“Mommy, Is Everything Black Bad?” What Parents Tell Their Children About Race

1. “Mommy, Is Everything Black Bad?”What Parents Tell Their Children About Race Stephanie I. Coard, Ph.D. University of North Carolina-Greensboro Kenice Mobley and Kim Pasamonte North Carolina Central University Presentation at NCCU Department of Psychology 2006 Fall Lecture Series

2. Observation Methods • Mainstream observation methods/coding schemes • Used for direct observation of family social interaction/parent-child dyad interaction • Observe specific behavior useful to researcher • Direct observation has advantages over parent-report/child-report measures

3. Observation Methods-cont. • Examples of mainstream observational methods/coding schemes • Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-II (DPICS-II) • Parent-Child Observation Guide (PCOG) • Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training (NCAST) Teaching Scale (NCAT)

4. Observation Methods in African American Families • How accurate are these methods assess parent-child interactions in African American families? • Focused on presumed mainstream or universal definitions of practices and behaviors • What is being missed or misinterpreted in coding culturally-specific communication inAfrican American families? • Racial socialization—a cultural-specific interaction

5. Racial Socialization in African American Families • The process by which messages are transmitted inter- and intra-generationally regarding the significance and meaning of race and ethnicity. • Involves teaching children values and norms associated with race/ethnicity, and problem-solving skills that enable children to be flexible in their approach to race-related situations, without losing a core sense of self. Coard, S. & Sellers, R. African American families as a context for racial socialization. (2005) In V. McLoyd, N. Hill and K. Dodge, (eds.) Emerging Issues In African-American Family Life: Context, Adaptation, and Policy. New York: Guildford Press. Stevenson, H., Winn, D.M., Walker-Barnes, C. & Coard, S.Style Matters: Towards a culturally relevant framework for interventions with African American families (2005) In V. McLoyd, N. Hill and K. Dodge, (eds.) Emerging Issues In African-American Family Life: Context, Adaptation, and Policy. New York: Guildford Press.

6. Racial Socialization Themes Identified Thornton (1997) Racial pride Black heritage Good citizenship/moral virtues Achievement/hardwork Acceptance of one’s race Presence of blacked opportunities Religious opportunities Peaceful coexistence with Whites Acceptance of self (non-race-related) Jeter (1994) Pro-dominant culture socialization Pro-ethnic cultural socialization Confounded cultural socialization Raceless culture socialization Stevenson (1994b) Spiritual and religious coping Extended family caring Cultural pride reinforcement Racism awareness teaching Hughes & Chen (1999) Cultural socialization Preparation for future bias Promoting racial mistrust Egalitarianism Stevenson (2003) Discrimination alertness Antagonism coping Cultural pride reinforcement Cultural legacy appreciation Mainstream fitting Coard, Wallace, et al., (2004) Racism preparation Racial equality Racial achievement Racial pride Spencer (1983) Concerns about educational success Childrearing about race, racism, and discrimination Childrearing about gender concerns Knowledge of Black history for child and parent Childrearing about civil rights Boykin & Toms (1985) Mainstream societal values Minority status Black cultural context Peters (1985) Teaching children to survive Self-respect and pride Nonreciprocality of fair play Getting a good education Bowman & Howard (1985) Racial barriers Self-development Ethnic pride Egalitarianism

7. Complexities of Racial Socialization • Synergistic and dynamic • Bi-directional process • Deliberate and unintended • Transmission and reception • Moderated by family and ecological characteristics

8. Racial Socialization and Child Outcomes: Empirical Findings Racial Competence Academic Achievement Self-Efficacy Self-Esteem Behavioral Competence Delinquency Drug Abuse

9. Model of Racial Socialization Processes(Coard, 2003) Frequency of Message Frequently Used Routine aspect of parenting Moderated by family characteristics Content of Messages Racial Preparation (83%) Racial Pride (93%) Racial Equality (86%) Racial Achievement (67%) Racial Socialization Mode/Delivery of Messages Active Responsive Passive Coard, S. & Wallace, S., & Stevenson, H. & Miller Brotman, L. (2004). Towards culturally competent preventive interventions: The consideration of racial socialization in parent training with African American families. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 13 (3), 277-293.

10. Parental Approaches to teaching race-related content (Coard, Wallace, Stevenson, Miller, 2002) Active:parent initiated race-related teachings of their child for the purpose of preparing the child for cultural growth and providing a “buffer” to societal injustices. Responsive:Use of racial socialization in direct response to a child-initiated interaction (e.g., questions raised by child) or situation initiated (e.g., social exclusion, racial conflict) in an attempt to provide a culturally affirming resolution. Passive: Parent’s underutilization of racial socialization despite knowing its importance.

11. Why is Racial Socialization Important? • It influences a children’s beliefs about the way the world works. • It informs children’s beliefs and attitudes regarding ‘the self. • It helps shape children’s’ repertoire of strategies and skills for coping with racism. • It impacts the nature of the child’s’ inter- and intra-racial relationships and interactions.

