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Motivation to adopt transracially is under-researched in the South African context. This paper reports on qualitative psycho-social research, using the life stage model to investigate motivation to adopt in 26 transracially adoptive families, interviewed in focus groups and family interviews. Results indicate that the decision to adopt is complex, and influenced by opportunities and obstacles. Both parent- and child-centered motivations, as well as preferential adoption are endorsed by parents. Preferential adoption and child-centered motivation in the absence of fertility problems create a novel family form, which include both biological and adopted children, for almost half the families interviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a multifaceted exploration of white subjectivity and the social phenomena of whiteness, about which there is a considerable body of psychoanalytic literature spanning decades. Hazel White's "unwound sonnet late on the tide" explores themes of traumatic legacies, family, shame, and mourning. Critical poetic inquiry is used to consider these themes and make links between the poetics of psychoanalytic processes and the psychoanalysis of poetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transracial adoption of children into white communities is a growing phenomenon. Unfortunately, transracially adopted children are more likely to face identity issues, mental health concerns, and racism in white K-12 schools due to their lack of access to understanding, support, and resources. In order for transracially adopted children to thrive academically and emotionally, it is essential that educators become aware of the unique challenges transracial families face. In this paper, we will examine the challenges transracially adopted children face in white K-12 schools and provide strategies for educators to create welcoming learning communities that empower transracially adopted children and their transracial families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experience of adopted college/university students and young adults, and their unique challenges in understanding the development of their personal identities, is an important topic for research and clinical practice with adopted people. This paper examines college and university students' understanding of how their life experiences of being born Asian but being raised in a non-Asian adoptive family have influenced their personal racial identity formation and how this may have affected their choices of study and career. In addition to subjects' responses to a questionnaire, participants completed five peer-reviewed scales that revealed information about how they perceive their racial identities and their efforts to distinguish genetics from environmental influences on their personal identities. This article reports on the key findings that have significance for psychotherapists treating these students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the history, cultural features and issues that therapists and researchers need to be aware of in working with and for Indigenous adoptees. It discusses areas to cover in assessment, including awareness of the ubiquity of dissociation in this population, both culturally normal and trauma induced dissociation. Finally, it offers suggestions for interventions drawing from cultural ceremonies, arts/crafts and other traditions, as well as psychotherapeutic interventions based on building a trusting relationship, ego state therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of Ukrainian children, by US citizens, is examined as the Ukrainian government ceases adoptions of children during the chaos of war. Intercountry adoption dynamics are presented with data from 2021, prior to the conflict in 2022. Then, the situation regarding child rights and the official Ukrainian government position are considered. Implications for guardianship and foster care of unaccompanied refugee minors are presented along with other critical risks to Ukrainian children living in another country. Implications for social work practice are concluded and child rights advocacy is encouraged as a macro intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how the model minority trope impacts the "conditional inclusion" of Chinese adoptees from 1991 to 2015 when mainland China initiated legal overseas Chinese adoption. Intertwined with state-prescribed and sometimes adoptive family's expectation of "a good Asian adoptee," the model minority trope simultaneously reconnects Chinese adoptees to their Asianness, and yet alienates them at the same time among Asian Americans due to their unique status as migrants through adoption. Utilizing an ethnographic approach to narrate Chinese adoptees' stories, I draw on oral history interviews with Chinese adoptees, adoptive parents, and adoption facilitators to elucidate how the model minority trope and lucky one rhetoric complicated Chinese adoptees' lived experiences as adopted Chinese in the United States and their understanding of their ever-evolving identities. Through highlighting the voices of both able-bodied and disable-bodied Chinese adoptees, this article argues that as "non-immigrant immigrants," Chinese adoptees' identities are caught between socially disabling biologism and adoptivism, and Chinese-ness and Americanness. Being physically Chinese and culturally (white) American, Chinese adoptees are culturally alienated from within their adoptive family as well as the outside world due to tenuous Sino-American relations and dominant white culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented which discusses reports within the issue on topics including Asian American disability histories, the challenges faced by Japanese Americans with physical disabilities, and the transracial adoption of physically impaired children from China to the U.S.

