The purpose of this study was to examine parent (e.g., exposure to diversity) and child factors (e.g., age, anxiety and prosocial behavior) as they relate to the transmission of messages related to race and culture. An exploratory hypothesis was that Black parents would exhibit more cultural socialization, preparation for bias, and promotion of mistrust than White parents. In addition, there were hypotheses that the messages that parents impart to their children about race would be influenced by the age of the child or parents’ experience with diverse groups of people. Online questionnaires were distributed to parents and the final sample consisted of 183 parents of Black children (N = 90) and White children (N = 93), aged four to fourteen years old (M = 8.08). Overall, this study found that Black parents engage in more conversations about race and culture than White parents. However, there were no racial differences between number of messages of equality. The hypothesis that the frequency of preparation for bias messages increases as children get older was supported. The hypothesis that Black children who have higher scores on dimensions of racial socialization would have higher levels of prosocial behavior was supported. The hypothesis that the affective valence of exposure to diverse groups of people would be positively related to egalitarianism was supported. The present study adds to the current literature by highlighting that different messages about race and culture need to be communicated for children in the majority culture versus minority culture.

Multiple research studies have suggested that African American parents transmit a variety of socialization messages, including preparation for bias and egalitarianism (Hughes et al., 2006; White-Johnson et al., 2010). In response to specific race-related events, such as police involved shooting deaths of African Americans since 2012, scholars have begun to expand racial socialization research to explore the influence of racial events on African American parenting. However, there is little research that examines the impact of repeated witnessing of vicarious instances of police brutality, shootings, and killings of African Americans at the hands of law enforcement on parent racial socialization practices. The goals of the current study were to explore racial socialization practices of African American parents within the context of current events about police brutality and shootings of African Americans by police. Qualitative analysis of interviews with sixteen African American parents provided insight into relationships between parents’ experiences with and beliefs about police, socialization practices, and demonstrations of vicarious trauma symptoms. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze the data using: a) open-coding; b) axial coding; and c) selective coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Results of the analysis revealed four categories at the axial level comprised of 17 subcategories at the open-coding level. Conclusions drawn from the grounded theory model that was derived in this study suggest that all parents who were studied socialized their children about race and police involved killings of African Americans based on their own experiences with and beliefs about police. Parents were collapsed into categories reflecting their experiences: a) parents who have had negative experiences with police but keep their children engaged in positive behaviors to eliminate police encounters; b) parents who have had positive experiences with police and do not want their young children to have negative biases toward members of law enforcement; c) parents who are fearful and mistrustful of police, despite having mixed personal experiences with them, and want their children to be prepared for possible encounters with police; d) parents who have had mixed personal experiences with police but want their children to have a balanced perspective of officers; and e) parents who have had positive personal experiences with police, keep their children engaged in positive behaviors to eliminate police encounters, and want their children to be prepared to successfully navigate possible encounters with police. These conclusions have implications for African American parents, mental health practitioners, members of law enforcement, and federal and state legislators.

Thesis advisor: Sara Moorman / Thesis advisor: Eve Spangler / This research project explores the narratives of how and when young Black people came to understand their race, as well as the implications of it. In order to expand upon the existing studies regarding racial realization and provide specific stories of such instances, qualitative interviews with nine Black people (ages 18-22) were conducted. The upbringings of these young Black people were analyzed in depth in order to provide insight to different types of racial socialization. It was found that both colorblind upbringings and non-colorblind upbringings that center individuals rather than systems of oppression are not helpful in the racial identity formation of young Black people. They both result in the perpetuation of the idea that racially marginalized people should modify their behavior. Additionally, this project exposes some of the reasons why racial realization is often a jarring experience for Black people in America, and in turn, expose some of the ways it can be less so. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

Peters (1985), defines racial socialization as "tasks Black parents share with all parents - providing for and raising children ... but include the responsibility of raising physically and emotionally healthy children who are Black in a society in which Black has negative connotations" (p. 161). Racial socialization is a complex multidimensional construct and scholars have made attempts to capture the essence of its process. However, due to its complexity, no single or commonly accepted definition currently exists in the literature (Lesane-Brown, 2006). To date, most of the racial socialization literature has addressed the types of messages that African American parents transmit to their children, for example, preparation for bias and promotion/socialization of mistrust (Hughes & Chen, 1999). However, what is specifically absent in the current racial socialization literature are the types of messages transmitted to African American women related to skin tone. Sociologists and psychologists have demonstrated that the racial socialization of skin tone impacts an African American woman's sense of self worth and efficacy (Boyd-Franklin, 1989; 2003; Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2004). Utilizing a qualitative methodological design, with a phenomenological orientation, the purpose of this study was to better understand the lived experiences of the racial socialization of skin tone in a cohort of older African American women. Twenty older African American women (10 light skinned and 10 dark skinned) from three mid-sized, Midwestern cities were interviewed utilizing an adapted classical phenomenology interview approach (Siedman, 2006). This researcher, two-hour semi-structured interviews, and 30-60 minute formal member checks were the primary research tools implemented to obtain rich data for this project. Once the interview data was collected, the interviews were professionally transcribed verbatim to capture the full essence of the participants' lived experiences of the phenomenon under investigation. The data were then critically and rigorously analyzed, by hand, utilizing a phenomenological data analytic method as outlined by Hycner (1985; 1999). Five salient thematic domains, along with twenty-three subthemes, emerged from the phenomenology data analysis procedure. An additional verification method (i.e., inter-rater reliability Kappa coefficient) was employed to assist in cross-validation of the study's findings (Landis & Koch, 1977). Kappa coefficients demonstrated that of the twenty-three subthemes, which emerged from the analysis, 7 had slight inter-rater agreement 5 had fair inter-rater agreement, 7 had moderate inter-rater agreement, 2 had substantial inter-rater agreement, and 2 had almost perfect inter-rater agreement. Limitations of the current study, recommendations for future research, and recommendations for clinical practice are also discussed.

