Parental Race Research Articles

Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System ‐ by Jennifer A. Reich

Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System. Jennifer A. Reich. New York: Routledge. 2005. 368 pp. ISBN 0-41594727-8. $26.95. (paper) In Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System, Jennifer A. Reich vividly portrays inner workings of the child welfare system and offers important insights about the exercise of state power. Characterized as an ethnography of child welfare in California county, and using data from ride-alongs with child welfare investigators and caseworkers, court observations, parent interviews, court documents, and informal interviews with child welfare workers and attorneys, the book accomplishes Reich's stated goal: It illustrates how child welfare practitioners communicate and reinforce dominant expectations of gender, race, and class, and how state agents, through interaction with family members, determine can be a family and who cannot (p. 22). Reich's observations inspire the thesis that child welfare decisions, such as whether a child will be removed from a parent, returned to parent, or made eligible for adoption, depend largely on a parent's capacity to perform deference, which, in turn, hinges on a parent's race, gender, and marital status. Reich artfully and meticulously illustrates that in an underresourced child welfare environment-with such important goals as child safety and family autonomy at stake-the tipping factor in difficult child welfare decisions is often a parent's willingness and ability to demonstrate in both behavior and attitude mat she (occasionally, he) accepts the state's interpretation of events and complies with its remedies. Although the book succeeds in illuminating subtle uses of power, it also provides examples in which the imperative to cooperate is not hidden but is an explicitly stated influence on child welfare decisions. The book illustrates the role of parental deference at different critical moments of a child welfare case: during maltreatment investigations, as parents participate in mandated services, and when judges make decisions about family reunification and parental rights. During an investigation, for example, Reich observes a caseworker explicitly telling a parent that one factor in whether her kids [would be] removed was how cooperative the parent seemed, to which the parent responds, If I don't cooperate with you then you're gonna take my children? That's messed up (p. 95 - 96). Reich nicely illuminates the role of race in child welfare decisions and practices. For example, when a Black middle-class mother accused of child maltreatment invites her police officer partner, also Black, to sit in on an investigatory interview with the White local sheriff, the police officer informs the mother of some of her legal rights. In response to the unwelcome intervention, the sheriff, unaware of the police officer's profession, confronts him, You seem to know so much about the law. How many times have you been arrested? (p. …

Regional and ethnic distribution of beta thalassemia mutations and effect of consanguinity in patients referred for prenatal diagnosis.

To determine the regional and ethnic distribution of beta thalassemia mutation and the effect of consanguinity in patients referred for prenatal diagnosis of beta b-thalassemia and to target the high risk population for screening. Cross-sectional, analytical study. The study was conducted in Gentec Laboratory, Lahore, from January 2001 to December 2005. A total of 499 couples were referred to Gentec Lab., Lahore, from all over Pakistan for prenatal diagnosis of b-thalassemia. After counseling, chorionic villus sampling was done between 10-16 weeks of gestation. DNA analysis was done by Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) for type of mutation in the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi. Ethnicity, race and consanguineous relationship of parents was determined. b-thalassemia was prevalent in Punjabis (60.7%) followed by Saraikees (25.5%). Castewise it was most frequent in Rajputs followed by Jatts, Arain, Sheikhs and Pathans. 56.7% of the couples were first cousins and 19.8% were relatives. The commonest mutations were Frameshift 8-9 (Fr8-9) 33.5%, Intervening Sequence 1-5 (IVS 1-5) 17.2%, Fr4142 - 8%, IVS 1-1 - 5.2%, Deletion 619 (Del 619) 4.2% and Codon 5 (Cd 5) - 4.2%. In samples sent for analysis, 53.1% turned out to be carriers (trait), 25.3% were diseased (thalassemia major) and 21.6% were normal. P-value of all results was less than 0.001. In this series, the highest frequency was found in Punjabi Rajputs. The commonest mutation was Fr 8-9. Most parents were first cousins. Premarital thalassemia carrier testing can effectively reduce the disease.

