Korean Adoptees as Parents: Intergenerationality of Ethnic, Racial, and Adoption Socialization

Abstract

Objective Using a socialization framework, this study aimed to understand the intergenerational patterns of ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization practices. Background Understanding the impact of ethnicity, race, and adoption is a lifelong process for transracially, transnationally adopted individuals. Few studies, however, have explored how adult adoptees socialize their children on ethnicity, race, and adoption and to what extent this socialization is informed by their own transracial, transnational adoption experiences. Method On the basis of 51 interviews, we investigated adopted Korean Americans' reappraisal of their ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization experiences growing up transracially and transnationally, as well as their current ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization practices with their children. Results Despite the generally limited ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization from White adoptive parents, we found via thematic analysis that Korean adoptee parents used strategies such as reculturation with their children, birth family involvement, and emphasis in multiculturalism in response to the need for ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization in the next generation. Conclusion These themes reflect the unique intergenerational transmission of ethnic heritage, racial experiences, and adoption history based on having grown up in transracial and transnational adoptive families. Implications Findings can inform evidence‐based practice in working with adopted individuals and their families, particularly in addressing ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization practices.

Adoptees facing adolescence: What accounts for their psychological well‐being?

“…Fathers seem to help their children to create a picture of their own future, develop future-oriented attitudes, set and seek personal goals, and look with trust their future projects and opportunities. The focus on the future perspective is an innovative feature of this contribution: adoption as a life-long process can inluence all the members of the adoptive family during the various transitions inherent in family life, especially during adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood, when identity issues and personal goals related to marriage and a new family became salient for the individual (Cigoli & Scabini, 2006;Greco et al, 2015;Zhou et al, 2020). Future studies should more thoroughly explore the role of openness in communication regarding adoption, especially with fathers, and test whether the association between parent-child openness and adoptees' well-being may be mediated by differential identity processes.…”

Comparison of adoptees’ and nonadoptees’ experience of parenthood and mediating role of dyadic coping

“…Finally, the issue of transmission to children has also been studied in 51 transracial adoptees from South Korea (Zhou, Kim, Lee, & Lee, 2020). Three different forms of transmission have been identified by these authors.…”

Adopción en la década de los 70: la vivencia de los orígenes desde la mirada de tres protagonistas

“…La socialización adoptiva toma especial relevancia cuando se trata de una familia adoptiva de segunda generación, como sucede en la familia de uno de los participantes. Esto conlleva que el padre o madre, al mismo tiempo, adoptado y adoptante socialice a su hijo/a en dos historias de adopción, la de su hijo/a y la propia, ya que ambas forman parte de la historia del niño/a (Zhou et al, 2021). Esto explicaría por qué este participante cuidaba el impacto que el manejo de sus orígenes pudiera tener en su hijo.…”