Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1992. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2943. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thèse (M.Ps.) -- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, programme en extension de l'Université du Québec a Trois-Rivières, 2005. / La p. de t. porte en outre : Mémoire présenté à l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi comme exigence partielle de la maîtrise en psychologie offerte à l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi en vertu d'un protocole d'entente avec l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Comprend des réf. bibliogr. : f. 85-94. Document électronique également accessible en format PDF.

This thesis examines the role that heritage tourism and "return journeys" play in Korean adoptee consideration of place and identity. Specifically, my research centers on the link between returns and the conceptualization of place and transnational identity. I employ mixed qualitative methodologies consisting of textual analysis and participant interviews to study the influence that scripted journeys have on adoptee perception of places of origin in relation to the adoptive countries. I analyze tour literature, brochures and media to explain the role that evocative imagery and language have on adoptee expectation of the formation of place and identity. Semi-structured interviews with journey participants and other returnees offer insight into how these tours have impacted them and inquire how they might have changed the adoptee's perspective of place, identity and belonging. This research contributes to thought in humanistic geography on the intersection of place, identity and the past in this unique diaspora.

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of elementary school counselors working with students adopted transracially (SATr) and their families. Previously, the voices of elementary school counselors have been omitted from the limited scope of professional literature available related to school counseling practice with SATr. Using a phenomenological method, research questions were developed to capture the perceptions, needs, and practices of elementary school counselors working with SATr and their families. The purposeful sample of 11 participants represented elementary school counselors from Northern and Southern Virginia and West Virginia. The participants had professional school counseling experience ranging from one to 27 years where they worked with a range of one to over 200 SATr and their families. A structured analysis process was used that included coding (i.e., open, axial, selective), writing textural and structural descriptions that were verified by participants, and developing composite summaries. This structured process uncovered the categories, sub-categories, and themes leading to a core category. Bracketing was used to maintain the trustworthiness of the research study. The findings included eight themes as continuums reflecting the various perceptions, needs, and practices of the participants in working with SATr and their families. The shared lived experiences can best be described as a 'CONTINUUM OF COMFORT AND CONFIDENCE' whereby elementary school counselors relied on using foundational counseling skills, understanding human development, applying multicultural competency, and being sensitive to adoption related practices. Additionally, they continually refined their practice strategies in being responsive to the needs of SATr and their families. Although the findings of this study cannot be generalized, the narratives of these elementary school counselors offer important insight and generate recommendations for practice. Salient recommendations include frequent collaboration among school and mental health counselors, the need for elementary school counselor advocacy to promote acceptance and inclusion of SATr and their families, and the necessity for counselor educators to include coursework on transracial adoption. Future research with middle and high school counselors, SATr and their families who have used school counseling services, and professional development training will deepen our understanding for inclusive comprehensive, developmentally appropriate school counseling programs. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-46).

When I was thirty-three years old, I discovered I was an adoptee. In this memoir of secrecy and love, betrayal and redemption, I reflect on my early experiences as a doted-on only child firmly rooted in the abundant love of my adoptive family, my later struggles with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, my marriage to a fellow-adoptee, my discovery of my own adoption and the subsequent reunion with my birth family, my navigation through the thrills and tensions of newly complicated family dynamics, and my witness to God's perfect timing through it all.

M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This thesis, or storytelling journey, examines the stories of four First Nations adults who survived cross-cultural adoption into non-First Nations families and reunification with their birth families and/or communities. The methodology utilized for this research is Storytelling. The purpose and passion for storytelling in First Nations traditions are acknowledged and explained, helping to outline why storytelling methodology is a logical choice to honour and respect the storytellers’ messages included in this thesis. An overview of the traditional First Nations family system and the impacts of genocidal government policies on such traditional family systems are explicated, specifically in relation to First Nations children adopted out of community in a cross cultural manner. -Tákem nsnek’wnúk’w7a (All my relations) / Graduate

With the increasing number of adoptees in Sweden, so has the amount of literature regarding different aspects of adoption. The aim of this study is to explore the construction of adoptees in children's literature. It takes on a social constructionism view, by regarding language as a narrative tool in which human beings construct versions of different phenomenon. By exploring the different discourses in the data within the context adoption, we can identify different versions of "the adopted child" and their needs as it is constructed in the literature. Also, by putting them in a bigger context, we are allowed to see the social structures and the discursive conditions that allow a certain child perspective of "the adopted child" to take place. Therefore, this study also explores aspects and discourses within the context adoption such as ethnicity, race and adoptees relations to the past.