A Qualitative Study of Middle Eastern/Arab American Sexual Minority Identity Development

The development of one's sexual minority identity is often stunted by a heterosexist society. For individuals with multiple minority oppressions, this process becomes even more complicated. As such, there has been a call among researchers for more empirical research on the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) individuals from racial/ethnic minority groups. This study uses qualitative methods to fill gaps in the literature related to identity development among same-gender attracted Middle Eastern/Arab individuals living in the United States. From 12 interviews, 13 themes associated with intersectionality, race/ethnicity, sexual identity development, discrimination, stigma, oppression, and invisibility. Themes, subthemes, and their implications are discussed.     

Family Communication and Messages about Race and Identity in Black Families in the United States

Racial minority families engage in “racial socialization,” the process by which individuals develop meaning and understanding of what race is, and its implications. While parents are often seen as the site of this socialization, we wanted to explore which racial socialization messages were salient for young adults, and from whom they received these messages. This paper utilized focus groups to explore messages that young Black adults received about race, and what this means for their racial identity. We identified three dominant themes in our analyses: (a) the content of familial messages regarding race, identity, and prejudice, (b) critical incidents that shaped individuals’ understandings of Black racial identity, and (c) familial sources. Each of these themes is constituted by various experiences and examples that shed light on racial socialization in today’s social climate. Overall, parents, extended family members, and community members were sources of socializing what race meant to young Black adults. We discuss implications for research on racial socialization and family communication.     

The racial canons of American sociology: Identity across the lifespan as biracial alternative

The utilization of racial canons in American sociology has dictated traditional models of identity. Biracial Americans are consistently identified based upon the presumed race category of their African heritage. The result is that biracial Americans are ambiguous pertaining to racial identity without consideration of their lifespan experience, i.e.: social, cultural, and familial. To enable a more applicable model of identity will require that sociologists terminale the use of racial canons as a dictate of identity. Accordingly, development across the lifespan is heretofore both commensurate with biracial identity and the unique biracial experience. He has published numerous articles on the subject of race identity issues and is currently working on a book Beyond Black and White: Racism Among People of Color.     

Coping with perceived discrimination: does ethnic identity protect mental health?

Using data (N = 2,109) from a large-scale epidemiological study of Filipino Americans, this study examines whether ethnic identity is linked to mental health and reduces the stress of discrimination. The strength of identification with an ethnic group is found to be directly associated with fewer depressive symptoms. In other words, having a sense of ethnic pride, involvement in ethinic practices, and cultural commitment to one's racial/ethnic group may protect mental health. Self-reports of racial/ethnic discrimination over a lifetime and everyday discrimination in the past month not due to race/ethnicity are associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms. Yet ethnic identity buffers the stress of racial/ethnic discrimination. This suggests that ethnic identity is a coping resource for racial/ethnic minorities that should not be overlooked. The strong link between ethnic identity and better mental health has implications for social-psychological theories on race/ethnicity and assimilation in the United States.     

Race Identity and Race Socialization in African American Families

Abstract

In recent decades, theoretical and empirical efforts have enhanced our understanding of race identity and race socialization in African American families. This review of that literature identifies ways in which this growing knowledge base might assist social workers who work with African Americans. Prominent theories of race identity are outlined with a brief summary of research that has found linkages between race identity and well-being. Race socialization is defined and research investigating age, gender, and social class differences in socialization are discussed. Finally, research that examines the consequences of race socialization for psychological adjustment, academic achievement, and identity development is summarized, along with recommendations for social workers.     

Unpacking Racial Socialization: Considering Female African American Primary Caregivers' Racial Identity

The relationship between female African American primary caregivers' racial identity and their racial socialization emphases was examined. Three components of racial identity were evaluated: (1) the importance of race to the self‐concept (centrality), (2) affective feelings toward group membership (private regard), and (3) perceptions of how group members are perceived by nonmembers (public regard). Latent class cluster analysis was used to identify racial identity profiles, or dominant combinations of racial centrality, private regard, and public regard among a sample of 208 female African American primary caregivers. Mean differences in the content of caregivers' socialization emphases by profile group were then assessed. Findings indicated that caregivers with different identity profiles emphasized different messages. These findings and their implications are discussed.     