Childhood overweight and obesity is a worldwide problem and to treat it parents' detection has to be improved. The MapMe Body Image Scales (BIS) are a visual tool developed to improve parental perception of child weight in the United Kingdon (UK) based on British growth reference criteria. The aim of this study was to make a transcultural adaptation and validation of the MapMe BIS in Spain based on International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut offs A descriptive cross-sectional study was done. First, a translation and cultural adaptation was carried out. A total of 155 10–11-year-old children and their parents participated in this study. Children were measured to calculate their weight status, Body Mass Index (BMI), Body Fat Percentage (BFP) and Waist Circumference (WC), and their parents completed a purpose designed questionnaire about their perception and satisfaction of child's body weight status using the adapted BIS. Test-retest reliability, criterion validity and concurrent validity of the adapted BIS were analyzed. This study shows that the adapted MapMe BIS has good psychometric properties and is a suitable visual scale to assess parental perception of weight status in 10 and 11-year-old children in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increase in media portrayals of transracial adoption, little is understood about how viewers perceive these portrayals. Therefore, 36 interviews were conducted (20 with transracially adoptive parents and 16 with non-transracially-adoptive parents) to discover the perceived realism and learning outcomes of three entertainment transracial adoption portrayals. While transracially adoptive parents were generally more inclined to deem the clips realistic, the two groups reported similar elements of realism/unrealism. In line with social cognitive theory, several learning outcomes were reported by both groups of parents in addition to anticipated positive and negative effects of these portrayals. Results extend the applicability of perceived realism to transracial adoption portrayal and highlight nuances of social cognitive theory and the extended elaboration likelihood model among adoptive and biological parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoptions of Black children by White parents in the United States are rapidly increasing and are a frequent transracial adoptee‐parent combination. With the prevalence of these adoptions, questions arise about White parents' capability to promote the healthy racial‐ethnic identity of their adopted Black child(ren). This study examined if White parents' knowledge of racial‐ethnic identity development impacts their intentions to promote their adopted Black children's racial‐ethnic identity in the context of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). White parents who have adopted, or were in the process of adopting, Black child(ren) (n = 199) completed measures examining their knowledge of racial‐ethnic identity development and their attitudes toward, perceived subjective norms for, perceived behavioral control of, and intentions related to engaging in racial‐ethnic socialization. Parents' intentions to engage in racial‐ethnic socialization were positively correlated with their attitudes toward, subjective norms for, and perceived behavioral control of racial‐ethnic socialization. Knowledge did not predict parents' intentions to engage in racial‐ethnic socialization above and beyond the components of the TPB. Finally, parents who perceived greater subjective norms for and greater behavioral control of racial‐ethnic socialization reported greater intentions to promote the racial‐ethnic identity of their adopted child(ren), and these relationships were particularly strong among parents with relatively low knowledge. Consistent with ideas in the TPB, White transracial adoptive parents' knowledge of racial‐ethnic identity development (alone) may be neither necessary nor sufficient in predicting intentions to engage in racial‐ethnic socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous literature suggests that children removed from home due to parental substance use disorder (SUD) and placed with older adult foster parents are more likely to achieve permanency than children placed with younger foster parents; however, little, if any, literature has examined this trend across racial identities. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the intersectional effects of removal due to parental SUD, child's race/ethnicity, and foster parent age on likelihood of, and time to, child permanency. Methods: Twelve years of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System data were linked to capture all children in the U.S. foster care system between January 1, 2007 and September 30, 2018. Application of multiple sampling procedures resulted in a final analytic sample of 1,943,280. Results: All children with older adult foster parents were more likely to achieve permanency than those with younger foster parents. However, white children with substance-related removals were 17% more likely to achieve permanency when placed with an older adult foster parent than with a younger foster parent. In contrast, children of color with substance-related removals were only 9% more likely to achieve permanency when placed with an older adult foster parent than with a younger foster parent. Conclusions: These findings suggest that older adult foster parents are associated with beneficial effects that may mitigate the deleterious impact of parental SUD on permanency. However, the strength of this protective effect was diminished for children of color. These findings call for attention to the supports available to older adults who foster children of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To read this article, it is important to know that I am a transnational (but not