Bicultural identification: Experiences of internationally adopted childrenand their parents

Little is known about bicultural identity development, a process that is pa rticularly complicated for internationally adopted children. The authors in terviewed 8 adoptive families about their cognitive, emotional, and familia l experiences. Qualitative analyses showed consistency in the parent and ch ild interviews (conducted independently) and ratings of the children's kine tic family drawings. Themes included parents identifying the family multicu lturally, promoting ethnic pride, and worrying about bigotry. Their ways of educating their children about race differed considerably, however. Result s also indicated a developmental progression in the children's understandin g of ethnicity in relation to adoption. Although the data indicated good ps ychosocial adjustment and strong family attachments, most of these children struggle with a sense of "being different," and some experience feelings o f sadness and loss.