In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories
by Rita J. Simon, Rhonda M. Roorda
List Price:
Our Price: $15.49
You Save: $12.46 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $13.83 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Rhonda M. Roorda, Rita J. SimonEdition: Paperback
Published: 2000-06-15
ISBN: 0231118295
Number of pages: 406
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Accessories:
Book Reviews of In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories
Book Review: Good overview of issues but better interview technique would have helped
Summary: 3 Stars
The book is divided into:
1) A brief section on the academic research and political arguments on transracial adoption, written by a social science researcher; and
2) Interviews with women and men, conducted by an adult transracial adoptee; all interviews are with black Americans
As a potential adoptive parent, I found the book informative, particularly in how the interviewees reconciled their identities. Some interviewees have experienced severe identity issues exacerbated by adoption, some of their stresses were similar to challenges that most black people face in the U.S., and some of the interviewees don't seem to have had race or adoption be much of a hurdle in their lives. A common recommendation that interviewees make is that white parents of black children should make sure that their children have black peers--even if those peers are also transracially adopted--and that the children will long to be connected with black culture at some point so connecting them with the culture associated with their racial background from the beginning makes the most sense.
My main criticism is that the interviewer inserts her life and interests into the discussions so much that her leading questions make you wonder what people would have said if the interviewer had been able to be more neutral. There also is not much of a discussion of how the women interviewed seem to have much more in the way of identity issues overall than do the men. Does this mean that black males have an easier time raised by white parents than do females? This contrasts with my understanding that, overall, black women have an easier time being successful in school and later in the job market than do black men, for reasons of culture and discrimination.
Summary of In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories
Nearly forty years after researchers first sought to determine the effects, if any, on children adopted by families whose racial or ethnic background differed from their own, the debate over transracial adoption continues. In this collection of interviews conducted with black and biracial young adults who were adopted by white parents, the authors present the personal stories of two dozen individuals who hail from a wide range of religious, economic, political, and professional backgrounds. How does the experience affect their racial and social identities, their choice of friends and marital partners, and their lifestyles? In addition to interviews, the book includes overviews of both the history and current legal status of transracial adoption.
Social Services & Welfare Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Exploring Adoption- Transracial, International, infertility, loss
Cultures of Transnational Adoptionby Kay Johnson, Barbara Yngvesson, Laurel Kendall, Lisa Cartwright
Duke University Press; Published: 2005-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.94
Price in other shops:
Love in the Driest Season: A Family Memoirby Neely Tucker
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2005-04-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.45
Price in other shops:
In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Storiesby Rita J. Simon, Rhonda M. Roorda
Columbia University Press; Published: 2000-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.26
Price in other shops:
The Spirit of Open Adoptionby James L. Gritter
CWLA Press (Child Welfare League of America); Published: 1997-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $127.22
Born in Our Hearts: Stories of Adoptionby Filis Casey, Marisa Catalina Casey
HCI; Published: 2004-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.26
Price in other shops:
Empty Cradle, Broken Heart: Surviving the Death of Your Babyby Deborah L. Davis
Fulcrum Publishing; Published: 1996; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
Adopting After Infertilityby Patricia Irwin Johnston
Perspectives Press (IN); Published: 1994-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parentsby Deborah D. Gray
Perspectives Press (IN); Published: 2002-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.65
Price in other shops:
We're Different, We're the Same (Pictureback(R))by Bobbi Kates
Random House Books for Young Readers; Published: 1992-10-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.19
Price in other shops:
Does Anybody Else Look Like Me?: A Parent's Guide To Raising Multiracial Childrenby Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Da Capo Press; Published: 2004-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.31
Price in other shops:
In Their Parents' Voices: Reflections on Raising Transracial Adopteesby Rita J. Simon, Rhonda M. Roorda
Columbia University Press; Published: 2007-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial AdoptionSouth End Press; Published: 2006-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.20
Price in other shops:
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knewby Sherrie Eldridge
Delta; Published: 1999-10-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops:
Inside Transracial Adoptionby Gail Steinberg, Beth Hall
Perspectives Press (IN); Published: 2000-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.99
Price in other shops:
There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Her Country's Childrenby Melissa Fay Greene
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2007-09-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops:
Black Baby White Hands: A View from the Cribby Jaiya John
Soul Water Rising; Published: 2005-05-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.59
Price in other shops:
I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious Worldby Marguerite Wright
Jossey-Bass; Published: 2000-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.77
Price in other shops: