Beyond Culture Camps: Helping Adopted Kids Develop Cultural Identity

The buzz for the last 15 years has been about the need for instilling cultural identity in our internationally adopted kids. What does the latest research show? Is it really necessary, and if so, what’s the best way to help our kids develop a sense of cultural identity? Join me and our guests Hollee McGinnis, adult Korean adoptee and researcher with the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and Dr. Heather Jacobson, Professor of Sociology & Anthropology, and author of Culture Keeping: White Mothers, International Adoption, and the Negotiation of Family Difference.

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Hit the Highlights

What is the history of instilling cultural identity in transracial adoptions?
How much is too much when it comes to promoting cultural identity? How do parents find a balance?
What research has been done on how internationally adopted children form their cultural identities?
When did racial and adoptive identity become important to adopted children?
How can parents help their trans-racially adopted children deal with racism?
Ethnic identity vs. racial identity
What is the Transracially Adopted Paradox and how does it affect children?
How hard should parents push their children to embrace their ethnic identity?
How should families with internationally adopted children describe themselves?
How do parents instill cultural identity when they have children adopted from multiple countries?
Why is it important to instill cultural identity in trans-racial children?
The importance of the adopted community vs. the racial or ethnic community
Also Known As
CAF video on Cultural Identity and The Internationally Adopted Child