This study examined the marriage experiences of four Chinese Canadian women who are married to Caucasian husbands in Canada. Employing a phenomenological qualitative approach, in - depth interviews were conducted with these women in the ethnically diverse city of Vancouver, exploring their lived experiences in these relationships. The findings in this study reflect upon this and tries to bring some understanding to this rather complex phenomenon. The first finding is the non - accidental nature in who we choose to bring into our world. This important element was highlighted in the findings as it speaks to the reasons why we seek certain people to be in our life, including our spouses. The women in this study all spoke about early influences and experiences which reflected a sense of being an outsider in their own world at some point. These experiences have in one form or another shaped how these women approached relationships and in particular marriage. The second finding speaks to the effortlessness which these women present when moving between their Chinese and Canadian culture. The skills of negotiating and interpreting were highlighted by one of the women as a role that she has grown up with but now also finds useful in her marriage. This role appears almost invisible to most people because of the way these women incorporate it into their day to day living. The last major finding is the importance of seeking a balance between the two cultures in intermarriage. In doing so, it allowed the women in this study to find a safe place for them to freely express the two sided nature of their culture which up until then remained separated. In some cases it also provided the impetus to revisit their culture of origin to rework another understanding of the role of Chinese culture in their lives. The findings of this study provide a beginning understanding into the work which these four women negotiated in intermarriage to achieve a balance between the Canadian and Chinese cultures in which they live. The findings from this study bridge a gap in the understanding of the phenomenon of interracial relationships in Canada and contribute to a broader cross cultural practice in social work and family therapy.

For over forty years, at the turn of this century, the white settlers of Southern Rhodesia devoted considerable energy to the discussion and the regulation of inter-racial sexual relations. The settlers' worries about maintaining their position in power were expressed, in part, in the periodic outbreaks of 'black peril' hysteria, a term which well-captures white fears about the threat that African men were thought to represent to white women. Although voluntary sexual encounters between white women and black men were prohibited from 1903 onwards, no such prohibition existed for white men in their relations with black women. The white women made several attempts to have legislation passed prohibiting such liasons, and failed largely because in doing so they were perceived to be challenging the authority of the white men. The regulation of interracial sexual intercourse thus served to reinforce the white male domination of Rhodesian society.

This thesis is a micro-study of intermarriage at the small Kāi Tahu community of Maitapapa from 1830 to 1940. Maitapapa is located on the northern bank of the Taieri River, 25 kilometres south of Dunedin, in Otago. It was at Moturata Island, located at the mouth of the Taieri River, that a whaling station was established in 1839. The establishment of this station initiated changes to the economy and settlement patterns, and saw the beginning of intermarriage between 'full-blood' women and Pākehā men. From 1848, Otago was colonized by British settlers and in the process ushered in a new phase of intermarriage where single white men married the 'half-caste' and 'quarter-caste' daughters of whalers. In short, in the early years of settlement intermarriage was a gendered 'contact zone' from which a mixed descent population developed at Taieri. The thesis traces the history of the mixed descent families and the Maitpapapa community throughout the nineteenth century until the kāika physically disintegrated in the 1920s. It argues that the creation of a largely 'quarter-caste' population at Maitapapa by 1891 illustrates the high rate of intermarriage at this settlement in contrast to other Kāi Tahu kāika in the South Island. While the population was 'quarter-caste' in 'blood', the families articulated an identity that was both Kāi Tahu and mixed descent. From 1916, the community underwent both physical and cultural disintegration. This disintegration was rapid and complete by 1926. The thesis demonstrates that while land alienation, poverty, poor health and a subsistence economy characterized the lives of the mixed descent families at Maitapapa in the nineteenth century, it was a long history of intermarriage begun in the 1830s and continued throughout the nineteenth century which was the decisive factor in wholesale migrations post World War One. Education, dress and physical appearance alongside social achievements assisted in the integration of persons of mixed descent into mainstream society. While Kāi Tahu initially welcomed intermarriage as a way of integrating newcomers of a different culture such as whalers into a community, the sustained pattern of intermarriage at Maitapapa brought with it social and cultural change in the form of outward migration and eventual cultural loss by 1940.

This study explores the lived experiences of six Canadian Chinese-White heterosexual couples throughout their relationship lifespans. Interethnic coupling of this ethnic/racial configuration is on a steady rise, and mental health professionals can expect to find themselves working with this population in increasing numbers. In light of Canada’s unique history, ethnic distribution, and official policy of multiculturalism, it adds a much needed perspective to the vast majority of studies that focus on Black-White couples in an American context. Grounded in a constructivist-interpretive paradigm, this study uses narrative inquiry to arrive at six distinctive narratives, each with their central themes and a relationship life map to situate lived experiences in time, place, and forms of interaction. An across-narratives analysis was subsequently performed to identify overarching themes and subthemes across the six narratives. The findings suggest that couples shared similar experiences around their families; feelings of compatibility; and cultural differences around religion, food, and language. Further, they shared their insights on relationship maintenance processes with respect to the maintenance of family cohesion and management of differences. Overall findings in this study were consolidated to generate a co-constructive, contextualized, and strength-based model to understanding the lived experiences of Canadian Chinese-White heterosexual couples. This conceptual model is a response to the traditionally problem-focused literature on interethnic couple relationships, situates lived experiences in the multilayered contexts in which they are embedded, and highlights couples’ innate abilities to co-construct a relational narrative that embodies their shared realities and insights and sense of “we-ness.” Clinical applications of the conceptual model are discussed, along with limitations associated with this study and recommendations for future research.

