Oct 30 Flashcards
what’s ethnic racial socialization? according to Umana-Taylor & Hill
Ethnic-racial socialization is a MULTIFACETED CONSTRUCT
that captures how FAMILIES SOCIALIZE YOUTH
regarding the VALUES, TRADITIONS, PRACTICES associated with their ethnic-racial group
also includes families’ efforts to teach youth about POTENTIAL ETHNICITY and RACE-BASED THREATS
and how to COPE with these experiences
ERS - why ‘ethnic-racial’?
similar to explanation for ERI
not yet a satisfying solution for unambiguously distinguishing socialization that is racial from that which is ethnic
or for determining when one term should be used rather than the other
we use the COMBINED TERM ethnic-racial socialization when referring to the broader research literature
and focus on OTHER DEFINITIONAL and CONCEPTUAL ISSUES that we regard as more important
racial socialization
usually discussed around how Black parents maintain children’s high SELF-ESTEEM
and PREPARE THEM to understand racial barriers
in the face of racial/social stratification in NA
ethnic socialization
usually discussed around experiences of Latino, Asian, and (less often) African and Caribbean groups in NA
how parents help kids:
1. maintain CULTURE of origin
2. promote ethnic IDENTITY
3. resist ASSIMILATION pressures
ERS is a multidimensional construct - in the EARLY DAYS
early days of racial and ethnic socialization messages…
- NO STANDARDIZATION of terms
- diff scholars each had their OWN NAMES for the same types of messages
- some didn’t talk about certain messages at all, while others did
ERS is a multidimensional construct - in 2006…
in 2006, Diane Hughes and colleagues came out with a paper that STANDARDIZED the ERS terminology
highlighted 4 main types of messages
- cultural socialization
- prep for bias
- promotion of mistrust
- egalitarian messages
cultural socialization
one of Hughes’ 2006 dimensions of ERS
parental practice that:
- teaches about HERITAGE/HISTORY
- promotes cultural CUSTOMS/TRADITIONS
- promotes, cultural, ethnic, racial PRIDE
most common type of ERS that parents give - they are happy to share positive/unique aspects of their culture
examples of cultural socialization
learning about historical figures
exposure to books, art, artifacts, food, music, stories, holidays, teaching language
two types of cultural socialization
covert vs overt
covert: INDIRECT, less obvious
ie. going to hair salon or place of worship with group members, ethnic food exposure
covert cultural socialization
INDIRECT, less obvious
ie. going to hair salon or place of worship with group members, ethnic food exposure
overt cultural socialization
direct
sitting kids down and saying this is who you are, this is what’s important to our group
prep for bias
one of Hughes’ 2006 dimensions of ERS
parents’ efforts to promote children’s AWARENESS OF DISC and prepare them to COPE with it
not mentioned as frequently in interviews with parents
age diffs: prep for bias increases as kids get older
2 types of prep for bias
REACTIVE (after disc occurs)
PROACTIVE (before disc occurs)
prep for bias is most prevalent among…
Black families
quotes: proactive prep for bias
“we Chinese work like cows and are laughed at by many people. Of course, that doesn’t make me feel good. I always ask him to study hard…study hard and get a good job and don’t let others look down upon you”
“I been tellin’ my kids things when they was in my stomach…they know how to present themselves and all this and that. and not let things get to them. you know, somebody call you an n-word, “well, I’m a beautiful n-word.” you know? I’m not gonna let them, you know, get it out of focus.”
quotes: reactive prep for bias
“I told him it wasn’t so much that he was different, you know. You are the new kid in the school and they were friends since kindergarten.”
proactive prep for bias
PROACTIVE (before disc occurs)
a) caution against internalization
b) racial pride, proper demeanour, hard work to overcome
reactive prep for bias
a) enabling teens to cope with emotional aftermath
b) encourage to ignore event - brush it off, kids are just silly
c) downplaying racial/ethnic origins - ie. everyone gets called names
aside on delaying prep for bias messaging
even in early childhood, children’s understandings of race/ethnicity is MORE COMPLICATED than they communicate
- preferences for same race faces = 3 months
- face categorization based on race = 9 months
- associating people of colour with negative traits = 36 months
- associating white people with high status (wealth, power, etc) = 47 months
when does preference for same race face emerge?
