Symbolic Interactionism, African American Families, and the Transracial Adoption Controversy - Term paper, research paper & custom essay writing service

Home

Symbolic Interactionism, African American Families, and the Transracial Adoption Controversy

Symbolic Interactionism, African American Families, and the Transracial Adoption Controversy.

by Leslie Doty Hollingsworth

A number of African Americans, including members of the National Association of Black Social Workers (1972, cited in McRoy, 1989, and Simon & Alstein, 1977) have taken a position of opposition to transracial adoption or, recently, of acceptance of it only as a last resort. This position has been confusing to many non-African Americans, particularly those who support transracial adoption. This article presents a theory-based explanation for the opposing position.

It has become common in the study of families to recognize and value the diversity of families and family forms. In their comprehensive review of family theories and methods, Doherty, Boss, LaRossa, Schumm, and Steinmetz (1994) discussed the effect of ethnic minority group perspectives. They pointed out that scholars of various ethnic groups and others "[call] for a revised paradigm of family science that recognizes, studies, and even celebrates the diversity of family experience, especially those of marginalized and oppressed groups" (p. 15). In embracing a postpositivist philosophy of science, these authors "also insist on the inevitable intermingling of scholars' personal and cultural values in their work" (p. 15). Within this context, a renewed interest in symbolic interactionism and phenomenology is noted, which Doherty et al. saw as coinciding with a postmodern cultural emphasis on that which is written or spoken (p. 16). The purpose of this article is therefore threefold: (1) to use that which has been written and spoken to support the reality of African American families as a distinct cultural group, (2) to use symbolic interactionism in conceptualizing an association between African American culture and the socialization of African American children, and (3) to explain opposition to transracial adoption within this framework.

Historical Background

Transracial adoption is the legal adoption of children of one race or ethnic group by a family of a different race or ethnic group. In the United States transracial adoption almost without exception has involved the adoption by white parents of children of racial or ethnic minority groups from the United States or other countries. In cases in which African American children were involved, the practice began to increase during the 1950s (Simon & Alstein, 1977), precipitated by a decrease in healthy white infants available for adoption and an increase in white parents desiring to adopt (McRoy, 1989). Between 1967 and 1972 approximately 10,000 African American children were transracially adopted, with about 2,500 placements occurring in 1971 (McRoy, 1989). Advocacy groups were established to promote and facilitate transracial adoptions (Simon & Alstein, 1992). Standards-setting groups, such as the Child Welfare League of America (1968), reversed their race- and religion-matching standards, and adoption research began to be directed at examining the motivation for transracial adoption (Hollingsworth, 1998).

In November 1972 the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) (cited in McRoy, 1989, and Simon & Alstein, 1977) passed a resolution opposing the transracial adoption of African American children. The resolution read in part:

Black children should be placed only with Black families, whether in foster care or adoption. Black children belong physically, and psychologically and culturally in black families in order that they receive the total sense of themselves and develop a sound projection of their future. Human beings are products of their environment and develop their sense of values, attitudes, and self-concepts within their own family structure. Black children in white homes are cut off from the healthy development of themselves as black people (cited in Simon & Alstein, 1977, p. 50).

Although the wording of the actual resolution became a source of controversy, much of the controversy was about some of the supporting language:

Our position is based on:

1. the necessity of self-determination from birth to death of all Black people.

2. the need of our young ones to begin at birth to identify with Black people in a Black community.

3. the philosophy that we need our own to build a strong nation (p. 50).

We the participants of the workshop have committed ourselves to go back to our communities and work to end this particular form of genocide. We have agreed to use the alternatives to transracial adoption presented at our conference and to develop other alternatives and ways of implementation if necessary based upon our experience as Black people (cited in Simon & Alstein, 1977, p. 52).