Emerging literature emphasizes the importance of mentoring in the development of minority youth. In particular, mentoring influences the development of youths' sense of self and self-concept. By examining the conceptual frameworks of both mentoring and racial socialization, this study summarizes the theoretical processes associated with youth development and how such development relates to young women's ethnic/racial identity including their body image. The mentoring relationship is examined with a small pool of ethnic-minority, college-aged female participants to explore whether there is a relationship between having received positive mentoring and the participant's current body image perceptions.

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This study assesses whether parents' educational background positively affects the retention and graduation of African-American students who attend Predominately White Institutions (PWI). Studies that have compared successful African-American students to unsuccessful African-American college students at PWI (Allen, 1985) have suggested that an important factor in understanding these differences in outcome is parents' educational background. College-educated parents may have clearer expectations for their children's college experience and may have instilled different cultural or socialization messages in their children. Those messages could include Historical/Cultural, Black Identity/Self-Concept, Maladaptive, and Residual messages. These children may enter college with clearer ideas of college norms and expectations, and may have fewer adjustment and transition problems than first generation black peers (Pounds, 1987). The population of this study will consist of African-American respondents in the National Survey of Black Americans. / Master of Science

xviii, 150 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation examined how cultural influences transmitted within the familial context impact the psychological adjustment of ethnic minority youth through the development of an observational measure of ethnic-racial socialization. Specifically, a behavioral observational paradigm and companion coding system were developed to examine ethnic-racial socialization processes among 140 American Indian, African American and European American adolescents and their families. Despite its interactional nature, to date there are no observational measures of ethnic-racial socialization, highlighting the important contributions of this study. This study was conducted in a series of phases. Phase I consisted of measurement development through use of qualitative data. Qualitative information from cultural informants was incorporated to develop two observational paradigms (observed family discussions on Family Culture and Coping with Discrimination) and an accompanying coding system. Phase II examined the underlying factor structure of this observational measure through confirmatory and exploratory factor analytic techniques. The Discrimination Paradigm derived the ethnic-racial socialization dimensions: (a) Proactive Preparation, (b) Racial Awareness, (c) Promotion of Mistrust, and (d) Other Group Orientation. The Family Culture paradigm derived: (a) Cultural Socialization, (b) Ethnic Heritage Exploration, (c) Family Centeredness, and (d) Spiritual Involvement. In Phase III correlational analyses supported convergent and ecological validity of the observed dimensions for American Indian and African American youth, but not European American youth. Phase IV examined the mediational effects of the observed measures, suggesting that among American Indian and African American youth, observed ethnic-racial socialization is central to the relationships between family context, discrimination, ethnic identity and youth adjustment. In Phase V, moderation effects indicated that only for American Indian youth, observed ethnic-racial socialization significantly reduced the impact of discrimination on youth adjustment. Last, Phase VI analyses revealed that observed dimensions uniquely contributed to adolescent problem behavior above and beyond the effect of discrimination and familial contextual factors among American Indian and African American youth. In sum, these findings support the reliability and validity of the observed ethnic-racial socialization measures, and suggest its promising capability to efficiently capture important, observable, transactional familial processes of ethnic-racial socialization that are integral to the development of cultural resilience. / Adviser: Thomas, J. Dishion

The Black-White biracial population is the largest and fastest growing subgroup of multiracial individuals in the United States. Despite substantial research literature on the positive relationship between Black racial identity and psychological wellbeing, Black-White biracial individuals are underrepresented in studies that provide evidence for this relationship. Root (1998) put forward an Ecological Metamodel of Biracial Identity, comprised of several factors related to contextual (e.g. class, regional history of race-relations, parental identity, extended family) and intra-psychic processes (e.g. social skills, coping skills). The ecological metamodel served as the theoretical framework for the current study. This study is a comprehensive investigation of the ecological system of one Black-White interracial family living in Virginia. Using an ethnographic research design, race-related messages delivered in environmental contexts (e.g. school, community, and home) and racial socialization messages received by Black-White biracial individuals were examined. The family recruited for this study consisted of four members: a White mother, a Black father, a 15 year-old male, and an 11 year-old female. Over the course of 6 months, the researcher conducted individual interviews with nuclear and extended family members; administered the White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale, the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity, the African Home Environment Inventory, and a genogram exercise; and engaged in participant observation and direct observation of the family in the home and at community events. Using an interpretive phenomenological analysis, themes were identified within and between data sources. Results revealed that parents communicate that race is not as important as other characteristics of an individual (e.g. honesty, work ethic). The majority White community environments frequently communicated stereotypes of Blacks and that the children are “different.” The children expressed differences in their racial identities, which is related to significant race-related events and perhaps gender effects. Because of the differing community and home race-related messages, the findings demonstrate the importance of understanding racial identity in multiple environmental contexts, which is particularly important for clinical applications for Black-White interracial families and Black-White biracial individuals in therapy. Future studies should explore possible reasons for gender differences in Black-White biracial identity and the interaction between socioeconomic status and race-related messages.