The Role of Heritage Camps in Identity Development Among Korean Transnational Adoptees: A Relational Dialectics Approach

This study contributes to the literature on transracial adoptions in two important ways: (1) it compares how parents and transnational adoptees negotiate racial and family identities through the use of heritage camps and (2) it informs that comparison with insights garnered from the theory of relational dialectics. The results, which are based on interviews with Korean-born children and Caucasian-American parents (matched parent-child pairs), suggest that parents utilized camps to both downplay their children's racial differences and give credence to their children's “unique” lives. Adoptees, in contrast, were not concerned with downplaying race; instead, they reported that although camps were fun, they did not impact their sense of identity significantly because they did not do enough to address the racial challenges they faced. These results suggest a potential disjuncture between parental purposes for utilizing heritage camps and the actual experiences of adoptees while at these camps. Moreover, they suggest that additional empirical attention should be paid to adoption policies and practices that explicitly address the racial and ethnic needs of transnational adoptees.     

The Loss of Friends to Homicide and the Implications for the Identity Development of Urban African American Teen Girls

Homicide is the leading cause of death of African American youths in the United States. The loss of their friends to these deaths challenges the identity development of many urban African American teen girls. To understand the implications of such a loss on the psychosocial task of identity development of urban African American teen girls, 21 African American girls, 16–19 years old, living in a large Northeastern city in the United States, participated in a qualitative study. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted. A grounded theory, constant comparative approach, is used to analyze the narrative data. The findings show (a) the presence and pressure of psychosocial stress on the participants’ identity development process, (b) the adaptive functions of foreclosed religious identity commitments, (c) the potential for this event to inform, in complex ways, racial identity development examined through racial group orientation, and (d) natural avenues of resistance to marginalization and race devaluation that may be experienced from societal responses to this event. How the teens make meaning of this experience informs their identity development. The article promotes the inclusion of identity-informed psychosocial interventions in bereavement work with this population.     

The Critical Incident Interview and Ethnoracial Identity

ABSTRACT

The Critical Incident Interview is a technique used to help social work students assess the client's ethnic and racial identity development. Students gain confidence exploring sensitive ethnic issues with clients from contrasting cultures when they focus systematically on specific events that made informants aware of being ethnically different. Using examples from student interviews, the author presents the steps involved in teaching the Critical Incident Interview which include guidelines for selecting and interviewing informants, analysis of critical incidents and the interview process, three scales used to help assess ethnoracial identity, the students' narrative report, and the use of classroom discussion to provide closure. A brief review of the students' favorable evaluation of the assignment is provided. The paper ends with suggestions for improvement and further uses of the technique in education and practice.     

Contextualizing Race,Culture, and Identity for Transracially and Internationally Adopted Persons: Lessons from a Personal and Professional Journey

Abstract

To better understand the path towards identity formation for transracially adopted persons (TRAs), this paper analyzes the issues that must be considered when examining the navigation of racial and cultural identity for individuals who were adopted transracially. This paper includes an analysis of the issues of oppression, power, and privilege for individuals who were adopted by parents who are racially different from the adoptees themselves. The complexity of how culture, race, and adoption status affect the oppression, internalized oppression, privilege, and power experiences of transracially adopted individuals is explored, with particular attention to the implications for identity development.     

