Bicultural identification: Experiences of internationally adopted children and their parents.

Abstract

University at Albany, State University of New York Little is known about bicultural identity development, a process that is particularly complicated for internationally adopted children. The authors interviewed 8 adoptive families about their cognitive, emotional, and familial experiences. Qualitative analyses showed consistency in the parent and child interviews (conducted independently) and ratings of the children's kinetic family drawings. Themes included parents identifying the family multieul- turally, promoting ethnic pride, and worrying about bigotry. Their ways of educating their children about race differed considerably, however. Results also indicated a developmental progression in the children's understanding of ethnicity in relation to adoption. Although the data indicated good psychosoeial adjustment and strong family attachments, most of these children struggle with a sense of being different, and some experience feelings of sadness and loss. Whereas U. S. children adopted in the early part of the century were orphaned or relinquished by their birth parents because of age, marital status, illness, or poverty, in the past 25 years the predominant reasons for relinquishment have changed dramatically, as have the psychosocial characteris- tics of adoptive families. In contrast to the 1950s, there are now many more older children whose birth parents' rights were terminated because of child abuse or neglect. Further- more, there are fewer healthy infants who need homes because of the increased acceptance of single parenthood and the availability of abortion and birth control. Currently, the majority of those who adopt infants are middle- and upper-income White couples, most of whom have under- gone stressful medical treatments for infertility (Simon & Altstein, 1991). Although many infertile couples choose to adopt domestically through organizations or private attor- neys, increasing numbers of couples and single adults seek children abroad. In the fiscal year 1998 alone, 15,774 children were adopted internationally (Adoptive Families, 1999). Little is known about the psychosocial experiences of White parents with internationally adopted children of color. On reflection, one can see that their experiences differ from Myrna L. Friedlander, Lucille C. Lamey, Marianne Skan, Marcus Hotaling, Marsha L. Cutting, and Michelle Schwam, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University

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