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.     

Rape in nonhuman animal species: Definitions,evidence, and implications

This paper examines the controversial issue of rape in nonhuman animal species. Many existing studies on nonhuman rape appear to suffer from inappropriate definitions and questionable interpretations. Many existing critiques of these studies are limited by their own misunderstandings of evolutionary theory. An attempt is made to reduce the resulting controversy by defining rape in a way that can be applied to nonhuman animals, without provoking unwarranted implications about human rape. Applying this definition to existing studies indicates that behavior meeting the definition of rape does exist in several nonhuman species. However, comparisons of these species do not provide clear implications for either proximate or ultimate explanations of human rape.     

Messages Matter: Investigating the Thematic Content of Picture Books Portraying Underrepresented Racial and Cultural Groups

Books depicting underrepresented racial or cultural groups and the messages they convey offer vehicles for change. But not all messages have the same impact, and thought should be given to which messages are used when and for what purpose. Our research contributes to the national conversation about diverse children's books by illuminating nine themes dominant in fiction and narrative nonfiction picture books (K–3) published between 2008–2015 featuring characters who are Asian/Pacific Islander, black/African/African American, Central and South American (Hispanic/Latinx), Middle Eastern/North African/Arab, First/Native Nations, and bi‐/multiracial. We also provide insight into the messages communicated by the relative prevalence of characters portrayed in each theme from each group. Inviting those who use books with children to turn their attention to overarching messages, we provide a model of how these themes can be used to interrogate a collection and its nuances of representation.     

Of Monkeys,Men and Menstruation: Gendered Dualisms and the Absent Referent in Mid‐Twentieth Century British Menstrual Science

In this paper, I analyse the historical constructions of menstruation in mid‐twentieth century Britain. I examine the complex intertwining relations between the female human body and the female nonhuman body. My argument is twofold: firstly, I argue that endocrinological experiments on nonhuman animals' reproductive cycles were mobilised towards affirming a binary division of female/male, animal/human. This facilitated the perpetuation of patriarchal ideologies in British biomedical research. Secondly, I argue that as a result of these dualistic conceptualisations, the female nonhuman body intersected with the female human body in scientific discourses. These bodily transmutations in scientific research contributed towards a form of social control over women, strategically rendering them as ‘Other’ with nonhuman animals. I illustrate this using Carol J Adams' (2015) concept of the absent referent.     

Listening to Intense Messages: The Role of Arousal and Affect in Message Content Recognition

This study examines the interference effect of high-arousal, affective messages on the recognition of message content from less arousing messages. Subjects were 108 undergraduate students who viewed two political commercials in one of three conditions: Target (low intensity) followed by high-arousal message, target followed by low-arousal message, and target preceded by high-arousal message. The messages used were the political commercials of Michael Bailey concerning family values and abortion.

Results indicated that arousal effects recognition of message content. It appears, however, that high-arousal messages facilitate the recognition of content from a low-arousal message presented either before or after the stimulus.

These results are discussed in terms of current conceptualizations of affect-inducing messages and listening. Areas of further research are also suggested.     

Considering Alternate Sources of Role Identity: Childless Parents and Their Animal “Kids”

Identity theory posits that role identity is negotiated between human social actors and is based in broader cultural expectations about how particular statuses should be performed. I argue that the formation of role identity in actors can also occur in relationship to nonhuman actors, if they are perceived as minded. Depending on context and human perception, identity can be formed as a result of interaction and developing “theory of mind” with nonhuman animals, directly implicating the animal. Using in‐depth interviews of childless and childfree companion animal owners, I demonstrate the existence of a parent identity in childless participants that would not otherwise be present were it not for interaction with the animal “child.” This identity is confirmed in participant narratives describing substantial behavioral output aligned with the U.S. cultural ideal of “parent.” Likewise, I find that significant others provide external support for the enactment of this role identity, allowing participants to verify self‐in‐situation. Overall, my analysis emphasizes the importance of considering nonhuman sources as occupying counterstatus positions in the formation of role identity while highlighting how these relationships affect interaction in the childfree and childless home, thus expanding scholarly understanding about both identity formation and emerging family types.     

