Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Qualitative Exploration of Adolescent Discrimination: Experiences and Responses of Mexican-American Parents and Teens

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children argues that while discrimination and prejudice are normative experiences for ethnic minority children, promoting environments, family factors and adaptive culture may help minority youth develop effective coping strategies to deal with discrimination. Although this model emphasizes the critical role of family, there are relatively few studies on discrimination that include data from both parents and youth. In the current study, we qualitatively investigated themes of teen discrimination experiences and youth/parent responses in a sample (N = 40) of Mexican descent parents (n = 20) and middle school aged (11–15 years old) adolescents (n = 20) who participated in separate youth and parent focus groups. Adolescents indicate that stereotypes are pervasive, as evidenced in media, anti-immigrant comments, and insults from peers. Yet, adolescents expressed few specific strategies to deal with discrimination, and often expressed concern that standing up to discrimination may lead to physical altercation. Parents discussed the pervasiveness of prejudice and ethnic slurs, and specifically identified school as a setting where teens experience discrimination. Parents discussed strategies of teaching children not to use derogatory terms against others, telling them not to engage in fighting, encouraging children to report school incidents to teachers, and trying to prevent criminalization of male youth by talking to them about clothing choices. Mixed race families especially talked about inclusivity, ethnic/racial pride, and sharing family history (immigration, language, racial diversity). The Integrative Model for Developmental Competencies guides our discussion of implications for adolescent well-being and future research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acuña, R. (2010). Occupied America: A history of Chicanos. New York, NY: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adler, P. A., & Adler, P. (1998). Peer power: Preadolescent culture and identity. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anzul, M., Ely, M., Freidman, T., Garner, D., & McCormack-Steinmetz, A. (1991). Doing qualitative research: Circles within circles. London: Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkel, C., Knight, G. P., Zeiders, K. H., Tein, J. Y., Roosa, M. W., Gonzales, N. A., et al. (2010). Discrimination and adjustment for Mexican American adolescents: A prospective examination of the benefits of culturally related values. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20(4), 893–915.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cammarota, J. (2006). Disappearing in the Houdini education: The experience of race and invisibility among Latina/o students. Multicultural Education, 14(1), 2–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carranza, M. E. (2007). Building resilience and resistance against racism and discrimination among Salvadorian female youth in Canada. Child and Family Social Work, 12, 390–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). CDC 2007 national youth risk behavior survey telebriefing. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2008/t080604.htm.

  • Downe-Wamboldt, B. (1992). Content analysis: Method, applications, and issues. Health Care for Women International, 13, 313–321.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. S., Wong, C. A., & Peck, S. C. (2006). Ethnicity as a social context for the development of African-American adolescents. Journal of School Psychology, 44, 407–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, L. M., & Romero, A. J. (2008). Coping with discrimination: An exploration of strategies used by Mexican descent adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30, 24–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fennelly, K., Mulkeen, R., & Giusti, C. (1998). Coping with racism and discrimination. In H. I. McCubbin, E. A. Thompson, A. I. Thompson, & J. E. Fromer (Eds.), Resiliency in Native American and immigrant families (pp. 1–472). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, C. A. (1992). La Raza and the melting pot: A comparative look at multiethnicity. In M. P. P. Root (Ed.), Racially mixed people in America. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, C. B., Wallace, S. A., & Fenton, R. E. (2000). Discrimination distress during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 679–695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flores, E., Tschann, J. M., Dimas, J. M., Pasch, L. A., & de Groat, C. L. (2010). Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and health risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57, 264–273.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fry, R., & Passel, J. S. (2009). Latino children: A majority are U.S. born offspring of immigrants. Washington, D.C: Pew Hispanic Center.

  • García-Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., et al. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67, 1891–1914.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, M., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago, IL: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomez, C. (2000). The continual significance of skin color: An exploratory study of Latinos in the Northeast. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22, 94–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzales, N. A., & Kim, L. S. (1997). Stress and coping in an ethnic minority context: Children’s cultural ecologies. In S. A. Wolchik & I. N. Sandler (Eds.), Handbook of children’s coping: Linking theory and intervention. New York, NY: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hovey, J. D. (2000). Acculturative stress, depression, and suicidal ideation in Mexican immigrants. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 6, 134–151.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. S., Brown, T. N., Williams, D. R., Torres, M., Sellers, S. L., & Brown, K. (1996). Racism and the physical and mental health stage of African Americans: A thirteen year national panel study. Ethnicity and Disease, 6, 132–147.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johns, M., Schmader, T., & Martens, A. (2005). Knowing is half the battle: Teaching stereotype threat as a means of improving women’s math performance. Psychological Science, 16, 175–178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, K. (1997). The new nativism: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. In J. F. Perea (Ed.), Immigrants out!: The new nativism and the anti-immigrant impulse in the United States. New York, NY: New York University Press.

