Abstract
Prior research indicates that parents adapt their cultural socialization approaches to their community contexts, however few studies have directly examined the influence of the community context in increasingly diverse rural communities in the United States. This study examined parental cultural socialization practices among individuals from underrepresented ethnoracial groups and the perceived influence of their predominantly White rural community. Parents employed at a university in the Northeast of the U.S. participated in this study which involved in-depth semi-structured interviews and used Grounded Theory as the analytic approach. Findings include three interrelated themes: (1) the community context increased ethnic and racial identity salience, (2) parents exerted deliberate efforts to culturally socialize their children and to teach their children to develop an appreciation for diversity, multiculturalism and inclusivity, and (3) parental cultural socialization behaviors were influenced by the 2016 presidential campaign and election. The findings show that the hegemonic, White-normative and exclusionary environment created in part by the demographics of this community influenced how they socialized their children about their cultural group memberships. The findings also suggest that community-university partnerships, support to families from underrepresented ethnoracial groups and community diversity education are promising strategies to strengthen community relations.
Highlights
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Ethnoracial underrepresentation and alienation stimulated identity exploration.
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White-normative and exclusionary environment influenced cultural socialization.
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National political campaign and election negatively impacted community relations.
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Cultural socialization emphasized cultural pride, diversity, and inclusion.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported the C. Graydon and Mary E. Rogers Faculty Fellowship and the Bucknell University Program for Undergraduate Research. The authors thank Trey Johnson and Annemarie Vaccaro for their helpful comments.
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Ulerio, G., Mena, J.A. Parental Cultural Socialization Practices among Underrepresented Ethnoracial Groups in a Predominantly White Rural College Community. J Child Fam Stud 29, 2697–2709 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01778-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01778-2