Consumers’ Insights About Spirituality in Advertising

While the study of spirituality in advertising is an emerging area of scholarship, previous research tends to focus more on the spiritual message rather than on the consumer. Although some studies report on the meanings consumers derive from spiritual advertising messages, the definitions of spirituality as religion in these studies are not in alignment with the holistic approach applied here. In this article, we interview consumers and ask what meanings may emerge from their responses to spiritually dense commercials. (By spiritually dense we mean commercial messages rich with spiritual core ideas, as described in the Spirituality in Advertising Framework). Four themes have emerged from the data: authenticity, the journey, inspiration, and nature. We analyze these findings in light of both theory and practice. Consideration of ethical issues and the positive dimension of spirituality in advertising are also discussed.     

Animal Unconscious: Three Questions

“Animal Unconscious” begins with Freud’s claim, in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1965), that psychoanalysis proposes “nothing animal is alien to us.” By drawing on recent scholarship in feminist, queer, new materialist, and posthumanist theory, the essay posits that the unconscious is something “animal,” not something uniquely human in order to inquire what this postulate would mean for thinking about 3 problems: the place of animality in institutions of analysis and (higher) learning, the animality of language, and the invention of new modes of kinship. Throughout, the essay speculates on what it means to recast “human” psychoanalysis as an animal practice while simultaneously opening it toward including nonhuman animals in its purview.     

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.     

Whose Best Friend? Dogs and Racial Boundary Maintenance in a Multiracial Neighborhood

In human–animal studies, dogs are often framed as promoters of interactions among strangers. Yet very few of these studies discuss how racial structure shapes human‐to‐human engagement. Similarly, race scholarship and urban studies have failed to incorporate human–animal studies fully to better understand racial dynamics and inequality in U.S. cities. I use in‐depth interview data from an 18‐month study of Creekridge Park, an urban, multiracial, and mixed‐income neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina, to explore the role of dogs for white residents. I focus on identifying if dogs helped bridge social differences between white residents and their Black and Latinx neighbors in a racially and economically diverse neighborhood. I find that while my white respondents shared many examples of dogs facilitating neighborly relationships and friendship, these relationships were largely between same‐race individuals. By reinforcing a white, urban, middle‐class habitus, white residents used dogs to maintain interracial boundaries and feelings of safety, as well as navigate racial‐ethnic differences between themselves and their Black and Latinx neighbors. These findings point to the necessity of more research that addresses racial structure and human–animal studies to better understand contemporary urban spaces.     

“Phil's Calling Grandma… ”: The Role of External Support in Human–Companion Animal Identity Pairings

This exploratory paper deals with human–animal role identity pairings such as parent–child or sibling–sibling and the necessity of support from other actors both for the formation of these idiosyncratic identities, as well as for their situational placement in social environments not limited to the nonhuman animal. Taken from a qualitative study examining identity formation counter to the nonhuman animal, I use in‐depth interviews of both people with and without human children to demonstrate how human‐to‐human relationships are formed by categorizing the companion animal as a “child” of sorts within the family structure. These relationships prove integral to the continued development and enactment of identities such as the animal “parent” or the animal “sibling” via three different groups: their own parents, partners, and, in one case, adult siblings. This creates positive affect and commitment to the identity across other social situations. Implications of these findings for identity theory and family research are discussed.     

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.     

Adolescent experiences with online racial discrimination: Implications for prevention and coping

Online aggression represents a wide range of negative experiences, including online discrimination targeting individuals based on race, but adolescent perspectives are not well-represented. We interviewed 15 adolescents regarding their experiences with online racial discrimination. After a phenomenological analysis, four main themes emerged: types of online racial aggression, processes supporting online racism, personal coping, and strategies to prevent online racial aggression. These themes provided insights into adolescent experiences, including feelings about targeted online racial discrimination, intersectionality with sexual harassment, and comfort through processing with friends. This study highlights adolescents' thoughts regarding advocacy, education, and social media reform to prevent online racial aggression. Future research should ensure that youth voices from minoritized racial backgrounds are integrated into efforts to address these critical social issues.     