  • Knight, G. P., Bernal, M. E., Garza, C. A., & Cota, M. K. (1993). A social cognitive model of the development of ethnic identity and ethnically based behaviors. In M. E. Bernal & G. P. Knight (Eds.), Ethnic identity: Formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities (pp. 213–234). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobus, K., & Reyes, O. (2000). A descriptive study of urban Mexican American adolescent’s perceived stress and coping. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22, 163–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le, T. N., & Stockdale, G. (2011). The influence of school demographic factors and perceived student discrimination on delinquency trajectory in adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 49, 407–413.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, D. L. (1993). Qualitative content analysis: A guide to paths not taken. Qualitative Health Research, 3, 112–121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Munsch, J., & Wampler, R. S. (1993). Ethnic differences in early adolescent’s coping with school stress. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63, 633–646.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Niemann, Y. F., Romero, A. J., Arredondo, J., & Rodriguez, V. (1999). What does it mean to be “Mexican”?: Social construction of an ethnic identity. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 21, 47–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phinney, J. S., & Chavira, V. (1995). Parental ethnic socialization and adolescent coping with problems related to ethnicity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 5, 31–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portillos, E. L., González, J., & Peguero, A. A. (2012). Crime control strategies in school: Chicanas’/os’ perceptions and criminalization. The Urban Review, 44(2), 171–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quintana, S. M., Segura Herrera, T. A., & Nelson, M. L. (2010). Mexican American high school students’ ethnic self-concepts and identity. Journal of Social Issues, 66, 11–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rideout, V. J., Foehr, U. G., & Roberts, D. F. (2010). Generation M2: Media in the lives of 8–18 year olds. Kaiser Family Foundation (Publication 8010). Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf.

  • Romero, A. J., Carvajal, S. C., Valle, F., & Orduña, M. (2007a). Adolescent bicultural stress and its impact on mental well-being among Latinos, Asian Americans, and European Americans. Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 519–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., Cuéllar, I., & Roberts, R. E. (2000). Ethnocultural variables and attitudes toward cultural socialization of children. Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 79–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., Edwards, L., Bauman, S., & Ritter, M. (2013). Preventing teen depression and suicide among Latinas. New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., Edwards, L., Fryberg, S., & Orduna, M. (2014). Resilience to discrimination stress across ethnic identity stages of development. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(1), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., Martínez, D., & Carvajal, S. C. (2007b). Bicultural stress and adolescent risk behaviors in a community sample of Latinos and non-Latino European Americans. Ethnicity and Health, 12, 443–463.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., & Roberts, R. E. (1998). Perception of discrimination and ethnocultural variables in a diverse group of adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 21, 641–656.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., & Roberts, R. E. (2003a). The impact of multiple dimensions of ethnic identity on discrimination and adolescent’s self-esteem. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33, 2288–2305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., & Roberts, R. E. (2003b). Stress within a bicultural context for adolescents of Mexican American descent. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9, 171–184.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Romero, A. J., & Ruíz, M. G. (2007). Does familism lead to increased parental monitoring?: Protective factors for coping with risky behaviors. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16, 143–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santa Ana, O., & González de Bustamante, C. (2012). Arizona firestorm: Global immigration realities, national media, and provincial politics. Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, D., & Gorman, A. H. (2011). The high price of high status: Popularity as a mechanism of risk. In A. H. N. Cillessen, D. Schwartz, & L. Mayeux (Eds.), Popularity in the peer system (pp. 245–270). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, L. D. (2003). The relation of racial identity and racial socialization to coping with discrimination among African American adolescents. Journal of Black Studies, 33(4), 520–538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scourfield, J., Evans, J., Shah, W., & Beynon, H. (2002). Responding to the experiences of minority ethnic children in virtually all-White communities. Child and Family Social Work, 7(3), 161–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, R. L., Simons, L. G., Burt, C. H., Drummond, H., Stewart, E., Brody, G. H., et al. (2006). Supportive parenting moderates the effect of discrimination upon anger, hostile view of relationships and violence among African American boys. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 47, 373–389.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Solorzano, D., Villalpando, O., & Osegura, L. (2005). Educational inequities and Latino/a undergraduate students in the United States: A critical race analysis of their educational progress. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 4, 272–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spears-Brown, C., & Bigler, R. S. (2005). Children’s perceptions of discrimination: A developmental model. Child Development, 76, 533–553.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Grounded theory methodology. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry (pp. 158–183). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanner, C. A., Benner, P., Chesla, C., & Gordon, D. R. (1993). The phenomenology of knowing the patient. IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 25, 273–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres, L. (2010). Predicting levels of Latino depression: Acculturation, acculturative stress, and coping. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 16, 256–263.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Torres, L., Driscoll, M. W., & Voell, M. (2012). Discrimination, acculturation, acculturative stress, and Latino psychological distress: A moderated mediational model. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18, 17–25.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Torres, L., Yznaga, S. D., & Moore, K. M. (2011). Discrimination and Latino psychological distress: The moderating role of ethnic identity exploration and commitment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81, 526–534.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Uhlman, E., Dasgupta, N., Elgueta, A., Greenwald, A., & Swanson, J. (2002). Subgroup prejudice based on skin color among Hispanics in the United States and Latin America. Social Cognition, 20, 198–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Bhanot, R., & Shin, N. (2006). Ethnic identity formation during adolescence: The critical role of families. Journal of Family Issues, 27(3), 390–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Umaña-Taylor, A. J., & Fine, M. A. (2004). Examining ethnic identity among Mexican-origin adolescents living in the United States. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 26(1), 36–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Umaña-Taylor, A. J., & Yazedjian, A. (2006). Generational differences and similarities among Puerto Rican and Mexican mothers’ experiences with familial ethnic socialization. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 23, 445–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walton, G., & Cohen, G. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 82–96.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8, 69–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding provided for by University of Arizona Social and Behavioral Sciences grant awarded to Dr. Romero, P.I.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Families Studies and Human Development, Mexican-American Studies, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Andrea J. Romero

  2. Family Studies and Human Development, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Henry Gonzalez & Bryan A. Smith

Authors
  1. Andrea J. Romero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Henry Gonzalez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bryan A. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea J. Romero.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Romero, A.J., Gonzalez, H. & Smith, B.A. Qualitative Exploration of Adolescent Discrimination: Experiences and Responses of Mexican-American Parents and Teens. J Child Fam Stud 24, 1531–1543 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-9957-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-9957-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation