Beyond Culture Camp: Promoting Positive Identity Formation in Adoption

GROUNDBREAKING STUDY PROVIDES IMPORTANT NEW INSIGHTS ON IDENTITY ISSUES IN ADOPTION

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2009 - The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute today released a major study on identity formation for adopted persons, a groundbreaking work that provides significant new information and insights that can be used to improve laws, policies and practices – as well as public understanding – on a range of issues relating to adoption, particularly across racial lines.

The study, launched with funding from the Kellogg Foundation, is the centerpiece of a 113-page report entitled "Beyond Culture Camp: Promoting Positive Identity Formation in Adoption." It is the broadest, most extensive examination of adult adoptive identity to date, based on input from the primary experts on the subject: adults who were adopted as children. Central findings include:

 Adoption becomes an increasingly significant aspect of identity for most adopted people – and race/ethnicity grows in importance for adoptees of color – throughout childhood and into adulthood. These findings raise questions about some current attitudes, practices and policies predicated on the notion that these factors diminish in importance after adolescence.

 Adoption-related teasing and bias are a reality for many adoptees, but more so for Whites – who experienced the most negative behavior and comments from extended family and childhood friends. Race trumped adoption for adopted persons of color; i.e., a large majority experienced race-based discrimination rather than (or in addition to) adoption-related negativity.

 A significant majority of transracially adopted adults reported considering themselves to be or wanting to be White as children – a stark message to parents and professionals, though most eventually grew to identify themselves as members of their racial/ethnic group (in this case, Korean Americans). Even as adults, a minority have not reconciled their racial identity.

 The most effective strategies for achieving positive identity formation are "lived experiences" – in particular, travel to native country and attending racially diverse schools for the transracial adoptees, and contact with birth relatives for Whites adopted domestically. A majority of adopted adults in both categories said they had searched for their roots in some way.

Among the key recommendations, based on this research, are:

 Expand preparation and post-placement support for parents adopting across race and culture.
 Develop empirically based practices and resources to prepare transracially and transculturally adopted youth to cope with racial bias.
 Promote laws, policies and practices that facilitate access to information for adopted individuals.
 Educate parents, teachers, practitioners and the media about adoption's realities to erase stigmas and stereotypes, minimize adoption-related bias, and improve children's experiences.

"Tens of millions of people in our country are already directly connected to adoption, and tens of thousands of additional children are waiting for permanent families," said Adam Pertman, the Adoption Institute's Executive Director. "Our goal for this research is ambitious: to improve all their lives in practical ways today – even as we utilize the new information and insights from the findings to make adoption itself an increasingly knowledge-based, healthy and ethical institution into the future."

The survey at the core of this research was completed by 468 adult adoptees (making it, to our knowledge, the largest study of adoption identity in adults to date in the U.S.). For comparison purposes, we focused on the two largest, most homogenous cohorts within the total group: 179 Korean-born respondents and 156 American-born Caucasian respondents, all adopted by two White parents. It is noteworthy that 1 in 10 of all Korean American citizens came to this country by adoption.

While one cohort of transracial adoptees (Korean Americans) is at the heart of the study, it is important to note that an extensive Adoption Institute review of decades of relevant literature (Appendix I), as well as the Institute's examination of transracial adoption from foster care (see "Finding Homes for African American Children" at http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/research/2008_05_mepa.php), make clear that many of the findings and recommendations in this new report apply to other domestically and internationally adopted persons and families as well.

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, national nonprofit that is the pre-eminent research, policy and education organization in its field. Its mission is to "provide leadership that improves laws, policies and practices - through sound research, education and advocacy - in order to better the lives of everyone touched by adoption."

For more information about "Beyond Culture Camp" or to schedule an interview with Executive Director Adam Pertman, email apertman@adoptioninstitute.org or call 617-763-0134. To read or download a copy of the report, go to http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/research/2009_11_culture_camp.php

Day 2...

And welcome to day two...Yes, it feels almost like rehab would feel (if I had actually been to rehab, which, just for the record, I haven't).

Day two of my plan to get my personal stuff in order. Things have been extremely stressful around our house for the last month or two (or three, four...). We've been having a very very tough time with one of our kids, and that is part of the reason why I haven't been blogging. (If I started blogging about it all, you'd probably have me locked away somewhere - also, not unlike rehab..)

And as my history clearly shows, when I am stressed I eat. And I eat stuff I know I shouldn't eat, but it's how I've always dealt with anxiety and stress. But since the stress isn't going away anytime soon, and since I am doing a wonderful job of gaining back the 15 pounds I lost a year ago, it's time for an intervention.

Sunday was my daughter's 11th birthday and I made this fabulously delicious ice cream cake. You know the kind - chocolate wafer crust, Oreo ice cream in the middle, chocolate sauce on top of that, and of course, whip cream is the final layer. So as my adult step daughter and I are savouring the dessert of our dreams, we were also acknowledging our pathetic and futile attempts to lose weight. (Gee, I wonder why...) She's in her 30's and is just starting to notice how the weight doesn't come off as fast in her 30's after she's had her second baby. And I'm in my 40's (Ok, well in to my 40's) and although I haven't given birth, I have always struggled with losing weight.

So we came up with a plan. We're both going to write down every single thing we eat every day, eat smaller meals and snacks through the day, drink lots of water, and phone each other every day to check in and keep each other motivated. At the end of the month, whoever has followed this the most consistently will be rewarded with a free evening of babysitting by the other one. And, at the end of three months, which will be February, we'll celebrate our losses by going shopping for a whole day.

I have to admit February seems like a very very long way away. But I keep telling myself "one day at a time" (again, like rehab). The really frustrating part is that I know what I have to do, which is work out regularly and eat properly. But when I've made it through another day of parenting a challenging child, or two, or three, the food calls to me. Must...be...strong...ignore...the fridge.

And I have to admit that I do feel soooo much better when I eat properly. Which means I can handle the stress better too. So if you have any tips to help, or wise words to keep me motivated, let me know. Soon. Before I hear the peanut butter calling my name.

Every Child Deserves a Home

If you have a few minutes, cut and paste the link to read the full article that was just released from The Adoption Council of Canada.

Children who have a government as their parent, no matter how well-intentioned or necessary that arrangement is, are often damaged by it. The evidence of this harm is extensive and consistent. It’s time we made it a priority in Canada to find permanent homes for children and youth in the care of child welfare agencies.

This November marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is ratified by 193 countries, including Canada. Signatories of the Convention recognize that “the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality,should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.” Yet each year in Canada, of the estimated 30 000 to 40 000 children in care who are legally available for adoption, only 2300 are adopted on average. Most children “age out” of the system without permanent families.

The cost is high. Youth in care are 17 times more likely to be hospitalized for mental health issues than the general public,according to Kids, Care and Crime, a report published in February 2009 by British Columbia’s representative of children
and youth and the provincial health officer. By 21 years of age, 41% of children and youth in care have been in contact with the justice system, compared to only 6.6% of the general population in the same age group. Of those in contact with the justice system, 72% have been reported, while in school, to have had serious mental illness, behavioural problems or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

This is not the case for most children who are adopted from care. Over time and with effective post-adoption support,most adoptees become attached to their new families
and their problems diminish. Their quality of life improves, along with their sense of self.

www.adoption.ca/Canadian%20Medical%20Journal%20Editorial%20Nov%202009.pdf