This resolution was not put forward arbitrarily. The experience of African American children in the United States formed the context within which the resolution was introduced. Chestang (1972) was among the first to call social workers' attention to the cultural concerns that transracial adoption presented. He identified three conditions in the United States that characterized the experience of African American people: societal inconsistency, which he defined as being put in a position of having to maintain a sense of competence while coping with discrimination and prejudice; social injustice - that is, being confronted with inequities in employment, housing, and education on the basis of race; and personal impotence - the sense of shame, inadequacy, and diminished self-worth that is associated with being powerless to affect the oppressive situation. Chestang pointed out that African American people are faced with these conditions from birth to death. He called attention to what life under these conditions would be like for African American children who were transracially adopted and for their adoptive families. Finally, he reminded social workers that the situation in which the child welfare system found itself - that is, a large number of African American children in the foster care and institutional systems - was the result of discrimination and other barriers to adoption by African American families and not their unwillingness to adopt.

Chestang's (1972) argument and the NABSW's resolution seemed to be accepted widely as having merit. Public and private agencies, including the Child Welfare League of America (1973), adopted policies and standards that promoted same-race adoptions. The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-608) was passed, giving Native American tribal units jurisdiction over child welfare decisions involving Native American children and families.

The rise in opposition to same-race adoption policies, beginning in the early 1980s, has been documented (Hollingsworth, 1998). Opponents were concerned about possible discrimination, about the overresponsibility on the part of children of color for the good of the group, and about the lack of empirical support for same-race policies (Bartholet, 1991). Several highly publicized lawsuits were filed (McRoy, 1989), and transracial adoptions increased once more.

Meanwhile, the NABSW called attention to three circumstances that negatively affected the status of African American children in the child welfare system. First, experience with the child welfare system did not demonstrate a commitment to the preservation of African American families. Children frequently were removed from their families because of neglect. Although neglect has been shown to be associated with poverty, the economic condition of these families that may have given rise to the neglect of children seldom was addressed. In addition, barriers existed that impeded the children's placement with relatives. Second, efforts to reunite children with their biological families were insufficient. The NABSW called attention to the fact that African American children tended to remain in foster care or the institutional system after having been removed from their families and that the child welfare and judicial systems lacked the capacity to reunite these children with their families in a timely manner. Moreover, biological parents frequently did not have the financial resources necessary to correct the circumstances that led to their children's removal. However, substantial resources were directed to foster parents and institutions, leading the NABSW to question whether institutions were retaining children to acquire more funds for their care. Third, the NABSW continued to object to the implication that African Americans do not adopt in large enough numbers to resolve the crisis of African American children in the foster care system. The organization called attention to the fact that the majority of children in the foster care system were hard-to-place white children with special needs and that only 1 percent or fewer white families who were willing to adopt African American children requested those with special needs (special needs typically are defined as being over eight years old, in sibling groups, and with emotional and physical disabilities). Adoption alone was considered insufficient to address the foster care crisis.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66) eventually was passed. This legislation provided funding for the expansion of community-based family support programs and family preservation programs. The NABSW ("Preserving," 1994) subsequently modified its position on transracial adoption. In its current position, it places priority on family preservation and reunification with birth families, alternative care by biological relatives, and adoption by same-race nonrelatives, recognizing the importance of providing permanent homes for all children. Transracial adoption is seen as a last resort. Children should not be removed from their birth families when economic resource limitations or institutional barriers are the sources of the problem ("Preserving," 1994).

The Interethnic Adoption Section of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-188) lacked language that had allowed the best interests of the child to be considered in decisions to use race or ethnicity in adoptive placements. Penalties were established for federally funded agencies that delayed or denied placement based on these considerations. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) was passed. Although the law is credited with better protecting children from maltreatment, it makes it easier to terminate the rights of biological parents. It occurs in a legislative environment of diminishing economic resources to poor families whose children are at greatest risk of maltreatment.

The history of the NABSW position on transracial adoption may be better understood by examining the African American family from a symbolic interactionist standpoint.