Racializing Redemption,Reproducing Racism: The Odyssey of Magical Negroes and White Saviors

Recent research on the intersection of race and media describes a trend of progressive, even antiracist, narratives that showcase close inter‐racial friendships and camaraderie on the silver screen. Films in which one character saves or helps another from some unholy or disastrous plight are common in films like The Green Mile (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Amistad (1997) and The Blind Side (2009). While these films present a stark change from the patently racist and on‐screen segregationist history of Hollywood cinema, these films often trade on racist meanings and expectations. Many of these films are what critics call “Magical Negro” or “White Savior” films – cinema in which implicit and explicit racial stereotypes are employed to structure the inter‐racial interactions where one character labors to redeem another. In comparing these two genres, this article provides an overview for how both cinematic forms reproduce racist messages by naturalizing the supposed cerebral rationality, work ethic, and paternalistic morality of select White characters while normalizing Black characters as primordially connected with nature, spiritually connected to the carnal, and possessive of exotic and magical powers. Together, these films subversively reaffirm the social order and relations of racial domination by reproducing centuries’ old understandings of racial difference.     

Vegaphobia: derogatory discourses of veganism and the reproduction of speciesism in UK national newspapers

This paper critically examines discourses of veganism in UK national newspapers in 2007. In setting parameters for what can and cannot easily be discussed, dominant discourses also help frame understanding. Discourses relating to veganism are therefore presented as contravening commonsense, because they fall outside readily understood meat-eating discourses. Newspapers tend to discredit veganism through ridicule, or as being difficult or impossible to maintain in practice. Vegans are variously stereotyped as ascetics, faddists, sentimentalists, or in some cases, hostile extremists. The overall effect is of a derogatory portrayal of vegans and veganism that we interpret as 'vegaphobia'. We interpret derogatory discourses of veganism in UK national newspapers as evidence of the cultural reproduction of speciesism, through which veganism is dissociated from its connection with debates concerning nonhuman animals' rights or liberation. This is problematic in three, interrelated, respects. First, it empirically misrepresents the experience of veganism, and thereby marginalizes vegans. Second, it perpetuates a moral injury to omnivorous readers who are not presented with the opportunity to understand veganism and the challenge to speciesism that it contains. Third, and most seriously, it obscures and thereby reproduces exploitative and violent relations between human and nonhuman animals.     

The Symbiotic Ideology: Stewardship,Husbandry, and Dominion in Beef Production

Social studies of agriculture tend to overlook the micro and symbolic interactions that structure relationships among agriculturalists, the environment, and animals raised as commodities. In this study, I use ethnographic methods and in‐depth interviews with conventional beef producers to understand their perceptions of the environment and the nonhuman animals they raise. Central themes in this setting are the ethics of stewardship and husbandry. I seek to understand how these values are constructed and used interactionally. I argue that stewardship and husbandry help describe a process of co‐constitution that binds together ranchers, cattle, and the natural environment. The analysis engages actor‐network theory by emphasizing nonhuman activeness and draws from symbolic interaction and cultural sociology to show how people interpret the actions of nonhumans. The findings show that ranchers frame their relationships with cattle and the environment as symbiotic and work to understand the interests of the nonhuman as complementary to production. I introduce the term symbiotic ideology to show the way this approach mystifies power dynamics embedded in the ethic of dominion.     

VIOLENCE,MORALITY, AND TELEVISION COMMERCIALS

It is popularly believed that television violence and declining morality are important causes of crime. Nearly all of the research in this area, however, has centered attention on programs, both news and entertainment. Commercials have generally been neglected. The present study sought to remedy this oversight . Findings from a content analysis of 1,699 commercials show that only a very small percentage of commercials contain violence. The findings also indicate that a low number of commercials exhibit behavior or attitudes that run contrary to conventional moral standards. It is theorized that although advertisers sponsor programs that feature violence or morally controversial themes, they do not wish to closely associate such content with the products or services they seek to sell.     

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.     

Perceived Racial Discrimination and Self-Esteem in African American Youth: Racial Socialization as a Protective Factor

Racial socialization was examined as a protective factor that might buffer African American youth from the negative effects of perceived racial discrimination. Two types of racial socialization were examined: messages about race pride and preparation for bias. One hundred twenty-eight eighth-grade African American students participated in the study. As anticipated, both types of socialization moderated the relationship between discrimination and self-esteem. The negative relationship between perceived discrimination and self-esteem was mitigated for youth who reported more messages about race pride and a moderate amount of preparation for bias from their parents. In contrast, low race pride socialization and both high and low preparation for bias were associated with a negative relationship between perceived discrimination and self-esteem.