Current Manifestations of Racism: An Exploratory Study of Social Distance and White Racial Identity

Abstract

White racial identity theory postulates that White individuals differ in their psychological orientation to race. However, the racial attitudes research has not examined how these differences impact the degree of social contact an individual is likely to have with members from other racial groups. The authors assessed participants' White racial identity and social distance towards White, Asian, Black, Native, and Latino Americans. The nature of the relationship was examined with a canonical correlation analysis. The analysis revealed a significant canonical variate, which indicated that more developed White racial identity status attitudes were related to less social distance towards members of other racial groups, while less developed racial identity status attitudes were related to greater social distance preference. The authors discuss the results in terms of the implications for psychology and offer recommendations for future research     

Social Identity and Intergroup Relations Within the Hospital

City hospitals are complex organizations made up ofthousands ofemployees with a variety ofethnic and racial backgrounds, and representing diverse occupational roles. These various groups often have differing religious and philosophical belief systems, which creates a complex combination of people similar to a small urban city. This paper investigated this multicultural society within the hospital and looked specifically at how various occupational groups define themselves in terms of their social identity. In addition, the paper also explored how various occupational groups related with one another. This study explored specifically the intergroup relations ofthe psychiatric staffand their supporting personnel. These groups were understood within the theoreticalframework of Tajfel’s social identity theory (1978,1982), and Allport’s (1954) intergroup contact theory, as well as Sherif (1961) and Turner's (1975) concept ofthe in group/out group process.     

Beautiful stereotypes: the relationship between physical attractiveness and mixed race identity

The idea that mixed race individuals are physically attractive is a commonly accepted stereotype. Past research in which whites (Australians and British) and Asians (Japanese) were asked to rate the attractiveness of a racially heterogeneous group of faces has shown that mixed race phenotype was judged the most attractive. In this study, I examine whether there is empirical evidence for this Biracial Beauty Stereotype in the United States. Using the data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, I examine self and interview ratings of respondents' physical attractiveness and, in an extension of the previous literature, conduct multinomial logistic regressions to ascertain whether level of attractiveness is associated with different racial identification choices for mixed race individuals. My results indicate that there is in fact a belief in mixed race individuals' superior beauty in America; but, with regard to identity, beauty is not associated with identity for all mixed race groups.     

African American Gay Men and Lesbians: Examining the Complexity of Gay Identity Development

Abstract

This article addresses the concept of gay and lesbian identity development with respect to African American gay men and lesbians. The authors suggest that the integration of one's gay identity and the coming out process are uniquely constructed for African American gay men and lesbians, who may be multiply challenged by racial prejudice, limited acceptance by the African American community, and a lack of integration into the larger, White gay community. Race, African American culture, a continuum of gay cultures, gender, and individual characteristics are suggested as salient variables that distinguish the gay identity experience of African American gays from that proposed by most gay identity models.     

The Importance of Racial Socialization: School‐Based Racial Discrimination and Racial Identity Among African American Adolescent Boys and Girls

This study examined various parental racial socialization messages as mediators between school‐based racial discrimination and racial identity formation over 4 years for African American boys (N = 639) and African American girls (N = 711). Findings indicated that school‐based racial discrimination was associated with racial identity beliefs. For African American boys, behavioral racial socialization messages mediated the relation between school‐based racial discrimination and racial centrality over time. Mediation also resulted for African American girls, but for a different set of race‐related messages (negative messages and racial barriers) and racial identity beliefs. The developmental significance of the findings and implications for future research are discussed.     

The Psychological Adjustment of Transracial Adoptees: An Application of the Cultural–Racial Identity Model

In response to the need for increased understanding of the identity process of transracial adoptees, the Cultural–Racial Identity Model (A. L. Baden & R. J. Steward, 1995) was developed; however, the model has yet to be empirically validated. The model allows distinctions to be made between racial identity and cultural identity, resulting in 16 proposed identities. Identities are based on the degrees to which individuals (1) have knowledge of, awareness of, competence within, and comfort with their own racial group's culture, their parents' racial group's culture, and multiple cultures, and (2) are comfortable with their racial group membership and with those belonging to their own racial group, their parents' racial group, and multiple racial groups. Four dimensions of the model were determined for study: the Adoptee Culture Dimension, the Parental Culture Dimension, the Adoptee Race Dimension, and the Parental Race Dimension. In this study, the Cultural–Racial Identity of transracial adoptees was assessed by a modified version of the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; J. S. Phinney, 1992). Psychological adjustment was assessed by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; L. R. Derogatis & P. A. Cleary, 1977). The sample consisted of 51 transracial adoptees who completed mail survey questionnaires. The exploratory findings supported the Cultural–Racial Identity Model by demonstrating that the modified version of the MEIM successfully yielded variation in the potential Cultural–Racial Identities that the transracial adoptees reported. Findings also did not yield support for differences in psychological adjustment among transracial adoptees having different Cultural–Racial Identities. The implications that the results have for counseling practice and social policy were discussed.     

