Introduction
The number of transracial adoptions in the United States, particularly the adoptions that affect the international states is annually increasing. A profession from the department of counselling psychology is involved in the adoption and acts as a silent voice in both the practice and the research involved in transracial adoption. According to the United States, a study done has explained that transracial adoptions are increasing by about 50% in the last decade. The reason for the increase in the transracial adoptions is due to perspective change involving the matching of races that includes parents who can adopt, and this was a recommendation from the agencies that are involved in adoption. Therefore through transracial adoption, a family can be built, and it’s also termed as a great way to build a family. Generally, transracial adoption can be beautiful, meaningful and enriching experiences for both the adopted child and the adoptive family.
Transracial adoption is based on a paradox that affects either the racial, ethnic minority children who have been adopted. This means that the adoptees are racial and ethnic minorities in society. In some organizations they are treated by members of the organization as if they are majority embers in the community or culture. The adoption into a white family is set to have experiences that are different experiences that nevertheless positive and cater for particular interests for the adoptive families, professional individuals involved in adoption together with the researchers in the United States and Europe over the last 50 years.
Problem statement
What are the consequences that involve the psychological aspects of the growing up in the transracial adoptive family? What are the unique experiences of the transracial adoptees which affect the shape, racial or ethnicity to identify the development? The parents and children efforts to overcome racial and ethnic differences relate to psychological adjustments? Therefore a brief review of both the controversies and history surrounding the transracial adoption in the United States is followed as well as presented in a selected review of the literature that is empirical on the discussion on transracial adoption (Farr, 2013). Through the reviewed research, a cultural organization from a proposed framework is understood in the cultural and psychological dynamics through the pertinent to families involved in transracial adoption.
Background information
The definition of transracial adoption is the joining of different racially that involve parents and children together as an adoptive family. This process is performed through domestic adoption and international adoption. The transracial adoption is considered a visible form of confirmation; this is because of the difference from the physical adoptive parents and adoptee, which are either apparent or immutable (Farr, 2013). Majority of adoptions, the white parents adopt children who are considered racial or ethnic from the minorities in the community. Therefore these racial differences involving both the parents and the children have led to the social and political controversies. Also, the changes in both the domestic and international adoptions involving the different races have affected the children that come from minority communities.
The earliest examples of international, domestic transracial adoption began as a project that involved Indian adoption. This project occurred in the years 1958 and 1967. This was a collaboration project between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) (Grotevant, 2014). This project was designed to remove the children from India from their families on reservations to put efforts in the assimilation of these children into the leading stream society. In the 1960s, the groups that involved child advocacy groups in the United States and Canada as well as initiated programs that include the finding of families that could adopt the orphans from African American children. However, this program had a lot of resistance from the racial minority communities. The National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) went ahead to argue that the transracial adoption involved was in the essence of a form of race and cultural genocide (Grotevant, 2014). Therefore the NABSW passed on a resolution on the year 1972 calling for an end in the transracial adoption that involved the African American Children. The Native American opposition to the Indian Adoption Project because were similar led to an eventful dissolution with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in the year 1978 (Farr, 2013).
The social service agencies and organizations, including the CWLA, were able to respond quickly by revising their standards for the adoption to a preference for the same-race families. This policy led the change in the decrease in the sharpness in the number of Black-White adoptions from 2574 in the year 1971 and to an estimate if 1400 in the year 1987. There no reliable pasts and present in the estimated number of domestic transracial adoptions that do not involve either white or black children (Farr, 2013). The national surveys, today, have explained that the whites and African Americans have both mixed feelings regarding the domestic transracial adoptions.
The purpose of this study
The purpose of this study is to create and discuss the difference and similarities of the transracial adoptions as well as try to find out the many challenges affecting the transracial adoption and the psychological consequences as well. Issues may arise during the transracial adoptions, which are led by the feelings of anxiety, fear, panic, safety, and stress, among other psychological problems (Grotevant, 2014). The adopted children are also likely to be by the healthy parent-child relationships that are improved are included in the healthy transracial adoptive parent-child relationships.
The significance of the study
The study of the transracial adoptions allows siblings to be kept together. This act is important in consideration of transracial adoption and the main goal of adoption. Therefore in transracial adoptions, siblings are kept together, and this reduces incidents and feelings of isolation or the differentness in the experiences involving the adopted children (Robinson, 2012). This study will also allow us to understand the many challenges facing the adoptive parents in which through some individual help the adopted children can cope with these challenges and the development from a positive perspective can be identified (Farr, 2013).
Methodology
Through various surveys regarding the domestic transracial adoption and using data from the CBS News public opinion polls, an example is the Hollingsworth in the year 2000 found out that 84% of African American and 72% Caucasians white men were among the races that were less likely to approve the transracial adoptions (Reinoso, 2013). The National Survey done from the growth of families can also be done before considering or planning on adoption. Therefore reliable and valid measurements involved in racial and ethnic experiences remain a persistent problem in all the studies included in transracial adoptions. The modification and adaptation existence identify measures which were used in the study of transracial adoptions and adult adoptees the need to identify reliable and valid self-report measures and observational methods to access the different types and qualities of cultural socialization (Reinoso, 2013). This includes implicit-explicit attitudes and behaviours, proximal-distal parenting practices and socialization strategies.
Literature review
The cultural socialization that involves the various strategies that are either not exhaustive or very plausible that include the transracial adoptive families can engage in a variety of other approaches to resolve in the paradox involving the transracial adoption. Moreover, the strategy that not necessarily mutually exclusive, in some instances allow the parents to downplay the salience of a child’s race and ethnicity. Still, in some other cases, parents may attempt to teach a child how to be able to protect himself or herself (Robinson, 2012). Therefore a transracial adoptee child may also express strong interests in the birth culture in one minute but deny racial and ethnic differences in another minute. Therefore the psychologists involved in the counselling should be able to consider factors that affect transracial adoptive families in any cultural socialization strategies (Farr, 2013).
Conclusion
The primary purpose in the selective, integrative review was to address some of the psychological and cultural questions raised by the transracial adoption paradox. The current research on the literature considering the psychological outcome the racial and ethnicity development involve the cultural socialization that suggests to both transracial adoptees that include both the domestic and international are psychologically well adjusted. This exhibits variability in their racial and ethnic identification in the development, and along with their parents, they engage in a variety of cultural socialization in the strategies to overcome the transracial paradox.
References
Briggs, L. (2012). Somebody’s children: The politics of transracial and transnational adoption. Duke University Press.
Farr, R. H., & Patterson, C. J. (2013). Lesbian and gay adoptive parents and their children. In LGBT-parent families (pp. 39-55). Springer, New York, NY.
Grotevant, H. D., & McDermott, J. M. (2014). Adoption: Biological and social processes linked to adaptation. Annual review of psychology, 65, 235-265.
Reinoso, M., Juffer, F., & Tieman, W. (2013). Children’s and parents’ thoughts and feelings about adoption, birth culture identity and discrimination in families with internationally adopted children. Child & Family Social Work, 18(3), 264-274.
Robinson, L. (2012). Identity development and transracial/ethnic adoption: some challenges for practice. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 22(1-2), 116-126.