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.

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.

No abstract

This two‐part study applied an ecocultural perspective to socialization of daily and long‐term goals in low‐income Mexican‐American and European‐American families with children in third, fifth, and seventh grades. The first part of the study examined family members' participation and parents' socialization goals and guidance strategies for their children's daily household chores and homework activities. The second part of the study examined parents' long‐term aspirations and guidance strategies for their children's educational, vocational, and moral development. For daily activities, results showed that in Mexican‐American families both parents and siblings played important roles, whereas in European‐American families parents were the primary socialization agents. As predicted, in both groups parents' expertise influenced their guidance strategies. Finally, Mexican‐American and European‐American parents differed in their relative endorsement of gender, relational, and self‐reliance goals for household chores. For long‐term goals, parents in both groups held high educational, vocational, and moral aspirations for their children. However, some parents of seventh‐graders had lower educational and vocational aspirations than those of fifth‐ and third‐graders. Although expertise consistently influenced Mexican‐American parents' guidance strategies, the pattern for European‐American parents was mixed. The discussion highlights between‐ and within‐group differences in daily and long‐term socialization practices with an emphasis on resources and vulnerabilities in the families.