transracial) adoptee and that my Taiwanese birth mother hoped my adoption would give me a "better" life in the United States. I present three interconnected arguments that introduce the concept of a nomencurriculum. The first argument is that my and others' names are infused with multiple ideologies and aspirations. Second, I contend that names are part of a lived curriculum. Lastly, I assert that names are an analytical lens that allows me to examine lived curricula that emerges from names and namings. I do so by studying my own three namings using AsianCrit and decolonial analyses as well as how each (my English given name, Cantonese given name, and Mandarin given/chosen name) represents attempts at assimilation, erasure, and reclamation, respectively. I use critical race archival analyses and rememory of documents from my own adoption case files from Taipei District Court, the Superior Court of California, and a family study of my parents—the only extant records of my namings. Through my examination of my lived and school curricula, I highlight the global contexts and power dynamics that impact students' self-knowledge and their resistance against official discourses. This article, then, elucidates the analytic possibility of a nomencurriculum, which contributes to the field of curriculum studies by considering the power of names and namings. The nomencurriculum provides a way for individuals to engage with their lived curricula within formalized educational spaces that tighten their senses of self and often reinforce state-sanctioned narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercountry adoptees (ICAs) face life-long challenges within their ecological contexts that warrant exploration. Adoptees' visible adoptions make them susceptible to microaggressions. This study examined the relation between racial and adoption microaggressions (RMAs, AMAs) and youths' belonging-to-family among 98 French intercountry adopted adolescents. Moderators of this relation were also explored (visibility, identity connections to country-of-origin or adoption, and parent-adoptee communication challenges). More RMA experiences were correlated with weaker belonging-to-family; logistic regression analyses revealed that stronger identity connections to country-of-origin exacerbated this correlation. The nature of these microaggressions was similar to those noted in previous studies on ICAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classrooms" is a book that advocates for the inclusion of Asian American Studies in elementary education. The authors, who have personal experiences as teachers and scholars from Asian American backgrounds, address the lack of Asian American communities and histories in the U.S. curriculum. The book provides an introduction to teaching Asian American Studies and covers various themes such as identity, immigration, citizenship, war, activism, and contention. While the book does not specifically focus on Southeast Asian communities, it offers valuable content knowledge and resources for educators interested in incorporating Asian American Studies into their curriculum. In a related book review, Jenna Cushing-Leubner emphasizes the importance of teaching Asian American history in elementary classrooms and recommends "The Making of Asian America: A History" by Erika Lee as a valuable resource for educators. Cushing-Leubner highlights the need for diverse perspectives in the curriculum and the potential for this type of education to foster understanding and empathy among students. She also mentions her own research on heritage language and intergenerational trauma. [Extracted from the article]

In the article "Reproduction on the Reservation: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Colonialism in the Long Twentieth Century," historian Brianna Theobald examines the impact of US public policy on the Crow Nation and Native American reproductive practices. The article discusses how colonial policies influenced Native American women's experiences with reproduction, as the reservation system infiltrated their lives and bodies. The author uses oral histories, ethnographic sources, and the experiences of Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail to highlight flaws in the healthcare system and advocate for improvements for Native American women. The text also explores the efforts to assimilate Indigenous birthing practices and the role of missionaries in the destruction of Crow culture. It emphasizes the resistance of Native American women to forced assimilation and the ongoing battle for reproductive justice, emphasizing the importance of understanding these challenges in the context of tribal sovereignty. [Extracted from the article]

This conversation develops ideas about the overlap between childhood studies and adoption studies at the intersection of transnational and transracial adoption, particularly of Korean children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay focuses on Lily, who enacts queerness in Modern Family's portrayal of gay lives. Represented alongside her two white, gay dads, she queers an otherwise homonormative, monoracial family. While various scholars have used queerness to dismantle normative ideas of adoption and kinship, this essay examines instead how transracial adoption's queering potential is mediated through Lily's simultaneous commodification as an adoptee. To that end, this analysis considers how her racial identity is imperfectly mobilized to reflect her parents' sexuality and articulates the ways in which the queerness of transracial adoption must resist the intertwined structures of commodification, colorblindness, and queer liberalism to maintain nonnormative understandings of kinship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representations of adoptions tend to concentrate on normatively conceived forms of identity, which