Ethnic–Racial Socialization in the Family: A Decade's Advance on Precursors and Outcomes

In the current decade, the U.S. population reached historically high levels of ethnic–racial diversity and reelected the nation's first Black–White biracial President. Simultaneously, scholars also documented significant ethnic–racial inequities in education, increased xenophobia, and a racial climate that revealed deep-seated ethnic–racial tensions. Given this backdrop and acknowledging the significant role that families play in youths' abilities to navigate their social contexts, the current review focused on the literature on families' ethnic–racial socialization efforts with youth from the 2010 decade. Our review of 259 empirical articles revealed that there has been an exponential increase in research on family ethnic–racial socialization in this decade. Furthermore, although it is clear that family ethnic–racial socialization is a robust predictor of youths' adjustment, the associations between socialization and adjustment must be considered with attention to specific socialization strategies, the confluence of strategies used, and the unique contexts within which families' lives are embedded.     

The Role of Racial Identification,Social Acceptance/Rejection,Social Cognition,and Racial Socialization in Multiracial Youth’s Positive Development

Deficit‐based scholarship has suggested that multiracial youth are maladjusted due to racial identity confusion and social marginality. This paper proposes an integrative model of multiracial youth’s positive development. This model highlights the important role of social cognition in understanding multiracial youth’s development. Drawing on Spencer’s PVEST, developmental research on monoracial and multiracial youth, and the racial socialization literature, I argue that multiracial youth’s perceptions of how their racial identity choices are accepted in their social environment have implications for their adjustment. Serving as developmental resources, parents can attenuate their children’s social perceptual biases or enhance their abilities to cope with actualized negative social experiences by engaging in cultural socialization, preparation for bias, and transmitting race‐related messages that help multiracial children reframe their negative perceptions.     

What's Race Got to Do With It? Racial Socialization's Contribution to Black Adolescent Coping

While youth generally experience stressors from developmental milestones, Black youth also face racialized stressors. Racial socialization has been found to help Black youth cope with racialized stressors, but research has yet to show its contribution to coping beyond general socialization practices. This study examines how racial socialization contributes beyond that of general coping socialization to coping behaviors. Fifty‐eight third–eighth‐grade (M_age = 11.3, SD = 1.54) youth reported general coping socialization and racial socialization practices and coping behaviors. Results indicate that for engagement coping, racial socialization messages contributed significantly to parent‐provided engaged socialization strategies. Implications are considered for the ways in which Black youth experience stress and require culturally specific practices for successful coping with frequently encountered stressors.     

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.     

A Preliminary Analysis of Associations Among Ethnic–Racial Socialization,Ethnic Discrimination,and Ethnic Identity Among Urban Sixth Graders

Drawing from cultural ecological models of adolescent development, the present research investigates how early adolescents received ethnic–racial socialization from parents as well as how experiences of ethnic and racial discrimination are associated with their ethnic identity (i.e., centrality, private regard, and public regard). Data for this study were drawn from a multimethod study of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse early adolescents in three mid‐ to high‐achieving schools in New York City. After accounting for the influences of race/ethnicity, social class, gender, immigrant status, and self‐esteem, parental ethnic–racial socialization was associated with higher levels of ethnic centrality (i.e., the extent to which youth identify themselves in terms of their group), more positive private regard (i.e., feelings about one's own ethnic group), and public regard (i.e., perceptions of other people's perceptions of their ethnic group). Ethnic discrimination from adults at school and from peers was associated with more negative perceptions of one's ethnic group (i.e., public regard). In addition, the association of ethnic–racial parent socialization and ethnic identity beliefs was stronger for those who reported higher levels of adult discrimination. Results highlight key ways in which ethnic identity may be shaped by the social ecologies in which adolescents are embedded.     

Racial Barrier Socialization and the Well‐Being of African American Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Mother–Adolescent Relationship Quality

Racial socialization has been suggested as an important factor in helping African American adolescents cope effectively with racism and discrimination. Although multiple studies have reported a positive link between racial pride socialization and psychological adjustment among African American youth, assessments of the association between adolescent adjustment and another dimension of racial socialization—racial barrier socialization—have yielded inconsistent findings. Using a sample of 190 African American adolescents, the present study focuses on the quality of mother–adolescent relationships as an indicator of affective context, and examines its moderating influence on the association between racial barrier socialization and adolescent adjustment. Regression analyses indicated that the link between racial barrier socialization and adolescent adjustment is moderated by mother–adolescent relationship quality. However, these associations varied by gender.     

