Transracial adoption: white American adoptive mothers’ constructions of social capital in raising their adopted children

The ethnic identity complexity of transculturally placed foster youth in the Netherlands

“…Ethnic losses, including decreased ethnic language abilities, lead to difficulties connecting with birth parents or school peers with a same-ethnic background. According to Barn (2018) work on adoption, the social capital of adoptive parents in transcultural settings and the possibilities that adoptive parents and their children have within their networks to bond or bridge with people with minority ethnic backgrounds are important for the ethnic identity development of their children. In our sample, many foster families lacked this "social capital" and consequently offered little guidance in regard to ethnic (minority) socialization.…”

“…This also shows why some youth expressed relatively little (be)longing to their minority ethnicity, as their contact with their birth parents was problematic, limited, or nonexistent. In the cases in which the foster parents established a positive connection between the foster youth and their birth parents, the latter functioned as social capital in the process of ethnic identity development, and this was realized through a process of bridging cultural differences between foster parents and birth parents and bonding between birth parents and their children (Barn, 2018). Two cultural worlds became more converged, which seemed to contribute to less ethnic identity confusion (LaFromboise et al, 1993;Roccas & Brewer, 2002).…”

Adoption Experiences and the Tracing and Narration of Family Genealogies

“…Moreover, such a search will be governed by and manifested in a range of states and emotions, including the need for belonging, identity, physical symmetry (body image/mirror image), and ancestral knowledge. Scholars in the study of domestic and international adoption, particularly transracial adoption, have identified these areas as crucial Barn , 2018Feast and Philpot 2003;Godon et al 2014;Lee 2003Lee , 2016Docan-Morgan 2017;Varzally 2017;Choy 2018;Rehberg 2015). We would like to argue that searching for birth roots does not necessarily suggest serious concerns around confusion, distress, and mental health difficulties.…”

“I Always Wanted to Look at Another Human and Say I Can See That Human in Me”: Understanding Genealogical Bewilderment in the Context of Racialised Intercountry Adoptees

“…Moreover, such a search will be governed by and manifested in a range of states and emotions, including the need for belonging, identity, physical symmetry (body image/mirror image), and ancestral knowledge. Scholars in the study of domestic and international adoption, particularly transracial adoption, have identified these areas as crucial (Barn and Kirton 2012;Barn 2013Barn , 2018Feast and Philpot 2003;Godon et al 2014;Lee 2003Lee , 2016Yngvesson 2010; Docan-Morgan 2017; Varzally 2017; Choy 2018; Rehberg 2015). We would like to argue that searching for birth roots does not necessarily suggest serious concerns around confusion, distress, and mental health difficulties.…”

“…Searching for physical similarity in others is a legitimate need for some adoptees in the development of a positive sense of self, including self-esteem and even more so, arguably, in the case of transracial adoption with regards to intersectionality (Barn 2018). Kim (2018), a South Korean transracial adoptee and scholar in the USA, notes that for transracial adoptees, finding a safe, permanent family is not the end of the adoption journey.…”