Parent Survey

We are interested in your everyday experiences and how you feel about these issues: there are no right or wrong answers. If a question does not apply to you, simply enter NA (not applicable) and go on to the next question.

Welcome!

We are interested the experiences of black children who have been adopted and reared in white families. If you are a parent who has adopted one or more children transracially, we ask that you take a few minutes (15-20 minutes) to fill out a survey.

Questions are asked in the singular "child," but if you have adopted transracially more than once, please give answers considering all your children's experiences.

Purpose

While the number of cross-racial adoptions has increased substantially, little is known about how successful parents feel they are in these adoptions, and little is known about identity formation among transracially adopted children. In this research we want to know your experience in:

the identity formation of black children who grew up in white families
the methods that parents used to socialize the children about their own race
the racism they may have experienced in their lives, and
the experiences that may have been important in the development of their identity as a person of color.

Confidentiality

All identifying information will be stripped from the information you give us. Only group data will be presented in any reports. Any quotes will not be attributed to you personally, only to pseudonyms (substituted names). Transcripts and questionnaires will be kept in a password-protected database and/or a locked file drawer to which only the researchers have access.

Your family

How many transracially adopted children are in your family? : *

Child 1

Child 1 age: *

Child 1 sex: *

Male

Female

Child 1 race (if your child is biracial or multiracial, use the button to select more than one race): *

Some other group (please specify):

Child 2

Child 2 age:

Child 2 sex:

Male

Female

Child 2 race:

Some other group (please specify):

Child 3

Child 3 age:

Child 3 sex:

Male

Female

Child 3 race:

Some other group (please specify):

Child 4

Child 4 age:

Child 4 sex:

Male

Female

Child 4 race:

Some other group (please specify):

Other children?:

Neighorhood

What was the approximate racial composition in percentages of the neighborhood where your child lived most of the time he or she was growing up?

Any other comments about your neighborhood?:

Racial Composition

Asian %:

White %:

Black %:

Hispanic %:

Other %:

School and Community

Racial Recognition

When did your child come to understand that he or she was of a different race than others around him or her?:

Was there a particular event that triggered this recognition? (such as name calling, discussions of race, mistreatment, etc.):

Racial Interaction

Are there members of your extended family who harbor or hold negative attitudes about people of color? Please explain.:

Did your adoption change this? If so, how?:

What proportion of the people who visited your home last month were African American? Were white? Were another race?:

In the past month, about what proportion of the homes you visited were African American? Were white? Were another race?:

Treatment

Sometimes children have reported that they were discouraged, distraught, angry, or had cried because others had called them racial names. Others have reported that they felt this way because they were treated badly by teachers or other children their age.

Has your child experienced negative emotions as a result of his or her race?:

Have other members of your child's race accused him or her of “acting white” or anything similar?:

If your child was accused of this, what was his or her reaction and how have you taught your child to handle these situations?:

Feeling different

One day the daughter of a black woman did not want her mother to braid her hair. The daughter said she did not want to be labeled “that.” The daughter said she wanted to be the same as all the other children.

Has your child ever felt that he or she wanted to be "like all the other kids" who are not of your child's race?:

Has your child expressed the wish for lighter (or darker) skin color? Or expressed a wish "not to be black anymore"?:

If your child has wished for a different skin color, was there a particular incident that made your child feel this way?:

If your child has felt uncomfortable because of race, what did you do to help your child?:

Mentors

Aside from yourself, does your child have mentors (such as teachers, religious leaders, or coaches) who can help your child when he or she encounters racial mistreatment?

Please describe any of your child's mentors:

School Experiences

School Courses

Was your child steered into either lower or advanced placement courses in school?:

Do you feel this placement was related to your child’s race?:

If you feel race influenced your child's placement in school, please explain:

Did your child learn much about black culture or the black experience in his or her school?:

If black studies was a part of your child's school curriculum, how was it taught? What was your child’s reaction?:

Some students report that teachers or other school staff members sometimes tell black students that they would do well to go into the military or to do construction or manual jobs. Sometimes teachers and others will suggest to black students they might not be college material.

Has your child ever felt limited in his or her post high school choices because of comments such as these?:

Discipline

Do you feel your child was labeled a problem child or sent to the principal’s office often because of his or her race?:

School Friendships

Was your child ever expected to be athletic, to be able to dance or to sing, because of his or her race?:

Did pressure exist in your child’s school to not date cross-racially?:

Sometimes whites find hanging out with blacks to be "cool" or exotic. Has your child experienced this?:

Religion

In what religious tradition or group (if any) have you reared your child?:

If other religion, please list: :

How often does your family attend religious services?:

Background Questions

Where were you born and where did you grow up for most of your life?:

Where have you reared your child for most of his or her life?:

In what year were you born? :

How many years of schooling did you complete?:

How about your partner/husband/wife? How many years did she or he complete?:

Your sex:

Male

Female

Transracial Adoption Study

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Purpose

Confidentiality