3 months
face categorization based on race emerges when?
9 months
associating people of colour with negative traits occurs when?
36 months
associating white people with high status occurs when?
47 months
what percentage of parents underestimate when children develop racialized prefs/internalized beliefs about inequality?
95%
average parent underestimates when these things happen by ~4.5 years
strongest predictor of delaying conversations about race
underestimation of child racial awareness
prep for bias in immigrant families
immigrant parents report lower frequency of prep for bias
qualitative study of prep for bias in immigrant families
qualitative study
Indian immigrant parents
- parents reported not wanting to “put discrimination in the children’s brain”
- parents stated that they think children are less likely to face discrimination because they were BORN in the US
qualitative study of prep for bias in immigrant families: deeper dive
(recap: parents stated that they think children are less likely to face disc because they’re born in the US and they don’t want to “put disc into the children’s brain” so they don’t talk about it)
“as such, coping skills offered by parents to children centered on advice to “ignore it”. “avoid what they said”, or “laugh it off” in the event of a discriminatory experience. for example, a parent reported, “they [American parents] teach them, just “No, you have to stand up for yourself, fight with them.” That’s how they teach. And then ours is “OH, THAT’S OKAY, LET IT GO, LET IT GO”
almost all of the parents agreed that they preferred to not talk about racism or discrimination with their children as such discussions would, ultimately, be harmful to their children by having them expect discrimination. for example, one parent reported, “no, we never wanted to put it into their brain that, “Oh, because you’re an Indian, you’ll be treated differently in school.” because, if they think, start thinking that, they would start having more issues, I think”
finishing Dr Rich Lee’s TEDx talk
why’s it so hard for families to talk about race?
we lack RACIAL LITERACY - a way to talk about racism
it’s uncomfortable and therefore avoided
need RADICAL CHANGE - sharing stories and learning from them
Dr Rich Lee - how do we develop racial literacy?
when parents see/hear racist behaviours, they need to break the silence
talking about racism demystifies it
makes it less fearsome and more addressable
should be part of daily convos, not only when bad things happen
parents should expand their kids vocabs when talking about these issues
Dr Rich Lee - youth whose parents prepared teens for racism/disc…
reported fewer bad mental health outcomes when they encountered disc as adults
talking about it early on helps later on
what we do and say now makes a diff years later
children are left on their own if parents don’t make sense of it
by adolescence, many teens think their parents simply can’t handle it
but ironically, many parents are waiting for teens to bring it up
silence compromises health and wellness
parents often don’t realize how confused, unsure and uncomfortable racism/disc events make their kids feel
Dr Rich Lee - “King’s English” comment
older parent generation experienced disc daily and couldn’t do much about it
they put their heads down and worked hard and rarely complained
but new gen has the “King’s English” on their tongue
they are better able to fight and speak, for themselves and for their parents too
promotion of mistrust socialization
one of Hughes’ 2006 dimensions of ERS
- parental practices that encourage WARINESS or DISTRUST of interracial interactions
- barriers to success
- less prevalent in studies
- less than 10% of participants - not in many transcripts
- aside or jokes - not purposeful
egalitarian messages
one of Hughes’ 2006 dimensions of ERS
“we are all human”
parental practices that either:
- explicitly encourage children to value INDIVIDUAL qualities above racial/ethnic group membership
- AVOID MENTION of race/ethnicity/culture
orientation to mainstream culture
focus on developing skills in children
2 types of egalitarian messages
- colour evasive
- cultural pluralism
egalitarian messages: interview examples, specific messages about egalitarianism
“we talk to her about evolution…the differences first of all they are very recent differences and second of all they’re pretty close to meaningless”
“these differences that we make a huge deal about are nothing, they’re just nothing”
