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Adoptive Identity: How Contexts Within and Beyond the Family Shape Developmental Pathways *
Author(s) -
Grotevant Harold D.,
Dunbar Nora,
Kohler Julie K.,
Esau Amy M. Lash
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2000.00379.x
Subject(s) - identity (music) , meaning (existential) , identity formation , psychology , social psychology , focus (optics) , psychology of self , sociology , developmental psychology , epistemology , self concept , aesthetics , psychotherapist , philosophy , physics , optics
The focus of this paper is adoptive identity, the sense of who one is as an adopted person. The paper first considers how identity has been shaped by recent social changes, and then explores the meaning of adoptive identity and its developmental course. Three contexts of development are examined: intrapsychic, the family environment, and contexts beyond the family, including relationships with friends, connection to community, and culture. Implications for professionals who work with adopted persons and for needed research are also discussed.