A Qualitative Examination of Familial Racial-ethnic Socialization Experiences among Diverse Multiracial Youth

• In Event: Examining how Socialization and Discrimination Impact Multiracial Identity Across Development: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

Abstract

This qualitative interview study investigated the types of parental racial-ethnic socialization messages received by Multiracial youth over the course of their development. The Multiracial population in America is the largest demographic group among individuals under the age of 18 (Saulny, 2011), but there is a dearth of research about the development of this rapidly growing population. Specifically, there is a lack of research that examines how multiracial families navigate racial issues and prepare their children for living in a society dominated by a monoracial paradigm, which assumes every individual is associated with only one racial group and pathologizes and excludes those who do not fit this norm (Harris, 2016). Given that parents of Multiracial youth typically have different racial backgrounds and experiences compared to their children, racial-ethnic socialization is particularly challenging for multiracial families. For example, White parents may not know how to socialize youth about being a person of color in a racialized society, and monoracial parents may not be prepared to discuss Multiracial experiences. Guided by Critical Mixed Race Theory (Harris, 2016), this study identified the various messages parents transmitted to Multiracial youth about race, ethnicity, and culture, while also examining whether these messages adhered to the monoracial paradigm of race which neglects to recognize multiraciality.

Twenty Multiracial emerging adults (Mage = 20.55; 10 male, 10 female) were recruited for the interviews from a large public university in the Southwest. Stratified sampling was used to select a sample equally representing male and female participants and a diverse range of racially mixed backgrounds, including Biracial individuals belonging to two racial minority groups and second-generation Multiracial youth (see Table 1 for details). The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Two coders coded the entirety of the interviews and compared codes on 64 excerpts with excellent agreement, κ = 0.875, 95% CI, [.816, .934], p < .001.

Nine themes of racial-ethnic socialization content emerged: cultural socialization, racial identity socialization, preparation for bias socialization, colorblind socialization, race-conscious socialization, diversity appreciation socialization, negative socialization, exposure to diversity socialization, and silent socialization. The theme of racial identity socialization had two subthemes (i.e., monoracial and Multiracial identity socialization), and the theme of preparation for bias socialization had three subthemes (i.e., general preparation for bias, preparation for bias against monoracial groups, and preparation for monoracism). A summary of the qualitative statements representing each theme is presented in Table 2.

This research advances the literature as the first qualitative racial-ethnic socialization study to 1) identify domains of racial-ethnic socialization messages for Multiracial families, 2) examine a diverse sample of male and female Multiracial youth, 3) differentiate monoracial versus Multiracial socialization messages, and 4) distinguish the unique connotations of egalitarian socialization messages (e.g., colorblind, race-conscious, diversity appreciation). Findings suggest that parents do not always acknowledge their child’s Multiracial identity, and may even perpetuate negative stereotypes about their child’s racial groups. The findings have important implications for the future of Multiracial research and for counselors working with Multiracial individuals and families.

Author

• Annabelle Atkin, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Presenting Author