The Inclusion of Fathers in the Empirical Investigation of Child Psychopathology: An Update

This investigation provides an update on the inclusion of fathers in child psychopathology research. Articles published from January 1992 to January 2005 that examined parental contributions to child psychological maladjustment were identified. Each article was coded for child age, parental race, how parent gender was analyzed, type of journal, and year of publication. Overall, results replicated previous reviews (Phares & Compas, 1992), suggesting that fathers continue to be neglected in child psychopathology research. Further analyses revealed (a) higher rates of paternal research involvement as child age increased, (b) studies with a predominantly Caucasian sample included separate analyses for mothers and fathers more frequently than those with predominantly African American samples, (c) paternal research inclusion was higher in clinical compared to developmental psychology journals, and (d) over the past 6 years, more research has included fathers as participants than from the previous 7-year period (1992–1998).

Constructing Interracial Families Through Intercountry Adoption*

Objective. This article analyzes the role of race and ethnicity in constructing American families through intercountry adoption. We argue that such adoptions illustrate the fluidity and tenacity of specific racial boundaries in American families.Methods. Data are drawn from the U.S. 2000 Census—the first to contain information on children's adoptive status—to examine whether race of parents and adopted children match and whether racial matching varies by the characteristics of adoptive families and adopted children.Results. Our findings indicate that minority‐race parents are more likely than white parents to adopt a child of the same race as themselves, and that the odds of white parents, in particular, adopting a white versus nonwhite child from abroad are related to factors such as the age, sex, and health status of the child, as well the presence of other children in the household.Conclusion. Parents weigh a constellation of factors, including attributes of the adopted child and the children already in the household, when adopting a child of the same or different race from abroad.

African American Adolescents’ Discrimination Experiences and Academic Achievement: Racial Socialization as a Cultural Compensatory and Protective Factor

This study examines the interrelationships among racial discrimination experiences, parent race socialization practices, and academic achievement outcomes in a sample of 548 African American adolescents. Adolescents’ racial discrimination experiences were associated with a decrease in academic curiosity, persistence, and student self-reported grades. Racial pride, self-worth, egalitarian, and negative messages and racial socialization behaviors emerged as unique predictors of various academic outcomes, but did not appear to modulate the impact of racial discrimination experiences on academic outcomes. The present findings provide preliminary evidence that parents’ messages to their children about race may compensate for or counteract racial discrimination, as opposed to moderating its influence on academic achievement outcomes. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of motivation and other key developmental factors that may influence academic achievement outcomes in African American adolescents.

Grouping of accessions of Mexican races of maize revisited with SSR markers

Mexican races of maize (Zea mays L.) represent a valuable genetic resource for breeding and genetic surveys. We applied simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to characterize 25 accessions of races of maize from Mexico. Our objectives were to (1) study the molecular genetic diversity within and among these accessions and (2) examine their relationships as assumed previously on the basis of morphological data. A total of 497 individuals were fingerprinted with 25 SSR markers. We observed a high total number of alleles (7.84 alleles per locus) and total gene diversity (0.61), confirming the broad genetic base of the maize races from Mexico. In addition, the accessions were grouped into distinct racial complexes on the basis of a model-based clustering approach. The principal coordinate analyses of the four Modern Incipient hybrids corroborated the proposed parental races of Chalqueño, Cónico Norteño, Celaya, and Bolita on the basis of the morphological data. Consequently, for some of the accessions, hybridizations provide a clue that can further be used to explain the associations among the Mexican races of maize.

Enabling Parents Who Smoke to Prevent Their Children From Initiating Smoking

To evaluate effects of a home-based antismoking socialization program on the initiation of smoking among children whose parents smoke. Three-year randomized controlled trial. Parents who were current smokers and had a child in the third grade who had not tried smoking were eligible; 873 parents-offspring pairs met these criteria, completed baseline interviews, and were randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition; 776 children (89%) completed an interview 3 years after baseline and were included in the study. During 3 months, the intervention group (n = 371) received 5 printed activity guides, parenting tip sheets, child newsletters, and incentives; this group also received a booster activity guide 1 year later. The control group (n = 405) received fact sheets about smoking. Initiation of smoking (first instance of puffing on a cigarette) was reported by 12% vs 19% of children in the intervention vs control groups. Logistic regression analysis indicated that children in the control condition had twice the odds of reporting initiation of smoking as children in the intervention condition (adjusted odds ratio, 2.16; P<.001), after adjusting for child sex, parent sex, parent race, parent educational achievement, child's best friends' smoking, parent smoking rate at baseline, and parent cessation status. Children in the pre-initiation phase of smoking who receive antismoking socialization from their parents are less likely to initiate smoking, even if their parents smoke.

