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

Ethnicity and race are critical in how children and youth experience, negotiate, and navigate development. A robust literature has illustrated that ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) in particular plays an important role in how children develop an understanding of ethnicity and race. The majority of research has typically focused on parents as agents of socialization and ERS during adolescence. In addition, most studies use survey approaches and focus on US-based populations. We highlight conceptual, theoretical, and empirical work that seeks to push forward knowledge about the myriad ways in which individuals, interactions, and settings communicate messages to youth about ethnicity and race. Here we provide a brief overview of the literature on ERS, followed by a set of core commitments that guided our solicitation and selection of articles for this special issue. The articles represent a range of theoretical frameworks and methodologies; cover ERS of children across the developmental spectrum; examine children from multiple ethnic-racial groups; elaborate issues related to intersectionality and co-constructed identities; and consider socialization of ethnicity-race as it occurs across multiple settings, inclusive of families. We conclude with a description of the articles included in this special issue and how they map onto our core commitments.

Automated summary

Ethnicity and race are crucial in shaping how children and youth develop, and ethnic-racial socialization plays a vital role in their understanding of these concepts. Most research focuses on parents as primary agents of socialization, often using survey methods and concentrating on US populations. Future studies should explore how individuals, interactions, and environments communicate messages about ethnicity and race to young people.