Adoption: Three Alternatives. A Comparative Study of Three Alternative Forms of Adoptive Placement

This is the second report in a longitudinal study designed to examine experiences of black children adopted by white couples, black couples and single parents. Begun in 1970, the study plan is to follow a cohort of black children, adopted as infants or toddlers, through their childhood years until the age of 20. The present report, based on descriptive and experimental data, examines the families when the children are 3 1/2 to 4 years old. Following the postulates of psychoanalytic theory, the study tests the hypotheses that black children raised by white parents would have problems forming racial identity and that black children raised by single parents would have problems forming sexual identity. Ninety-nine families comprising 27 single parents, 36 transracial and 36 traditional adoptive families were interviewed in person. Extensive telephone interviews were held with another 10 families who had moved out of Illinois. Data were obtained from three sources: (1) case records of the home study and the child's history prior to placement; (2) an assessment of family adjustment made shortly after placement; (3) interviews conducted in the home when the child was 3 1/2; and (4) a variety of tests. No evidence was found to substantiate the hypotheses. Descriptive components of the study focus on family interaction, roles, and ways of managing family life and crises, with particular emphasis on the single adoptive parent, as well as parental handling of adoption and perceived need for support groups or services. (Author/RH)