Korean adoptees as parents: Intergenerationality of ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization

Objective: Utilizing a socialization framework, the study aims to understand the intergenerational patterns of ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization practices. Background: Understanding the impact of ethnicity, race, and adoption is a lifelong process for transracially, transnationally adopted individuals. Few studies, however, have explored how adult adoptees socialize their children on ethnicity, race, and adoption and to what extent this socialization is informed by their own transracial, transnational adoption experiences. Method: Based on 51 interviews, we investigated adopted Korean Americans’ reappraisal of their ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization experiences growing up transracially and transnationally, as well as their current ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization practices with their children. Results: Despite the generally limited ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization from White adoptive parents, we found via thematic analysis that Korean adoptee parents utilized strategies such as reculturation with their children, birth family involvement, and emphasis in multiculturalism in response to the needs for ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization in the next generation. Conclusion: These themes reflect the unique intergenerational transmission of ethnic heritage, racial experiences, and adoption history based on having grown up in transracial and transnational families of their own.Implications: Findings can inform evidence-based practice in working with adopted individuals and their families, particularly in addressing ethnic, racial, and adoption socialization practices.