[Transracial adoption: what is a child's best interest?]

by

Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

CHAPTER: LITERATURE REVIEW1

Introduction1

Definitions of Transracial Adoption2

Background and Adoption4

Modern Transracial adoption10

Contentious Issues in Modern Transracial adoption12

Adoption Across Race and Culture15

Theoretical Bases for the Cultural-Racial Identity Model18

Identity Formation in Adoptees18

Identity Formation in Racial Ethnic Minorities21

Relationship Between Racial Identity and Eriksonian Theory21

Identity Formation in Transracial Adoptees25

The Cultural-Racial Identity Model29

Description of the Cultural-Racial Identity Model30

Cultural-Racial Identity Model35

Conclusion40

REFERENCES42

FIGURES48

CHAPTER: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

It has become common today to dismiss racial controversy on many topics from relationships to positions in the workforce. This is because these images of racial equality have recently become more common. The question remains whether children should be adopted by parents outside their race. Most people know this occurs, yet no one questions it. Experts believe that transracial adoption should not be accepted because it shows racial and structural inequality in the system. It also undermines tradition and cultural uniqueness, and it creates disparities within families and among potential families. Demographic studies illustrate that black Britain make less money than whites, making it impossible for blacks to adopt children of their same ethnicity because of the agencies' outrageous prices.

Transracial adoption is a form of fictive kinship in which an individual or a couple assumes the parental status of a child who is frequently not biologically related. In legal transracial adoption , the biological parents relinquish all legal rights to the child; these rights are transferred to the adoptive parents. Because of the permanent and legally binding nature of transracial adoption , the child is socially recognized as “belonging” to the newly constituted family unit and theoretically acquires the same status as the other family members, regardless of whether ties are established on the basis of biological reproduction or not.

Formal transracial adoption differs significantly from other forms of childcare in which the child is raised outside of the biological parent-child dyad, such as guardianship and crisis and voluntary fostering, as such less-formal care systems allow children to inherit from the biological parents, and the biological parents retrain the right to veto decisions taken by the foster parents. In fostering, a child may at any time be removed from the foster care parents, whereas removal from adoptive parents is improbable because of the legalities surrounding adoptive kin.

Definitions of Transracial Adoption

A transracial adoption refers to the adoption in which the placed child is of a different race or ethnic origin than the parents. Most commonly, transracial adoption involves white parents and black, Britain's. Often, a transracial adoption is also transcultural, with the adopted child coming from a different country or culture ...