Although the number of U.S. families who choose international adoption has grown dramatically over the past decade, concern remains about separating such children from their racial/ethnic/cultural groups of origin. Existing literature has primarily focused on African American or immigrant children's ethnic socialization experiences with little attention given to ethnic socialization of international adoptees. This paper describes a theoretical framework for understanding ethnic socialization among international adoptees and examines the applicability of existing models for understanding developmental and psychosocial outcomes for adopted minority children. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.
BartholetE. (1993). International adoption: Current status and future prospects.The Future of Children, 3(1), 89–103.
3.
BoykinA. W., & TomsF. D. (1985). Black child socialization: A conceptual framework. In McAdooH. P. & McAdooJ. L. (Eds.), Black children: Social, educational, and parental environments (pp. 33–51). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
4.
BrodzinskyD. M. (1987). Adjustment to adoption: A psychosocial perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 7, 25-47.
5.
ChangC. (2001). Creating a cultural identity: An examination of the current movement toward bi-cultural socialization of Chinese adoptees. University of Colorado at Boulder.
6.
Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child: Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989. Retrieved December 2, 2003, from http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.
7.
DeBerryK. M., ScarrS., & WeinbergR. (1996). Family racial socialization and ecological competence: Longitudinal assessments of African-American transracial adoptees.Child Development, 67(5), 2375–2399.
8.
DemoD. H., & HughesM. (1990). Socializaiton and racial identity among Black Americans. Social Psychology Quarterly, 53(4), 364–374.
9.
EriksonE. (1963). Childhood and society. New York: W. W. Norton.
10.
FriedlanderM. L., LarneyL. C., SkauM., HotalingM., CuttingM. L., & SchwamM. (2000). Bicultural identification: Experiences of internationally adopted children and their parents.Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47(2), 187–198.
11.
Hague Conference on Private International Law. (1993). Convention on protection of children and co-operation in respect of intercountry adoption. Retrieved September 18, 2006, from http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.text&cid=69.
12.
HughesD. (2003). Correlates of African American and Latino parents’ messages to children about ethnicity and race: A comparative study of racial socialization. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1/2), 15–33.
13.
KimD. S. (1977). How they fared in American homes: A follow-up study of adopted Korean children in the United States.Children Today, 6(2), 2–6.
14.
KirkH. D. (1984). Shared fate: A theory and method of adoptive relationships.Port Angeles: Ben-Simon Publications.
15.
LaFromboiseT., ColemanH. L. K., & GertonJ. (1993). Psychological impact of biculturalism: Evidence and theory.Psychological Bulletin, 114(3), 395–412.
16.
LeeD. C., & QuintanaS. M. (2005). Benefits of cultural exposure and development of Korean perspective-taking ability for transracially adopted Korean children. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 11(2), 130–143.
17.
MarshallS. (1995). Ethnic socialization of African American children: Implications for parenting, identity development, and academic achievement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24(4), 377–396.
18.
McRoyR. G., ZurcherL. A., LauderdaleM. L., & AndersonR. E. (1982). Self-esteem and racial identity in transracial and interacial adoptees. Social Work, 27(6), 522–526.
19.
McRoyR. G., ZurcherL. A., LauderdaleM. L., & AndersonR. E. (1984). The identity of transracial adoptees. Social Casework: The Journal of Contemporary Social Work, 65(1), 34–39.
20.
MohantyJ., KoeskeG. F., & SalesE. (2006). Family cultural socialization, ethnic identity, and self-esteem: Web-based survey of international adult adoptees. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 15(3/4), 153–172.
21.
MutisyaP. M., & RossL. E. (2005). Afrocentricity and racial socialization among African American college students. Journal of Black Studies, 38(3), 235–247.
22.
PetersM. F. (1985). Racial socialization of young black children. In McAdooH. P. & McAdooJ. L. (Eds.), Black children: Social, educational, and parental environments (pp.159-173). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
23.
PhinneyJ. S., & ChaviraV. (1995). Parental ethnic socialization and adolescent coping with problems related to ethnicity.Journal of Research on Adolescence, 5(1), 31–53.
24.
QuintanaS. M., Castaneda-EnglishP., & YbarraV. C. (1999). Role of perspective-taking abilities and ethnic socialization in development of adolescent ethnic identity.Journal of Research on Adolescence, 9(2), 161–184.
25.
RojewskiJ. W. (2005). A typical American family? How adoptive families acknowledge and incorporate Chinese cultural heritage in their lives. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 22(2), 133–164.
26.
RojewskiJ. W., & RojewskiJ. L. (2001). Intercountry adoption from China: Examining cultural heritage and other postadoption issues.Westport, Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey.
27.
RosenbergM. (1981). The self-concept: Social product and social force. In RosenbergM. & TurnerR. H. (Eds.), Social psychology: Sociological perspectives (pp. 593–624). New York: Basic Books, Inc.
28.
RosenbergM., & SimmonsR. G. (1971). Black and White self-esteem: The urban school child.Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
29.
ScottL. D. (2003). The relationship of racial identity and racial socialization to coping with discrimination among African American adolescents. Journal of Black Studies, 33(4), 520–538.
30.
ScroggsP. H., & HeitfieldH. (2001). International adopters and their children: Birth culture ties.Gender Issues, 19, 3–30.
StevensonH. C. (1995). Relationship of adolescent perceptions of racial socializaiton to racial identity. Journal of Black Psychology, 21(1), 49–70.
33.
StevensonH. C., CameronR., Herroro-TaylorT., & DavisG. Y. (2002). Development of the teenager experience of racial socialization scale: Correlates of race-related socialization frequency from the perspective of black youth.Journal of Black Psychology, 28(2), 84–106.
34.
StevensonH. C., ReedJ., BodisonP., & BishopA. (1997). Racism stress management: Racial socialization beliefs and the experience of depression and anger in African American youth. Youth & Society, 29(2), 197–223.
35.
TesslerR., GamacheG., & LiuL. (1999). West meets East: Americans adopt Chinese children. Westport, Connecticut: Bergin & Garvey.
TrolleyB. C., WallinJ., & HansenJ. (1995). International adoption: Issues of acknowledgement of adoption and birth culture. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 12(6), 465–479.
38.
TylerK. M., BoykinA. W., BoelterC. M., & DillihuntM. L. (2005). Examining mainstream and Afro-cultural value socialization in African American households.Journal of Black Psychology, 31(3), 291–311.
39.
VonkM. E. (2001). Cultural competence for transracial adoptive parents. Social Work, 46(3), 246–255.
40.
YoonD. P. (2000). Causal modeling predicting psychological adjustment of Korean-born adolescent adoptees. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 3(3/4), 65–82.
