Ethnic identity development of internationally adopted children and adolescents: Implications for family therapists

The life story of the internationally adopted child tends to be an emotiona l one. How the story is told and retold in the family can have lasting cons equences for the child's adjustment and well-being. In telling the story, p arents are faced with a unique challenge: To what extent is it desirable to encourage their children, who already struggle with identity issues relate d to adoption to identify, with their cultures of origin? Therapists workin g on these issues with multiethnic adoptive families can find little guidan ce in the family systems; literature. To fill this gap, the present article reviews the literature on racial/ethnic identity development and the avail able research on ethnic identification, self-esteem, and the psychological adjustment of cross-ethnically adopted children and adolescents. Implicatio ns for practice include developmental considerations, identifying children and families at risk, and recommendations for those in need of intervention .