Sociology 8th Edition by Margaret Andersen ,Howard Taylor ,Kim Logio

Exercise 1

Race Socialization among Young Adults
Many parents teach their children about their cultural heritage and encourage cultural pride. In a diverse American society, parents are also charged with socializing their children to respond to potential discrimination. A research study by Deborah Rivas-Drake shows that Latinos develop ethnic identities directly from family socialization and messages about future discrimination.
Research Questions: How do the warnings issued by parents about racial discrimination influence the expectations of young adults? Rivas-Drake researched Latino families to try to understand how young adults perceive the likelihood of anti-Latino bias and how that influences their ethnic identity. She also examined how cultural socialization regarding ethnic identity influenced psychological adjustments as an adult, such as depression and self-esteem. Rivas-Drake developed a research project to examine Latino young adults who are pursuing higher education and how their racial- ethnic socialization influences their development.
Research Method: Rivas-Drake sampled 227 Latino students from one university who were eighteen years of age or older. The mean age among the sample was about nineteen years old, and 65 percent of the sample were women. Seventy two percent of the sample had one parent who was born in another country. She administered an online survey in 2008 that asked a series of questions that measured how their parents socialized them with regard to ethnicity and race, and questions about perceived barriers to opportunities and resources because of racial bias.
Research Results: Overall, students had more socialization from parents regarding culture than they did about expectations for future bias. But most students in the sample did agree that discrimination did exist and that Latinos had fewer resources and opportunities than White students. Latino students who reported greater parental cultural socialization had stronger ethnic identity. Those students who reported receiving greater preparation for racial barriers to opportunity reported less ethnic identity but greater understanding of the status of their ethnic group. Latino students who were prepared by their parents to expect racial bias were more aware of barriers to opportunity, and consequently, the self-esteem and depressive symptoms of these students were more affected.
Conclusions and Implications: This research highlights how parents socialize their children and the consequences of that socialization for Latino young adults. The college students in this sample revealed that, if they were socialized to have strong ethnic identities, their Latino status was more central to their identity. They were then better adjusted as young adults in college. Latinos who reported having parents who prepared them for racial bias and barriers to opportunity were more likely to understand the status of Latino groups relative to other American groups. These students faced greater challenges in their overall well-being as young adults.
What is your earliest memory of a cultural lesson from your family? Do you remember a time when you thought your family traditions were different from other traditions?