prioritize the genetic lineage of adoptees. In contrast, scholarship on autobiographical writing emphasizes that identities are not fixed but are always in process and intersectional because they are formed in within inequal power relations. Kay's experimental, autobiographical narrative Red Dust Road (2010) tackles the themes of adoption, the search for close relatives, and reunion. Many scholars of her autobiographical writings describe the fluidity of the diasporic adoptee identities created by her. My aim is more specific: I examine what I call Kay's continuously mobile, processual identity construction as a transracial adoptee in Red Dust Road. I argue that her identity formation, which is also intersectional, is interconnected with her multidirectional networks of attachments and the experimental form of her adoption narrative. In addition to an intersectional approach and autobiographical studies, I draw on insights from adoption studies. In my reading of Kay's work, I pay special attention to the inequalities derived from the intersecting vectors of adoption and race, which also intersect with other dimensions of difference, such as nation, gender, class, and sexual orientation. I employ the notion of the multidirectional in the sense in which McLeod applies it to the study of adoption writing. As I demonstrate, multidirectionality and the complex form of Red Dust Road provide versatile means of conveying Kay's fragmented acts of memory, which assist her ongoing mobile, processual identity construction. Her multidirectional lines of transformative attachments finally bond her to her adoptive and biogenetic families as well as other affective connections. While Kay's socially significant narrative indicates, amongst other adoption issues, that transracial adoptions can be successful, it is significant that it has no closure. The last chapter gestures toward potential new beginnings, which indicates that the story of adoption has no end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many people experience withdrawal symptoms when they attempt to stop antidepressants. Withdrawal symptoms are readily misconstrued for relapse or ongoing need for medication, contributing to long-term use (> 12 months). Long-term antidepressant use is increasing internationally yet is not recommended for most people. Long-term use is associated with adverse effects including weight gain, sexual dysfunction, lethargy, emotional numbing and increased risk of falls and fractures. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of two multi-strategy interventions (RELEASE and RELEASE+) in supporting the safe cessation of long-term antidepressants, estimate cost-effectiveness, and evaluate implementation strategies. Methods: Design: 3-arm pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial effectiveness-implementation hybrid type-1. Setting: primary care general practices in southeast Queensland, Australia. Population: adults 18 years or older taking antidepressants for longer than 1 year. Practices will be randomised on a 1.5:1:1 ratio of Usual care:RELEASE:RELEASE+. Intervention: RELEASE for patients includes evidence-based information and resources and an invitation to medication review; RELEASE for GPs includes education, training and printable resources via practice management software. RELEASE+ includes additional internet support for patients and prescribing support including audit and feedback for GPs. Outcome measures: the primary outcome is antidepressant use at 12 months self-reported by patients. Cessation is defined as 0 mg antidepressant maintained for at least 2 weeks. Secondary outcomes: at 6 and 12 months are health-related quality of life, antidepressant side effects, well-being, withdrawal symptoms, emotional numbing, beliefs about antidepressants, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms; and at 12 months 75% reduction in antidepressant dose; aggregated practice level antidepressant prescribing, and health service utilisation for costs. Sample size: 653 patients from 28 practices. A concurrent evaluation of implementation will be through mixed methods including interviews with up to 40 patients and primary care general practitioners, brief e-surveys, and study administrative data to assess implementation outcomes (adoption and fidelity). Discussion: The RELEASE study will develop new knowledge applicable internationally on the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and implementation of two multi-strategy interventions in supporting the safe cessation of long-term antidepressants to improve primary health care and outcomes for patients. Trial registration: ANZCTR, ACTRN12622001379707p. Registered on 27 October 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory, qualitative research study explores (a) the motivations of Plain Anabaptist (Plain Mennonite and Amish) families to foster mainstream (non-Plain) children, (b) families' experiences in the training and home study process, and (c) characteristics and practices of Plain Anabaptist families who provide foster care. Findings support the recommendation for child welfare systems to explore the possibility of Plain Mennonite and Amish families providing foster care for children. Plain Anabaptist families are receptive to learning and adapting in order to provide foster care, especially for babies, young children, and children with special needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, transracial adoption could result in the loss of birth language for the adopted child. Language is an important part of racial and cultural identity in South Africa. Not being able to speak a local African language causes Black African transracial adoptees to be judged by outsiders. Lack of fluency in an appropriate language limits social circles associated with biological family and makes reunion more complex. Many