Socialization of Transracially Adopted Korean Americans: A Self Analysis

The sociologists Peter and Brigitte Berger state that socialization is "the process through which an individual learns to be a member of society" (Berger and Berger, pg. 9). There are many facets to this process that one can analyze, such as the mechanisms of this process, how the process is implemented, what role the individual plays in this process, etc. I will be addressing these issues and many more, as they pertain to me, a transracially adopted Korean-American. Adoption presents a very unique aspect to the process of socialization, as we are speaking of becoming a member of American society by a Korean-born person raised in a Caucasian environment. What role does adoption, race, and identity play in this process? In this analysis, I will be addressing these issues and the central question of how, if at all, has transnational adoption affected my socialization into the American society, particularly my sense of self and my identity. Since socialization is a life-long process, I will also examine how adoption still affects me to this day in my continuing process of socialization. I was born in South Korea and adopted by Caucasian American parents when I was five years old. I was adopted along with my brother, who was a year old at the time. My adoptive family consisted of me and my brother, a sister who was also adopted from South Korea (from a separate Korean family), and a brother and sister who were both born biologically to my parents. The process of socialization begins from birth and continues throughout a person's lifetime. Since I have no memory of my years in Korea and very little information about my birth parents, it is impossible to analyze my socialization during the first five years of my life. I will instead begin with my arrival at the U.S. and the beginning of the process of my initiation into American society. Joseph Bensman and Bernard Rosenberg stated that, "[e]ven now no other institution matches the family as an early instrument of socialization" (Bensman and Rosenberg, pg. 79). Indeed, the importance of family in my early socialization cannot be understated or overlooked. It is one's parents and siblings who start to teach us how to act and behave as a member of American society. For a five year old Korean like myself, it was a difficult transition. One of the big hurdles my parents had to get over was the initial language barrier. Berger and Berger emphasize the importance of language in a child's early socialization: "the primary vehicle of socialization is language. It is in acquiring language that a child learns to convey and retain socially recognized meaning" (Berger and Berger, pg. 10-11). Although a five year old child's language capabilities are limited, there was still that barrier to overcome. In fact, I remember having to take one year of extra kindergarten in order to fully adapt to the new language. This indeed affected my abilities to interact with my parents and peers which in turn affected my socialization. Tobias Hubinette, a Swedish scholar, presented a paper to the First World Conference of Korean Studies in July of 2002 in which he stated his view that, "adopted Koreans are considered a part of their host countries with no relation at all to Korea or their Korean families. The result is that adopted Koreans are expected to be loyal to their adoptive parents and assimilate fully to their host cultures" (Hubinette, 2002). The key words there are "fully" and "assimilate." Until very recently, the adoption culture was such that "closed adoptions" were the norm, where adoptees knew nothing of their birth families and such records were kept sealed. The goal was to get the adoptee to fully assimilate and integrate into their new society as seamlessly as possible. The minimal information that I have about my birth parents are evidence of this kind of culture. Indeed, my parents also practiced a style of parenting where no discussion was brought up about the adoption, no discussion was brought up about "being different," and no discussion occurred about the possible effects adoption could have on a child's development. …