Association Between Parental Satisfaction and Antibiotic Prescription for Children With Cough and Cold Symptoms

Providers' interest in satisfying parents may provide an impetus for unnecessary antibiotic use in children. To determine (1) whether receipt of antibiotics at a visit for cough and cold symptoms was associated with increased satisfaction and (2) whether nonreceipt of antibiotics at an initial visit but subsequent receipt of antibiotics in the course of the same illness episode was associated with decreased satisfaction. Prospective cohort study of patients 2-10 years of age presenting to a university-affiliated pediatric clinic with cough and cold symptoms. Parents were enrolled at the index visit and then followed up by phone at least 7 days later (mean time to follow-up, 14.9 days). Satisfaction with the index visit on a 10 point scale was the primary outcome. The primary predictors were whether antibiotics were prescribed at the index visit and, if not, whether they were prescribed since that visit. Linear and median regression were used to adjust for income, child age, parental race and individual provider. A total of 539 parents were enrolled in the study, and 378 (70%) completed follow-up interviews. The mean age of participating children was 4.67 years (SD 2.16). Overall 47% of patients received antibiotics at the index visit, and 8% of those that did not reported receiving them between the index visit and the follow-up assessment. In the regression model, receiving antibiotics at the index visit trended toward being associated with higher satisfactions scores (0.28; P = 0.08). Among those who did not receive antibiotics initially, receiving them subsequently was associated with significantly lower median satisfaction score for the index visit (-3.0; P < 0.01). Receiving antibiotics after an initial visit for cough and cold symptoms at which antibiotics were not prescribed is associated with decreased satisfaction. Use of contingency prescriptions may be an important intervention.

Adverse Perinatal Outcomes Among Interracial Couples in the United States

We examined the association between parental race and stillbirth and adverse perinatal and infant outcomes. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using the 1995-2001 linked birth and infant death files that are composed of live births and fetal and infant deaths in the United States. The study included singleton births delivered at 20 or more weeks of gestation with a fetus weighing 500 g or more (N = 21,005,786). Parental race was categorized as mother white-father white, mother white-father black, mother black-father white, and mother black-father black. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between parental race and risks of stillbirth (at > or = 20 weeks), small for gestational age (defined as birth weight < 5th and < 10th percentile for gestational age), and early neonatal (< 7 days), late neonatal (7-27 days), and postneonatal (28-364 days) mortality. All analyses were adjusted for the confounding effects of maternal age, education, trimester at which prenatal care began, parity, marital status, and smoking during pregnancy. Although risks varied across parental race categories, stillbirth was associated with a higher-than-expected risk for interracial couples: mother white-father black, relative risk (RR) 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10-1.26) and mother black-father white, RR 1.37 (95% CI 1.21-1.54) compared with mother white-father white parents. The RR for stillbirth was even higher among mother black-father black parents (RR 1.67, 95% CI 1.62-1.72). The overall patterns of association for small for gestational age births (< 5th and < 10th percentile) and early neonatal mortality were similar to those seen for stillbirth. There is an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes for interracial couples, including stillbirth, small for gestational age infants, and neonatal mortality. II-2.

Clinician–Parent Communication during Informed Consent for Pediatric Leukemia Trials

To address the need to describe informed consent in pediatric settings and to identify barriers to parent understanding, this study assessed how aspects of clinician-parent communication during the informed consent conference (ICC) relate to parent understanding of informed consent and parent perception of the impact of the ICC on their anxiety and control. Parents of 127 children with newly diagnosed leukemia who were eligible for clinical trials were the participants. The study used comprehensive methods including both observational and self-report assessment methods. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that parent race and socioeconomic status (SES) were powerful predictors of clinician-parent communication, parent anxiety and control as a result of the ICC, and parent understanding. Clinician information giving and partnership building predicted parent participation during the ICC. These findings may be used to design interventions that increase the effectiveness of the ICC by identifying specific elements of the conference that influence parent affect and understanding.