transracial adoptive parents wish to facilitate the learning of a local language for their adopted children or the entire transracial adoptive family. However, despite their best intentions, most transracial adoptive families fail in this endeavor. Reasons for this and recommendations for practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Numerous investigations have sought to understand why Black Americans have a lower prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) than white Americans, yet fewer have explored within-racial group variation or its causes. Limited extant evidence indicates that US-born Caribbeans have higher levels of MDD relative to African Americans. Among African Americans, racial identity is considered protective against depression, yet it is unclear how it functions among Black Americans with recent immigrant origins. We examined the extent to which differential effects of racial identity on MDD by ethnic origin explain the elevated prevalence among US-born Caribbeans relative to all other US-born Black Americans. Methods: With data from the largest nationally representative study of Black mental health, log-binomial models assessed effect modification of ethnic origin (Caribbean, non-Caribbean) on the relationship between racial identity and MDD. Separate models evaluated four indicators of racial identity—"closeness to Black people," "importance of race to one's identity," "belief that one's fate is shared with other Black people," and "Black group evaluation." Results: Belief in "shared fate" was positively associated with MDD for US-born Caribbeans alone (PR = 3.43, 95% CI 1.87, 6.27). Models suggested that "importance of race" and "Black group evaluation" were detrimental for Caribbeans, yet protective for non-Caribbeans. "Closeness" appeared protective for both groups. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the protective effect of racial identity against MDD among US-born Black Americans may depend on both ethnic origin and the operationalization of racial identity. Results provide new insight into the role of racial identity on depression and suggest promising directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under what social conditions would ethnic sectarians in developed countries engage in inter-country adoption, grafting ethnically diverse children into their homogeneous contexts? In this article, we present a case study of Amish-Mennonite adoption-oriented children's homes in underdeveloped countries. As the ethnic sectarian, family-oriented, evangelical Amish-Mennonites met little success proselytizing adults, adoption-oriented children's home allowed adoptive parents to demonstrate their commitment to mission while maintaining sectarian-style control over a child's socialization. Ultimately, the children's homes were short lived, coming and going based on larger geo-political dynamics, signaling that this unusual international adoption project is internally motivated but enabled and constrained by larger institutional contexts. Although the actual percentage of inter-country adoptees to Amish-Mennonite homes is small, this case demonstrates that the right combination of values and broader political dynamics create conditions facilitating migration of children from lesser developed countries into wealthy contexts, a process cracking – even if not fully opening – Amish-Mennonite ethnic/racial homogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the concept of liminal space in anthropology, originating from van Gennep's work on rites of passage. Topics include the temporary nature of liminal spaces as transitional or crossing over points, the simultaneous and conflicting emotions experienced in liminality, and the argument that adoption is often experienced as a liminal space.

This special issue attends to the significance of middlebrow culture in shaping societal perceptions of transnational and/or transracial adoptions. The contributing authors demonstrate how paying attention to the adoptee lifecycle from childhood to adulthood exposes the capaciousness of belonging to the family and nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transracial foster placements are the placement of ethnic minority youths with ethnic majority foster families. Some exploration into the challenges faced by ethnic minority youths living in transracial families have highlighted a loss of identity, managing racial discrimination and white privilege. So far, the research has looked at the perspective of care leavers, adoptees and carers, however there is little research that aims to understand the perspective of the child whilst they are living in transracial foster families. This pilot study aimed to explore ethnic minority youth's experiences of transracial foster placements, with a view to developing a training package for foster carers. Eight ethnic minority young people, aged between 12 and 18 years old, living in transracial foster placements took part in semi-structured interviews about their lived experiences. Thematic analysis was conducted on the data and an inductive approach was taken. Three themes were identified: loss of identity; living in a white world; advice for foster carers. The findings of the study outline the many challenges that young people face living in transracial foster families and highlight the need for training, policy development and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transracial adoption was legalized in South Africa through legislative reform as South Africa moved into a post‐apartheid era of non‐racialism. Transracial adoption offers one option of placement for Black children in need of alternative care. However, adoption continues to face obstacles to implementation, including cultural obstacles which impact on placement of Black African children. This paper reports on adoption statistics on national