Negotiating Identity and Pragmatism: Parental Treatment of International Adoptees' Birth Culture Names (original) (raw)
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Names and naming in adoption: Birth heritage and family‐making
Child & Family Social Work, 2020
In this article, we consider the significance and practices of names and naming in adoption, to develop understanding of the issue amongst scholars, policy makers, adoption practitioners, and adoption communities. Research on the topic of names and adoption is scarce and focused mostly on international and domestic adoptions in the United States. We draw on the research literature to critically explore names and naming in adoption through two recurrent and related themes. The first is 'birth heritage', where names, forenames especially, are shown to be important in the approach taken by adopters to their child's birth family and cultural identity. The second theme is 'family-making', where namesaking and homogeneity of surname emerge, amongst others, as strategies to create, sustain and display 'family'. In gathering together for the first time an otherwise scattered, disparate body of research, our article showcases names and naming as illuminating distillations of key contemporary challenges experienced by families formed through adoption. We conclude our article by considering emergent gaps in existing knowledge and understanding about names, naming and adoption that might usefully be addressed, to inform professional advice and familial decisions about names, and enhance outcomes for adoptees and their families.
Discursive Negotiation of Family Identity: A Study of U.S. Families with Adopted Children from China
Journal of Family Communication, 2008
Research suggests that social interactions may challenge the identity of families with adopted children from China. Yet, both the extent of challenge experienced, and how families negotiate these interactions remains unknown. Thus, this project investigates the degree to which questions or comments from others either support or challenge family identity, as well as the degree to which response strategies used by parents either support or challenge family identity. A volunteer national sample of 245 parents with adopted children from China completed a survey with both closed- and open-ended questions. This study found that the majority of comments and questions were experienced as challenging. Simultaneously, language functioned as a resource for parents to respond in ways that validated the family as a construct and the relations between members as familial.
2018
Changes in the repertoire of first names represent a cultural product of multiculturalism. As societies become increasingly diverse, choices of names can be construed and examined in the context of cultural identifications and acculturation strategies employed by bicultural individuals. This dissertation provides the first empirical investigation of baby-naming choices and preferences among bicultural individuals using a cultural psychological lens. The studies reported employ mixed-methods and build from different theoretical approaches. The quantitative studies allow for testing important predictors of baby-naming preferences and choices, whereas the qualitative data provide a richer understanding of the phenomenon. Study 1 (N = 71) provided initial evidence of how issues of cultural identity and pragmatism affected choices of baby names among a culturally diverse group of parents. Studies 2a (South Asian Canadians; N = 326) and 2b (Iranian Canadians; N = 126) examined four key predictors of babyname preferences. Across both samples, stronger acculturation to heritage culture and motivation for ethno-cultural continuity predicted stronger preference for ethnic names. Preferences for mainstream names were predicted by both stronger acculturation to mainstream Canadian culture and greater concerns about negative consequences of ethnic names. Study 3 (N = 211) surveyed a group of primarily first-generation immigrants of an Indian background living in three English speaking countries: Canada, the United States, and the UK. This study also examined two new predictors of baby-naming choices, namely ethnic pride, and perceptions of names as markers of cultural identity. Results overall supported previous findings about the role of both identity and pragmatic motivations in baby naming choices, although the pattern of relationships varied slightly. Two exploratory mediational models illustrate possible pathways through which these identity and pragmatic concerns relate to name choices. Qualitatively, we provide additional support for how names are used as a means of signalling cultural group membership, displaying Dedication To my wonderful parents, Vjollca Rakipaj and Xhelal Cila. None of this would have been possible without your love and support and your many sacrifices through the years. I am forever grateful! Dedikim Për mamin dhe babin. Çdo sukses imi akademik ka zanafillën tek ju. Pa dashurinë, mbështetjen dhe sakrificat tuaja ndër vite nuk do të kisha arritur dot këtu ku jam sot. Ju dua shumë dhe ju jam mirënjohëse përjetë! v Acknowledgements The successful completion of this thesis, and the PhD itself, would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of my amazing supervisor, Richard Lalonde. There is a lot I have learned from him that has made me a better researcher. What I've come to value the most, however, is his kindness and generosity, which have touched the lives of many. I couldn't have asked for a better supervisor! My gratitude extends to my committee members: Joni Sasaki and Raymond Mar, for their thoughtful insights, as well as for their support in the timely completion of this thesis. Further, I would like to thank the other members of the examining committee-Ben Kuo, Regina Schuller and Hala Tamim-for providing unique and challenging perspectives on the topic. I would also like to thank all my friends, for being there for me when I needed to share my enthusiasm and frustration along the way. