Baden, A. L. (2016). “Do you know your real parents?” and other adoption microaggressions. Adoption Quarterly, 19(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2015.1026012
This paper advances the concept of adoption microaggressions and explores the different stigmas related to adoption and how they manifest for different members of the adoption triad (adopted person, birth parent, and adoptive parent).
Grotevant, H. D. (1997). Coming to terms with adoption: The construction of identity from adolescence into adulthood. Adoption Quarterly, 1(1), 3–27. https://doi.org/10.1300/ J145v01n01_02
This paper integrates the psychological literature on identity with first-person accounts from adopted individuals to introduce a framework for understanding adoptive identity development.
Kim, A. Y., & Lee, R. M. (2020). A critical adoption studies and Asian Americanist integrative perspective on the psychology of Korean adoption. In G. W. Wrobel, E. Helder, & E. Marr (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Adoption (pp. 120-134). Routledge.
This chapter introduces an integrated critical adoption studies and Asian Americanist framework. The framework is then applied in a review of the research on the identity, socialization, and discrimination literature on adopted Korean Americans.
Lee, R. M. (2003). The transracial adoption paradox: History, research, and counseling implications of cultural socialization. The Counseling Psychologist, 31(6), 711-744. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000003258087
This paper presents the transracial adoption paradox, a framework for understanding the racialized experiences of people of color who are adopted into White families. The transracial adoption paradox states that people of color who are adopted into White families are perceived and treated as if they were White by their adoptive families, yet they continue to be racially-minoritized in society. The paper discusses how this paradox informs, and is informed by, cultural socialization practices.
People, Websites, Organizations, and Other Resources
This is a great website for (1) individuals seeking a mental health service provider in New York City, or for (2) mental health professionals looking for consultation, training, or research related to adoption and clinical practice. Dr. Amanda Baden is a clinician in private practice and a professor of psychology at Montclair State University. Dr. Baden was adopted from Hong Kong.
This is a great website for adoptees, adoptive parents, and others impacted by adoption, as well as scholars and practioners. Grace Newton presents an approachable, yet critical, perspective on adoption – especially Chinese international adoption. Grace is a Chinese adoptee and a current graduate student pursuing her PhD in social work.
This is a great website for adoptees, adoptive parents, and others impacted by adoption, as well as scholars and practioners. In her own words, Dr. JaeRan Kim presents “an unapologetic look at transracial and transnational adoption.” Harlow’s Monkey has been one of the most important voices in adoptee online discourse over the last twenty years. Dr. Kim was work in South Korea and adopted to the United States.
This short piece explores the idea that adopted individuals experience a sense of loyalty to their adoptive parents that can harm them. This was originally posted by an anonymous adoptee on the now defunct website, The Lost Daughters.
Frontline and the Associated Press examine fraud and abuse allegations in South Korean international adoption.
Research
Atkin, A. L., & Yoo, H. (2019). Familial racial-ethnic socialization of Multiracial American Youth: A systematic review of the literature with MultiCrit. Developmental Review, 53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2019.100869
This paper applies MultiCrit – a framework derived from Critical Race Theory – to review and critique the literature on Multiracial American Youth. In particular, this paper highlights the role of the monoracial paradigm and intersectionality as important factors to engaging with the extant literature and advancing more critical future research with Multiracial individuals.
Rockquemore, K. A., Brunsma, D. L., & Delgado, D. J. (2009). Racing to theory or retheorizing race? Understanding the struggle to build a multiracial identity theory. Journal of Social Issues, 65(1), 13-34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.01585.x
This paper presents and critiques three historical approaches to understanding multiracial experiences (problem, equivalent, and variant approaches), and then advances a new way to understand multiracial racial experiences – the ecological approach. This paper also presents a tripartite model for discussing how multiracial individuals understand their race – racial category, racial identification, and racial identity.
People, Websites, Organizations, and Other Readings
Dr. Annabelle Atkin’s work focuses on the experiences of diverse youth, with an emphasis on Asian American and Multiracial populations. See above for some of her research!