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.     

Neighborhood racial & ethnic diversity as a predictor of child welfare system involvement

Using U.S. Census and child maltreatment report data for 2052 Census tracts in Los Angeles County, California, this study uses spatial regression techniques to explore the relationship between neighborhood social disorganization and maltreatment referral rates for Black, Hispanic and White children. Particular attention is paid to the racial–ethnic diversity (or ‘heterogeneity’) of neighborhood residents as a risk factor for child welfare system involvement, as social disorganization theory suggests that cultural differences and racism may decrease neighbors' social cohesion and capacity to enforce norms regarding acceptable parenting and this may, in turn, increase neighborhood rates of child maltreatment. Results from this study indicate that racial–ethnic diversity is a risk factor for child welfare involvement for all three groups of children studied, even after controlling for other indicators of social disorganization. Black, Hispanic and White children living in diverse neighborhoods are significantly more likely to be reported to Child Protective Services than children of the same race/ethnicity living in more homogeneous neighborhoods. However, the relationships between child welfare system involvement and the other indicators of social disorganization measured, specifically impoverishment, immigrant concentration child care burden, residential instability, and housing stress, varied considerably between Black, Hispanic and White children. For Black children, only housing stress predicted child maltreatment referral rates; whereas, neighborhood impoverishment, residential instability, and child care burden also predicted higher child maltreatment referral rates for Hispanic and White children. Immigrant concentration was unrelated to maltreatment referral rates for Black and Hispanic children, and predicted lower maltreatment referral rates for White children. Taken together, these findings suggest that racial–ethnic diversity may be one of the more reliable neighborhood-level demographic indicators of child welfare risk across different racial/ethnic groups of children. However, many of the other neighborhood characteristics that influence child maltreatment referrals differ for Black, Hispanic and White children. Consequently, neighborhood-based family support initiatives should avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to child abuse prevention and strategically consider the racial/ethnic make-up of targeted communities.     

Parental Influence on Adolescent Cigarette,Alcohol and Marijuana Use: A Focus on Race/Ethnicity and Age

This study examined the racial/ethnic differences in the influence of perceived parental attitudes on adolescent cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) was used and included African American, Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, and other race youth (N?=?13,600), aged 12–17. We tested the direct and moderating effects of perceived parental attitudes by race/ethnicity and age on adolescent substance use. Results show that perceived parental disapproval decreased cigarette and alcohol use among older adolescents. Perceived parental disapproval also varied by race/ethnicity and the type of substance used in that non-Hispanic White adolescents were more influenced by perceived parental disapproval for cigarette use, and perceived parental disapproval influenced Hispanic adolescents’ use for all three substances. African American adolescents were less influenced by perceived parental disapproval for all three substances. We also examined perceived harm in substance use and found that only 22.5% of the sample perceived the use of marijuana as harmful compared to cigarette and alcohol use (66 and 62.1%, respectively). Implications for preventive and intervention measures are discussed.     

Coping With LGBT and Racial–Ethnic‐Related Stressors: A Mixed‐Methods Study of LGBT Youth of Color

This study examines how racial–ethnic minority lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth cope with both racial–ethnic and LGBT‐related stress. Within a sample of 213 LGBT youth of color, the present study presents (1) quantitative and qualitative results from an approach and avoidance–based measure of parental racial coping socialization across six conversation domains, and (2) qualitative responses regarding LGBT stressors and associated coping strategies. The emphasis on approach versus avoidance varied across the racial–ethnic conversation domains. However, both racial–ethnic‐ and LGBT‐related coping strategies emphasized a combination of cognitive and behavioral strategies. Similarities and differences also existed in the types of stressors encountered across racial–ethnic and LGBT statuses. We discuss the potential for coping skill transfer across these minority statuses.     

Family Socialization and Chinese Youth Children’s Development: Does psychosocial Maturity Matter?