adoption in the period 2013–2021 and a documentary analysis of the current legal and policy framework governing transracial adoption. We cover international instruments, local laws, including the Children's Act of 2005, and relevant policy documents designed to facilitate the implementation of adoption. We show that the law is supportive of transracial adoption, but that policy documents offer a somewhat contradictory stance to the practice. The lack of success of transracial adoption as a child protection strategy does not lie within the legal framework but may lie in the difficulties in interpreting and implementing the range of different policies by those implementing these policies. More research into the implementation practice of these bureaucrats is required to understand the underutilization of transracial adoption as a placement option for Black children in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the evolution of adoption policy and practices in Guatemala from the 1990s to 2021. The authors synthesized own research and analyzed adoption scholarship and reports and organized that history in three distinct periods: (1) conflict years (1966–1996) when mostly Guatemalan military families and associates adopted stolen children, (2) post-conflict and millennium adoption years (1997-2007) when the commercialization of children and illicit adoptions surged, and (3) reform years (2008 to date) when new adoption regulations and institutions were established. The article concludes that Guatemalan regulations aligned with international conventions improved domestic adoption, but gaps remain within the adoption and child protection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transracial adoptees continually navigate the paradoxes of adoption, which arise in bio-normative and racialized contexts. "Being-adopted-and-Māori" was explored with 15 Māori adult adoptees. Hermeneutic phenomenological analysis revealed experiences of adoptive and racial "differentness," centered around four key paradoxes: "as if born to"; the lived experience of transracial adoption; post-reunion biological kinship; and whaka-papa. Examining these paradoxes elucidated the discursive basis of lived and felt contradictions and ambivalence, as well as otherness and exclusion. Māori adoptee identities are considered paradoxical precisely because they disobey hegemonic discourses. Their experiences tell us how dominant discourses of adoption and identity need to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant literature suggests that adopted children can generate new attachment bonds with adoptive parents, although early adversity leaves an enduring mark. This research was focused on attachment representations when adoptees from Russia were reaching their adolescence. The participants were 29 adoptees and 38 children from a control group, aged between 8 and 13 years. The Friends and Family Interview, a semi-structured interview, assessed the narrative's coherence, reflective function, internal working models, and attachment classification. Children's narrative was coded into numerical data by two coders with high interrater reliability. Adopted children were classified 41% secure, 35% dismissing, 14% preoccupied, and 10% disorganized (82% secure in the control group). Children's age, gender and verbal IQ, and family structure –but not mother's academic level nor placement variables– were related to attachment variables in both groups. Although adoption offers a protective context that promotes secure attachment, insecurity and disorganization are still evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ideologies of motherhood reflect the complexities and contradictions of what it means to be seen as a worthy parent—someone who deserves to care for children—in contrast to those deemed unworthy or undesirable. The family is a site of contestation when accounting for the ways maternalism and white supremacy affect racialized family systems in the lives of people of color in white American suburbia. In a critical engagement with the 2017 novel Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and the 2020 Hulu -released series by the same name, this essay reveals the contours of non-normative kinship formations, including surrogacy and adoption. These kinship ties demonstrate the tensions of motherhood as a gendered, raced, and classed phenomena. A reproductive justice framework reveals the way Little Fires Everywhere —the novel and the series—demonstrate the legibility and legitimacy of some families over others in exploring the contingencies of kinship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes Rachel Dolezal's autobiography In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World as a means to excavate the contours of an emergent Emotive race regime—a regime from which claimants to transracial identities base their sense of belonging. I argue that this Emotive regime repurposes Aristotelian ethos as a referent for racial identity, and I then show the entailments of this change in referent with respect to theories of racial reproduction. I conclude by cautioning that existing theories of racial constructivism may provide the theoretical backdrop to those who claim transracial identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study examined the relation between pubertal timing and dimensions of ethnic‐racial identity among adopted Korean Americans raised transracially in White families. The study also examined whether internalized racism moderated the association between pubertal timing and ethnic‐racial identity. Adopted Korean American adolescents (N = 202; 108 females; ages 13–19 years) completed measures of pubertal development, ethnic‐racial identity, and internalized racism in 2007. There was no significant main effect of pubertal timing for either male or female adolescents. Internalized