Mia Tuan

Korean Adoptees and the Social Context of Ethnic Exploration1

In this article, the authors examine ethnic identity development among Korean adoptees and the ways they explore their ethnicity in early adulthood. They argue that social context plays an important role in mediating whether and how adoptees pursue ethnic exploration. Employing a grounded theory analysis of a uniquely representative sample of Korean adoptees, they find that historical period and institutional setting shape the availability, content, and experience of exploration. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for research on racial stratification, ethnic assimilation, ethnic identity, and transracial adoptees.

The Many Faces of International Adoption

Adoption is an old story with a new twist: international adoptions are reshaping American families and cultural landscape. In the long view, the authors believe international adoption is an immigration story that must be contextualized within research not only on individual adoptees, but within the waves of immigration that have altered American history.

Toward Ethnocultural Diversification of Higher Education

Attitudes toward ethnocultural diversification in higher education mirror attitudes toward paying taxes. Dissenters are opposed to paying taxes or to ethnocultural diversification. Passive Supporters value the benefits of taxes or ethnocultural diversification, but pay taxes or engage in diversity efforts only when required to do so. Active Supporters pay taxes or support diversity efforts even if they are not required to do so. Mandatory approaches to decrease the resistance of Dissenters to ethnocultural diversification may be necessary, whereas compelling voluntary approaches may be useful to mobilize Passive Supporters. Solutions need to be tailored to the needs of European Americans and persons of color. This article offers a conceptual framework for future research and interventions.

Cultural adaptations of psychotherapy: Therapists’ applications of conceptual models with Asians and Asian Americans.

Although conceptual models of cultural adaptations of psychotherapy have been developed, little is known about how therapists apply these models in clinical practice. The purpose of the current study was to examine, using a directed content analysis, how therapists culturally adapt cognitive–behavioral therapy, one of the most widely used evidence-based approaches, for application with clients of Asian ancestry. The study also examined if there were major differences in adaptation strategies between therapists who practice in the United States (N = 9), a predominantly individualistic society, as opposed to those who practice in Japan (N = 6), a predominantly collectivistic society. Semistructured, open-ended interviews revealed that interdependent conceptualizations of the self and indirect communication were addressed by therapists in both countries, and therapist credibility issues were addressed only by therapists in the United States. These results imply that when culturally adapting psychotherapy, therapists incorporate elements of conceptual models that are relevant to their clients’ cultures.