The present study examined the effects of family socialization in the form of family processes and parenting practices on youth children’s internalizing and externalizing problems concomitantly in a sample of Chinese parent–child dyads. The results generally support that (1) family socialization is crucially influential on the youth outcomes, in which parenting is a function of family processes; (2) youth’s psychosocial maturity significantly mediates the effects of family socialization on their outcomes; (3) effects of family processes are observed more pronounced as compared with parenting practices; and (4) more complicatedly varying effects of family processes and parenting practices on the youth outcomes appear when setting free the mediations of psychosocial maturity across different structural models. Service implications of the findings and future research directions are briefly discussed.     

Marital Processes and Parental Socialization in Families of Color: A Decade Review of Research

Research published during the past decade on African American, Latino, and Asian American families is reviewed. Emphasis is given to selected issues within the broad domains of marriage and parenting. The first section highlights demographic trends in family formation and family structure and factors that contributed to secular changes in family structure among African Americans. In the second section, new conceptualizations of marital relations within Latino families are discussed, along with research documenting the complexities in African American men's conceptions of manhood. Studies examining within‐group variation in marital conflict and racial and ethnic differences in division of household labor, marital relations, and children's adjustment to marital and family conflict also are reviewed. The third section gives attention to research on (a) paternal involvement among fathers of color; (b) the relation of parenting behavior to race and ethnicity, grandmother involvement, neighborhood and peer characteristics, and immigration; and (c) racial and ethnic socialization. The article concludes with an overview of recent advances in the study of families of color and important challenges and issues that represent research opportunities for the new decade.     

The Enduring Significance of Racism: Discrimination and Delinquency Among Black American Youth

Prominent explanations of the overrepresentation of Black Americans in criminal justice statistics focus on the effects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage, racial isolation, and social disorganization. We suggest that perceived personal discrimination is an important but frequently neglected complement to these factors. We test this hypothesis with longitudinal data on involvement in general and violent juvenile delinquency in a sample of Black youth from a variety of communities in 2 states. We examine the direct effects of concentrated disadvantage and racial isolation and the direct and mediating effects of social organization, support for violence, and personal discrimination. Consistent with our hypothesis, perceived personal discrimination has notable direct effects on both general and violent delinquency and is an important mediator between neighborhood structural conditions and offending; moreover, its effects exceed those associated with neighborhood conditions.     

Black Adolescents’ Critical Reflection Development: Parents’ Racial Socialization and Attributions About Race Achievement Gaps

This research explored the development of Black adolescents’ (N = 454) critical reflection, conceived as individual (i.e., blaming Black people) and structural (i.e., blaming systemic racism) attributions for race achievement gaps. In this longitudinal study, adolescents and their parents reported their individual and structural attributions for race achievement gaps and parents’ racial socialization. Adolescents’ structural attributions increased from Grade 10 to Grade 12. Average levels of individual attributions did not change. Adolescents’ reports of parental racial socialization and parents’ structural attributions when youth were in Grade 10 predicted increases in adolescents’ structural attributions. Findings are applied to future research and efforts to increase adolescent critical reflection.     

Asian adolescent and young adult adoptees' psychological well-being: Examining the mediating role of marginality

Adolescent adoptees from an ethnic minority background different from that of their adoptive parents can face unique challenges to their psychosocial adjustment that may include, for some, a sense of marginality and low self-esteem. Using a web-based survey design with a sample of 100 internationally adopted Asian adolescent and young adults, the present study examined how feelings of marginality mediate the relationship between ethnic and racial socialization and psychological well-being among Asian adoptees. The results showed that (a) supports for racial socialization decreased adoptees' feeling of marginality and thereby, increased their positive sense of self; and (b) ethnic socialization was not related to feelings of marginality and self-esteem. This study illustrates the importance of providing post adoption services addressing racial socialization issues. Further, adoptive parents should teach their children how to deal with racial prejudice and discrimination, and prepare them by helping them to develop positive coping strategies.     