Symbolic Interactionist Explanation

I use symbolic interactionism as a framework for conceptualizing African American families as a unique and distinct group based on their common heritage and experience. In discussing whether African American children should be transracially adopted, Chestang (1972) reminded social workers of the uniqueness of the African American experience. A conceptual framework is "a set of assumptions and ideas about the fundamental features of the social world, (serving) as a guide to selecting areas of focus and modes of inquiry" (Doherty et al., 1994, p. 21). I present assumptions about the features of the African American community as a social world and about how areas pertaining to African American values and traditions can clarify the attitudes and behavior of African American people.

According to symbolic interactionism, humans become social beings through a process of interaction and communication with others (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1994). Symbols, such as language and rituals, facilitate this process. Empathy and role-taking allow children to learn about themselves and about how to behave from observing the responses of those around them. Meanings are acquired during a child's experiences in the group, and these meanings lead to the development of a self or identity. Through this process of socialization, the individual becomes a part of the group and ultimately participates in the socialization of others. I propose that the African American community consists of people and institutions similar in their African heritage (Nobles, 1974) and in their experience with racism and oppression (Baldwin, 1981). Thus, the African American community is central in the socialization of African American children.

Symbolic interactionism has framed a number of studies of African American life. These include studies that demonstrate the lower rate of work-family conflicts among African American women who were socialized to balance both roles (Myers, 1989), the appropriateness of group work for intervention with African American youths from low-income families who present school behavior problems (Brown, 1984), the meaning of leisure among older African American women (Chin-Sang & Allen, 1991), and common experiences of African Americans with AIDS (Hudson & Morris, 1994). Baldwin's (1981) African self-consciousness theory derives from assumptions that are consistent with symbolic interactionism. A preference for the adoption and socialization of African American children by same-race parents can be understood from this perspective.

LaRossa and Reitzes (1994) proposed three central themes in symbolic interactionism, and these are reflected in seven assumptions. The first theme is that "meaning has importance for human behavior." Three assumptions are associated with this theme." Human beings act towards things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for them" (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1994, p. 143). Therefore the objection to transracial adoption may be understood in terms of the meaning that Africans and African Americans attach to children. According to the African scholar Mbiti (1969), it is desirable in traditional African societies to have many children because the dead are believed to remain among the living as long as there is someone who remembers them and can refer to them personally by name. Traditional Africans think of their children as divine gifts (Erny, 1973), as is evident in the Ashanti proverb that "children are the reward of life" (Willis, 1996). It is possible that children also have a special meaning in contemporary African American communities that causes these communities to want to hold on to them. The acceptance of children born outside of marriage (the idea that "there are no illegitimate children") and the active role of grandparents in their care (Flaherty, Facteau, & Garver, 1995) exemplifies this position.

The relationship between meaning and behavior is also apparent in NABSW's definition of its constituency as being the black individual, the black family, and the black community. Its mission is directed toward their welfare and toward a commitment to action for the improvement of social conditions over personal interests. Considered within this framework, that the organization opposes transracial adoption is fully comprehensible.

"Meaning arises in the process of interaction between people" (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1994, p. 143). Children in African and communities of African descent traditionally interact with multiple caregivers, consisting of kin and nonkin. This interaction can give meaning to the definition of family. For example, among the Yoruba of Nigeria, all of the adult members of a family compound share in raising the children (Foster, 1983). "Even extended family members in other compounds are often called in to assist in the socialization of the young" (Foster, p. 216).

As a method of survival on arriving in a foreign land, African slaves established plantation communities (James, 1992). The process by which slave children learned to call non-blood-related adults "uncle" and "aunt" is believed to have socialized them into the slave community. The community, then, became the family of the child whose parents had been sold or were required to work and live away from the child. After the Civil War, U.S. officials, preparing to arrange the care of what they believed were thousands of orphaned black children who were freed but whose parents had already been sold, were surprised that the children had already been taken into the families of former friends and neighbors (Gutman, 1976).

In its code of ethics, the National Association of Black Social Workers recognizes the concept of a black extended family, with all black people considered as kin, and with no distinction made between the destiny of other black people and [one's] own destiny. It seems clear, therefore, that the meaning of such concepts as the family is influenced by the interaction of African and African American people in the life of the ethnic group.

