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.     

Racial Authenticity and Familial Acceptance Among Transracial Adoptees: A Bothersome Bargain of Belonging

Transracial adoption in the United States has increased significantly in recent years. Crossing the color line within the intimate familial sphere has important implications for how institutions such as the family enable and constrain individuals' identity work. We explore how transracial family members utilize racial stereotypes and racialist understandings in everyday life, employing 30 in‐depth, life‐story interviews with both transracial adoptees and their white siblings. In attempts to accomplish a sense of belonging and authenticity, we argue that both transracial adoptees of color and their white siblings experience divergent and paradoxical expectations of familial and racial authenticity. We find that although they often utilized “color capital” in a quest for racial authenticity, in certain spaces and environments, they were expected to eschew their nonwhite identity and embrace “acting white” as purported by white family members and their “white debt” approach to racial socialization. This study adds nuance to the question of how families navigate the enduring power of the color line in relation to the reproduction of both material inequalities and racial discrimination.     

Identity,dislocation and belonging: Chinese/European narratives of mixedness in Aotearoa/New Zealand

With over 10% of the population identifying with multiple ethnic groups, identities in New Zealand are increasingly complex. This article explores identifications of individuals of mixed Chinese and European descent: the ways in which personal location, classification and race influence feelings of belonging within and between multiple ethnic groups. The fluidity and diversity of the New Zealand context and the resulting positioning of ‘mixed race’ provide an interesting counterpoint to the comparatively well-studied American and British contexts. Drawing on 20 interviews with individuals of mixed descent, this research highlights how individual identity diverges from official classification and how this dissonance is understood through experiences of dislocation and belonging. ‘Mixedness’ is negotiated and enacted in many ways, as individuals find ways to belong in the face of wider dislocation, intertwining aspects of heritage, experience, community and nation.     

Immigration and Intermarriage Among Hispanics: Crossing Racial and Generational Boundaries1

Rates of Hispanic intermarriage with whites declined for the first time during the 1990s. One hypothesis, which we test here, is that the recent influx of new immigrants has provided an expanding marriage market for Hispanics, reinforced cultural and ethnic identity, and slowed the process of marital assimilation. In this article, we use data from the March Current Population Survey (1995–2008) to identify generational differences in Hispanic‐white intermarriage. The results indicate that second‐generation Hispanics were more likely to marry first‐ rather than third‐generation Hispanics or whites, a pattern that was reinforced over the study period. The results suggest declining rates of intermarriage among second‐generation Hispanics—a pattern that diverges sharply from those observed among third‐plus‐generation Hispanics, where in‐marriage with other Hispanics declined over time. If couched in the language of straight line assimilation theory, third‐plus‐generation Hispanics are assimilating by increasingly marrying other third‐generation co‐ethnics and whites. On the other hand, assimilation among the second‐generation is slowing down as its members increasingly reconnect to their native culture by marrying immigrants.     

The Reach and Limits of Asian Panethnic Identity: The Dynamics of Gender,Race, and Class in a Community-Based Organization

Qualitative Sociology - What are the processes that foster or inhibit the development of panethnic alliances? Through ethnographic study of an Asian pan-ethnic community agency I examine the ways...     

The Impact of Intersecting Dimensions of Inequality and Identity on the Racial Status of Eastern African Immigrants1

In this article, we examine how immigrants from eastern Africa to the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area understand and navigate the U.S. color line and its implications for nonwhites. Although these immigrants are subject to constraints based on their racial status as black, they mobilize other intersecting aspects of their identities to manipulate racial classifications in the hopes of attaining upward mobility in the United States, even when doing so creates other social costs for them. Eastern African immigrants draw on their ethnicity and, among Muslim immigrants, their religion to differentiate themselves from African Americans, who occupy the lowest position in the U.S. racial hierarchy. In challenging their categorization as racially black and seeking to move up the racial hierarchy, Eastern African immigrants refine the color line to distinguish between African‐American blacks and non‐African‐American blacks.     

Racial and Ethnic Residential Patterns in Canada

The aim of this study is to understand how city factors explain racial and ethnic residential patterns in contemporary multiethnic cities. We examined residential patterns among 17 groups in 12 Canadian cities. The results suggest that we should be cautious in taking factors derived from literature based largely on European experiences at the beginning of the last century and applying them uniformly to different groups in Canadian multiethnic cities. Our results show that the residential segregation of different racial and ethnic groups is affected by different sets of city factors. In addition, most factors suggested in that literature do not relate to the segregation patterns among visible minority groups.     