Incorporating Struggles with Racism and Ethnic Identity in Therapy with Adolescents

Ethnic and racial minority adolescents enter therapy with the behavioral, emotional, social, familial, and educational problems common to clinical practice. However, therapy with these youth necessitates attention to the effects of racial discrimination on their psychological functioning and to matters of how their ethnic or racial identities are integrated. Of the myriad issues that become part of therapy with minority adolescents, the profound effects of racism and the process of ethnoracial identity development can be seen in adolescents' sense of self and behavior. Experiences with racism and with their own ethnic reference group and others may have led to distortions and partial understanding of their identities that may affect adaptation and functioning. In this paper, the author draws from experiences in clinical practice with minority youth to highlight issues of racism and ethnic identity emergent in treatment. Three cases illustrate discussions of struggles with racism and ethnic identity as they emerged in therapy. In each case, the struggles were made salient by the therapist's purposeful eliciting of them to clarify issues of transference, family relations, peer group relations, and achievement.     

Racial and Sexual Identities of Asian American Gay Men

ABSTRACT

This paper reports results of two studies about the racial and sexual identities of Asian American gay men. In the first study, 32 Asian American gay men completed measures assessing racial and sexual identity attitudes. Results suggested that Assimilationists had the most negative sexual identity attitudes, followed by Marginalists and Separationists, with Integrationists having the most positive sexual identity attitudes. Study 2 was a qualitative study based on interviews with 10 of the participants in Study 1. Twenty-nine themes were identified and grouped under five domains (personal background, coming out, being Asian in the U.S., being gay in the U.S., and multiple identities). Most themes were related to the parallel and interactive processes between participants' racial and sexual identity development. Practical and research implications are discussed.     

Whiteness as Stigma: Essentialist Identity Work by Mixed-Race Women

Historically, in both the social sciences and the general public, racial mixing has been stigmatized. This stigmatization was fueled by whites' desire to protect their racial privileges as well as the belief that hybridization between “pure” and superior white racial stocks and inferior non-white stocks produces an inferior being. While this view has been challenged within the social sciences, the general public's sentiment toward racial mixing remains consistently negative. The low interracial marriage rate, particularly among blacks and whites, points to the lack of popular acceptance of racial mixing. This article reveals an unusual and creative reversal of the racial mixing problem by historically stigmatized mixed-race women. The women in this study reject dominant patterns of stigma by reassigning stigma to their European ancestry. Given this reversal, women articulate and embrace non-white identities. This article explains the reversal of the racial mixing problem as well as the identity work of women as they rearticulate the meaning of race and racial belonging within dominant racial logic. The identification of macro constraints and the illustration of individual agency in the negotiation of identity extends the symbolic interactionist perspective on identity formation.     

Being Authentically American Indian: Symbolic Identity Construction and Social Structure among Urban New Indians

This study investigates the individual and group level reconstruction of a racial‐ethnic identity. Specifically, we investigate the experience of “new Indians,” or people who did not previously identify as American Indian, but are now reclaiming this racial‐ethnic heritage. Because many new Indians lack both official (tribal and/or federal) recognition of their Indian status and the phenotypic traits associated with Indians in popular culture, their authenticity as American Indians is often questioned in interactions with others. We document how new Indians work to reconstruct the symbolic meaning of authentic Indianness by emphasizing specific values and actions rather than biological lineage. Moreover, we demonstrate how new Indians achieve interactional validation of their redefined Indian identities in the context of a proximate social structure.