"Meanings are handled in and modified through an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with things he or she encounters" (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1994, p. 143). Among Africans and African Americans, adoption traditionally seems to have been interpreted as a natural and informal process arising in response to a need rather than a formal one involving legal ownership and individual rights. Thus, the results of Hill's (1977) survey of the informal adoption patterns of African Americans from 1969 to 1976 showed that 90 percent of children who were born "out-of-wedlock" were kept by the extended family - the majority (57 percent) by grandparents and great-grandparents and the next largest number (26 percent) by aunts and uncles.

As a result of such knowledge development as that provided by Hill (1977), professionals who were involved in adoption services and policy making began to attach a different meaning to the resistance to transracial adoption. Agency policies and practices were modified to reflect an emphasis on same-race adoptions. In some instances separate agencies or programs were established that specialized in the recruitment of same-race adopters. The success of these programs has been described elsewhere (Gant, 1984; Gilles & Kroll, 1991; Hairston & Williams, 1989; Jackson-White, Dozier, Oliver, & Gardner, 1997; McRoy, Oglesby, & Grape, 1997).

A surge has been noted in kinship foster care arrangements, especially among African Americans. Because adoption has been interpreted by African Americans as an informal process, many African Americans are resistant to formally adopting the kin who are in their care (Hollingsworth, 1998). Although these arrangements are often permanent, relatives cite the fact that the children are already family and that they do not want to create dissension with the child's birth parents whom they consider family also (Thornton, 1991). Some associate the practice of paying fees to adopt children with slave trading (Gilles & Kroll, 1991). The differences in interpretation, however, do not change the outcome of the process - that is, that permanent homes and families are provided to children who need them.

The second theme of symbolic interactionism centers around the belief that "each individual has a unique self and this self is formed through meaningful interaction" within the social group (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1994, p. 144). Two assumptions accompany this theme. "Individuals are not born with a sense of self but develop self concepts through social interaction" (p. 144). This assumption clarifies concern about the ethnic identity development of transracially adopted children. The NABSW (cited in Simon & Alstein, 1977) indicated that African American children could "receive [a] total sense of themselves and develop a sound projection of their future" only in African American families (p. 50). The organization also asserted that because "human beings are products of their environment and develop their sense of values, attitudes, and self-concepts within their own family structure, . . . black children in white homes [would be] cut off from the healthy development of themselves as black people" (p. 50). According to symbolic interactionism, it is through contact with others in the social group that children learn a sense of "I," "my," and "mine," as well as a concept of "we" (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1994). If the individual is to develop an African American self-identity, it is necessary that it be acquired in a family in which African Americans are present.

The African American "self' is considered a collective rather than an individual one. Mbiti (1969) wrote of traditional Africans: "In traditional life, the individual does not and cannot exist alone except corporately. He owes his existence to other people, including those of past generations and his contemporaries. He is simply part of the whole. The community must therefore make, create, or produce the individual; for the individual depends on the corporate group" (p. 108).

According to Mbiti (1969), traditional Africans live according to the tenet, "I am, because we are, and since we are therefore I am" (pp. 108-109). Nobles (1974) also discussed the African extended self, whereby individual identity and purpose evolve from an identification with the collective. The position taken by the NABSW (cited in McRoy, 1989, and Simon & Alstein, 1977) therefore can be considered a lived example of a collective identity and as clarifying the group identity that Africa-descended people require.

