The focus of this paper is adoptive identity, the sense of who one is as an adopted person. The paper first considers how identity has been shaped by recent social changes, and then explores the meaning of adoptive identity and its developmental course. Three contexts of development are examined: intrapsychic, the family environment, and contexts beyond the family, including relationships with friends, connection to community, and culture. Implications for professionals who work with adopted persons and for needed research are also discussed.

This article investigates the life conditions that contribute to low-income fathers' depression and that may jeopardize their relationships with their children. This work is based on a cultural-ecological framework that emphasizes the need to understand these fathers within their larger familial and social contexts. The sample consisted of 127 predominantly African American participants in two urban and rural responsible fatherhood programs. Of the fathers, 56% reported depressive symptoms indicating cause for clinical concern. In addition, fathers'resource challenges (unemployment; inability to pay full amount of child support order; limited access to reliable transportation; lack of permanent housing; problems with alcohol or drugs; health problems or disability; and criminal conviction history), residence (rural vs. urban), and level of social support were all significant predictors of fathers' depression. The authors discuss how these findings can be used to guide future programmatic and policy initiatives pertaining to low-income, nonresidential fathers.

The authors present the voices of 20 low-income fathers, all participants in a Responsible Fatherhood (RF) program in a large urban area. A hermeneutic phenomenological methodology was used to document participants' memories of becoming fathers, explain participants' perceptions of the benefits and the barriers to remaining involved with the program, and share participants' suggestions for program improvement. The results provide a preliminary evaluation of the program's services, and we discuss how these findings are helpful to future programmatic and policy initiatives.

Here, we review case law as it applies to parental rights. Specifically, we examine two issues: (a) Who has been awarded the right to parent? and (b) What rights have been bestowed to parents? The review demonstrates how family law in the United States reflects and perpetuates society's ambivalence about family structure and, subsequently, parental rights and responsibilities. On the basis of this analysis, we recommend a broadened legal perspective that not only communicates society's expectation of responsible parenting but, in addition, gives legal recognition to diverse family forms in which members carry out these responsibilities. C hanging family demographics in the United States have created new contexts for those assuming responsibility for childrearing. Growing numbers of adoptive, stepparent, grandparent-led, heterosexual cohabiting, gay and lesbianheaded families, and families formed through new reproductive technologies call into question assumptions regarding who has the right and responsibility to parent children-a role that historically has been entrusted to biological mothers and fathers. Indeed, although the rights of biological parents to assume the parental role are quite clear in most judicial decisions and state and federal statutes, other family members do not have such clear standards by which to ''parent'' or maintain meaningful relationships with related children. Thus, changing family structures have fueled new legal debates over the rights and responsibilities of parents and other family members. Although these debates are the outgrowth of somewhat different social concerns, underlying all is the basic question of who is responsible for childrearing and what are their rights in assuming this responsibility.Our purpose here is to review case law as it applies to parental rights. We specifically address two questions: (a) Who has been awarded the right to parent? and (b) What rights have been bestowed to parents? The issues inherent in these questions are fundamental to contemporary family life. They play an important role in defining the basic question of what constitutes a family and also influence how families interact with the larger systems in which they live. Our review demonstrates how family law in the United States has reflected and perpetuated society's ambivalence about family structure and, subsequently, parental rights and responsibilities. On the basis of this analysis, we recommend a broadened legal perspective that communicates society's expectation of responsible parenting and also gives legal recognition to diverse family forms in which members carry out these responsibilities.

ࡗ Adopted Adolescents' Preoccupation With Adoption:The Impact on Adoptive Family Relationships This study examines the relationship between the intensity of adopted adolescents' thinking about their adoptions and their adoptive family relationships. Participants included 135 adopted adolescents involved in an ongoing study of openness in adoption. Adolescents who reported high levels of preoccupation with adoption reported greater alienation from their adoptive fathers than did adolescents who reported moderate or low levels of preoccupation. Adolescents with extremely high levels of preoccupation reported significantly higher levels of alienation and significantly lower levels of trust for their adoptive mothers and fathers than adolescents with extremely low levels of preoccupation. These findings, along with the divergences between adolescents' perceptions of dyadic and overall family relationships, are discussed in terms of how they relate to the process of adoptive identity exploration.