Parental race, birth weight, gestational age, and fetal growth among twin infants in the United States

Background No previous study has examined the association between paternal race and birth weight among twins. Aims To examine the association of parents' race and birth weight among twins. Study design Population-based retrospective cohort study to examine the association between parents' race and birth weight, and its two components, gestation duration and fetal growth among four group of infants: both parents blacks (FB-MB), father white and mother black (FW-MB), father black and mother white (FB-MW), and both parents whites (FW-MW), with “risk-free” analysis to control confounding factors. Subjects Twin births (304,466 twins) registered in the United States in 1995–1997. Outcome measures The means of birth weight, gestational age, and birth-weight-for-gestational age z score, and rates of very low birth weight (VLBW, <1500 g), very preterm birth (VPTB, <32 weeks of gestation), and fetal growth restriction (FGR, <10th percentile of z score). Results Means of birth weight, gestational age, and z score were 2234.0, 2301.9, 2361.1, and 2433.8, and 35.02, 35.24, 35.65, and 35.78, and −0.136, −0.070, −0.039, and 0.063, respectively, and the rates of VLBW, VPTB, and FGR were 14.5, 12.3, 10.5, and 8.1, and 16.0, 13.0, 11.6, and 9.2, and 12.6, 11.1, 10.8, and 8.7, respectively, in the FB-MB, FW-MB, FB-MW, and FW-MW groups. Excluding subjects with various risk factors by risk-free analysis did not change the results. Conclusions Both parents' races are important determinants of birth weight, gestational age, and fetal growth among twin pregnancies, with higher effect on gestational age and greater maternal influence than paternal influence.

Forced to choose: some determinants of racial identification in multiracial adolescents.

This paper categorizes multiracial youth (N=1,496) ages 14 to 19 and compares them with each other and with monoracial youth on identity development measures. The multiracial categories used here are derived from youths' reports of their own and their parents' race(s). Comparisons are made within groups of multiracial respondents who make different choices among single-race categories. Results show differences between subgroups in strength and importance of ethnic identity, self-esteem, and perceptions of ethnic discrimination. Multinomial logistic regression shows further that physiognomy, ethnic identity, and race of coresident parent(s) are significantly associated with reported race. Also related to racial identification among part-Hispanic youth are the racial distribution and socioeconomic status of their neighborhoods and the racial distributions of their schools.

Parental race, birth weight, gestational age, and fetal growth among twin infants in the United States

Low birth weight (LBW) is the most important determinant of perinatal mortality and morbidity and may relate to some adult diseases. The objective of this study is to analyze the association between the parental race and LBW, and its two components, preterm birth (PTB) and fetal growth restriction (FGR), in twin births.

Parental race and fetal and infant mortality among twins in the United States

Parental race and fetal and infant mortality among twins in the United States

Hybridization and introgression of the genomes of Drosophila nasuta and Drosophila albomicans: evolution of new karyotypes.

Drosophila nasuta (2n = 8) and Drosophila albomicans (2n = 6) are cross-fertile allopatric sibling chromosomal races of the nasuta subgroup of Drosophila. Hybrids of these races can be maintained for any number of generations. Some of the introgressed hybrid lineages of D. nasuta and D. albomicans, after passing through a transient phase of karyotypic polymorphism, ended up with a stable karyotype whose composition is different from those of the parental races. Such hybrid populations were called cytoraces, in which the chromosomes of D. nasuta and D. albomicans are represented in different combinations. The karyotypic composition of 16 such cytoraces have been presented and discussed with reference to evolutionary strategies such as balancing selection, directional selection, and sex-specific effect on different components of the evolving karyotypes.

Impact of Instructional Assessment on Elementary Children's Achievement

This study examined the trajectory of change in scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) of low-income, urban, third and fourth graders who had been enrolled in classrooms where the Work Sampling System (WSS), a curriculum-embedded performance assessment, was used for at least three years. The ITBS scores of children exposed to WSS were compared with those of students in a group of non-WSS contrast schools that were matched by race, income, mobility, school size, and number of parents in the home and to a comparison group of all other students in the school district.