racism moderated the relation between pubertal timing and ethnic‐racial identity clarity (B = −.16, p =.015) among male adolescents. Specifically, earlier pubertal timing was significantly associated with lower ethnic‐racial identity clarity for male adolescents with higher levels of internalized racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult adoptees and adoption professionals encourage transracial adoptive parents to provide cultural socialization (CS)—learning about and facilitating a sense of connectedness to children's birth culture. Research showed that CS is related to positive developmental outcomes. However, recent studies suggested that there were varying degrees of cultural depth in CS (Quiroz, 2012; Zhang & Pinderhughes, 2019). This qualitative study examined how transracial adoptive parents addressed cultural depth in CS. Thirty transracial adoptive parents participated in semi-structured phone interviews. Five themes related to cultural depth were identified using phenomenological analysis. Findings revealed that parents' cognitions about culture (understanding of adoptees' birth culture, acknowledgment of limited cultural knowledge, and the belief that "culture is not everything"), and actions that facilitate cultural connections (providing role models, creating diverse context) all varied in depth. This paper discussed variations in CS depth and suggested that a deep cultural connection may provide a foundation for adoptees to pursue their identity development journeys as adolescents and young adults. Social workers can use the findings of this study to guide their self-examination of cultural understanding, as well as to help adoptive parents to provide deeper CS to their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors assert client initiated microaggressions and racism towards Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) counselors exist. They argue that the 2014 American Counseling Association ethical codes applied from the lens of a BIPOC counselor provide guidance to navigate the ethical dilemmas microaggressive and racist incidents create. They apply the Transcultural Integrative Model, an ethical decision-making model with a unique emphasis on counselor and client culture and worldviews, to a BIPOC counselor case vignette featuring transracial and transnational adoption ethics. They also demonstrate how Critical Race Theory considerations can be embedded within the ethical decision-making process. Implications for counselors, counselor educators, and clinical supervisors are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transracial adoption (TRA) represents the largest number of non‐disclosed adoptions in South Africa but remains under researched. This exploratory research investigates practices in the Western Cape, via semi‐structured interviews with adoption social workers and magistrates. Thematic analysis of data revealed the following themes: knowledge and attitudes towards the legal/policy framework of TRA; influences on placement decisions; preparation before and support offered after transracial placement; problems faced by adoption practitioners; and the Western Cape as supportive of TRA. A reluctance to engage with race and a de facto acceptance of TRA undermines a critical view of current practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an absence of research on working with transracially adopted children in the UK. This suggests the need to provide insight into how art psychotherapy practice can be used to explore the transracially adopted child's lived experience of navigating their racial and adoptive identity. The theory of intersectionality highlights the importance of recognising marginalised categories of identity. Without such, these children may only integrate partial knowledge of themselves, which inevitably undermines their voice and ability to hold power in a racialised and oppressive socio-political system. The study aimed to explore: how art therapists work with transracially adopted children to help them find a coherent sense of self; what therapists themselves consider the benefits and limitations of the art psychotherapy practice; intersectional thinking as a way to avoid examining identity differences in silos. This study used semi-structured interviews to gather the views of four art psychotherapists. Thematic analysis was then used to analyse the data collected. Evolved as three themes: the containing role of art psychotherapists, primary caregivers and wider care system; a child-led approach; the challenge of integrating cultural humility into the art psychotherapy profession. Findings highlighted a systemic approach to processing trauma, including the use of shared, joined-up and non-verbal language could be key in helping transracial adoptees explore their identity using culturally relevant approaches in art psychotherapy. The researcher recommends that access to cultural humility training is formalised for art psychotherapists in order to establish anti-oppressive frameworks. This article outlines a research project, which examined how art psychotherapy can be used to explore the identity of children and young people who have been adopted transracially. Within this context, it sought to gain a better understanding of how art psychotherapists currently use artmaking and creativity in the therapeutic relationship with these children. It is recognised that for a transracially adopted child's placement to be successful their sense of identity and belonging needs to be supported. In some areas of the UK, post-adoption support exists, which includes access to art psychotherapy. For this research project, four qualified UK based art psychotherapists were interviewed in the hope of revealing what these participants considered to be the benefits and the limitations of art psychotherapy practice when working with this