Juvenile justice–involved Haitian families' experiences of structural racism and socioethnic discrimination

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Toni Cela,Danna Demezier,Rachel Waldman,Roy Clement,Richard Dembo,Michèle Jean‐Gilles,Aaron Hogue,Alexandra Arcayos,Daniel Santisteban,Louis Herns Marcelin
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12788

RESEARCH

Juvenile justice–involved Haitian families’experiences

of structural racism and socioethnic discrimination

Toni Cela

1,2

|Danna Demezier

1

|Rachel Waldman

1

|

Roy Clement

1

|Richard Dembo

3

|Michèle Jean-Gilles

4

|

Aaron Hogue

5

|Alexandra Arcayos

1

|Daniel Santisteban

6

|

Louis Herns Marcelin

2,7

1

Department of Anthropology, University of

Miami, Coral Gables, FL

2

Interuniversity Institute for Research and

Development (INURED), Port-au-Prince,

Haiti

3

Department of Criminology, University of

South Florida, Tampa, FL

4

Department of Health Promotion and Disease

Prevention, Florida International University,

Miami, FL

5

Family and Adolescent Clinical

Technology & Science (FACTS) Partnership to

End Addiction, New York, NY

6

School of Education and Human

Development, University of Miami, Coral

Gables, FL, USA

7

Departments of Anthropology & Public

Health Sciences, University of Miami, Coral

Gables, FL

Correspondence

Louis Herns Marcelin, P.O. Box 248106,

University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL

33124-2005, USA.

Email: lmarcel2@miami.edu

Funding information

Funding for this study comes from the

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA),

grant number 1R34DA043784-01A1. The

content is solely the responsibility of the

authors and does not necessarily represent the

official views of the National Institutes of

Health or NIDA.

Abstract

Objective: This article examines how Haitian families with

youth interfacing with the juvenile justice system cope with

structural racism and socioethnic discrimination (RSD).

Background: Haitian families’experiences of discrimina-

tion based on their histories, immigrant status, and

positionality illustrates the need for more scientific scru-

tiny of the experiences of RSD among Black immigrant

groups. This National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)–

funded study details the narratives of and responses to

RSD experienced by Haitian families interfacing with the

juvenile justice system.

Method: Data are drawn from psychosocial assessment

tools, therapeutic sessions, and ethnographic interviews

conducted with Haitian families participating in a family-

based therapeutic intervention. Using critical race theory,

we foreground the voices of those negatively impacted and

use Bourdieu’s theory of practice to examine the inter-

sectionality of race and ethnicity in this population’s expe-

riences of RSD.

Results: The different experiences of and responses to

RSD among youth and caregivers of Haitian descent are

both a variation of the complex continuum of structural

racism in the United States and unique to their immigrant

experience of marginalization and cultural invalidation by

public institutions, community members, and peers.

Conclusion: Professionals working with this population

must be sensitive to the ways these experiences impact

young people’s identity development processes, their health,

and well-being. Haitian caregivers should be encouraged to

Received: 2 August 2021Revised: 11 March 2022Accepted: 21 April 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12788

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:1993–2010. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1993

protect their children by engaging in racial and socioethnic

socialization that validates their RSD experiences.

Implications: Understanding the intergenerational experi-

ences of RSD among Black, immigrant groups and encour-

aging family dialogue and adolescent support will strengthen

family cohesion during this period of racial reckoning.

KEYWORDS

Haitians, mental health, police violence, socioethnic discrimination,

structural racism

This article examines the experiences of and responses to racism and socioethnic discrimination

by parents and caregivers of youths of Haitian descent, ages 13 to 17 years, in the Miami-Dade

County Juvenile Services Department’s prevention and diversion programs. We document par-

ticipants’narratives of racism and socioeconomic discrimination and highlight the range of

responses and coping strategies employed by Haitian families to guide youth through their own

experiences of ostracism, marginalization, and even violence. For this, we rely on longitudinal

ethnographic data, psychosocial assessment tools completed during the study, and therapeutic

notes to explore the narratives, practices, and learning strategies generated and enacted in their

daily lives.

Drawing in part from critical race theory (Bonilla-Silva, 2009; Bridges, 2019; Buras, 2013;

Kiel, 2015; J. Lee & Lutz, 2005), we highlight the perspectives of those negatively impacted by

persistent racial discrimination in the United States. Consistent with Bonilla-Silva (2009), we

conceptualize racism as a social system shaped by racialized ideas employed for the express

purpose of (racial) domination, in a variety of ways in social space and time (Christian

et al., 2019). From Bourdieu’s theory of practice (Bourdieu, 1990; Calhoun et al., 1993;

Wacquant, 2008), we frame our work through the concept of habitus to understand the inter-

sectionality of race and ethnicity (as Blacks, ethnic minorities, and immigrants) in the families’

experiences of racial and sociocultural marginalization in the United States. An internalized

and durable system of dispositions, habitus structures individual and collective perceptions,

tastes, imaginaries, and ideas in a given sociocultural context (Bourdieu, 1990). According to

Bourdieu and Wacquant (1992), habitus frames human action in each situation, redefining

one’s sense of place (or being out of place) for individuals or groups. Habitus intersects with dif-

ferent domains of human actions to generate strategies for coping, avoidances, encounters,

enforcements, and an array of other actions. We draw upon empirical data collected in commu-

nity settings from families who are participating in a larger clinical intervention study reported

elsewhere (Cela et al., 2022; Marcelin et al., 2021a; Marcelin et al., 2021b).

We first examine the literature on the impact of racial discrimination on the health of the

United States Black population, then we briefly recount the history of the Haitian population

in Miami-Dade County and their positionality within its socioracial hierarchies. Following a

brief framing of the study’s methods, we present our findings documenting caregiver narratives

of their own experiences of racism and socioethnic discrimination and their responses to youth

encounters with local police in this critical moment of racial reckoning and the national fight

for social justice. We conclude the section by focusing on the responses and coping strategies

adopted by Haitian parents, caregivers, and youth to contend with racism and socioethnic dis-

crimination. In the discussion section, we examine the interplay between youth and parental

experiences of socioracial discrimination and how they inform the ways Haitian parents engage

their children in racial socialization. We conclude with recommendations for working with

Haitian families in order to reinforce their ability to support and guide youth as they experience

1994 FAMILY RELATIONS