Adopted in America: A Study of Stigma

Abstract

This paper presents a critique of the way America views and treats differences in the adoptive family and “the adopted child” ― and mainly the impact of stigma on an estimated six to nine million adopted citizens ― and to propose stigma underlies treatment of these differences. The rise in international adoptions and media hype over celebrities who adopt suggests major revisions have occurred in America’s treatment of the adopted, but there is reason to doubt this assumption and more fully explore this view. The adopted suffer the effects of stigma through labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination. Still, stigmatized treatment of America’s adopted goes underestimated, and under-reported. Sources for this paper come from personal observation, the published literature, the popular culture, and the experience of the adopted.

Keywords: adopted child, adoption, adoptive family, child welfare, differentness, deviance, stigma