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Children’s experiences of ethnic-racial identity, socialization, and discrimination in middle childhood and early adolescence

Fri, April 9, 10:15 to 11:15am EDT (10:15 to 11:15am EDT), Virtual

Abstract

Ethnicity and race are prominent social categories that impact how children and adolescents view themselves and others (Rivas-Drake et al., 2014), including their growing awareness of racial bias and intergroup relations (Phinney, et al.,1997). In adolescence, a healthy ethnic-racial identity has significant implications for a range of developmental outcomes for youth of color in the United States (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). However, far less research has examined identity development in middle childhood as compared with adolescence (Neblett et al., 2012) despite evidence that children’s understanding of ethnicity and race develop rapidly during this period (Quintana, 2008; Rogers et al., 2012). According to the transactional/ecological model, the process of ethnic-racial identity development is inextricably linked with children’s experiences of ethnic-racial socialization [ERS] and discrimination, yet these processes have typically been examined separately (Hughes et al., 2016). Thus, the purpose of the current study was to explore how children describe their: (1) ethnic-racial identification, (2) experiences of ERS, and (3) awareness of discrimination.

Sixty-eight children (54% female, Mage= 9.92, SD = 2.60) who attended a K-8th school in the U.S. Midwest completed structured interview questions about their ethnic-racial identity, their ERS experiences, and their awareness of discrimination. Parent-reported child ethnicity-race was 68% White, 24% multiracial, 3% Black, 3% Asian, and 2% other ethnicity-race. Responses were coded (adapted from Rogers et al., 2012) according to Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) procedure for open-ended coding.

Children referenced three broad factors when attributing meaning to their group membership: tangible, individual, and social (see Table 1). Tangible factors were mentioned most often and included descriptions of family heritage and physical characteristics (e.g., skin color). Individual factors were discussed less frequently, but included affective responses regarding group membership. Children also made frequent references to societal factors, drawing on their general racial knowledge (e.g., “It's what I’ve learned from other people. If you look around and how other people identify themselves, you learn how to identify yourself from that.”) and understanding of (in)equality (e.g., treating everyone the same, examples of discrimination) when discussing what it means to be part of their ethnic-racial group. Notably, when describing why they labeled themselves as “White,” some children acknowledged White privilege, while others simply described White as a default identification (e.g., “I’m White, I’m not really part of an ethnic group”).

When asked whether they had ever noticed kids getting “treated differently than other kids because of their skin color, race, or ethnicity (like where they are from),” 43 (63%) of children said “yes,” and when asked whether their parents had ever talked with them about this unfair treatment, 51 (75%) said “yes.” Further analyses will explore children’s open-ended descriptions of discrimination and their parents’ ERS practices. Understanding how and from whom children learn about ethnicity and race is an essential step towards the creation of family- and school-level interventions that aim to promote positive identity development and anti-racist attitudes and behaviors among children.

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