racial socialization beliefs contributed to the prediction of socialization practices. In addition, we examined whether cultural and racial socialization self-efficacy would moderate the relationship between parents’ cultural socialization and racial socialization beliefs and behaviors; there was no support for cultural or racial socialization self-efficacy as moderators in the beliefs–behaviors relationships. Finally, findings revealed that parents were more involved in cultural socialization than racial socialization behaviors, although they did not engage frequently in either type of socialization behavior, particularly racial socialization.     

Adoption in the Media

Abstract

This is a review of three articles that appeared in the popular print media in 1996. All cover the subject of teen pregnancy. Two are written by or about birth parents and their decision to plan adoption. The other article focuses on the life of two teenagers who will parent their children.     

Adoptive Family Adjustment and Its Relation to Perceived Family Environment

ABSTRACT

Fifty-one adopted college students from three mid-sized East Coast universities participated in interviews structured to gather information regarding adoptees' perceptions of adoptive family life. Additionally, subjects completed a scale which measured their perceptions of general characteristics of family environment. Multiple regression analysis revealed that of ten adoption-specific factors derived from interview data, overall satisfaction with one's adoptive status and family life was the strongest predictor of perceived general family environment. Adoptee satisfaction predicted high levels of family expressiveness, ethical focus and involvement in shared activities as well as low levels of family conflict. Adoptees' perception of adoptive fathers' and mothers' communication styles predicted different aspects of family environment. Adoptees' acknowledgment of life differences due to their adoptive status did not relate to family expressiveness. The latter finding lends support to recent research suggesting that acknowledgment and expressiveness are independent aspects of adoptive family functioning.     

Openness in International Adoptions

ABSTRACT

Along with the increasing numbers of international adoptions, there is a developing trend toward openness. In this study, the authors examined the experiences of U.S. adoptive parents who adopted children from the Republic of Marshall Islands. The surveys addressed their initial motivations, the facilitation process for openness, the terms and conditions and the level of understanding of them by birth and adoptive parents, and insights gained from their experiences. The results suggest that in general, this group of parents embraced openness from the onset, they have had difficulty maintaining contact with birth parents, and still would recommend open international adoptions to prospective adoptive parents. Policy and research implications are discussed.     

Developmentalism and the Rhetoric of Best Interests of the Child

Abstract

The foster care system in Australia has recently recognised the importance of encouraging lesbians and gay men to become foster carers. Whilst this may be seen as an important step towards overcoming social stereotypes that position lesbians and gay men as unfit parents, I propose that foster care public policy in Australia is shaped by a number of key assumptions that effectively exclude lesbian and gay foster parents. In particular, I focus on how the logic of developmentalism [where children are assumed to follow a (hetero)normative developmental pathway] and the rhetoric of best interests of the child (within which a particular moral framework is employed to judge who can and who cannot protect children) work to recenter a normative understanding of families and parenting that encourages lesbians and gay parents to adopt a heterosexual model of parenting.     

The Attitudes of Australian Heterosexuals Toward Same-Sex Parents

SUMMARY

This is the first study of attitudes of Australian heterosexuals toward heterosexual, gay male, and lesbian parents and the children raised by these parents. A sample of Australian heterosexual males and females read one of six vignettes describing a family situation. Participants assessed the parents' emotional stability, responsibility, and competence; how loving, sensitive, and nurturing they were; the amount of quality time they spent with their child; and their ability to be good role models. Results indicated participants held negative attitudes toward gay male and lesbian same-sex parents. Participants believed that children raised by same-sex parents are more likely to experience confusion over their sexual orientation and gender identity, more likely to be homosexual, and more likely to experience strained peer relationships as well as stigma and teasing than children raised by heterosexual parents. Level of sexual prejudice was the key predictor of attitudes toward same-sex parents and the expected outcomes for their children. Being male, older, and having fewer children were additional predictors of attitudes towards same-sex parents, whereas being older and less religious was associated with expected negative outcomes for the children. Substantial attitudinal shifts are required before gay male and lesbian parents and their children are fully accepted into Australian communities.     

A Family Matter

Abstract

The 2004 debate over civil marriage for same-gender couples highlights issues faced by mixed-orientation couples after one of the spouses comes out as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The disclosure becomes a family matter as their spouses and children cope with the new information and antigay attitudes. The majority of couples divorce. A minority stays married for three years or more by developing strategies that enhance the relationship, offset outside pressures, and sustain the family circle. Peers provide the most support, while therapists are often unfamiliar with sexual orientation, mixed orientation couples, or societal attitudes that impact families with a gay, lesbian, or bisexual parent. This article provides that information so that professionals can help these couples improve the quality of their lives and develop skills to create a future in which homosexuality, same-gender relationships, and gay parenting are more widely accepted and legalized. This development would decrease the number of mixed-orientation marriages with closeted spouses and increase the potential for both types of families to form lasting marriages and strong family units.     

乡土社会中的“女儿养老”：实践机制及其效果——基于鄂中L村的调查

农村女儿在赡养老人方面扮演着重要角色,具有与儿子一样的正式身份。本文通过对一个个案村庄的深入分析,发现婚姻和养老存在直接的关系,招婿婚姻是确立女儿养老正式身份的仪式过程．是实现女儿家庭养老功能的重要手段。通过招婿婚姻建立的家庭形成以女儿为中心的家庭权力结构．代际关系实现了相对均衡。在村庄中建构起女儿养老的强大伦理,足以与传统的儿子养老相抗争。