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U.S. Families' Adoption of Chinese Daughters: A Narrative Analysis of Family Themes in Children's Books
Author(s) -
Fitzpatrick Jacki,
KostinaRitchey Erin
Publication year - 2013
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.1741-3729.2012.00745.x
Subject(s) - anticipation (artificial intelligence) , narrative , psychology , content analysis , developmental psychology , representation (politics) , qualitative research , social psychology , sociology , social science , literature , political science , computer science , art , artificial intelligence , politics , law
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the ways in which family formation processes were presented in international children's adoption books. Guided by Pinderhughes' (1996) adoptive family development model, we conducted a content analysis for the representation of two developmental phases (anticipation and accommodation). A total of 24 publicly accessible books (e.g., via libraries, websites, or bookstores) were coded independently by two researchers. The results indicated that adoptive developmental tasks were represented in the books. The books were transparent in the description of positively and negatively valenced events (e.g., adoptive children are withdrawn from new parents). Implications for practice and service provision and research are offered.