Child, Parent, and Situational Correlates of Familial Ethnic/Race Socialization

This study examines child, parent, and situational correlates of familial ethnic/race socialization using nationally representative data gathered as part of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 - 1999 (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K sample (N = 18,950) includes White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American Indian, and multiracial kindergarteners, with survey data available at the child, parent/guardian, teacher, and school level. We find that child correlates such as race and gender, parent correlates such as education and warmth of parent-child relationship, and situational correlates such as percent of minorities at the child's school and cultural event participation influence how often family members discuss children's ethnic/racial heritage with them. We advocate for continued research of contextualized family dynamics. Key Words: family diversity, family psychology, intergenerational transmission, race and ethnicity. In a review of 1990s research on families with young children, Demo and Cox (2000) encouraged researchers to more routinely examine non-White families and to redouble efforts to explain family dynamics in ethnic, racial, and cultural context. Because few recent studies have purposively pursued them, these goals guide the present study as we address the following research question: What are the correlates of frequent familial discussions regarding children's ethnic/racial heritage? THE NATURE OF FAMILIAL ETHNIC/RACE SOCIALIZATION Familial ethnic/race socialization is the process by which families (i.e., parents/guardians, extended family members, siblings, and fictive kin) teach children about the social meaning and consequence of ethnicity and race (Banks-Wallace & Parks, 2001 ; Greene, 1992; Thornton, Chatters, Taylor, & Allen, 1990). Through this process, children learn about phenotypic or cultural differences, or both, their in-group's history and heritage, identity politics, or prejudice and discrimination, or both (Chesire, 2001; Hughes, 2003; Hughes & Chen, 1997; Peters, 1985). Although these topics may seem appropriate only to considerably older children, research suggests that young children must learn to manage racialized interactions, often in the kindergarten/ elementary school setting and in response to performed acts of racism or questions about their ethnic/racial identification (Katz & Kofkin, 1997; Lewis, 2003; Van Ausdale & Feagin, 2001). In fact, as Van Ausdale and Feagin remind us, cognitive biases cause adults to underestimate the facility with which young children perform race, learn privilege, and conceptualize phenotypic or cultural differences. But whether young children fully grasp the meaning of ethnicity and race may be irrelevant for the present study because we are interested in families' intent to socialize children to ethnicity and race. Such intent is important to researchers studying family dynamics and the development of ethnic/racial identity. Among non-White families, several authors (Phinney & Rotheram, 1987; Sanders Thompson, 1994; Stevenson, Reed, Bodison, & Bishop, 1997; Wong, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2003) emphasize that ethnic/race socialization creates a protective barrier against prejudice and discrimination and nurtures a positive in-group identity within a hegemonic White society. Considering White families, one study suggests that the main objective of ethnic/race socialization is to promote White children's tolerance of diversity (Katz & Kofkin, 1997). In contrast, another study finds that most White parents are indifferent toward socializing their children regarding cross-ethnic/racial friendships (Hamm, 2001). Although it may have differential meaning for non-White and White families with young children, we assert that the process of ethnic/race socialization occurs in all families and thus is universal (see description of enculturation and adaptation in Knight, Bernai, Cota, Garza, & Ocampo, 1993). …