Racial Identity Development of White Parents of Transracial Adoptees: A Narrative Analysis

The purpose of this research is to learn about the racial identity development of White transracially adoptive parents through narratives about their adoption and parenting experiences. White racial identity development has rarely been explored within the context of transracial adoption, and existing research on transracial adoption tends to focus on the experiences of the adoptees. The present research attempts to address the need for more literature in psychology and other social sciences on the experiences of White parents adopting transracially. This research uses qualitative methodology, specifically narrative inquiry and conventional content analysis, to gather data from participants ’ (N=12) personal stories about their racial identity. This approach is inductive, naturalistic, and exploratory, focusing on participants ’ meaning making rather than causation, and fitting for an under-researched subject area (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Riessman, 2003). Narratives encourage the participants to talk about uncomfortable issues, which is critical, because literatur