Restricted accessOtherFirst published online 2003-4
Normative Development in Transracial Adoptive Families: An Integration of the Literature and Implications for the Construction of a Theoretical Framework
Research on transracial adoption is limited by its overreliance on atheoretical research and the examination of children as the primary unit of analysis. There is also a significant lack of integration of approaches and empirical findings from disparate yet relevant literature. To better understand transracial adoption, this paper reviews and integrates the literature and offers a conceptual framework that can be used to examine the normative development of transracial adoptive families. Implications for practice and research are provided.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbrahamK. G. (1986). Ego-identity differences among Anglo-American and Mexican American adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 9, 151–166.
2.
AndujoE. (1988). Ethnic identity of transethnically adopted Hispanic adolescents. Social Work, 33, 531–535.
3.
AnnisR. C., & CorenblumB. (1987). Effect of test language and experimenter race on Canadian Indian children's racial and self-identity. Journal of Social Psychology, 126, 761–773.
4.
BagleyC. (1983). Transracial adoption in Britain: A follow-up study, with policy considerations. Child Welfare, 72, 285–299.
5.
BaranA., & PannorR. (1993). Perspective on open adoption. The Future of Children, 3, 119–124.
BranchC. W. (1999). Race and human development. In SheetsR. H., & HollinsE. R. (Eds.), Racial and ethnic identity in school practices: Aspects of human development (pp. 7–28). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
8.
BrodzinskyD. M. (1987). Adjustment to adoption: A psychosocial perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 7, 25–47.
9.
BrodzinskyD. M. (1990). A stress and coping model of adoption adjustment. In BrodzinskyD., & SchechterM. (Eds.), The psychology of adoption (pp. 3–24). New York: Oxford University Press.
10.
BrodzinskyD. M., SchechterM. D., & HenigR. M. (1992). Being adopted: The lifelong search for self.New York: Doubleday.
11.
BrodzinskyD. M., SingerL. M., & BraffA. M. (1984). Children's understanding of adoption. Child Development, 55, 869–878.
12.
BrodzinskyD. M., SmithD. W., & BrodzinskyA. B. (1998). Children's adjustment to adoption: Developmental and clinical issues.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
13.
BronfenbrennerU. (1979). The ecology of human development.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
14.
BrooksD. (1998). A theoretical review of racial and ethnic identity formation in African American adolescents. Unpublished manuscript available from the author.
15.
BrooksD. (2000). A study of the experiences and psychosocial developmental outcomes of African American adult transracial adoptees. (Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 2000) Dissertation Abstracts International.
16.
BrooksD., & BarthR. P. (1999). Adult transracial and inracial adoptees: Effects of race, gender, adoptive family structure, and placement history on outcomes. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 69, 87–99.
17.
BrooksD., BarthR. P., BussiereA., & PattersonG. (1999). Adoption and race: Implementing the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 and the Interethnic Adoption provisions. Social Work, 44, 167–178.
18.
ButlerI. C. (1989). Adopted children, adoptive families: Recognizing differences. In Combrinck-GrahamL. (Ed.), Children in family contexts (pp. 161–186). New York: Guilford.
19.
CarterE. A., & McGoldrickM. (Eds.). (1980). The family life cycle.New York: Gardner.
20.
CarterE. A., & McGoldrickM. (Eds.). (1999). The expanded family life cycle: Individual, family, and social perspectives.Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
21.
ClarkK. G., & ClarkM. K. (1939). The development of consciousness of self and the emergence of racial identification in Negro preschool children. Journal of Social Psychology, 1, 591–599.
22.
CourtneyM. E. (1997). The politics and realities of transracial adoption. Child Welfare, 76, 749–779.
23.
CrossW. (1971). The Negro-to-Black conversion experience. Black World, 20, 13–27.
24.
CrossW. (1978). The Thomas and Cross models of psychological nigrescence: A literature review. Journal of Black Psychology, 4, 13–31.
25.
CrossW. E., ParhamT. A., & HelmsJ. E. (1995). The stages of Black identity development. In JonesR. L. (Ed.), Black psychology (2nd ed., pp. 319–338). Berkeley, CA: Cobbs & Henry.
26.
CrossW. E., StraussL., & Fhagen-SmithP. (1999). African American identity development across the life span: Educational implications. In SheetsR. H., & HollinsE. R. (Eds.), Racial and ethnic identity in school practices: Aspects of human development (pp. 29–47). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
27.
DeBerryK. M., ScarrS., & WeinbergR. (1996). Family racial socialization and ecological competence: Longitudinal assessments of African-American transracial adoptees. Child Development, 67, 2375–2399.
28.
EriksonE. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. Psychological Issues, 1, 5–163.
29.
EriksonE. H. (1963). Childhood and society.New York: W.W. Norton.
30.
EriksonE. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis.New York: W.W. Norton.
31.
FanshelD. (1972). Far from the reservation: The transracial adoption of American Indian children.Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.
32.
FeigelmanW., & SilvermanA. (1984). The long-term effects of transracial adoption. Social Service Review, 58, 588–602.
33.
Frasch, Brooks, & Barth (2000). Openness and contact in foster care adoptions: An eight-year follow-up. Family Relations, 49(4), 435–446.
34.
GibbsJ. T. (1989). Biracial adolescents. In GibbsJ. T., & HuangL. N. (Eds.), Children of color (pp. 322–350). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
35.