"Self-concepts, once developed, provide an important motive for behavior" (p. 144). If the identity of African Americans is a collective one, actions that are perceived as a threat to the survival of the group can be expected to motivate individuals to act to resist the threat. The NABSW concern about genocide (cited in McRoy, 1989, and Simon & Alstein, 1977) or in this case, concern about the elimination of the African American group through the widespread transracial adoption of African American children can be understood within this context. Abdullah (1996) called attention to the original wording of the United Nations' 1948 position on genocide: "Genocide . . . is the committing of certain acts with the intent to destroy - wholly or in part - a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such, including measures to prevent birth and forcibly transferring children of one group to another" (United Nations, 1991, as cited in Abdullah, 1996, p. 260). Similarly, Penn and Coverdale (1996) called attention to the wording of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (1989, cited in Penn & Coverdale, 1996). The document was ratified by over 175 countries, including the United States. Two principles are emphasized in the agreement:

1. A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the State.

2. [While] such care could include . . . foster placement . . . adoption or if necessary placement in suitable institutions for the care of children, when considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the desirability of continuity in a child's upbringing and to the child's ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic background (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, cited in Penn & Coverdale, 1996, p. 241).

The objection to transracial adoption and the continued promotion of same race adoptions are supported by language such as this.

The final theme in symbolic interactionism is the placement of an emphasis on "social processes and a recognition of a relationship between [individual] freedom and [social] constraints." Two assumptions underlie this theme. "Individuals and small groups are influenced by larger cultural and societal processes" (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1994, p. 144). Larger cultural and societal processes may account for variation among African Americans in their attitudes toward transracial adoption (Herzog, Sudia, Harwood, & Newcomb, 1971, Howard, Royse, & Skerl, 1977; Simon, 1978). The assumption is that some of these processes are inherent in the ideologies and practices of the broader U.S. society and will influence the attitudes of some African Americans. Media influences are one example. In all of the early studies noted, attitudes toward transracial adoption were found to be influenced by such factors as beliefs about the alternatives to transracial adoption. Assertions often are found in the public media and in some professional literature that African American children are languishing in the foster care system while potential parents wait to adopt them. The implication is that the alternative to transracial adoption for African American children is life in a foster home or institution. Other realities are seldom mentioned, such as the small number of white families who want to adopt transracially, the willingness of relatives to provide care and of nonrelative African American families to become foster parents and adoptive parents, and the relationship of insufficient economic and social support to child maltreatment in many families (Hollingsworth, 1998). Also, the dual cultural adaptation that is required of African Americans and members of other ethnic groups in the United States (Chestang, 1972; DuBois, 1903; Norton, 1978) may increase the potential for influences from the larger society.

"It is through social interaction in everyday situations that individuals work out the details of social structure" (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1994, p. 144). As African Americans are socialized into adulthood, they begin to participate in the broader social structure of the African American group and in the encompassing society. An example is seen in the response of the NABSW ("Preserving", 1994) to the plight of African American children in families at risk of disruption. As a result of its examination of the needs of African American families, the organization modified its efforts. It began to place stronger emphasis on strengthening African American families through supporting family preservation and reunification programs, emphasizing placement with relatives, and supporting programs that successfully recruit African American foster and adoptive families. It became a part of the solution to what has been labeled a crisis in foster care involving African American children.

Implications For Research, Practice, and Policy Advocacy

Goddard (1996) wrote that "the position statement adopted by the National Association of Black Social Workers represented the clearest sociocultural formulation of Black opposition to transracial adoption" (p. 275) "Hence one could suspect," Goddard wrote, "that for many researchers, the empirical testing of a reality deemed to be understood and conclusive seemed unnecessary" (p. 275). Is falsification required to legitimize the culture-based realities of an ethnic group? This is an important question and one that Doherty et al. (1994) may have anticipated when they wrote: "The emphasis on acknowledging one's values and context could become a way to avoid critical analysis and dialogue . . . acknowledging one's values and context is the beginning, not the end, of the search for understanding" (p. 19). These authors seem to make two points: (1) Critical analysis and dialogue are important, and (2) analysis and dialogue should emerge from a beginning point in which one's values and context are acknowledged. Promoters of transracial adoption, however, generally have failed to frame the controversy within African-centered values and context. Instead a different discourse has been introduced. This discourse ignores what has been written of African American culture and tradition and frames the problem as a crisis of the foster care system. The removal of barriers to transracial adoption is then presented as a natural solution. The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-382), the Interethnic Adoption Section of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 (P.L. No. 104188), and the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) are examples of legislation that has followed.

