Deck 30: Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families

Question 1

Compare and contrast the strategies of concerted cultivation and accomplishment of natural growth. Who is more likely to employ which strategy? What are the upsides and downsides of each for both parents and children?

Answer 1

Varies. May include the following:
-Concerted cultivation: middle-class parents, children enrolled in numerous age-specific activities, enormous amount of parental labor especially for mothers, talking as a form of discipline, encourages a wide range of activities, but also individualism within the family and an emphasis on children's performance, encourages emerging sense of entitlement.
-Accomplishment of natural growth: working class parents, provide children with love, food, and safety, and children will thrive on their own, not focused on specific talents, children tend to have deepened ties to extended family but few organized activities. Parents issue more demands/ directives and more emphasis on physical discipline, encourages emerging sense of constraint.

Question 2

Alexander's mother sees ______ as ______ that will help him develop important skills for school, interviews, career, and family life.

A) his diverse schedule and their conversations; exposure
B) his time alone; instruction
C) his Black peers; potential conversationalists
D) her busy schedule; a necessary sacrifice

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to Lareau, middle-class parents tend to conform to what type of childrearing culture?

A) cultivation of natural growth
B) concerted cultivation
C) accomplishment of natural growth
D) organized accomplishment

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In Lareau's comparison of a Black working-class family and Black middle-class family, each boy and his mother visits a doctor. Describe how each mother and each child acted during these visits and explain how these behaviors are connected to the attitudes that Lareau's believes each different environment fosters. Then, consider how these behaviors and attitudes might contribute to difficulties later in life with school, university, professions, internships, etc.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a result of the concerted cultivation approach to childrearing?

A) an emphasis on children's performance
B) frequent playdates with extended relatives and neighbors
C) a culture of individualism within the family
D) busy schedules for parents

Question 6

According to Lareau, which of the following is NOT a problem with many research studies?

A) Studies often focus too much on how patterns are produced.
B) Studies are narrowly focused.
C) The research is descriptive.
D) Studies often overlook the ways children adopt and enact parents' beliefs and behaviors.

Question 7

How does Harold spend most of his time after school?

A) He participates in after-school programs.
B) He completes his homework and helps around the house.
C) He plays outside with neighborhood friends or watches TV.
D) He goes to soccer practice or guitar lessons.

Question 8

Compared to Alexander, Harold's life is ______.

A) more scheduled, organized and child-oriented
B) more scheduled, organized and adult-oriented
C) more free-flowing and child-directed
D) more free-flowing and adult-directed

Question 9

Children in Lareau's study did NOT experience sharp racial boundaries at their schools because ______.

A) sharp racial boundaries no longer exist in schools today
B) the participants were so young
C) there were equal numbers of black and white students at their schools
D) teachers and school administrators made a concerted effort to eliminate such boundaries.

Question 10

Why did Lareau choose the two families described in the reading for this comparison?

A) Lareau wanted to focus only on White families in order to emphasize the impact of class.
B) Less is known about the lives of White lower-class families and Lareau wanted to compare a Black middle-class family to a White lower-class family.
C) Lareau wanted to compare the parenting style of a White middle-class family and a Black lower-class family.
D) There are few studies examining the lives of Black middle-class families and Lareau wanted to focus on the impact of class rather than race.