Theorising the Racial Identity Development of Transracial Adoptees: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective (Report‪)‬

Introduction 'Race' is a powerful signifier of identity and an individual's family is viewed as an important means by which this racial identity is nourished, developed and transmitted (Anthias and Yuval-Davis, 1992; Ali, 2003). (1) Empirical evidence in support of transracial adoption has found that despite some difficulties, transracial adoptees can grow up with a healthy racial identity provided they are raised by racially sensitive families in multicultural settings (Zastrow, 1977; Gill and Jackson, 1983; Bagley, 1993; Simon and Alstein, 2000). However, such evidence should not be used to mask other shortcomings of child and family services, such as the tendency for black minority ethnic children to wait longer in care while a 'same-race' placement is sought (Children First in Adoption and Fostering, 1990; Selwyn et al, 2004). This situation gives rise to arguments about institutional racism (Sunmonu, 2000), where prospective black minority ethnic adopters are being measured against a 'white norm' that deems black families as unsuitable and suggests that black minority ethnic and mixed-heritage children may even be 'better off ' in a white home (Park and Green, 2000, p 15).