Parenting in Transracial Adoption: Real Questions and Real Answers

(Hardback)

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An essential resource for transracially adoptive parents and the professionals who serve them, this book offers practical strategies for helping a transracially adopted child through the challenges he or she may face. Anchored in a qualitative study of parents who have adopted children identified as being of a different race, this book draws from real-life experiences to raise and respond to questions that arise before, during, and after transracial adoption. Its goal: to help adoptive parents (and child welfare professionals) understand the underlying racial challenges in a transracial adoption so they can help their children cope. The book addresses questions from the obviousfor example, how to respond to comments from family and community membersto the practicalhow a Caucasian mother can learn to help her African American daughter groom her hair. Topics include parental understanding of race while growing up, parental understanding of the challenges within the community, and communicating within the adoptive family. The book also shares advice from practitioners about preparing and supporting families in transracial adoption. A highlight of this book is a chapter written by three adult adoptees who grew up within transracial families. Equipped with the information in this helpful volume, readers will be prepared to parent in ways that empower, rather than impede, their child's social, emotional, and identity development. This book will enable children welfare professionals to better help and support parents involved in these processes.

Reviews

This book offers insight and strategies for parents to help them prepare their children and their family for the world as it exists. Beyond parents, this book is an indispensable resource for professionals working with TRA families. This book will help clinicians working with TRA children or parents continue this important dialogue. * PsycCRITIQUES *

Author Bio

Jane Hoyt-Oliver, MSW, PhD, ACSW, is chair of the Department of Social Work and professor of social work at Malone University in Canton, OH. Hope Haslam Straughan, MSW, PhD, ACSW, is associate dean for social work, leadership, and policy and associate professor of social work at Wheelock College in Boston. Jayne E. Schooler, MBS, has worked for many years as an adoption worker and trainer, both nationally and internationally. She is the author or coauthor of six books related to adoption.