Identity and the In-between Space in Transracial Adoptee Literature

Identity and the In-between Space in Transracial Adoptee Literature
Author: Wendy Michelle Owens
Publisher:
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2018
Genre: Adopted children
ISBN:

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Within the past few years, adoptees have been challenging the positive adoption narratives about them by implementing corrective action movements through various scholarly, literary, and rhetorical media in order to claim their voices and agency. Exploring such movements, this dissertation focuses on several significant books about transnational adoption. These works are: Perpetual child: dismantling the stereotype; Outsiders within: writing on transracial adoption; Flip the script: adult adoptee anthology; Lucky girl: a memoir; Ghost of Sangju: a memoir of reconciliation; and Fugitive visions: an adoptee's return to Korea. The narratives individually and collectively offer alternative voices in the exploration of identities across borders, cultures, and boundaries in ways that intersect with immigration and ethnic literature. Each book strengthens the intersectionality conversation of transnational adoptees and the importance of understanding their in-between identities as unique. Moreover, each narrative reflects the transnational adoptees' temporary umbrella of white privilege and their 1.5 generation immigration status that set them apart from same-race and transracial domestically-adopted persons as well as their first-generation cohort and second-generation same-aged peers. Focusing on these dynamics, this dissertation attempts to privilege transnational adoptee books and scholarship that work to shift the conversations about orphan/adoptees to those created by adoptees. It aims to make a space for their missing voices.

Bitterroot

Bitterroot
Author: Susan Devan Harness
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2020-03-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1496219570

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2019 High Plains Book Award Winner for the Creative Nonfiction and Indigenous Writer categories In Bitterroot Susan Devan Harness traces her journey to understand the complexities and struggles of being an American Indian child adopted by a white couple and living in the rural American West. When Harness was fifteen years old, she questioned her adoptive father about her “real” parents. He replied that they had died in a car accident not long after she was born—except they hadn’t, as Harness would learn in a conversation with a social worker a few years later. Harness’s search for answers revolved around her need to ascertain why she was the target of racist remarks and why she seemed always to be on the outside looking in. New questions followed her through college and into her twenties when she started her own family. Meeting her biological family in her early thirties generated even more questions. In her forties Harness decided to get serious about finding answers when, conducting oral histories, she talked with other transracial adoptees. In her fifties she realized that the concept of “home” she had attributed to the reservation existed only in her imagination. Making sense of her family, the American Indian history of assimilation, and the very real—but culturally constructed—concept of race helped Harness answer the often puzzling questions of stereotypes, a sense of nonbelonging, the meaning of family, and the importance of forgiveness and self-acceptance. In the process Bitterrootalso provides a deep and rich context in which to experience life.

The Space Between

The Space Between
Author: Kristen Denise McCully
Publisher:
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2007
Genre: Adoptees
ISBN:

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Kin of Another Kind

Kin of Another Kind
Author: Cynthia Callahan
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2011-02-16
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0472027913

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"The study of transracial adoption has long been dominated by historians, legal scholars, and social scientists, but with the growth of the lively field of humanistic adoption studies comes a growing understanding of the importance of cultural representations to the social meanings and even the practices of adoption itself . . . This book makes a valuable contribution in showing how important the theme of adoption has been throughout the twentieth century in representations of race relations, and in showing that the adoption theme has served to challenge racial norms as well as uphold them." ---Margaret Homans, Yale University The subject of transracial adoption seems to be enjoying unprecedented media attention of late, particularly as white celebrities have made headlines by adopting children of color from overseas. But interest in transracial adoption is nothing new---it has long occupied a space in the public imagination, a space disproportionate with the number of people actually adopted across racial lines. Even before World War II, when transracial adoption was neither legally nor socially sanctioned, American authors wrote about it, often depicting it as an "accident"---the result of racial ambiguity that prevented adopters from knowing who is white or black. After World War II, as the real-world practice of transracial and international adoption increased, American literary representations of it became an index not only of the changing cultural attitudes toward adoption as a way of creating families but also of the social issues that informed it and made it, at times, controversial. Kin of Another Kind examines the appearance of transracial adoption in American literature at certain key moments from the turn of the twentieth century to the turn of the twenty-first to help understand its literary and social significance to authors and readers alike. In juxtaposing representations of African American, American Indian, and Korean and Chinese adoptions across racial (and national) lines, Kin of Another Kind traces the metaphorical significance of adoption when it appears in fiction. At the same time, aligning these groups calls attention to their unique and divergent cultural histories with adoption, which serve as important contexts for the fiction discussed in this study. The book explores the fiction of canonical authors such as William Faulkner and Toni Morrison and places it alongside lesser-known works by Robert E. Boles, Dallas Chief Eagle (Lakota), and Sui Sin Far that, when reconsidered, can advance our understanding both of adoption in literature and of twentieth-century American literature in general. Kin of Another Kind will appeal to students and scholars in adoption in literature, American literature, and comparative multiethnic literatures. It adds to the growing body of work on adoption in literature, which focuses on orphancy and adoption in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Cynthia Callahan is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Ohio State University, Mansfield.

