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Leslie Doty Hollingsworth, Symbolic Interactionism, African American Families, and the Transracial Adoption Controversy, Social Work, Volume 44, Issue 5, September 1999, Pages 443–453, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/44.5.443
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Abstract
This article applies a cultural perspective in considering the opposition of some African Americans to transracial adoption. The article presents a historical review of the transracial adoption controversy, detailing the arguments that have been presented in opposition and the legislation that has evolved. Symbolic interactionism is used to frame African Americans as a unique and distinct cultural group, in which the socialization of African American children takes place. The framework presented encompasses the meaning of children, family, and adoption to people of African descent, the racial and ethnic group as the context within which definitions of self and identity develop, and the efforts made in seeking to balance the integrity of concepts such as Baldwin's African self-consciousness with the values and goals of the larger U.S. society. Finally, the author makes recommendations to social workers for developing a research agenda that maintains but critically analyzes the role of African American group identity for framing research for assessing child maltreatment within the context of poverty and resource deficiencies rather than personal failures and for advocating public policies that preserve cultural realities.