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank my family: my children, Laura and Leo, for bringing so much joy to my life and for being an inspiration to this very thesis. Many thanks go to my husband, Indrit, for being such a good dad to our kids and for making me laugh when I least expect it. A very big thank you goes to my mom, Vjollca, and my mother-in-law, Sadete, for never hesitating to hop on a flight whenever we needed their help with taking care of the kids. Another thank you goes out to my dad, Xhelal, and my father-in-law, Shyqyri, for supporting us in any way they could. I feel grateful that my children have such wonderful grandparents. This long journey has been made better by my wonderful brother, Fejzi-thank you for being the best brother I could wish for, and an amazing uncle! Finally, I'd like to thank my sister-in-law, Silvana, and her family; they too have been part of this important milestone.
Activities that promote ethnic identity development in transnational adoptees
2018
Transnational adoption is a common practice in the United States, with American families adopting hundreds of thousands of children born in other countries over the last 50 years. Most of these adoptions represent transcultural and transracial adoptions, and both families and adoptees frequently engage in cultural and identity exploration activities, such as adoption camps, birth country travel, education classes, holiday celebrations, promoting friendships with other adoptees, and birth country language learning. This dissertation sought to explore the impact that these different exploration strategies had on ethnic identity resolution of adoptees. Following a Multiple Article Path (MAP) format, this dissertation utilized data from three separate studies to explore this question. Chapter 2 incorporated mixed methods research with 22 adopted Chinese teens attending an adoption camp. Chapter 3 was a qualitative study with 10 adult adoptees from a variety of different birth countries exploring their perspectives on different identity exploration activities. Chapter 4 was a quantitative study of adult adoptees, looking for correlations between a resolved sense of ethnic identity and birth country travel, language learning, and friendship with other adoptees. Key findings from these studies include (a) adoptees value adoption camp, and that friendships with other adoptees are important; (b) travel to one's birth country is important to many adoptees, and the meaning and value of travel can vary over time; and (c) birth country language learning is positively correlated with resolved ethnic identity. To my daughter Molly, for being the best thing that ever happened to your dad and me. I am with you now and always as you explore, have questions, and figure out what being adopted, American, and Chinese means for you.
Child & Family Social Work, 2013
We examined the perceptions of adoption and related issues in 68 families with internationally adopted children in Spain (48 transracial and 20 same-race adoptions). The adopted children, between the ages of 8 and 12 years, and their parents answered questions about the children's thoughts and feelings about adoption. Descriptive data and scores on four scales -family, adoption, birth culture identity and discrimination -were obtained. Compared with same-race adoptees, transracial adoptees scored significantly higher on birth culture identity and perceived discrimination. High levels of convergence between the children's and parents' viewpoints on the experiences of adoption and related issues were found. Nevertheless, the adopted children scored higher than their parents on birth culture identity, suggesting that at this age adoptive parents may underestimate their children's connection to their cultural origins. In contrast, the samerace adoptees scored significantly lower on perceived discrimination than their mothers. We conclude that at this age adoptive parents should acknowledge their adopted child's daily-life experiences regarding cultural identity with the birth country and discrimination.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2011
This interpretive study utilized Owen’s ((1985) Thematic metaphors in relational communication: A conceptual framework, The Western Journal of Speech Communication, 49, 1–13) metaphoric approach to identify and understand the cognitive structures undergirding transracial, international adoptive parents’ sense-making and management of familial and personal identities during interactions that challenge familial and personal identities. Twelve focus groups with 69 parents with adopted children from either Vietnam or China were examined inductively. The results found the metaphors of adoptive parent as protector and adoptive parent as educator manifest in parental discourse. Protectors aim to guard identity, enacting defensive, somewhat reactive discourse, meeting invasive remarks straight-on, using confrontational, strategic, and toughening discourse. Seeking to build identity, educators enact less reactive and more intentional discourse through discourses of preparation, modeling, and debriefing. Based on these findings, we suggest improvements to pre-adoptive training.
