Discursive Negotiation of Family Identity: U.S. Families with Adopted Children from China

• In Event: Negotiating Family Identity in Contexts of Adoption, Bereavement, and Disability

Abstract

Research suggests that social interactions may challenge the identity of families with adopted children from China. Yet, both the extent of challenge experienced, and how families negotiate these interactions remains unknown. Thus, this projects investigates the degree to which questions or comments from others either support or challenge family identity, as well as the degree to which response strategies used by parents either support or challenge family identity. A volunteer national sample of 245 parents with adopted children from China completed a survey with both closed- and open-ended questions. This study found that the majority of comments and questions were experienced as challenging. Simultaneously, this study found that language functioned as a resource for parents to respond in ways that validated the family as a construct and the relations between members as familial.

Author

• Elizabeth A Suter, University of Denver