Outcomes of Transracial Adoption

Abstract

In the United States, the first transracial adoption placements in substantial numbers were of Japanese and Chinese children following World War II. During the 1950s, after the Korean War, Korean children were adopted by American families in large numbers. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, more than 10,000 African-American children were adopted by white parents. Subsequently, however, this practice decreased dramatically in response to strong condemnation by many African-American social workers and others.Research on transracial adoption indicates that most minority children in transracial placement adjust very well to their mixed-race environments. Delay in placement and preplacement physical and emotional problems have a negative impact on the development and adjustment of these children. Most transracial adoptees have a sense of identity with their racial heritage, but the strength of this identity depends, to a large degree, on the commitment of the adoptive parents to foster it.In view of the growing number of minority children in need of permanent homes, it is urged that transracial adoption be retained as one viable alternative.

Formal and informal child placements: Some considerations from a cross-­cultural prospection on their frequency and motivations.

“…Thus, largely dealing with our known explicit formal transfers, we may find a plethora of academic approaches tackling with many different dimensions of such phenomenon, sometimes closely connected with further or parallel developments. For example the perception and conformation of identity(ies) among adoptees (Noy-Sharav, 2005) has led to explore the role of the racial and ethnic identity concerning the relationships between adoptive parents and their non-biological offspring, especially in transracial adoption (Dorow, 2006;Grice, 2005;Briggs, 2003;Westhues & Cohen, 1998;Silverman, 1993). Moreover, such studies have launched the interest on the perception and experiences of ethnic, national and familiar identities in different -though complementarycontexts (i.e.…”

Implications of adolescent development upon transracial adoptees

“…Accordingly, many researchers have raised questions about the implications of adoption on adolescent development. For the most part, empirical research conducted in this area has reported positive outcomes (or similar outcomes as non-adopted counterparts) for adopted individuals (Brodzinksy, Smith, & Brodzinsky, 1998;Finley, 1999;McRoy & Zurcher, 1983;Silverman, 1993;Simon & Alstein, 1992), particularly compared to forms of institutional care (Feigelman and Silverman, 1984;Schorr, 2000;Burrow and Finley, 2001). …”

“…Insofar as same race adoptions have been used in comparison with transracial adoptions, empirical research has generally indicated that these two groups do not significantly differ with regards to adjustment issues (McRoy & Zurcher, 1983;Triseliotis, Shireman, & Hundleby, 1997;Silverman, 1993;Simon & Alstein, 1992). Despite these findings, however, significant criticism remains within the literature regarding the purported inability of parents of one race to facilitate positive developmental outcomes for their adopted children of a different race.…”

“…While the term transracial adoption (TRA) denotes the joining of parents of one race and children of a different race together in adoptive families, in the United States it typically involves white families adopting minority children (Silverman, 1993).…”

“…Overwhelmingly, the majority of published studies on transracial adoption suggest that racial differences between parents and children alone, is not harmful to the adaptive development of children (Silverman, 1993). Stated differently, the vast majority of the findings continue to suggest that black children adopted by white parents are equally as likely to experience successful adjustments to adoption as their intraracially adopted counterparts.…”