Adolescence is a time in a person’s life marked by many changes. These changes often affect the physical, emotional, intellectual and social state of the individual at a time where fitting in is never more important. Making sense of the developing self-identity is complicated by many factors each of which affects the individual to varying degrees. In particular, Chinese transnational adoptees face the additional challenge of searching for their place in a missing family and culture for which they have little to no information. Their narratives are often incomplete, truncated and undiscoverable before their abandonment. The primary focus of this study is to understand the extent of the influence their adoption status has on the development of cultural and ethnic self-identity development for Chinese transnational adoptees raised in American homes. Although some adoptees prefer to think of adoption as a one-time event and not an ongoing phenomena; it remains that their status as an adoptee influences the self-identity development and narrative construction challenges they face throughout their lifetime. This study asks its participants to reflect back on early memories of family and self narrative, cultural experiences and encounters of racism and early sense of self in addition to discussing the ways in which they make meaning now from these earlier experiences. This study asks the following four research questions: 1) What issues surrounding adoption do Chinese transnational adoptees raised in American homes believe to be critical in understanding their self-identity? 2) In what ways does transnational adoption affect the (co)construction of the personal and family narrative of the adoptee? 3) How does the meaning transnational adoptees make of their multi-layered early narratives impact their self-identity? 4) In what ways do American educational institutions impact ethnic/cultural identity and narrative construction on Chinese transnational adoptees? This study used an illustrative sequential mixed-methods design and grounded theory to investigate the ethnic and cultural self-identity and (co)constructed narratives of Chinese adopted adolescent females raised in American homes. It was conducted in three parts in the following order: 1) the survey (n=36), 2) the initial interviews (n=5) and 3) the case studies (n=4) from February 2013 to October 2014. This study found that identity is complex and multi-layered and that the socio-political and cultural socialization practices of the adoptive family influences its development. Additionally, early, frequent and open dialogue among the adoptive family eases later adoptee struggles with identity. This study also indicated that adoptees with an Asian adoptive parent had higher levels of authentic culture exposure and greater fluidity of identity. Furthermore, multicultural curriculum impacts how the adoptee is able to connect to their learning and provides a way to become culturally relevant to their peers. People who may find this study beneficial include; adoptees, adoptive families, adoption professionals and policy makers, mental health practitioners and educational professionals. Future research should include larger sample sizes to increase generalizability and longitudinal study for deeper understanding of identity development over time. Keywords: ethnic identity, Chinese adoptee, model minority myth, multicultural education, cultural socialization, international adoption, transracial family
Parental Naming Practices in Same‐Sex Adoptive Families
Family Relations, 2019
To explore the ways in which same-sex adoptive parents navigate the process of determining what terms their children will use to address them (i.e., parent names). Background: Parent names are markers of familial relationships and identity. Different-sex parents are linguistically privileged in that their parent names are widely recognizable, easily distinguishable between each parent, and usually assigned by default as opposed to chosen, whereas parents in same-sex couples must go through a deliberate process of choosing parent names. Little is known about the naming process for same-sex parents. Method: This qualitative analysis was designed to explore 40 same-sex adoptive parent couples' approaches to parent naming (20 gay couples, 20 lesbian couples). Results: Most couples collaboratively selected parallel names (e.g., "Daddy" and "Papa"). Participants drew on traditional mother and father derivatives, as well as their cultural backgrounds and naming trends within queer family communities. Families who adopted older children navigated unique issues. Conclusion: This study adds to the literatures on same-sex parenting, adoptive parenting, and naming. Families highlighted the perceived importance of parallel names and collaborative naming processes; the consideration of cultural