Discursive Construction of Adoptive Identity: The Case of Ethiopian Born Adult Adoptees Living in Sweden

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to find out to what extent adoptees’ encounter with different discourses within the society impact their sense of self as adopted persons and, on the other hand, how they negotiate and position their identities in the communities they live in. In an attempt to find answer to these questions, I drew upon social constructionism approach and discourse analysis as theoretical framework and methodological approach respectively. Based on primarily in-depth interview carried out with 6 adult adoptees among which the majority live in Goteborg, narratives or stories were obtained and then analysed. In line with the social constructionism thinking, adoption and adoptive identities found to be various, multiple, dynamic, at times, contradictory and changing. The variations and multiplicities are observed not only among individuals but within an individual narrative. The production of adoptive identities is not a unilateral project of adoptees but also a joint venture that involves the surrounding discourses the former have contact with. Accordingly, the study has identified four categories of discourses that impacted on adoptive identities construction, among which the making of the strangers (persecuting difference discourse) appeared to be the dominant one. This discourse does not only externalize adoptees but also affect their self-concept and their identification with Sweden. Contrary to past research that partially or fully individualized and pathologized adoptive identity, the research relocated it from individual to the society where discriminatory treatments emerge from. This result, along with another finding—i.e. the negotiating capacity of adoptees, suggests, among other things, the need to promote less damaging discourses and non-hostile way of speaking about adoption and adoptive identity. It also indicates that adoption social work and other concerned institutions should work towards empowering both adoptees and adoptive families so that they would be able represent and advocate their adoptive identities.