African American mothers' racial socialization practices with preschoolers: A mixed methods study

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Dalhia D. Lloyd
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12639

RESEARCH

African American mothers’racial socialization

practices with preschoolers: A mixed methods study

Dalhia D. Lloyd

Department of Child, Youth, and Family

Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Correspondence

Dalhia D. Lloyd, Department of Child, Youth,

and Family Studies, University of Nebraska–

Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0366, USA.

Email: dlloyd@nebraska.edu.

Abstract

Objective: This pilot study examined the racial socializa-

tion frequency, practices, and goals African American

mothers use to socialize their preschool-age children

around race.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that Afri-

can American mothers engage in racial socialization.

However, little research has focused on how race and rac-

ism influence African American mothers’racial socializa-

tion frequency, practices, and goals.

Methods: In the quantitative phase, a racial socialization

measure was used to assess African American mothers’

(N=30) racial socialization frequency. In the qualitative

phase, follow-up interviews conducted with eight African

American mothers explored how race and racism influence

the mothers’parenting.

Results: Mothers with a high racial socialization score

encouraged racial awareness, whereas mothers with low

scores discouraged racial awareness. Most mothers used

oppressive practices to keep their preschoolers safe. Most

mothers braided their parental practices with their racial

experiences from childhood.

Conclusions: Mothers of African American children are

processing parental guidance approaches on two levels—

general guidance related to their child’s development and

a track related to the role race may be playing.

Implications: The implications of this study will be influen-

tial in the development and effectiveness of culturally cen-

tered practices that support Black children as well as Black

mothers’parenting.

KEYWORDS

African American mothers, parental practices, racial socialization

Received: 21 November 2020Revised: 3 October 2021Accepted: 27 November 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12639

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:1859–1877. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1859

Parents play a critical role in socializing their children. They create routines and rituals that

establish predictability, they engage in behaviors their children can imitate, and they use non-

verbal cues to foster social and emotional understanding. For African American mothers, how-

ever, the general aspects of parenting are complicated by negotiating how to socialize their

child to navigate a racialized world. Scholars have described this critical aspect of parenting as

racial socialization (Hughes et al., 2009). Racial socialization is the process caregivers use to

convey implicit and explicit messages about the meaning of race and strategies for coping with

racism (Anderson et al., 2019). The racial socialization process is multidimensional and com-

plex. Parents may use proactive, affirmational, or reactive strategies to transmit racial socializa-

tion messages verbally or nonverbally, or they may transmit messages directly or indirectly

(Anderson & Stevenson 2019).

Most of the literature on racial socialization includes parents of school-age children or

adolescents; only a few studies that have investigated the racial socialization of preschool-

age children. Yet similar to research with older children, previous research has found a gen-

eral association with preschoolers who received frequent racial socialization and positive

outcomes, such as school readiness and fewer behavior issues (Caughy, O’Campo, et al.,

2002; Caughy & Owen, 2015). However, these studies rely on self-report measures, and

although these studies contributed to the literature, there are some constraints. For exam-

ple, using predetermined questions and choices for self-report measures prevent researchers

from gathering more detailed information about parents’racial socialization practices.

However, using other methods, such as interviews, may help explain self-report results and

allow parents to expand on their practices and use their natural language to describe how

the engage in such practices. Thus, the flexibility of interviews may deepen our understand-

ing and help uncover the nuances of African American parents racial socialization with

preschool-age children.

PARENTAL RACIAL SOCIALIZATION

Racial socialization is the verbal and nonverbal racial communication between African

American families and their children about racialized experiences (Anderson &

Stevenson, 2019). Scholars have found that racial socialization messages are intentionally

and unintentionally provided through four primary types: cultural socialization, preparation

for bias, promotion of mistrust, and egalitarianism (Hughes et al., 2006).

Cultural socialization

Cultural socialization is the explicit and implicit practice of teaching children about their cul-

tural history, displaying cultural artifacts, listening to music from one’s culture, and serving

food associated with their culture (Caughy, Randolph, et al., 2002; Hughes et al., 2006;

Umaña-Taylor & Fine, 2004). Previous studies have linked cultural socialization to higher self-

esteem (Hughes et al., 2009), positive academic outcomes (Baker, 2014), and the formation of

positive racial identity (Umaña-Taylor & Fine, 2004). However, only a few studies have exam-

ined cultural socialization and the learning and development of preschool-age children. In one

study, Caughy, O’Campo, et al. (2002) found an association between cultural socialization and

positive cognitive and behavioral outcomes for African American preschoolers. A second study

revealed emerging evidence that linked early cultural socialization to school readiness skills

such as greater preacademic skills, receptive language, and fewer behavior problems (Caughy &

Owen, 2015). Both of these studies contribute to the knowledge of the cultural socialization of

preschool-age children. However, these studies used self-report measures or observational

1860 FAMILY RELATIONS