The Injurious Relationship Between Racial Microaggressions and Physical Health: Implications for Social Work

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the study of racial microaggressions (or subtle forms of racial discrimination) has increased significantly in the social sciences, particularly highlighting the negative impact of racial microaggressions on individuals’ mental health. Despite this, there is a dearth of literature that has examined the relationship between racial microaggressions and physical and psychological health. Using two self-reported measures—the Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (REMS) and the RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey—with a diverse group of participants (N = 277), results suggest that racial microaggressions are significantly correlated with poorer health conditions. Furthermore, racial microaggressions were found to predict various types of physical health conditions, such as general health problems, pain, lower energy levels, and fatigue. Finally, different types of microaggressions (e.g., microaggressions in school or the workplace, environmental microaggressions) were found to be predictors of specific health issues. Implications for social work are discussed.     

The Interface of Racial Identity Development with Identity Complexity in Clinical Social Work Student Practitioners

This paper examines the influence that one's racial identity development plays in the overall professional identity development of clinical social work student practitioners. The author discusses race, as a construct, in a post-modern world. Utilizing Saari's (1993, 2000) discussion of identity complexity, the paper demonstrates how the ability to dialogue about issues of race, in a complex and multi-faceted way, is reflective of evolution in one's racial identity development. To further one's identity development, the importance of a dialogical mode of interaction (Bahktin, 1986, 1993) is emphasized.     

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms Among U.S. Nursing Home Residents

This study aimed to examine racial and ethnic differences in significant depressive symptoms among long-term nursing home residents. We analyzed the 2014 national Minimum Data Set linked to a nursing home file and estimated multivariable logistic regressions to determine the associations of race and ethnicities with significant depressive symptoms (score ≥ 10 on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9] scale) and whether associations were explained by resident and nursing home covariates. Stratified analyses further determined independent associations in subgroups of residents. We found that the prevalence rate of PHQ-9 scores ≥ 10 was 8.8% among non-Hispanic White residents (n = 653,031) and 7.4%, 6.9%, and 6.6% among Black (n = 97,629), Hispanic (n = 39,752), and Asian (n = 16,636) residents, respectively. The reduced likelihoods of significant depressive symptoms for minority residents compared to non-Hispanic Whites persisted after sequential adjustments for resident and nursing home covariates, as well as in stratified analyses. The persistently lower rate of significant depressive symptoms among racial and ethnic minority residents suggests that training of nursing home caregivers for culturally sensitive depression screening is needed for improved symptom recognition among minority residents.     

The Grand Challenge of Reducing Gender and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Service Access and Needs Among Adults with Alcohol Misuse

This study examined the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on gender and racial and ethnic disparities in accessing and using behavioral health services among a national sample of adults who reported heavy or binge alcohol use (n = 52,496) and those with alcohol use disorder (AUD; n = 22,966). Difference-in-differences models estimated service-related disparities before (2008–2009) and after (2011–2014) health care reform. A subanalysis was conducted before (2011–2013) and after (2014) full implementation of the ACA. Asian subgroups among respondents with heavy or binge drinking were excluded from substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and unmet need outcome models due to insufficient cell size. Among heavy or binge drinkers, unmet SUD treatment need decreased among Black women and increased among Black men. Mental health (MH) treatment decreased among Asian men, whereas unmet MH treatment need decreased among Hispanic men. MH treatment increased among Hispanic women with AUD. Although there were improvements in service use and access among Black and Hispanic women and Hispanic men, there were setbacks among Black and Asian men. Implications for social workers are discussed.     

Influence of Age on Transracial Foster Adoptions and Its Relation to Ethnic Identity Development

In the United States, ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in the foster care system and underrepresented among potential adoptive parents. The need to find permanent homes for foster children has led to an increase in the controversial practice of transracial adoption (TRA), wherein ethnic minority children are placed in adoptive homes with Caucasian parents. While many child welfare scholars and dependency stakeholders support TRA as a positive alternative to foster care, others are concerned that such adoptions may inhibit the ethnic identity development of transracially adopted children. This article documents the large number of ethnic minority children who are adopted through TRA prior to the onset of ethnic identification and how age influences which children are adopted out of foster care. The findings indicate that young ethnic minorities are significantly more likely to be adopted through TRA compared to older children, an effect especially prominent among African Americans. Implications for the child welfare system 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.     

