Abstract
Objectives
Studies have highlighted that, for African American men, race-related and sociodemographic contexts are inextricably bound and have profound effects across the life course. These context and related experiences, individually and collectively, are critical social determinants of their parenting practices. The current study examined African American fathers’ racial identity beliefs in relation to their ethnic-racial socialization practices. Further, this investigation examines this association within the context of sociodemographic factors (i.e., age; education level; residential status).
Methods
Data were collected from 174 African American fathers (M = 32.2; SD = 8.24; Range = 23–62 years of age) of adolescents (M = 12.6; SD = 2.20; Range = 8–18 years of age) residing in a mid-sized, urban city in the Southeastern region of the United States. Participants completed survey questionnaires regarding their parenting ideologies, sociocontextual experiences and parenting practices.
Results
Regression analyses revealed that racial identity dimensions (centrality; public regard; private regard) and sociodemographic factors were directly associated with multiple ethnic-racial socialization domains. Also, the relationship between fathers’ perceptions of others’ views about African Americans (public regard) and ethnic-racial socialization was moderated by residential status.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that, African American fathers’ public regard beliefs, in combination with sociodemographic factors, shape race-related discussions with their children. Overall, results suggest that the public lens of fatherhood is further heightened by African American fathers’ sociodemographic landscape.
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Funding
This study was funded by the National Science Foundation, Developmental Science (1833349); Funding for this investigation also was provided by the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research, New York Community Trust and the Institute for Families in Society (University of South Carolina).
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S.C. designed and executed the study, conducted data analyses and wrote the initial draft of the paper. M.B. assisted with writing of the study, collaborated with data analyses, and editing of the final manuscript. C.B.G. contributed to study design, and writing of the study. C.G. contributed to the initial writing and drafting of the study. J.S. collaborated in the writing and final editing of the manuscript. M.M. collaborated in the writing and final editing of the manuscript. M.A.B. collaborated in the writing and final editing of the manuscript.
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Cooper, S.M., Banerjee, M., Griffin, C.B. et al. African American Fathers’ Race-Related Discussions with Their Children: Associations with Racial Identity Beliefs and Sociodemographic Factors. J Child Fam Stud 28, 2800–2812 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01460-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01460-2