Abstracts Category : Other

A Qualitative Study of White Racial Identity in Global Nomads

by Jessica Hilbert

According to Pollock and Van Reken (2009), Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are individuals who have lived a significant amount of time in countries other than their passport country during their developmental years prior to repatriating. While TCK identity and identity development have been studied (Schaetti, 2000), there is a dearth of research that examines their racial identity development. This is unfortunate particularly for White United States American TCKs who have spent time in non-White countries, as their racial identity begins in a very different setting than the setting they enter upon repatriation. This author wishes to understand the White TCK experience of race, as it may not conform to current racial identity models (Helms, 1993; Sue & Sue, 2009). It is this authors hope that if White TCK racial experience can be understood, it will be possible to educate White TCKs, their families, and their educators. This in turn may better prepare them for the experience of repatriation. In addition, just as many TCKs find comfort in learning that they develop specific traits and identities due to living across cultures (Pollock & Van Reken, 2009; Schaetti, 2000), they may find comfort in having their racial experience normalized.