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Full-Text Articles in Education
“Do You Know Your Real Parents?” And Other Adoption Microaggressions, Amanda Baden
“Do You Know Your Real Parents?” And Other Adoption Microaggressions, Amanda Baden
Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works
Myths, fairy tales, films, books, and everyday communication contain images and stories of orphans and adoptees that convey societal discomfort and judgment about adoption (i.e., adoption stigma). In this article, I apply the microaggression model to adoption-related experiences using the literature and theory on adoption stigma. Definitions for adoption-related microaggressions (microassaults, microinvalidations, and microinsults) and a fourth type of microaggression called microfictions (i.e., shared and hidden narratives that contribute to and define the secrecy in adoption) are introduced. Thirteen themes for adoption microaggressions and examples for each are proposed.
International Adoption: Counseling And The Adoption Triad, Amanda Baden, Judith L. Gibbons, Samantha L. Wilson, Hollee Mcginnis
International Adoption: Counseling And The Adoption Triad, Amanda Baden, Judith L. Gibbons, Samantha L. Wilson, Hollee Mcginnis
Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works
Despite a 60-plus-year history of international adoption (IA) placements, the body of research exploring counseling and psychological interventions for those affected by IA is still in its infancy. This critical review of the state of the literature addresses research, theory, and practice relevant to the international adoption triad (adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoptees). We highlight the lack of empirical attention to the clinical needs of birth parents, the tendency to overlook the clinical needs of adoptive parents both pre- and post-adoption, early childhood vulnerability in international adoptees, and adolescent identity challenges and the attendant clinical issues.
Birth Parents In Adoption: Research, Practice, And Counseling Psychology, Amanda Baden, Mary O'Leary Wiley
Birth Parents In Adoption: Research, Practice, And Counseling Psychology, Amanda Baden, Mary O'Leary Wiley
Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works
This article addresses birth parents in the adoption triad by reviewing and integrating both the clinical and empirical literature from a number of professional disciplines with practice case studies. This review includes literature on the decision to relinquish one’s child for adoption, the early postrelinquishment period, and the effects throughout the lifespan on birth parents. Clinical symptoms for birth parents include unresolved grief, isolation, difficulty with future relationships, and trauma. Some recent research has found that some birth mothers who relinquish tend to fare comparably to those who do not relinquish on external criteria of well-being (e.g., high school graduation …