Child Adoption Research Paper

My sister Katie feels like she “doesn’t belong” with my family. As kids, we used to play dress up with one another and Katie would always ask my mom to make her have blonde hair just as I did. My mom would then put a yellow towel on her head so that she could pretend she did. As a child I could not understand why Katie would want to do such a silly thing to try and look as I did. In my eyes we were both the same and nothing else mattered. As we got older, it became more apparent to me how different we really were. I am Caucasian and she is Native American. I have blonde hair and blue eyes while she has black hair and brown eyes. Not only did we look very different but our personalities differed as well. Katie was always much more fussy than I was when we were young but our differences really became apparent once she was old enough to learn that she is adopted. She did not immediately change, but as she got older she dealt with Bulimia, Borderline Personality Disorder, and the struggle of wanting to find her “real” family. I have always wondered if the way she thinks and behaves has any correlation to knowing that she is adopted and struggling with that, or if it is simply genetics that has caused her to have the problems that she does. I discovered a statement that really caught my attention because it related so well to my family’s situation. The statement reads, “Although the majority of adopted children and adolescents appear to be well adjusted, a minority present serious behavior problems, in a higher rate than do non-adopted children. Also, adoptees are at higher risk of being referred to mental health services or psychiatric treatment (Juffer).” My sister has created many issues within my family that both my parents and I h...

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...mental and Clinical Implications. Professional Psychology, Research & Practice, 42(2), 200-207. doi:10.1037/a0022415

2. Donaldson, E. (2008). The evan b. donaldson adoption institute. Retrieved from http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/FactOverview.html

3. Elaine Frank. (1990). Retrieved from http://parenting.adoption.com/parents/adoption-and-the-stages-of-development.html

4. Juffer, F., Stams, G. M., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2004). Adopted Children's Problem Behavior Is Significantly Related to Their Ego Resiliency, Ego Control, and Sociometric Status. Journal Of Child Psychology And Psychiatry, 45(4), 697-706.

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6. Singer, E., & Krebs, M. (2008). Assisting Adoptive Families: Children

Adopted at Older Ages. Pediatric Nursing, 34(2), 170-173.