Role of the Black Grandmother in the Racial Socialization of their Biracial Grandchildren

The current study was conducted with seven Black grandmothers who have a biracial (Black and White) grandchild or grandchildren examining their role in the racial socialization process of their grandchild or grandchildren. Racial socialization is defined as how these grandchildren of biracial parentage came to understand their blackness. The following criteria had to be met; born before 1975 as this would ensure the grandmothers experienced the 70s. Black pride movement and they need to have contact with the identified grandchild. Qualitative methods with a phenomenological lens were used. The results revealed the perspective and methods they exercised in racially socializing their biracial grandchildren fell into eight themes. The themes that emerged were community influence, spirituality, social adjustment, feelings toward “the other,” social perception, cultural indoctrination, grandma’s burden, and the road ahead. Although each grandmother had a different journey and the “why” behind viewpoints varied, their conclusion regarding the proper racial socialization of their biracial grandchildren was to socialize them, as Black was unanimous.     

From Nowhere: Space,Race, and Time in How Young Minority Men Understand Encounters with Gangs

Research on gangs within minority communities often focuses on gang crime and violence, and gang organization. Few studies examine the non-gang member side of the equation, especially in how potential victims make sense of gang encounters. This paper reveals how young Black and Latino men interpret gang encounters, interpretations that differ because of the following: one’s ethnicity, a gang’s ethnicity, the state of interethnic gang conflict, and a space’s ethnic makeup. It will also examine the intersection of time, specifically as to how shifting neighborhood demographics change the perceptions of these young minority men. This research is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in both Compton and South Central.     

Developmental Characteristics of African American and Caribbean Black Adolescents' Attributions Regarding Discrimination

The present study examined discrimination attributions in the psychological well‐being of Black adolescents. Findings are based on a representative sample of 810 African American and 360 Caribbean Black youth, aged 13–17, who participated in the National Survey of American Life. Youth completed measures of perceived discrimination, discrimination attributions, depressive symptoms, self‐esteem, and life satisfaction. Approximately half the youth attributed discrimination to race/ethnicity (43%), followed by age (17%), physical appearance (16.5%), and gender (7.5%), and there were no ethnic, gender, or age differences regarding discrimination attributions. Key findings suggest that the association between perceived discrimination and psychological well‐being did not vary according to discrimination attribution, which implies that discrimination is harmful for Black youth regardless of the attribution.     

Patterns of Racial Socialization and Psychological Adjustment: Can Parental Communications About Race Reduce the Impact of Racial Discrimination?

This study uses two waves of data to examine the relations among racial discrimination experiences, patterns of racial socialization practices, and psychological adjustment in a sample of 361 African American adolescents. Using latent class analyses, we identified four patterns of child‐reported racial socialization experiences: Moderate Positive, High Positive, Low Frequency, and Moderate Negative. Experiencing racial discrimination was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, more perceived stress, and lower levels of well‐being. On average, adolescents who experienced High Positive patterns of racial socialization reported the most positive psychological adjustment outcomes, while adolescents in the Low Frequency and Moderate Negative clusters reported the least favorable outcomes. Results suggest that High Positive racial socialization buffers the negative effects of racial discrimination on adolescents' perceived stress and problem behaviors. Together, the findings suggest that various patterns of racial socialization practices serve as risk, compensatory, and protective factors in African American adolescent psychological adjustment.     

Racial–Ethnic Socialization and Transracial Adoptee Outcomes: A Systematic Research Synthesis

Transracial adoptees face unique challenges when it comes to being socialized with their race and culture. Ethnic identity and parent racial–ethnic socialization are two important variables that have been studied in the transracial adoption literature. Additionally, transracial adoptee outcomes of racial–ethnic socialization have been analyzed in multiple studies. However, few reviews have focused on synthesizing empirical studies that include the variables of both racial–ethnic socialization and transracial adoptee outcomes together. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic research synthesis was to examine studies with variables of parent practices of racial–ethnic socialization and transracial adoptee outcomes, and transracial adoptee experiences of racial–ethnic socialization and adoptee outcomes. Thirteen studies were included in the synthesis, and collective findings suggest that racial–ethnic socialization is associated with healthy adoptee outcomes in multiple studies. Implications and limitations about the need for transracially adoptive parents to be educated about racial–ethnic socialization, and resources that adoptive agencies can provide are discussed.