Evolutionary experimentation through hybridization under laboratory condition in Drosophila: Evidence for Recombinational Speciation

BackgroundDrosophila nasuta nasuta (2n = 8) and Drosophila nasuta albomicans (2n = 6) are a pair of sibling allopatric chromosomal cross-fertile races of the nasuta subgroup of immigrans species group of Drosophila. Interracial hybridization between these two races has given rise to new karyotypic strains called Cytorace 1 and Cytorace 2 (first phase). Further hybridization between Thailand strain of D. n. albomicans and D. n. nasuta of Coorg strain has resulted in the evolution of two more Cytoraces, namely Cytorace 3 and Cytorace 4 (second phase). The third phase Cytoraces (Cytorace 5 to Cytorace 16) have evolved through interracial hybridization among first, second phase Cytoraces along with parental races. Each of these Cytoraces is composed of recombined genomes of the parental races. Here, we have made an attempt to systematically assess the impact of hybridization on karyotypes, morphometric and life history traits in all 16 Cytoraces.ResultsThe results reveal that in most cases, the newly evolved Cytoraces, with different chromosome constitutions, exhibit decreased body size, better fitness and live longer than their parents. Particularly, Cytorace 5, 6 and 8 have evolved with very much higher range values of quantitative traits than the parents and other Cytoraces, which suggests the role of transgressive segregation in the evolution of these Cytoraces.ConclusionThus, the rapid divergence recorded in the chromosomes, karyotypes, body size and fitness traits of Cytoraces exhibit the early event of recombinational raciation / speciation in the evolution of the Cytoraces under laboratory conditions.

Morphometric difference between the Novosibirsk and Tomsk chromosome races ofSorex araneus in a zone of parapatry

A hybrid zone between the Novosibirsk and Tomsk chromosome races of the common shrewSorex araneus Linnaeus, 1758 was found near Novosibirsk city (West Siberia, Russia) in an area unimpeded by geographic barriers. In this zone, the shrews of both races and their hybrids were trapped and karyotyped and 22 features of their cranial and postcranial skeleton were measured. Canonical discriminant analysis revealed 3 distinct groups of individuals, which corresponded to the 3 karyotypic categories involved in the analysis. The first discriminant function reflected the differences in the size of skeletal elements. The Novosibirsk shrews and the hybrids were significantly smaller than the Tomsk shrews. The second discriminant function was interpreted as a parameter of skeletal proportionality. The hybrids were significantly less proportional than the parental races. This study revealed one of the clearest examples of morphological differentiation between chromosome races of the common shrew.

The correspondence between interracial births and multiple-race reporting.

Race-specific health statistics are routinely reported in scientific publications; most describe health disparities across groups. Census 2000 showed that 2.4% of the US population identifies with more than 1 race group. We examined the hypothesis that multiple-race reporting is associated with interracial births by comparing parental race reported on birth certificates with reported race in a national health survey. US natality data from 1968 through 1998 and National Health Interview Survey data from 1990 through 1998 were compared, by year of birth. Overall multiple-race survey responses correspond to expectations from interracial births. However, there are discrepancies for specific multiple-race combinations. Projected estimates of the multiple-race population can be only partially informed by vital records.

The Psychological Adjustment of Transracial Adoptees: An Application of the Cultural-Racial Identity Model

In response to the need for increased understanding of the identity process of transracial adoptees, the Cultural-Racial Identity Model (A. L. Baden & R. J. Steward, 1995) was developed; however, the model has yet to be empirically validated. The model allows distinctions to be made between racial identity and cultural identity, resulting in 16 proposed identities. Identities are based on the degrees to which individuals (1) have knowledge of, awareness of, competence within, and con1fort with their own racial group’s culture, their parents’ racial group’s culture, and multiple cultures, and (2) are comfortable with their racial group membership and with those belonging to their own racial group, theirparents’ racial group, and multiple racial groups. Four dimensions of the model were determinedfor study: the Adoptee Culture Dimension, the Parental Culture Dimension, the Adoptee Race Dimension, and the Parental Race Dimension. In this study, the Cultural-Racial Identity oftransracial adoptees was assessed by a modified version ofthe Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; J. S. Phinney, 1992). Psychological adjustment was assessed by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; L. R. Derogatis & P. A. Cleary, 1977). The sample consisted of 51 transracial adoptees who completed mail survey questionnaires. The exploratory findings supported the Cultural-Racial Identity Model by demonstrating that the modified version of the MEIM successfully yielded variation in the potential CulturalRacial Identities that the transracial adoptees reported. Findings also did not yield support for differences in psychological adjustment among transracial adoptees