Transracial Adoptee Psyche and Mental Health

Abstract

Transracial adoptees form a small minority group that is subject to an intriguing combination of social pressures that creates distinct stressors on mental health. Attempts to navigate two or more cultures when developing their racial/cultural self-identity can cause transracial adoptees to feel isolated from multiple social communities.

Due to their minority status, ethnic transracial adoptees will also face greater discrimination than White parents which can create a divide between parent and child. Although White parents will never truly understand the “color experiences” of their ethnic children, the creation of a color conscious, multicultural family that embraces and celebrates differences can combat threats against a transracially adopted child’s sense of self which directly translates to greater mental health. These families have the chance to explore race relations with unique perspective by understanding psychological consequences of racial discrimination in the current American society, advocating for the development of multicultural identity, and amplifying the voices of marginalized people.

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