Ethnic-Racial Socialization Through the Lens of German Young Adults of Turkish, Kurdish, East, and Southeast Asian Heritage

Abstract

The present study explored how racially marginalized German young adults narrate their ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) growing up in Germany. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 German young adults of Turkish, Kurdish, East and Southeast Asian heritage (aged 18–32 years, Mage = 26.7, SD = 3.08, 16 women, seven men, and three nonbinary). Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in five themes: (1) family and community heritage culture socialization, (2) family survival vs. liberation-based preparation for bias, (3) family mistrust toward the oppressing community, (4) school and neighborhood lack of support against discrimination, and (5) marginalized peers and siblings as sources of support against discrimination. The findings highlight marginalized peers as an important source of support and suggest the need for considering the complexity of racism and ERS for participants of minoritized communities within minoritized communities in Europe. The findings also inform interventions designed for families and schools to protect youth from varied forms of bias and discrimination.