Between Sacral Belief and Moral Community: A Multidimensional Approach to the Relationship Between Religion and Alcohol Among Whites and Blacks

This study explores the conditions under which two dimensions of religion first specified by Durkheim (1995), the normative and the integrative, may be related to a particular aspect of alcohol use among white and black adults. The analysis compares those denominations that oppose the use of alcohol to those that do not, while simultaneously examining the effects of the relative strength of the commitment to the religious community on the risk for dependency. Because a substantially large sample drawn from 41 mid-sized cities nationwide is employed, the study is able to expand the set of denominations considered, and, more importantly, to conduct a more refined analysis of differences between black and white respondents than is typically possible. The findings indicate that although effects due to religious denomination are certainly a factor in the risk for dependency, this is much more so the case among whites than among blacks. By contrast, among blacks, frequency of church attendance, a measure of integration, is a more powerful predictor of risk than it is for whites. These results suggest that to more fully comprehend the manner in which alcohol use and religion are linked, especially in the black community, the organizational nature of the church—and not solely its denomination—needs to be considered in the attempt to assess the risk of alcohol dependency.     

Violent Crimes and Racial Profiling

Abstract

This paper considers racial profiling as it pertains to violent crimes both as a criminal justice issue and as a mental health issue. It attempts to determine if violent crimes associated with the index of violent crimes are endemic to one or several specific demographic groups of the general population. Risk factors for specified violent crimes are hypothesized. It presents research involving regression analysis of data for the city of Chicago, Illinois. Chicago is used because of its recent history of being challenged by violent crimesleading the nation in homicides in the years 1998 and 2001 (ignoring deaths associated with September 11, 2001). Results indicate that the identified violent crimes in terms of prevalence are not endemic to a racial or ethnic group, given this sample. Apparently, the over representation of African Americans in prisons may be in part the results of biases in the criminal justice system. Recently, the state of Illinois and Cook County have been forced to reform judicial proceedings.     

Marriage,Work, and Racial Inequalities in Poverty: Evidence From the United States

This article explores recent racial and ethnic inequalities in poverty, estimating the share of racial poverty differentials that can be explained by variation in family structure and workforce participation. The authors use logistic regression to estimate the association between poverty and race, family structure, and workforce participation. They then decompose between‐race differences in poverty risk to quantify how racial disparities in marriage and work explain observed inequalities in the log odds of poverty. They estimate that 47.7% to 48.9% of Black–White differences in poverty risk can be explained by between‐group variance in these two factors, while only 4.3% to 4.5% of the Hispanic–White differential in poverty risk can be explained by these variables. The findings underscore the continued but varied association between racial disparities in poverty and labor and marriage markets. Clear racial differences in the origin of poverty suggest that policy interventions will not have uniformly effective impacts on poverty reduction.     

Comiendo Bien: The Production of Latinidad through the Performance of Healthy Eating among Latino Immigrant Families in San Francisco

Utilizing a bricolage of interactionist cultural studies, ethnic foodways, and situational analysis this paper examines how Latino immigrants, representing six countries and multiple preimmigration class positions, come to perform Latinidad through the lay health practice of comiendo bien (eating well). Comiendo bien was examined through participant observation of 15 families living in San Francisco and 27 key informant interviews. Comiendo bien is a performance that exists through the convergence of multiple identity positions. Latina/o immigrants not only enact the Latinidad in the United States through artistic expression or political strategizing, but also by sharing an idealized practice of healthy eating.     

Parents' Coresidence With Adult Children: Can Immigration Explain Racial and Ethnic Variation?

There is considerable racial and ethnic variation in the prevalence of intergenerational coresidence in the United States. Using data from the Current Population Surveys, we demonstrate that much of this is attributable to recent immigration and the relative economic position of immigrant parents. Multinomial logistic regression results reveal that recent immigrant parents, particularly Asian and Central and South American immigrant parents, are more likely to live in households in which their adult children provide most of the household income. The likelihood of living in this “dependent” role decreases with duration of residence in the United States. The likelihood of living in an intergenerational household in which the parent provides the majority of the household income is not as tied to nativity.     

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.     

Adolescent Sexual Debut: A Multi-System Perspective of Ethnic and Racial Differences

Data from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were used to assess the association between family, self, proximate extra-familial, and distal extra-familial system factors and abstinence/virginity and age of first sexual intercourse by ethnicity and race (N = 1,854). Findings show how and in what circumstances measures associated with these four factors vary for Black, White, and Hispanic youth. Findings point to the robustness of class and gender for each ethnic-racial group on timing of sexual initiation and of delinquency and negative peer relations on abstinence among Black and White youth and of religious affiliation among Hispanic youth.