Based on the symbolic interactionist conceptualization that has been presented here, I make four recommendations. First, social work scholars should continue to examine scientifically the questions that have been set forth regarding transracial adoption (Alexander & Curtis, 1996; Bartholet, 1991). Theory building and empirical falsification continue to be the standards that are used by scholars to examine research questions. This work should be conducted from an African-centered ideological perspective (Allen, 1978). It also should be phenomenological, so that the lived experiences of African American children in families may be examined.

Second, social workers should become familiar with theories that have already been advanced about African American life and culture and with research that has been conducted with regard to questions of racial identity and self-esteem effects of transracial adoption. Baldwin's (1981) theory of African self-consciousness and Nobles' (1978) concept of Africanity are examples, as are studies by Andujo (1988); Hollingsworth (1997); Baker (1992); Black (1985); Feigelman and Silverman (1983); Grow and Shapiro (1974); McRoy and Zurcher (1983); Shireman (1988); Shireman and Johnson (1975; 1980); Johnson, Shireman, and Watson (1987); Simon and Alstein (1977, 1981, 1987, 1992); Simon, Alstein, and Melli (1994); Vroegh (1997), and Womack (1981). Reviews by Alexander and Curtis (1996), Curtis (1996), Hollingsworth (1997), and Silverman (1993) are useful. Many of these can be used to advance the critical analysis and dialogue suggested by Doherty et al. (1994) within the context of African-centered values and culture. However, social work critics should examine the validity and reliability of the studies and the perspectives that have been used in interpreting their results.

Third, social workers should be familiar with the realities faced by African American children and families in the child welfare system. The relationship of poverty and single-female parenthood to child maltreatment has been documented consistently (Johnson, 1997; Pelton, 1978; 1988; Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996). Child maltreatment and especially child neglect are frequent reasons for the removal of children from their birth families and for their placement in foster care or adoptive homes. African American families are represented disproportionately in the rates of poverty and the statistics of single-female parenthood (Hollingsworth, 1998). It is therefore simplistic to limit examination to the results rather than the causes of the phenomena that bring African American children into the foster care system.

Finally, social workers should advocate for public policies and agency practices that recognize the African American family as a unique cultural group, offering a valuable socialization experience for African American children. Such policies and practices are necessary to ensure that the legitimate identity and the psychosocial health of African Americans are protected.

In conclusion, I have used symbolic interactionism to conceptually frame objections to the transracial adoption of African American children, taking the position that the community of people of African descent (that is, the African diaspora) forms the group within which their children are socialized. Because meaning and development of the self are dependent on the group, African American children necessarily require the African American family for socialization into the group. From a symbolic interactionist perspective, becoming a part of the larger group structure is a natural outcome for its members. Thus, rather than being discriminatory or self-serving, the early objection to transracial adoption by the National Association of Black Social Workers and the expressed support for ethnic consistency in adoption by groups such as the North American Council on Adoptable Children (Gilles & Kroll, 1991) are in the service of the healthy development of African American children. Research, theory development, analysis of existing research and theory, and policy advocacy are important to this process.

References

Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, P.L. 105-89, 111 Stat. 21150.

Abdullah, S. B. (1996). Transracial adoption is not the solution to America's problems of child welfare. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 254-261.

Alexander, R., Jr., & Curtis, C. M. (1996). A review of empirical research involving the transracial adoption of African American children. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 223-35.

Allen, W. (1978). The search for applicable theories of black family life. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 40, 117-29.

Andujo, E. (1988). Ethnic identity of transethnically-adopted Hispanic adolescents. Social Work, 33, 531-535.

Baker, M. E. (1992). Psychological adjustment of adopted minority children. Unpublished master's thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Baldwin, J. (1981). Notes on an Africentric theory of black personality. Western Journal of Black Studies, 5, 172-179.

Bartholet, E. (1991). Where do black children belong? The politics of race matching in adoption. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 139, 1163-1256.