reviewing ERS > adjustment outcomes - Umana-Taylor & Hill SETUP
explosion of research on ERs in 2010s
so, authors wanted to REVIEW ALL PARENTAL ERS ARTICLES published in the 2010s
259 total studies reviewed
reviewing ERS > adjustment outcomes - Umana-Taylor & Hill TRENDS
3 key trends
- of the 259 studies, only 9 of them were with populations outside the US
- mostly looked at adolescent samples (13-18 years old)
- most research looks at cultural socialization as opposed to the other 3 aspects of ERS
Umana-Taylor & Hill review - summary of effects for cultural socialization
cultural socializtion
70% of studies found PROMOTIVE/PROTECTIVE effects
4% found RISK
Umana-Taylor & Hill review - summary of effects for prep for bias
prep for bias
33% of studies reported NULL FINDINGS
9% found MIXED FINDINGS
26% found PROMOTIVE/PROTECTIVE effects
15% found RISK
Umana-Taylor & Hill review - summary of effects - context dependent
cultural socialization: context-dependent 14% of the time
prep for bias: context-dependent 17% of the time
Wang et al 2020 meta analyses SETUP
wanting to get more specific with outcomes
2 meta-analyses
- parental ERS > psychosocial and behavioural adjustment
- parental ERS > academics
Wang et al 2020 meta analyses - OUTCOMES they looked at ACROSS THE 2 META ANALYSES
- internalizing symptoms (depression, anxiety)
- externalizing behaviour (anger, violence)
- self-perceptions (self-esteem)
- interpersonal relationship quality
- academic adjustment (performance [grades/test scores], motivation, school engagement)
Wang et al 2020 meta analyses - academic adjustment FINDINGS
cultural socialization
prep for bias
had positive effects on academic adjustment
Wang et al 2020 meta analyses - self-perceptions FINDINGS
cultural socialization had positive effects
prep for bias had null effects
Wang et al 2020 meta analyses - internalizing symptoms FINDINGS
cultural socialization had null effects
prep for bias had negative effects
Wang et al 2020 meta analyses - externalizing problems FINDINGS
cultural socialization had positive effects
prep for bias had negative effects
Wang et al 2020 meta analyses - prep for bias sometimes…
increases risk for externalizing and internalizing symptoms
Huguley et al - How is parental ERS associated with ERI among youth of colour? SETUP
68 studies included
no ERS > ERI studies focusing on indigenous populations
77% cross sectional
Huguley et al - How is parental ERS associated with ERI among youth of colour? ERS FINDINGS
all forms of ERS were associated with stronger overall ERI
EXCEPT for PROMOTION OF MISTRUST
(strongest association was with cultural socialization)
Huguley et al - How is parental ERS associated with ERI among youth of colour? ERI FINDINGS
parental ERS associated with all dimensions of ERI
EXCEPT for PUBLIC REGARD
potential sources of ERS aside from parents
- siblings
- grandparents/extended family
- schools & people in schools
- romantic partners
- people online/popular media
probably several more
sibling socialization from Mixed-Ish
sibling conversation - older sister and little brother
“by pretending to be Mexican, don’t you realize you’re rejecting who you are?”
“I’m not upset about being mixed, I’m annoyed about explaining what being mixed is”
big sister says she has his back, and that he doesn’t have to answer those questions”
“don’t deny the experience of being you” and the whole family says “we’ll always be here for you”
really messages of cultural socialization and pride
additional factors to consider when thinking about ERS in schools
- mainstream socialization
- promotion of cultural competence
- critical consciousness socialization
ERS in schools - mainstream socialization
“at [university name] you’ve learned about what it means to be American”
ERS in schools - promotion of cultural competence
“your coursework exposes you to diverse cultures and traditions”
ie. multicultural fairs, in-depth coursework and study opportunities
ERS in schools - critical consciousness socialization
“your instructors encourage your political and social awareness of issues affecting your cultures”
“you have opportunities to learn about social justice”
extends PAST prep for bias
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? WHAT 2 Q’s DID THEY ASK
- how are dimensions of school racial socialization associated with ERI and out-group attitudes?
- do these relations vary by ethnic-racial group?
