Synnyinperhe, adoptioperhe sekä normatiivinen suomalaisuuskäsitys kansainvälisesti adoptoitujen identiteetin neuvotteluissa

Abstract

This dissertation examines the identity negotiation of Finnish international adoptees in the context of birth family, adoption family and the normative conception of Finnishness as whiteness. The study consists of three sub-studies that address the challenges of identity negotiation encountered by international adoptees from the perspectives of (1) search for and reunion with birth families, (2) experiences of racialization and coping strategies and (3) experiences of racialization and their association with psychological symptoms. A mixed method approach was utilized in conducting the research: the data were gathered through thematic narrative interviews (N = 17) and a questionnaire (N = 213). The interview data were analyzed thematically and the questionnaire data were analyzed using correlation and hierarchical linear regression analysis. The results show that when adoptees lacked knowledge of their birth families, this lack may be encountered as an incoherence in their identities. The search for the birth family, which took on different meanings during significant life and interpersonal transitions, was a central part of how the adoptees negotiated their identities. In particular, adulthood, adoptees’ own parenthood and the reunion with the birth family were transitions that intensified their identity negotiation. Although, the reunion with the birth family was described as being significant, belonging to a family was based more on nurture and shared life history than on biological kinship. In the results, adoptive communicative openness also constructed a sense of belonging to both the adoptive family and birth family. The results further demonstrate that the normative perception of Finnishness as whiteness exposes adoptees to different experiences of racialization, which is a threat to their identity and psychological well-being. However, adoptees are not powerless victims of racialization, but they have a number of coping strategies they use to actively negotiate their identities and well-being. In particular, the adoptees’ Finnish identity, which manifested as assimilation of the Finnish language and culture, played a central role in their identity negotiation. Other central means of identity negotiation used by adoptees included identifying with their ethnic origin and social support. In particular, social support protected them from the pyschological distress caused by racialization. Keywords: international adoption, adoptive identity, identity negotiation, birth family search and reunion, communicative openness, normative whiteness, racialization, coping strategies