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Racial-ethnic inequity is deeply entrenched in U.S. social systems, yet adolescents' voices and understanding around inequity are not often directly examined. The current qualitative study uses focus group data from African American (n = 21), Chinese- (n = 17), Indian- (n = 13), and Mexican- (n = 17) origin adolescents (M[subscript age] = 12.93 years; SD = 1.23; 51% boys) to provide insight on how youth navigate their attitudes and beliefs about these issues. Using a racial-ethnic socialization lens, we explore proximal (e.g., parents, peers, teachers) and distal (e.g., media, society) ways in which adolescents come to understand racial-ethnic inequity. Three themes characterized adolescents' discussions. School diversity, of peers and of thought, and messages around egalitarianism were two prominent influences on their perceptions. A third theme related to perceptions of social hierarchies, which appeared to be shaped by stereotypes, peer interactions, and ideas about inequity itself. Emergent themes suggest that the school context is a particularly salient social setting that encompasses multiple sources of socialization (e.g., teachers, classmates, academics, climate), and parents, peers, and the media also play prominent roles.

Racial-ethnic inequity is deeply entrenched in U.S. social systems, yet adolescents' voices and understanding around inequity are not often directly examined. The current qualitative study uses focus group data from African American (n = 21), Chinese- (n = 17), Indian- (n = 13), and Mexican- (n = 17) origin adolescents (M age = 12.93 years; SD = 1.23; 51% boys) to provide insight on how youth navigate their attitudes and beliefs about these issues. Using a racial-ethnic socialization lens, we explore proximal (e.g., parents, peers, teachers) and distal (e.g., media, society) ways in which adolescents come to understand racial-ethnic inequity. Three themes characterized adolescents' discussions. School diversity, of peers and of thought, and messages around egalitarianism were two prominent influences on their perceptions. A third theme related to perceptions of social hierarchies, which appeared to be shaped by stereotypes, peer interactions, and ideas about inequity itself. Emergent themes suggest that the school context is a particularly salient social setting that encompasses multiple sources of socialization (e.g., teachers, classmates, academics, climate), and parents, peers, and the media also play prominent roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the predictive influence of students' reactive emotional coping and racial socialization experiences on teachers' perceptions of classroom behavior adjustment problems. Participants were 148 African American male youth attending a secondary school in a large northeastern city. Behavioral outcomes included teacher ratings of student behavioral overactivity in different classroom situations. Results using hierarchical regression analyses show that measures of social rejection sensitivity, anger expression, and racial socialization predict teacher-observed behavioral overactivity, with overt anger expression being the most powerful predictor. Findings suggest that racial socialization and particular styles of emotional coping are important determinants for teachers' impressions of classroom behavior for some African American adolescent males. Implications for future research and interventions with African American male youth in urban secondary schools are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

A randomized prevention pilot trial compared caregivers who participated in the Black Parenting Strengths and Strategies (BPSS) Program with control caregivers. BPSS is a strengths- and culturally based parenting program designed to improve aspects of parenting associated with the early development of conduct problems and the promotion of social and cultural competence. Parenting variables included monitoring, positive parenting, harsh discipline, and the use of proactive racial socialization. Child variables included conduct problems and social competence. Relative to control caregivers, intervention caregivers used significantly more racial socialization strategies, positive parenting practices, and less harsh discipline. Also, despite caregivers' multiple risk factors, high rates of attendance and satisfaction were achieved. Results of this pilot support the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a culturally relevant intervention program. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

We describe a university-community collaborative effort to tailor and deliver a prevention program for families of preschoolers living in low-income, urban communities. ParentCorps, which builds on efficacious interventions with parents and young children, aims to promote child social competence and prevent conduct problems by strengthening parenting skills, enhancing support for parents, and empowering parents to access resources in their communities. Active community engagement and collaboration were viewed as critical to the development of the program and its feasibility testing. We present an overview of community involvement in the development of ParentCorps and approaches taken to involve community members during a feasibility study. Areas of success and lessons learned are discussed.

We present a rationale for the inclusion of culture-based parenting practices (i.e., racial socialization) in the design and implementation of empirically based parenting programs with African American families. We begin with a discussion of the limitations of the current parent training literature related to cultural considerations. Second, we examine the cultural and racial contexts of parenting for African Americans, review the literature on racial socialization, and discuss empirical support for considering its inclusion in parent training programs. Third, we examine the extent to which racial socialization operates in low-income African American families by presenting the findings from a qualitative pilot. We conclude by discussing how findings from the qualitative pilot might inform intervention efforts.

A randomized prevention pilot trial compared caregivers who participated in the Black Parenting Strengths and Strategies (BPSS) Program with control caregivers. BPSS is a strengths- and culturally based parenting program designed to improve aspects of parenting associated with the early development of conduct problems and the promotion of social and cultural competence. Parenting variables included monitoring, positive parenting, harsh discipline, and the use of proactive racial socialization. Child variables included conduct problems and social competence. Relative to control caregivers, intervention caregivers used significantly more racial socialization strategies, positive parenting practices, and less harsh discipline. Also, despite caregivers' multiple risk factors, high rates of attendance and satisfaction were achieved. Results of this pilot support the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a culturally relevant intervention program.

Researchers have called for increased evaluation of the processes that contribute to African American children's successful emotional development in the face of discrimination. Parents' racial/ethnic and emotion socialization have been linked to children's emotional adaption. Although few studies have explicitly evaluated their joint influence on African American children's emotion adaptation, researchers studying racial and ethnic socialization have indirectly incorporated emotion socialization through evaluating parents' guided emotion regulation strategies as ways to cope with discrimination. Similarly, researchers who study emotion socialization have described emotion socialization practices among African American parents as intentionally preparing children for racial bias regarding how others perceive their emotions. In this article, we synthesize two separate and emerging literatures-the racial/ethnic socialization literature and the literature on emotion socialization among African American families-and outline a conceptual model illustrating the overlap in the two constructs and their joint influence on African American children's social-emotional adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the predictive influence of students' reactive emotional coping and racial socialization experiences on teachers' perceptions of classroom behavior adjustment problems. Participants were 148 African American male youth attending a secondary school in a large northeastern city. Behavioral outcomes included teacher ratings of student behavioral overactivity in different classroom situations. Results using hierarchical regression analyses show that measures of social rejection sensitivity, anger expression, and racial socialization predict teacher-observed behavioral overactivity, with overt anger expression being the most powerful predictor. Findings suggest that racial socialization and particular styles of emotional coping are important determinants for teachers' impressions of classroom behavior for some African American adolescent males. Implications for future research and interventions with African American male youth in urban secondary schools are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]