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? SETUP
N = 819 sixth-twelfth graders
80% high school
20% middle school
25% Black, Latinx, Asian, White
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? RACIAL GROUP FINDINGS
no differences between racial groups
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? FINDINGS for promotion of cultural competence
promotion of cultural competence POS association
with OTHER GROUP ORIENTATION
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? FINDINGS for cultural socialization
cultural socialization POS association
with EXPLORATION and COMMITMENT
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? FINDINGS for critical consciousness socialization
critical consciousness NULL FINDINGS all around
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? FINDINGS for mainstream socialization
mainstream socialization (US norms) POS association
with EXPLORATION, COMMITMENT and OTHER GROUP ORIENTATION
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? DIMENSIONS OF SCHOOL ERS
- promotion of cultural competence
- cultural socialization
- critical consciousness socialization
- mainstream socialization (US norms)
- colourblind socialization
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? ERI AND OUTGROUP ATTITUDES
- exploration
- commitment
- other group orientation (desire to interact with outgroup)
Byrd & Legette - how is school ERS related to youth’s ERI? OVERALL…
seems like school ERS is having notable, important impacts on IDENTITY and students’ OPENNESS to associating with outgroup members
general summary: other sources of ERS
- ERS from parents is extremely important, but we shouldn’t ignore or discount all the ERS coming from other sources (ie. schools, peers, siblings etc)
- need much more research examining these other sources
need more research examining other ERS sources: examples for future worrk
- how do PARTNERS in INTERRACIAL relationships talk about race/ethnicity/culture and discrimination?
- how do SIBLINGS engage in ERS with one another? might GENDER and AGE of the sibling matter? what about PHENOTYPE differences between siblings?
- what about when PARENTAL ERS MSGS CONFLICT with each other?
white parents socializing multiracial or transracial adoptees
tend to be 3 ways this happens
- ENCOURAGING youth to learn about their marginalized groups AND learning themselves
- PASSIVELY WAITING for children to bring things up
- COLOUR-EVASIVENESS - downplaying cultural and phenotypic diffs
white parents of multiracial/transracial adoptee kids have…
DIFFERENT racialized experiences than their kids
may MISS some of the SUBTLE RACIALIZED MESSAGES and micro-aggressions their youth experience
often results in very LOW LEVELS of PREP FOR BIAS socialization
white parents of adoptee marginalized children often engage in low levels of…
prep for bias socialization
ERS in white families
umana-taylor & hill 2020 review turned up mostly QUALITATIVE studies
some white ERS scales CURRENTLY under development to be able to better capture these processes
for ERI, can’t often use existing scales with White families - certain aspects are MORE or LESS RELEVANT
example of why can’t use existing ERI scales with White families
certain aspects are more or less relevant
Tran et al found that when White emerging adults reported
MORE PREP FOR BIAS growing up (people will discriminate against you because you’re white or because you’re white you’ll have to work twice as hard for half the reward compared to people of colour)
they tended to be higher in SOCIAL DOMINANCE ORIENTATION (SDO)
maybe interesting, but these prep 4 bias messages don’t mean the same thing as among POC because of current systemic inequalities
more prep for bias in white children tended to coincide with…
higher SDO
interesting - these prep 4 bias messages don’t mean the same thing as among POC because of current systemic inequalities
goals of ERS in White families
- awareness of privilege (77% of sample)
- taking action (77% of sample)
- understanding racism (74% of sample)
- valuing diversity (69% of sample)
awareness of privilege: ERS goal in white families
77% of sample reported this
both general AWARENESS and sense of RESPONSIBILITY to do something about it
taking action: ERS goal in white families
77% of sample reported this
mostly VAGUE as to what action was
when more specific, often STICKING UP FOR FRIENDS & STRANGERS when things happen
fewer talked about taking action against BROADER SYSTEMS
awareness of privilege: ERS goal in white families - QUOTE
“I think parents of White males have a profound responsibility…to help them understand that they’re gonna inherit a space that…has privileged you. and if you want to be a part of that, you’re going to have to build some stamina around that.”