Black, S.E.C. (1985). The perception of racial identity in transracial and inracial adoptees. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Houston.

Brown, J. A. (1984). Group work with low-income black youths. Social Work with Groups, 7, 111-124.

Chestang, L. (1972). The dilemma of biracial adoption. Social Work, 17, 100-105.

Child Welfare League of America. (1968). Standards for adoption service. Washington, DC: Author.

Child Welfare League of America. (1973). Standards for adoption service. Washington, DC: Author.

Chin-Sang, V., & Allen, K. R. (1991). Leisure and the older black woman. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 17, 30-34.

Curtis, C. M. (1996). The adoption of African American children by whites: A renewed conflict. Families in Society, 77, 156-165.

Doherty, W. J., Boss, P. G., LaRossa, R., Schumm, W. R., & Steinmetz, S. K. (1994). Family theories and methods: A contextual approach. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 3-30). New York: Plenum Press.

DuBois, W.E.B. (1903). The souls of black folk. Chicago: A. C. McClurg.

Erny, P. (1973). Childhood and cosmos. New York: Black Orpheus Press.

Feigelman, W., & Silverman, A. (1983). Chosen children: New patterns of adoptive relationships. New York: Praeger.

Flaherty, M. J., Sr., Facteau, L., & Garver, P. (1995). Grandmother functions in multigenerational families: An exploratory study of Black adolescent mothers and their infants. In R. Staples (Ed.), The Black family: Essays and studies (pp. 195-203). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Foster, H. J. (1983). African patterns in the Afro-American family. Journal of Black Studies, 14, 201-232.

Gant, L. M. (1984). Black adoption programs: Pacesetters in practice. Ann Arbor, MI: National Child Welfare Training Center.

Gilles, T., & Kroll, J. (1991). Barriers to same race placement. St. Paul, MN: North American Council on Adoptable Children.

Goddard, L. L. (1996). Transracial adoption: Unanswered theoretical and conceptual issues. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 273-281.

Grow, L. J., & Shapiro, D. (1974). Black children - white parents: A study of transracial adoption. New York: Child Welfare League of America.

Gutman, H. G. (1976). The black family in slavery and freedom: 1970-1925. New York: Random House.

Hairston, C. F., & Williams, V. G. (1989). Black adoptive parents: How they view agency adoptive practices. Social Casework, 70, 534-538.

Herzog, E., Sudia, C., Harwood, J., & Newcomb, C. (1971). Families for black children: The search for adoptive parents. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Hill, R. D. (1977). Informal adoption among black families. Washington, DC: National Urban League.

Hollingsworth, L. D. (1997). Effect of transracial/transethnic adoption on children's racial and ethnic identity and self-esteem: A meta-analytic review. Marriage & Family Review, 25, 99-130. Co-published simultaneously in H. E. Gross & M. B. Sussman (Eds.), Families and adoption (pp. 99-130). Binghampton, NY: Haworth Press.

Hollingsworth, L. D. (1998). Promoting same-race adoption for children of color. Social Work, 43, 104-116.

Howard, A., Royse, D. D., & Skerl, J. A. (1977). Transracial adoption: The black community perspective. Social Work, 22, 184-189.

Hudson, A. L., & Morris, R. I. (1994). Perceptions of social support of African Americans with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Journal of National Black Nurses' Association, 7, 36-49.

Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, P.L. 95-608, 92 Stat. 3069.

Jackson-White, G., Dozier, C. D, Oliver, J. T, & Gardner, L. B. (1997). Why African American adoption agencies succeed: A new perspective on self-help. Child Welfare, 76, 239-254.

James, C.L.R. (1992). The Atlantic slave trade and slavery: Some interpretations of their significance in the development of the Unites States and the Western World. In F. W. Hayes, II (Ed.), A turbulent voyage: Readings in African American studies (pp. 213-236). San Diego: Collegiate Press.

Johnson, P. R., Shireman, J. F., & Watson, K. W. (1987). Transracial adoption and the development of black identity at age eight. Child Welfare, 66, 45-55.