client group. Additionally, the researcher examined the art psychotherapists' motivations for engaging in this specific subject area. Participants were further asked if any personal challenges, such as their own racial background and/or unconscious biases arose when navigating a transracially adopted child's racial and adoptive identity. From the findings, the researcher provided recommendations that recognise the need for the formal integration of cultural humility for both trainee and qualified art psychotherapists. This small study highlighted three themes: the containing role of art psychotherapists, primary caregivers and the wider care system; a child-led approach; and the challenge of integrating cultural humility into the art psychotherapy profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the Executive Committee of the National Community Relations Advisory Council met in New York City in January 1956 to discuss issues of concern to the Jewish community, a heated debate erupted over the adoption of children born to women of one religious group by couples from a different religious group. It was also not unusual, noted Pfeffer, for an adoption agency to demand "certification" by a clergyman who could attest to the fact that the couple regularly attended religious services and, if they already had a child in their home, that "they were bringing it up religiously."[106] But New Jersey law made religious matching discretionary, and it fell to the judge making orders for an adoption to determine how much weight should be given to religious considerations.[107] The Burkes' adoption petition had been denied "solely" on the grounds that they had no "religious affiliation" and did not believe in a "Supreme Being." Drawing upon archival material, court cases, and Pfeffer's extensive public commentary on constitutional issues in adoption and the religious upbringing of children, in what follows I narrate a ground-level history of Pfeffer's effort to keep the issues before the courts and the broader public. [Extracted from the article]

In this study using both qualitative and quantitative analysis, we coded the types and community prevalence of racial microaggressions (RMAs) and adoption microaggressions (AMAs) experienced and reported by White adoptive families with children adopted from China. Analyses examined differences in microaggressions reported by transracial adoptive families living in communities varying in racial-ethnic diversity. All families experienced RMAs and/or AMAs. Community diversity was only related to the number of RMAs experienced, and specific microaggressions were significantly related to diversity level. Parents' interpretation of microaggressions differed based on diversity level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on adoptee activism, particularly the experiences of three adoptee scholars. It applies autoethnographic and reflexive strategies to unpack their shared conversation and highlights the challenges faced by adoptees. It discusses the history of closed stranger adoption in Aotearoa New Zealand, starting from the 1955 Adoption Act, and emphasize the need for current law reform.

Adoption has been viewed as inferior to birthing, carrying social stigma which has resulted in members of the adoption triad, specifically adoptees, experiencing discrimination at all levels of the ecological system (Baden, 2016; Wegar, 2000). Transracial and international adoptees holding marginalized racial or ethnic identities contend with discrimination around their adoption status and their racial designation. Unique to the transracial adoptee experience is belonging to families who do not share their racial and cultural backgrounds. A grounded theory qualitative approach was used to understand the experiences of transracial and international adoptees with racial microaggressions (RMAs) and adoption microaggressions (AMAs). Results from this study reflected interviews from 11 transracial adoptees, with specific attention on AMAs and RMAs. All participants reported experiencing AMAs and RMAs both within and outside of their families. Counselors, counselor educators, and researchers are urged to understand this unique, intersectional experience to develop competency in effectively supporting this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate within-group differences among Danish non-kin adoptees with regard to probability of mental health problems and post-adoption out-of-home care (OHC) placement, with a particular focus on whether adoption age and country of origin mattered. Methods: I used Danish registry data on non-kin adoptees born between 1989 and 1994 (N =2922) at the age of 17 and applied bivariate analyses and seemingly unrelated regression to describe associations between non-kin adoptees' adoption characteristics and two outcomes: (a) psychiatric contact and (b) post-adoption OHC. Results: Psychiatric contact and post-adoption OHC co-occurred among non-kin adoptees, and these two life events should be considered jointly. Adoption age mattered equally for the risk of psychiatric contact and OHC, but country of origin mattered more for psychiatric contact than for OHC. Adoption at one year of age and older was associated with an elevated risk of psychiatric contact and OHC. Romanian adoptees had a higher likelihood of psychiatric contact when compared to all the other adoptees, regardless of country of origin. In contrast, adoptees from India had a lower probability of psychiatric contact and of entering OHC compared to all the other adoptees. Conclusions: The heterogeneity in non-kin adoptees' psychiatric contact and OHC in terms of adoption age and country of origin is important to consider in future research, as well as for social workers and clinicians in their role of promoting health and preventing mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]