Attachment as Affective Assimilation: Discourses on Love and Kinship in the Context of Transnational Adoption in Denmark

Abstract

This article attempts to initiate a critical dialogue on the politics of love and attachment by investigating the way in which the concept of attachment governs the field of transnational adoption. We take our starting point in an analysis of a collection of background articles, teaching materials, and interviews produced by child psychologists as well as instructions to and testimonies from adopters. Reading the material through Sara Ahmed's notion of affective orientation and Lauren Berlant's critical deconstruction of love, we argue that the texts popularize and instrumentalize John Bowlby's framework of attachment theory in ways that connect attachment to specific notions of love. Even though the aim seems to be the strengthening of intimate familial ties in adoptive families and ensuring feelings of kinship and security for the adoptee, the notion of attachment-as-love simultaneously organizes a narrative logic that positions the adoptee in a deadlock between pathologization and the demand for affective assimilation into the adoptive family. Our reading seeks to invite a more critical approach to notions of the attachment paradigm as an idealized route to affective belonging and psychological well-being for adoptees.

Transnational adoptees in healthcare: barriers, resources, and needs

“…It is also worth mentioning the role of the transnational adoptee in performing so-called affective labor-a labor that, in this case, involves the fulfillment of family dreams and expectations of love and attachment (24) as well as the affirmation of a national self-image of righteousness and colorblindness (44). Returning to the breaches of integrity discussed above, participant descriptions of sudden outbursts of sentimentality among otherwise professional therapists when the topic of adoption is brought up point to the adoptee as a projection screen for various wishes, hopes, and expectations in society.…”

“…Numerous biological, environmental, and societal factors have been suggested to explain the observed differences in mental health between transnational adoptees and non-adoptees; a more detailed account is beyond the scope of this article. As a general tendency, it can be noted that a previous research focus on pre-adoption factors such as adverse environmental impact during pregnancy (17) or maltreatment and neglect at children's institutions (3,16) has more recently been supplemented by a critical view on the contributing role of post-adoption factors such as racism and 'colorblindness' that may leave transnational adoptees having to manage racialized societal stereotypes on their own without much support from their adoptive families or the society at large (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). Even though the exact mechanisms are not fully understood, the increased risk of negative mental health outcomes among transnational adoptees must now-after decades of research output on the topic-be considered an established fact (31).…”

Introduction

“…Researchers examining postcolonialism, indigenous studies scholars, as well as academics, politicians and activists from the 'Global South', have also pointed out that the normative categories governing intimacies, such as monogamy, are often Western phenomena (Monro, 2015;TallBear, 2018). Yet these normativities extend beyond couple relationships, for instance, to widely accepted yet restricted notions of love and attachment that influence, for example, the practices of adoption (Myong and Bissenbakker, 2021). As Irni (2020) argues, calling into question colonialist politics and thinking not only requires a rethinking of Western modes of relating but also the human-centredness of intimacies.…”