Johnson, S. (1997) Child welfare: Challenges and opportunities [The 1997 Fedele F. and Iris M. Fauri Lecture]. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.

LaRossa, R., & Reitzes, D.C. (1994). Symbolic interactionism and family studies. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 135163). New York: Plenum Press.

Mbiti, J. S. (1969). African religions and philosophy. New York: Praeger.

McRoy, R. G. (1989). An organizational dilemma: The case of transracial adoptions. Journal of Applied Behavior Science, 25, 145-160.

McRoy, R. G., & Zurcher, L. A. (1983). Transracial and inracial adoptees: The adolescent years. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.

McRoy, R. G., Oglesby, Z., & Grape, H. (1997). Achieving same-race adoptive placements for African American children: Culturally sensitive practice approaches. Child Welfare, 76, 85-104.

Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994, P.L. 103-382, 108 Stat. 4057.

Myers, L. W. (1989). Early gender role socialization among black women: Affective or consequential? Western Journal of Black Studies, 13, 173-178.

Nobles, W. W. (1974). Africanity: Its role in black families. Black Scholar, 5, 10-17.

Norton, D. G. (1978). The dual perspective: Inclusion of ethnic minority content in the social work curriculum. New York: Council on Social Work Education.

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, P.L. 103-66, 107 Stat. 312.

Pelton, L. H. (1978). Child abuse and neglect: The myth of classlessness. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 48, 608-617.

Pelton, L. H. (1988). The institution of adoption: Its sources and perpetuation. In D. Valentine (Ed.), Infertility and adoption (pp. 87-117). Binghampton, NY: Haworth Press.

Penn, M. L., & Coverdale, C. (1996). Transracial adoption: A human rights perspective. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 240-245.

Preserving African American families: Position statement. (1994). Detroit: National Association of Black Social Workers.

Sedlak, A. J., & Broadhurst, M.L.A. (1996). Executive summary of the third national incidence study of child abuse and neglect. [Online]. Available: http: twww.casanet.org/library/abuse/stabuse/htm.

Shireman, J. F. (1988). Family life project: A longitudinal adoption study - Growing up adopted: An examination of major issues (Phase IV). Chicago: Chicago Child Care Society.

Shireman, J. F., & Johnson, P. R. (1975). Adoption: Three alternatives (Phase I). Chicago: Chicago Child Care Society.

Shireman, J. F., & Johnson, P. R. (1980). Adoption: Three alternatives (Phase II). Chicago: Chicago Child Care Society.

Shireman, J. F., & Johnson, P. R (1986). A longitudinal study of black adoptions: Single parent, transracial, and traditional (Phase III). Social Work, 31, 172-177.

Simon, R. J. (1978). Black attitudes toward transracial adoption. Phylon, 39, 135-142.

Simon, R. J., & Alstein, H. (1977). Transracial adoption. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Simon, R. J., & Alstein, H. (1981). Transracial adoption: A follow-up. Lexington, MA: Praeger.

Simon, R. J., & Alstein, H. (1987). Transracial adoptees and their families: A study of identity and commitment. New York: Praeger.

Simon, R. J., & Alstein, H. (1992). Adoption, race and identity: From infancy through adolescence. New York: Praeger.

Simon, R. J., Alstein, H., & Melli, M. S. (1994). The case for transracial adoption. Washington, DC: American University Press.

Silverman, A. R. (1993). Outcomes of transracial adoption. Future of Children: Adoption, 3, 104-118.

Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, P.L. 104-188, 110 Stat. 17550.

Thornton, J. L. (1991). Permanency planning for children in kinship homes. Child Welfare, 70, 593-601.

Vroegh, K. S. (1997). Transracial adoptees: Developmental status after 17 years. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 67, 568-575.

Willis, M. G. (1996). The real issues in transracial adoption: A response. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 246-253.

Womack, W. M., & Fulton, W. (1981). Transracial adoption and the black preschool child. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 712-724.

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Our benefits

Free extras

Main Menu

Service features