12. Racial Socialization Assessment • Parent-report and/or child-report formats • Focus is on older children (8 yrs and up) • The Afrocentric Home Environment Inventory (AHEI) (Caughy, Randolph, & Campo, 2002) • Can be used with younger children • Home scale/parent survey, not parent-child observation • There is a need for direct observation methods in assessing African American parenting • Need to consider racial socialization processes

13. Racial Socialization Measurement Needs • Utilize longitudinal approaches • Employ multiple methods • Qualitative interviews and focus groups • Observational assessments • Questionnaires and checklists • Event sampling frameworks • Use multiple informants into the socialization process • Messages sent and messages received

14. The Parent-Child Race-Related Observational Measure (PC-ROM)(Coard & Wallace, 2001*) • Measurement development goals: • Acceptable to parents and young children (time and content) • Use in home or clinical settings • Use as sole measure or addition to parent-report methods • PC-ROM is a parent-child observational measure of race-related communication and interaction (racial socialization) • 25 minutes • Four Segments • Book Choice (3 min) • Story Time (8 min) • Doll Play (6 min) • Chit Chat (8 min) • Parent and child’s behavioral responses recorded by hand * initial development begun

15. Methods Sample • N=52 parent-child dyads • Mean age caregiver = 36.4 5; Mean age child = 5 yrs, 3 mos • Primarily mothers; children: 60% boys; 40% girls • Self-defined as Black and African American; strict definition • Recruited from schools, community agencies located in low income neighborhoods Procedures • PC-ROM administered by trained African American interviewers • Conducted in playroom/classroom setting equipped with audio and video-taping system

16. Book Choice - ParentsN=52 • Bright Eyes, Brown Skin (Black only) = 58% • Courtney’s Birthday (Diverse) = 38% • Friends (White only) = 4%

17. Story time(N=30) • Make story on own (book choice) • Mainstream/universal approach even if the book was the “Black” choice (Brown Eyes, Brown Skin). • Forced story on own (Boundless Grace) • Ethnic/cultural approach through pictures = 50% • Ethnic/cultural approach (application) = 25% • Mainstream/universal approach = 25%

18. Doll Play • Which doll would you most like to play with? • Which doll is nice doll? • Which doll is the best in school? • Which doll looks mean? • Which doll looks like a White child? • Which doll looks like a Black child? • Which doll looks like an African American child? • Which doll looks like you?

19. Chit Chat Coding System • Racism Preparation • Awareness, Defensive, Strategic • Racial Pride • Pride, History, Unity • Racial Equality • Egalitarian, Opportunity, Peace • Racial Achievement • Initiative, Character, Excel • Spirituality* • Divine Origin, Higher Arbitrator * Added based on Durham qualitative pilot

20. Chit Chat: Racism Preparation Awareness (creating awareness) • e.g. “you are always going to be singled out because you are black,” it is a challenge just being black”, “there’s a double standard”, “it’s not fair that people judge you by the color of your skin, but they do” Defensive (counter statements about racism) • e.g. “it is not true that people are lazy”, no matter what you hear, black people are no different than white” Strategic (adaptive strategies to deal with discrimination) • e.g. “use proper English in public”, “don’t be too black”, how to fit in mainstream culture

21. Racial Preparation

22. Chit Chat: Racial Pride Pride (racial pride messages) • e.g. “proud of being black”, “if you do not like yourself or love yourself, no one else is going to love you”, “you have to remember to be very proud to say where we came from and how much we have achieved”, “black is beautiful.” History (Provide information/history of racial injustice) • e.g. “maintain a black calendar of what a black person did that day” Unity (African American unity and group commitment) • e.g. “shop at black own businesses”, “support black people in the community”, behavior reflects the family and black community”

23. Racial Pride

24. Chit Chat: Racial Equality Egalitarian (Emphasize diversity and/or color blind society) • e.g. “it doesn’t matter what color they are”, “we are from the human race” Opportunity (Gained opportunity) • e.g. “things are better than they use to be”, “black people have more opportunities”, “you can be anything we want to be” Peace (Co-Existing) • e.g. “we should all get along, regardless of color”, “you can be friends with anyone”

25. Racial Equality

26. Chit Chat: Racial Achievement Initiative (value of education and hard work) • e.g. “smartness comes by being educated”, “try new thing”, “there’s nothing that you cannot do, you just have to want it bad and hard enough” Character • e.g. “keep your nose clean”, “be honest and stay out of trouble” Excel (acquiring academic skills and healthy work habits will help to overcome racial barriers) • e.g. “we have to be better than any other race, in order to succeed”, “I didn’t go to college but I’ve been working all my life”

27. Racial Achievement

28. Chit Chat: Spirituality Divine Origin • e.g. “we are all Gods children” Higher Arbitrator • e.g.“God doesn’t judge us and neither should we”

29. Spirituality

32. Future Research… • Examine other sources of racial socialization beyond parents. • Investigate the ethnic variation among families of African descent in America. • Identify racial socialization practices and strategies that are associated with the most positive child outcomes taking into consideration ecological environment. • Continue to develop and evaluate race socialization interventions.

33. Discussion Questions • Does low ethnic/racial socialization mean low importance or race? • When do you think the racial socialization process should begin? • How should we measure racial socialization? • Is racial socialization something that only families of color should do? • How do you think the racial socialization process may differ for Blacks versus other groups of color? • Do you think there may be gender differences? • How do you think the messages you received (if any) as a child influenced your development? • What are the implications of RS for intervention and policy development?