Transracial Adoptees and Their Families

Transracial Adoptees and Their Families
Author: Howard Altstein
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 164
Release: 1987-01-19
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0313366810

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Transracial adoption is a controversial area of research and practice in child welfare. The authors, a sociologist and a social worker, have contributed much to its understanding through a series of studies that began in 1972 of white families that have adopted nonwhite (mostly black) children. This book reports on the latest phase of their research, which was based on interviews with most of the families and adoptees in the original sample. The purpose of the interviews was to explore the adoptees' racial identities and self-esteem, and the long-term effects of transracial adoption on the adoptees and their families. The authors present their findings in a clear, vivid, and coherent manner; objectively examine the issues raised by the study; and thoughtfully formulate implications for policy and practice. The study supports their major conclusion that `where no appropriate permanent inracial placement can be found for a non-white child . . . transracial adoption should be seriously considered.' A timely, unique, and sophisticated work that should be read widely by students, practitioners, and policymakers in child welfare. Choice Reporting on the third phase of a 14-year study of transracial adoption, this volume focuses on the adoption of non-white children by white families. It includes personal interviews with 96 mothers and fathers and 218 children which help to answer questions about the long-term effects of transracial adoption on the adoptees' mental and emotional health and their racial identities. These valuable empirical data are combined with discussions of the practices of adoption agencies, recent court rulings, and alternative forms of adoption.

Transracial Adoption, Identity, and Racism in the United States

Transracial Adoption, Identity, and Racism in the United States
Author: Kyrai E. Antares
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2023-06-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1666914606

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Transracial Adoption, Identity, and Racism in the United States: Between Two Worlds places racial literacy and anti-racism at the center of the transracial adoption debate. The author argues that transracial adoption stems from systemic issues of racial injustice, and that those problems will not be solved quickly, for they are still being realized. While the work to raise awareness of and correct the disproportionate number of Black children in foster care is done, transracial adoption will continue to occur. In the meantime, the author suggests an intentional examination of the narratives of Black transracial adoptees' experiences of race to learn about the racial socialization in transracial adoptive households during childhood, teen years, and into adulthood. Adoptees share what they learned about race in White families, what they needed in terms of racial socialization that they didn't get, the myriad feelings they have toward their families, and how they make sense of race in their lives as young adults in the United States. The stories told by adoptees in this book are centered to inspire a change in how transracial adoption is approached by White parents, adoption professionals, social workers, researchers, and counseling psychologists.

Adoption, Race, and Identity

Adoption, Race, and Identity
Author:
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 245
Release:
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1412816467

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Adoption, Race, and Identity is a long-range study of the impact of interracial adoption on those adopted and their families. Initiated in 1972, it was continued in 1979, 1984, and 1991. Cumulatively, these four phases trace the subjects from early childhood into young adulthood. This is the only extended study of this controversial subject. Simon and Altstein provide a broad perspective of the impact of transracial adoption and include profiles of the families involved in the study. They explore and compare the experiences of both the parents and the children. They identify families whose adoption experiences were problematic and those whose experiences were positive. Finally, the study looks at the insights the experience of transracial adoption brought to the adoptive parents and what advice they would pass on to future parents adopting children from different racial backgrounds. They include the reflections of those adopted included in the 1972 first phase, who are now adults themselves. This second edition includes a new concluding chapter that updates the fourth and last phase of the study. The authors were able to locate 88 of the 96 families who participated in the 1984 study. Bringing together all four phases of this twenty-year study into one volume gives the reader a richer and deeper understanding of what the experience of transracial adoption has meant for the parents, the adoptees, and children born into the families studied. This landmark work, will be of compelling interest to social workers, policy makers, and professionals and families involved on all sides of interracial adoption. Rita J. Simon is university professor in the School of Public Affairs at the Washington College of Law at American University. She is editor of the journal Gender Issues and author of The American Jury, The Insanity Defense: A Critical Assessment of Law and Policy in the Post-Hinckley Era (with David Aaronson), In the Golden Land: A Century of Russian and Soviet Jewish Immigration, Social Science Data and Supreme Court Decisions (with Rosemary Erickson), and Abortion: Statutes, Policies, and Public Attitudes the World Over. Howard Altstein, a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, is the co-author of Intercountry Adoption: A Multinational Perspective. He has also collaborated with Rita Simon on their twenty-year study of transracial adoption.

