Introduction
Beliefs, cultural socialization attitudes, and parenting conducts were observed in families with children that had been internationally adopted. It can be deduced that parents with a reduced color blind attitude towards race are most likely to participate in racialization and enculturation parenting demeanor. This is because they possess an unwavering belief in the importance and value of cultural socialization. There are two million adopted children in the United States according to the U.S census of 2000. Seventeen percent of these children are of a different race than their parents.
Transracial adoption refers to a family that has been conjoined legally with children and parents from different racial backgrounds. Domestic transracial adoption involves step children from interracial marriage, private and foster care while international transracial adoption consists of children who are considered of racial minorities in the US. These children are adopted from different countries. Adoption serves utilitarian functions, humanitarian functions, and familial entitlement functions. This essay is going to look at cultural socialization strategies used by the main character’s parents from the video, the first person plural, the impact of these particular policies to the main character and what cultural socialization strategies might be most adaptive and how they should change over time to affect the child’s development.
Cultural socialization is a developmental process that is considered lifelong. It enables families and individuals to possess a high competence and great adaptability in a particular cultural milieu (Harrison et al. 347). Four strategies are used in cultural socialization; they include cultural assimilation, child choice, and enculturation. One of the cultural socialization strategies utilized in this video is the child choice strategy. Here the parents can adjust to the wish of the child and the child’s choice to look for her Korean birth that she realizes alive and unites her with her adopted family.
How the strategy impacted the main character
The strategy of child choice allowed the main character, Deann Borshay Liem the opportunity she has been longing for, to be able to connect with her Korean nature. For this reason, she wanted people to notice that she was a Korean and not a white lady that had been raised by a Caucasian family who knew nothing about Korean traditions. The strategy enables Liem to feel comfortable since she always felt awkward as she was growing up. This was because she could not be able to do away with her Korean nature.
Cultural socialization strategies that is most adaptive
Some parents view the use of enculturation as a suitable cultural socialization strategy, despite its indirect way of preparation for the children to deal with discrimination and racism (Steinberg & Hall 15). However, studies show that the belief of parents in racial inculcation strategy clearly predicted that parents should talk to their children about the discrimination and racism that exists in schools. This was in comparison to the belief of parents in enculturation that does not predict if the parents educate their children on discrimination and racism in schools.
Conclusion
For cultural socialization strategies to be in exhaustive, it remains reasonable that transracial adoptive families adopt other strategies to solve the transracial adoption paradox. What is more is that the strategies often do not complement each other. In some cases, parents may assume a child’s race and his ethnicity (cultural assimilation strategy), but in some other situations, the parent may educate the child on the need for protection (racial inoculation). Similarly, an adopted transracial child may show desire in birth culture (i.e. enculturation) then end up denying ethnic and racial differences in future. Psychologists in counseling need to think of the factors that influence the level at which adoptive families participate in whichever cultural socialization strategies.
Works Cited:
Harrison, Algea O., et al. "Family ecologies of ethnic minority children." Child development 61.2 (1990): 347-362.
Steinberg, Gail, and Beth Hall. Inside transracial adoption. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2011.
