M(ai)cro: Centering the Macrosystem in Human Development

Abstract

Both society and psychological science are deeply grounded in (and often perpetuate) white supremacy and anti-Blackness. While human development is inextricable from macro-level structural racism and hierarchies of oppression, developmental research often locates processes in the micro-level of individuals and relationships, ultimately obscuring how intimately macro-level forces shape developmental processes. The current paper aims to shift the starting point of the story of human development by centering the macrosystem, and specifically racism (and its partnering ideologies of sexism, heteronormativity, classism, and capitalism) in ecological systems theory and developmental psychology broadly. Through the lens of racial socialization research, we present an empirical example to illustrate how the sociopolitical context of racism is itself a source of socialization. Finally, we propose new language, <i>m(ai)cro</i>, to conceptualize the simultaneous and transactional macro-as-micro processes in development. We conclude with guiding principles for how to work toward equity and justice in human development.

From promoting healthy masculinities to nurturing healthy humans and societies: Commentary on Di Bianca and Mahalik (2022).

“…Moreover, young people do not simply accept or accommodate cultural “norms,” they often question and challenge such ideologies, rejecting harmful expectations and stereotypes, crafting liberating counternarratives, and affirming their identities in ways that disrupt oppressive cultural narratives—in society and developmental science (Rogers & Way, 2018, 2021). This research is not only for or about youth of color, it is about how humans develop within and in response to a cultural ideological context (Rogers, Niwa, et al, 2021; Rogers & Way, 2021).…”

Ethnic‐racial socialization in the context of the achievement gap discourse

“…Our proposed link between the AGD and ERS would greatly benefit from empirical studies testing their relation. An interdisciplinary, mixed‐methods research agenda is necessary to capture the subtle ways that racial/ethnic socialization in micro settings relates to ideologies and discourses in macro contexts (Rogers, et al., 2021), particularly those that are as unacknowledged and uncontested as the AGD (Carey, 2014; Ochoa, 2013). Such methods could uncover how covert racialized structures pertaining to educational discourse unfold in day‐to‐day settings and social interactions and how they serve as contexts for ERS.…”

Through the looking glass: Ethnic racial socialization among children and adolescents

“…Ethnicity and race are omnipresent within racialized social systems, (Lewis, 2003; Wilkerson, 2020), Furthermore, there is robust and ample evidence that both society and the discipline of psychology are deeply rooted in white supremacy, anti‐Blackness, and racism (Guthrie, 1989; Kendi, 2016; Molina, 2014; Rogers, Niwa, Chung, Yip, & Chae, 2021). Thus, it is critical for scholars, educators, and practitioners to understand the varied processes through which youth learn ethnicity‐race in ways that shape their understandings of themselves, their relationships with others, and their situatedness in the world around them.…”

“…Given the focus on ethnicity and race in this special issue, it is important to note that terminology associated with racial and ethnic groups is dynamic and reflective of the current sociopolitical context. Race and ethnicity are sociohistorical and political constructs that were specifically engineered to uphold inequality (Kendi, 2016; Molina, 2014; Rogers, Niwa et al., 2021; Smedley & Smedley, 2005; Wilderson, 2015). As an example, accepted terminology (such as the term African American) from less than a decade ago has given way to new preferred terms, such as Black (Ross, 2020) and BIPOC (Syed, 2010).…”