GrowL. J., & ShapiroD. (1974). Black children–White parents: A study of transracial adoption.Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
36.
HajalF., & RosenbergE. G. (1991). The family life cycle in adoptive families. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61, 78–85.
37.
HelmsJ. E. (1984). Toward a theoretical explanation of the effects of race on counseling: A Black and White model. The Counseling Psychologist, 12, 153–165.
38.
HelmsJ. E. (1989). Considering some methodological issues in racial identity counseling research. The Counseling Psychologist, 17, 227–252.
39.
HelmsJ. E. (1990). Black and White racial identity: Theory, research, and practice.New York: Greenwood.
40.
HelmsJ. E. (1992). A race is a nice thing to have.Topeka, KS: Content Communications.
41.
HollingerD. A. (1995). Postethnic America: Beyond multiculturalism.New York: Basic Books.
42.
HollingsworthL. D. (2000). Sociodemographic influences in the prediction of attitudes toward transracial adoption. Families in Society, 81, 92–100.
43.
HoopesJ. L. (1990). Adoption and identity formation. In BrodzinskyD., & SchechterM. (Eds.), The psychology of adoption (pp. 144–166). New York: Oxford University Press.
44.
JacksonB. (1975). Black identity development. Journal of Educational Diversity, 2, 19–25.
45.
KirkH. D. (1964). Shared fate.New York: The Free Press.
46.
LadnerJ. (1977). Mixed families: Adopting across racial boundaries.New York: Anchor.
47.
MarciaJ. E. (1966). Development and validation of ego-identity status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 551–558.
48.
MarciaJ. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In AdelsonJ. (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159–187). New York: Wiley.
49.
McRoyR. G., & ZurcherL. A. (1983). Transracial and inracial adoptees.Springfield, IL: Thomas.
50.
McRoyR. G., ZurcherL. A., LauderdaleM. L., & AndersonR. N. (1982). Self-esteem and racial identity in transracial and inracial adoptees. Social Work, 27, 522–526.
51.
PhinneyJ. S. (1989). Stages of ethnic identity development in minority group adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 9, 34–49.
52.
PhinneyJ. S. (1990). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: A review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 499–514.
53.
PhinneyJ. S. (1993). A three-stage model of ethnic identity development. In BernalM., & KnightG. (Eds.), Ethnic identity: Formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities (pp. 61–79). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
54.
ReitzM., & WatsonK. W. (1992). Adoption and the family system.New York: Guilford.
55.
RootM. P. P. (1990). Resolving “other” status: Identity development of biracial individuals. In BrownL. S., & RootM. P. P. (Eds.), Diversity and complexity in feminist therapy (pp. 185–206). New York: Harrington Park.
56.
RootM. P. P. (1999). The biracial baby boom: Understanding ecological constructions of racial identity in the 21st Century. In SheetsR. H., & HollinsE. R. (Eds.), Racial and ethnic identity in school practices: Aspects of human development (pp. 67–89). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
57.
RosenbergE. B. (1992). The adoption life cycle: The children and their families through the years.New York: The Free Press.
58.
RosenthalJ. A. (1993). Outcomes of adoption of children with special needs. The Future of Children, 3, 77–88.
59.
RoweW., BennettS. K., & AtkinsonD. R. (1994). White racial identity models: A critique and alternative proposal. The Counseling Psychologist, 22, 129–146.
60.
RushtonA., & MinnisH. (1997). Annotation: Transracial family placements. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 147–159.
61.
ShiremanJ., & JohnsonP. (1986). A longitudinal study of Black adoptions: Single parent, transracial, and traditional. Social Work, 31, 172–176.
62.
SilverL. B. (1989). Frequency of adoption in children and adolescents with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22, 325–328.
63.
SimonR. J., & AlsteinH. (1987). Transracial adoptees and their families: A study of identity and commitment.New York: Praeger.
64.
SingerL. M., BrodzinskyD. M., RamsayD., SteirM., & WatersE. (1985). Mother–infant attachment in adoptive families. Child Development, 56, 1543–1551.
65.
SmithD. W., & BrodzinskyD. M. (1994). Stress and coping in adoption: A developmental study. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 23, 91–99.
66.
SpencerM. B., & HorowitzF. D. (1973). Racial attitudes and color concept–attitude modification in Black and Caucasian preschool children. Developmental Psychology, 9, 246–254.
67.
SpencerM. B., & Markstrom-AdamsC. (1990). Identity processes among racial and ethnic minority children in America. Child Development, 61, 290–310.
68.
SteinbergG., & HallB. (2000). Inside transracial adoption: Strength-based, culture-sensitizing parenting strategies for inter-country or domestic adoptive families that don't “match” (pp. 99–190). Indianapolis, IN: Perspective.
69.
StreitmatterJ. L. (1988). Ethnicity as a mediating variable of early adolescent identity development. Journal of Adolescence, 11, 335–346.
70.
ThomasC. (1971). Boys no more.Beverly Hills, CA: Glencoe.
71.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1998). Annual demographic survey.Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census.
72.
VroeghK. (1993). Transracial adoption: What we know. In HearstM. R. (Ed.), Interracial identity: Celebration, conflict, or choice (pp. 17–24). Chicago, IL: Biracial Family Network of Chicago.
73.
ZastrowC. (1977). Outcomes of Black children–White parents transracial adoptions.San Francisco, CA: R&E Research Associates.
