Exploring the Literature

Article 3

This study looked at participants who were cross-culturally adopted by American families from Korea (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). It looked at the racial/ethnic identity formation of these adoptees and their experience being raised by white parents (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). Studies have shown cross-cultural adoptions and children adopted by parents of different racial/ethnic backgrounds can lead to the adoptees having difficulties developing ethnic identities (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). This study looked at the developmental experiences of Korean American adoptees who were raised by white parents and how this affected their experiences in post-secondary (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). The participants of this grounded theory study were Korean American adoptees who were college graduates aged 22-31 years and had experiences to share related to their ethnic identity (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). Semi structured face to face interviews were the primary source of data collection (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). The results showed main themes among adoptees including adoptee identity, ethnic self-discovery, and the notion of whiteness (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). Additionally, major factors relating the central focus of ethnic identity were found to be environmental context, systems of support, missing pieces, and healing (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). In this study, many students found it hard to find groups who related to their experiences thus finding a lack of applicable resources (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). Moreover, the student expressed their challenges with feeling they do not necessarily fit in with the white community or Korean community (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). It is also discussed how conflict can arise regarding the adoptee’s racial/ethnic identity when raised by their adopted parents using a colour-blind mentality (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). The colour-blind mentality creates an environment where the topics of race and identity are not discussed (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). Individuals who embraced their Asian heritage and ethnic background prior to going to post-secondary, did so as they were provided with the opportunities to explore their identity growing up (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). This affected the way they identified with the Asian culture when in college (Hoffman & Peña, 2013). The study suggests that colleges could provide identity-related courses into a required curriculum, which would allow for more potential in exploring one’s identity especially related to their culture (Hoffman & Peña, 2013).