African American Adolescents’ Perceptions of Ethnic Socialization and Racial Socialization as Distinct Processes

Abstract

Ethnic socialization and racial socialization were examined as discrete concepts using a semistructured interview to assess message content for each form of socialization. We were interested in whether adolescents distinguished between these forms of socialization. Fifty-five African American 11th- and 12th-grade students were asked separate interview questions about the messages they received from mothers pertaining to ethnic socialization and racial socialization. As expected, the frequency of Black cultural messages was more strongly represented in response to the ethnic socialization question, whereas the frequency of minority messages was more strongly represented in response to the racial socialization question. The findings support distinct conceptualizations and measures of ethnic socialization and racial socialization.