taking action: ERS goal in white families - QUOTE
“we write letters, we call people - our elected people up”
“we need to write bills, we need to promote candidates who are going to do the right thing
“getting involved and voting”
understanding racism: ERS goal in white families
list of variability about mentioning systemic nature vs generally talking about it
if systems were mentioned, history of racism also mentioned to explain current systems
valuing diversity: ERS goal in white families
exposure
comfort and appreciation of diversity
understanding benefits of diversity
valuing diversity: ERS goal in white families - QUOTES
“I love taking him [to a jazz festival] and just exposing him to people who are all in our neighbourhood. and they don’t look like him or I”
“I want him to not be leery or afraid of “the other” or feel threatened by people who look different than he is… we all have different ways of approaching the world, different cultures, and different beliefs, but not to be threatened by that”
summary - white ERS
very important topic - lots of room for impactful research
need better measurement and more quantitative work
can see how goals and practices look different relative to POC
more about understanding positionality and place in unequal system + how to address and work against that unequal system whilst sticking up for people oppressed by it
what is ERS competency
not just the content or the what, but the HOW
3 components
a. CONFIDENCE
b. SKILLS
c. STRESS
ERS competency: CONFIDENCE
confidence in ability to give ERS messages in an effective manner
ERS competency: SKILLS
degree to which parent UNDERSTANDS and feels PREPARED
through REPEATED EXERCISE to engage in ERS
ERS competency: STRESS
how stressful the parent perceives the communication to be
impacts how often parents will initiate these convos and how well they have them
why does ERS competency matter? why not just focus on ERS message content?
differing levels of confidence, skills and stress can serve as FACILITATORS or BARRIERS to parental ERS delivery
- if ERS convos are stressful, parents may AVOID them
- do you want to talk about difficult subjects when you don’t feel confident in your ability to engage?
STUDY SETUP: are there patterns of parental ERS content & competency?
N = 585 parents of teens (~33% Black, Latinx, Asian)
~60% others
US sample, but 46% born outside US
cross-sectional study
GENERAL STUDY FINDINGS - are there patterns of parental ERS content & competency?
3 patterns
- low competency, low ERS
- high competency, high ERS
- high stress, low prep for bias
pluralism - STUDY are there patterns of parental ERS content & competency?
celebrating people’s cultural differences
promotion of equality - STUDY are there patterns of parental ERS content & competency?
acting like everyone is equal
WHAT DID THEY LOOK AT? STUDY are there patterns of parental ERS content & competency?
ERS competency (split into confidence, skills, general stress, call to action stress)
confidence, skills, general stress, call to action stress
pride, mistrust, bias, minimization of race, pluralism, equality, mistrust, minimization of race
profile ONE - STUDY are there patterns of parental ERS content & competency?
less prepared, stressed, low frequency
N = 285
CONFIDENCE: low
SKILLS: low
STRESS: moderate
give FEW ERS messages across the board
profile TWO - STUDY are there patterns of parental ERS content & competency?
prepared, low stress, frequent socializers
N = 204
CONFIDENCE: high
SKILLS: high
STRESS: low
give MODERATE ERS messages
prepared, low stress, frequent socializers - what are their ERS messages like?
give moderate ERS messages
slightly more EGALITARIAN messages
versus cultural socialization and prep for bias
profile THREE - STUDY are there patterns of parental ERS content & competency?
prepared, stressed, frequent socializers
CONFIDENCE: moderately high
SKILLS: moderately high
STRESS: very high
high ERS messages across the board (including negative messages)
prepared, stressed, high frequency socializers - had greatest…
lifetime exposure to ethnic racial discrimination
final summary of ERS
- messages transmitted to youth about meaning and importance of race/ethnicity + discrimination and coping with it
- several diff types of messages
- non-parental sources (ie. schools) may provide relevant messages
- lots of positive psychological impacts of cultural socialization
- prep for bias effects more mixed
- many diff types of ERS impact youth ERI
- white families need to socialize their kids around race to create allies and reduce systemic inequalities
- need to think of the ‘how’ (ERS competency) not just the what (ERS content)