Adoption, Race, and Identity

Adoption, Race, and Identity
Author: William Laufer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2017-09-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351533827

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Adoption, Race, and Identity is a long-range study of the impact of interracial adoption on those adopted and their families. Initiated in 1972, it was continued in 1979, 1984, and 1991. Cumulatively, these four phases trace the subjects from early childhood into young adulthood. This is the only extended study of this controversial subject.Simon and Altstein provide a broad perspective of the impact of transracial adoption and include profiles of the families involved in the study. They explore and compare the experiences of both the parents and the children. They identify families whose adoption experiences were problematic and those whose experiences were positive. Finally, the study looks at the insights the experience of transracial adoption brought to the adoptive parents and what advice they would pass on to future parents adopting children from different racial backgrounds. They include the reflections of those adopted included in the 1972 first phase, who are now adults themselves.This second edition includes a new concluding chapter that updates the fourth and last phase of the study. The authors were able to locate 88 of the 96 families who participated in the 1984 study. Bringing together all four phases of this twenty-year study into one volume gives the reader a richer and deeper understanding of what the experience of transracial adoption has meant for the parents, the adoptees, and children born into the families studied. This landmark work, will be of compelling interest to social workers, policy makers, and professionals and families involved on all sides of interracial adoption.

In Their Voices

In Their Voices
Author: Rhonda M. Roorda
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2015-11-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0231540485

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While many proponents of transracial adoption claim that American society is increasingly becoming "color-blind," a growing body of research reveals that for transracial adoptees of all backgrounds, racial identity does matter. Rhonda M. Roorda elaborates significantly on that finding, specifically studying the effects of the adoption of black and biracial children by white parents. She incorporates diverse perspectives on transracial adoption by concerned black Americans of various ages, including those who lived through Jim Crow and the Civil Rights era. All her interviewees have been involved either personally or professionally in the lives of transracial adoptees, and they offer strategies for navigating systemic racial inequalities while affirming the importance of black communities in the lives of transracial adoptive families. In Their Voices is for parents, child-welfare providers, social workers, psychologists, educators, therapists, and adoptees from all backgrounds who seek clarity about this phenomenon. The author examines how social attitudes and federal policies concerning transracial adoption have changed over the last several decades. She also includes suggestions on how to revise transracial adoption policy to better reflect the needs of transracial adoptive families. Perhaps most important, In Their Voices is packed with advice for parents who are invested in nurturing a positive self-image in their adopted children of color and the crucial perspectives those parents should consider when raising their children. It offers adoptees of color encouragement in overcoming discrimination and explains why a "race-neutral" environment, maintained by so many white parents, is not ideal for adoptees or their families.

BirthMarks

BirthMarks
Author: Sandra Lee Patton
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2000-11
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 081476682X

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"[An] empathetic study of the meanings of cross-racial adoption to adoptees."—Law and Politics Book Review Can White parents teach their Black children African American culture and history? Can they impart to them the survival skills necessary to survive in the racially stratified United States? Concerns over racial identity have been at the center of controversies over transracial adoption since the 1970s, as questions continually arise about whether White parents are capable of instilling a positive sense of African American identity in their Black children. Through in-depth interviews with adult transracial adoptees, as well as with social workers in adoption agencies, Sandra Patton, herself an adoptee, explores the social construction of race, identity, gender, and family and the ways in which these interact with public policy about adoption. Patton offers a compelling overview of the issues at stake in transracial adoption. She discusses recent changes in adoption and social welfare policy which prohibit consideration of race in the placement of children, as well as public policy definitions of "bad mothers" which can foster coerced aspects of adoption, to show how the lives of transracial adoptees have been shaped by the policies of the U.S. child welfare system. Neither an argument for nor against the practice of transracial adoption, BirthMarks seeks to counter the dominant public view of this practice as a panacea to the so-called "epidemic" of illegitimacy and the misfortune of infertility among the middle class with a more nuanced view that gives voice to those directly involved, shedding light on the ways in which Black and multiracial adoptees articulate their own identity experiences.