Perceived Racial Discrimination as a Context for Parenting in African American and European American Youth

Abstract

One of the ways children begin to learn how to navigate through experiences of racial discrimination may be modeling and discussion from their socializers. Parents are the primary socializers during early childhood. Parents transmit their own beliefs, values, and attitudes to their children through socialization practices via messages and behaviors. In addition, parents’ race-related socialization practices are linked to positive youth development for African American children and youth. For African American parents, these different contexts can shape the decisions of where, when, and how racial socialization messages and behaviors are transmitted to their children in an effort to promote gains in their cognitive, behavioral, and socio-emotional development. Hence, gaining a better understanding of how these different contextual factors affect African American parents’ socialization agendas and their children’s developmental pathways is crucial.