“It Makes Me Worry About Her Future Pain:” A Qualitative Investigation of White Mothers of Non-White Children

Robinson-Wood, Tracy

doi:10.1080/02703149.2011.591678

Cited by 9 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…About one third of parents in our study endorsed a more restrained, cautious approach to racial socialization, whereby they acknowledged but were careful not to emphasize their children's minority race, often because they did not want their child to feel too "different." Consistent with the existing literature, some parents also voiced anxiety regarding their own competence for handling direct conversations about race (Harrigan, 2009;Robinson-Wood, 2011). Finally, a minority of parentsmostly heterosexual-endorsed an avoidant approach to racial socialization, whereby they did not talk about race or racial difference, typically because they did not believe it was relevant to their family (e.g., because their child was multiracial and "looked White"), thus endorsing attitudes akin to the assimilationist, colorblind perspectives described in past literature (Barn, 2013;Lee, 2003).…”

Section: Racial Socialization: Engage Neutralize or Avoidsupporting

confidence: 66%

“…First, we observed diversity in parents' perspectives on the role of children's developmental status with regard to racial socialization. Past work has found that White heterosexual adoptive parents of older children are more likely to engage in racial socialization than parents of younger children (Johnston et al, 2007;Robinson-Wood, 2011). In our sample, some parents explained their avoidance of racial discussions by asserting that their children were not cognitively primed to understand such conversations.…”

Section: Racial Socialization: Engage Neutralize or Avoidmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Little attention has been given to how socialization processes might be uniquely shaped by children's developmental context, whereby parents with younger children engage in particular approaches or considerations related to their children's age. Relevant studies have found (a) child age to be positively related to White adoptive parents' level of racial socialization (Johnston, Swim, Saltsman, Deater-Deckard, & Petrill, 2007;Robinson-Wood, 2011), and (b) in approaching adoption-related discussions, parents reported considering their children's cognitive ability to engage in such conversations (Freeark, Rosenblum, Hus, & Root, 2008) and tended to keep conversations brief and infrequent if they believed their children would be overwhelmed by the complexity of the topic (Harrigan, 2009). Yet little is known about how, at a qualitative level, parents view their children's developmental stage as shaping their racial socialization approach.…”

Section: Racial Socializationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents’ Socialization Approaches to Children’s Minority Statuses

Goldberg

Sweeney

Black

et al. 2016

The Counseling Psychologist

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This study examined the narratives of 82 adoptive parents (41 couples: 15 lesbian, 15 gay male, 11 heterosexual) of young children (M age = 5.81 years) with a focus on understanding parents' socialization practices and strategies surrounding race (among parents of children of color), and family structure (among lesbian or gay [LG] parents). Most parents described an engaged approach to socialization surrounding their children's racial minority and LG-parent family statuses, employing strategies such as (a) holding parentchild conversations aimed at instilling pride, (b) seeking communities that reflect their child's identities (more often LG than heterosexual), and (c) educating about racism and heterosexism. Some parents described a cautious approach in which they acknowledged their child's racial background and LG-parent family status but were cautious about not being overly focused on their differences. A minority of parents (more often heterosexual than LG) described an avoidant approach, whereby they did not discuss their child's differences.

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Section: Racial Socialization: Engage Neutralize or Avoidsupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Racial Socialization: Engage Neutralize or Avoidmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Racial Socializationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents’ Socialization Approaches to Children’s Minority Statuses

Goldberg

Sweeney

Black

et al. 2016

The Counseling Psychologist

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“…Children's age has been identified as a predictor of racial socialization: Parents of older children engage in more preparation for bias (Johnston, Swim, Saltsman, Deater-Deckard, & Petrill, 2007). Qualitative research on White adoptive mothers with children of color found that mothers reported not discussing race or racism with their children because they "felt that the timing wasn't right," highlighting the potential role of developmental considerations (Robinson-Wood, 2011). Indeed, children are increasingly likely to encounter racism as they get older (Hughes et al, 2006).…”

Section: Direct Socialization: Preparation For Racismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of race, adoption, and sexual orientation related socialization of adoptive parents of young children.