The increase in transracial adoption in modern society has not been without some controversy over its practice. Conflicting studies, have exposed and given rise to greater sensitivity to the impact of transracial adoption on adoptees-. As noted, prior studies have indicated that Korean adoptees adjust well to their environment (Feigelman & Silverman, Kim, 1977, 1978; Simon, 1974); however, some studies indicate a negative outcome (Chestang, 1972; Chimezie, 1975) and some ethnic groups (i.e., Native Americans and The National Association of Black Social Workers) have discouraged the practice of transracial adoption. In an attempt to clarify such issues surrounding transracial adoption, the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of adoption on adult Korean adoptees.This study examined whether acculturation, assimilation, cultural identity, age of placement of Korean adoptees, and revisiting Korea play a role in self-concept. In addition, this study wanted to look at whether the positive initial adjustment found in Kim's (1977; 1978) studies continued into adulthood for Korean adoptees. Adjustment was based upon self-concept. The results from this study indicated that acculturation, assimilation, cultural identity, placement of Korean adoptees, and revisit of Korea had little influence in self-concept. As noted, the results indicated that: 1) acculturation was only related to Verbal self-concept; 2) revisiting Korea did not predict self-concept; however, cultural identity did play an important part in self concept; 3) age of placement of Korean adoptees related only to Verbal, Math, and Honesty self-concept; and 4) in general, positive adjustment based upon self-concept appeared to continue into adulthood for Korean adoptees.In summary, adjustment for Korean adoptees appeared to continue into adulthood. In addition, cultural identity appeared not to relate to Korean adoptees' self-concept. However, as noted, there needs to be further studies due to the limitations of this study, particularly the measurements. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This thesis is a bridge to healing Between my grandmothers who have gone on before me And me and my daughter I've been told that I have a keen ability to expose and look at both sides of the story. No matter how ugly the truth may look I am likely to name it, voice it and admit it. This thesis looks at both sides of an Aboriginal adoption and reconnecting story. By both sides I do not mean the sides of the government and First Nations people. I will not give the government such pleasure to voice their opinion to my story. I will tell the sides of the stories of women who have been affected by the adoption scoops. The women, connected through genetics and sisterhood, all have similar roots but different stories. Different stories with different truths.

This study examined the relationship between child rearing practices and ethnic identity in interracial and Yoruba children in Nigeria. An in-depth study of 20 interracial and 20 Yoruba families was conducted. Three methods of measuring ethnic identity (a doll choice technique, Draw-A-Person and 'Tell me about yourself') were administered to 20 interracial and 20 Yoruba children (aged 6-9 years) in the home environment. A questionnaire was administered to the mother in each family to measure the extent of use of 'elite' Yoruba child rearing practices. A separate questionnaire was'also administered to fathers. The mothers' questionnaire responses were correlated with the children's test-results. The doll choice technique and Draw-A-Person were found to be more successful than 'Tell me about yourself'. However, an additional 'food preference' measure was extracted from 'Tell me about yourself'. The results indicated that Yoruba children showed a stronger Yoruba identity than interracial children and that the majority of children in both groups showed correct owngroup identification. As expected, Yoruba mothers were found to use more Yoruba child rearing, practices than interracial mothers. A significant relationship between child rearing practices and ethnic identity was found in the interracial group but not in the Yoruba group. Correlations between doll play, Draw-A-Person and the food preference measure were generally low. Race of experimenter (white and Yoruba) did not affect children's test results. Results were interpreted within a family interactions framework and with considerations given to the social and cultural background of the subjects. It was suggested that socialization may be important for the development of ethnic identity in the 'minority' interracial children but not in the 'majority' Yoruba children. The implications of this finding for interracial children in other societies and for other ethnic minority groups was discussed.

By means of a historical analysis of representations, this thesis argues that an increasing sexualisation of Indigenous personalities in popular culture contributes to the reconciliation of non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australia. It considers how sexualised images and narratives of Indigenous people, as they are produced across a range of film, television, advertising, sport and pornographic texts, are connected to a broader politics of liberty and justice in the present postmodern and postcolonial context. By addressing this objective the thesis will identify and evaluate the significance of 'banal' or everyday representations of Aboriginal sexuality, which may range from advertising images of kissing, television soap episodes of weddings, sultry film romances through to more evocatively oiled-up representations of the pinup- calendar variety. This project seeks to explore how such images offer possibilities for creating informal narratives of reconciliation, and engendering understandings of Aboriginality in the media beyond predominant academic concerns for exceptional or fatalistic versions.

This research advances the literature on interracial marriage by using variables that align with the social contact hypothesis. The purpose of this project is to accurately gauge the exact social predictors influencing current attitudes towards Black and White interracial marriage. Multiple regression models containing social contact predictors are analyzed using data from the 2018 General Social Survey. The conclusive review of the literature summarizes age, region, and education as essential social contact predictors of attitudes towards interracial marriage. Therefore, the formulated hypotheses and multiple regression models measure this specific relationship controlling for other predictors such as sex and income. For Whites, the two most significant factors are age and living in the south vs. the west. Interestingly, a college education is not significant. For Blacks, the key contact variable that seems to matter is age. Baby boomers are less likely to favor interracial marriage. Overall, results show areas of convergence. Therefore, one's age is significant predictor for White and Black acceptance. However, it also shows divergence-region appears to only matter for Whites. Accordingly, younger Blacks and Whites were more likely to favor close relatives marrying individuals of the opposite race. Older Blacks and Whites were less likely to support interracial marriage. This analysis displays some of the critical gaps in using the social contact hypothesis to measure beliefs in Black and White conformity. Thus, there is a need to develop more logical variables to help solidify the exact social forces effecting attitudes towards interracial relationships.

Thesis (M.A.)--Kutztown University, 1987. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 3328. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-59).