Marital Processes and Parental Socialization in Families of Color: A Decade Review of Research

Abstract

Research published during the past decade on African American, Latino, and Asian American families is reviewed. Emphasis is given to selected issues within the broad domains of marriage and parenting. The first section highlights demographic trends in family formation and family structure and factors that contributed to secular changes in family structure among African Americans. In the second section, new conceptualizations of marital relations within Latino families are discussed, along with research documenting the complexities in African American men's conceptions of manhood. Studies examining within-group variation in marital conflict and racial and ethnic differences in division of household labor, marital relations, and children's adjustment to marital and family conflict also are reviewed. The third section gives attention to research on (a) paternal involvement among fathers of color; (b) the relation of parenting behavior to race and ethnicity, grandmother involvement, neighborhood and peer characteristics, and immigration; and (c) racial and ethnic socialization. The article concludes with an overview of recent advances in the study of families of color and important challenges and issues that represent research opportunities for the new decade.

Gender Socialization in Latino/a Families: Results from Two Retrospective Studies

“…In recent years, scholars have decried the lack of high-quality research on how ethnically diverse families raise their children and pointed out the limited knowledge that can be gained from simple ethnic group comparisons (e.g., McLoyd et al, 2000). To gain accurate and usable information to inform scholarship and practice, researchers need to dedicate the same attention to understanding ethnically diverse children and adolescents that they have invested in understanding developmental processes among majority populations in the past.…”

“…In this article, we focus on gender socialization among Latinos/as, defined as individuals of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or other Central and South American origin or descent (Day, 1996). This focus is warranted given the general lack of information about Latino/a families (McLoyd, Cauce, Takeuchi, & Wilson, 2000) and the fact that by the year 2050, nearly one-third of the under-age-19 population in the United States will be Latino/a (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). Although the diversity within this population makes it unwise to generalize too broadly about group beliefs and practices, scholars have identified a set of cultural values that are relevant to gender-related socialization in Latino/a families.…”

Growing Points for Coparenting Theory and Research

“…In following up on the clinical and theoretical contributions of S. Minuchin, and expanding notions of coparenting beyond divorced families, investigators needed to start somewhere-and so jump-starting the field by concentrating on two-parent families made some sense. However, as we begin getting a firmer handle on the interpersonal dynamics of nuclear family threesomes, we must challenge ourselves with the question: are we studying coparental processes that have only limited generalizability and applicability in other types of family systems (see, for example, McLoyd, Cauce, Takeuchi, & Wilson, 2001)? Fortunately, such inquiries have begun, and work to date is summarized in greater detail by McHale, Khazan, et al (2002).…”

“…Developing concepts in majority cultures and applying them indiscriminantly across different cultural or socioeconomic groups without thorough knowledge of family adaptation within such groups is ultimately a doomed enterprise (Burton, 1995;McLoyd et al, 2001;Stack, 1974). Yet in moving beyond nuclear, middle-class family households, researchers serious about studying cocaregiving and family group dynamics can find themselves challenged to accurately define the core coparental unit for study.…”

Unequal Families, Unequal Effects: How Parental Divorce Differentially Impacts Children's Educational Attainment

“…2 We contend that a shared latent factor underlying the interactions between parental education, race, and family wellbeing and parental divorce is the likelihood, or propensity, of disruption occurring. That is, the negative effects of parental divorce are greater among more advantaged children because they are less accustomed to disruptive socioeconomic events and disadvantaged circumstances than more disadvantaged children (McLoyd et al 2000). They are consequently unlikely to be embedded in a social network in which family instability is anticipated, or at least less stigmatized (Brand and Simon Thomas 2014;Cherlin 2004;McDermott, Fowler, and Christakis 2013;Ross 1995).…”