Goldberg¹,

Smith²

2016

Journal of Family Psychology

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Using a sample of 125 lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parent couples with young children (M = 6.32 years), this study examined predictors of direct socialization (preparation for adoptism, racism, and heterosexism) and indirect socialization (modeling interactions by responding to outsiders' inquiries about their child's adoptive status, racial background, or family structure). In terms of direct socialization, parents of older children tended to engage in more socialization around adoptism and heterosexism, and parents of daughters tended to engage in more socialization around racism and heterosexism. Greater perceived child interest in adoption was related to more direct socialization around adoptism. Parents of color reported more direct socialization around racism. Having a child of color was related to more direct socialization around heterosexism. Regarding indirect socialization, sexual minority parents reported more socialization around adoption and race. Greater perceived child interest in adoption was related to more indirect adoption socialization. Being more "out" was related to more indirect socialization around parent sexual orientation.

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“…For example, Verbian (2006), in her examination of racialized discourses in feminist and multicultural literature teaching and learning, acknowledged the importance of Canadian research that explores the lived experiences of white women who, like she, are mothers to black and white biracial children. Referencing the research literature, she acknowledged that white birth mothers of black and white biracial children are subjected to familial discourses about their sexuality and maternal competence and are publicly scrutinized in ways that white women within monoracial heterosexual unions are not.International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies (2015) 6(4.1): 646-661 652 Several dynamics tend to favor the use of non-colorblind talk by white women:• First, interrogating blackness and whiteness against the backdrop of a racially stratified society, as opposed to colorblindness, may help white mothers assist their children with negotiating race (Robinson-Wood, 2011;Twine, 2010a). According to Neville, Spanierman, and Doan (2006), colorblindness is defined as the "denial, distortion, and/or minimization of race and racism" (p. 276), and is a dominant racially-based framework used to justify and explain away racial inequalities in the United States.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relevance of Non-Colorblind Talk Between White Women and Non-White Children in the United States: A Discussion

Robinson-Wood

2015

ijcyfs

Self Cite

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Abstract:The social construction of race in Western, and particularly American, contexts has contributed to white people not having to think about the personal meaning of being white and not needing to understand the relevance of race in the lives of people of color. The implications of this racial dynamic are considered in light of American demographic data documenting that the majority of mothers of black and white biracial children are white women. A number of American national and international research studies and literature reviews from Britain, Canada, and New Zealand that investigate white women's experiences mothering non-white children are reviewed. The majority of the research on interracial families emphasizes black and white families as they represent the largest racial groups. This demographic trend will frame the current discussion. Historical dimensions of race in America are discussed, including the social construction of race, which has implications for the content of racial socialization messages transmitted by white mothers to their non-white children. An overview of cultural forces that contribute to colorblind talk between white mothers and their non-white children is provided.Keywords: Interracial families; white mothers; biraciality; racial socialization; racism; whiteness Tracy L. Robinson-Wood, Ed.D. is a Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology, Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave., Boston, Massachusetts 02115. E-mail: tr.robinson@neu.edu International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies (2015) 6(4.1): 646-661 647 Never in the history of the United States have there been so many white women mothering non-white children, through adoption and by birth. Black and white biracial children are products of both marital and non-marital unions. Since the repeal of miscegenation laws in 1967, black and white marriages have been on the increase in a post-1960s Civil Rights Movement era. Nearly two-thirds of black and white marriages are between black men and white women (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). Between 1990 and 2010, this dyad saw a 132% increase in biracial births. The black woman-white man dyad, a much smaller group, saw a 152% increase in biracial births in the same period (B. Hamilton, personal communication, January 11, 2013). As shown in Tables 1 and 2, the majority of black and white biracial people have white mothers. Over nine million people, nearly 3% of the U.S. population, report more than one race (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011). The largest multiple-race category and the one that increased most between 2000 and 2010, is white and black, with 1.8 million people. Between 2000 and 2010, the two or more races population increased 32% total, whereas the U.S. population grew 10% (Jones & Bullock, 2012). Of the nearly 4 million children born in the U.S. each year, 77% were to white women (Martin et al., 2012), and most of these were monoracial. In interracial relationships between white and non-white, gendered and racial patt...

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“It Makes Me Worry About Her Future Pain:” A Qualitative Investigation of White Mothers of Non-White Children

Cited by 9 publications

References 10 publications

Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents’ Socialization Approaches to Children’s Minority Statuses

Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents’ Socialization Approaches to Children’s Minority Statuses

Predictors of race, adoption, and sexual orientation related socialization of adoptive parents of young children.

The Relevance of Non-Colorblind Talk Between White Women and Non-White Children in the United States: A Discussion

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