African American Adolescent Engagement in the Classroom and Beyond: The Roles of Mother's Racial Socialization and Democratic-Involved Parenting

• NCJ Number: 226024
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 38 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2009 Pages: 204-213
• Author(s): Ciara Smalls
• Date Published: February 2009
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 5 T32 MH15742; T32-HD049325-01
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined African-American mothers’ use of democratic-involved parenting as a moderator of the association between racial socialization (e.g., racial pride, racial barriers, and self-worth messages) among 94 African-American adolescents (ages 11-14) and their engagement in class work and persistence in completing tasks.

Abstract

The study findings indicate that racial socialization messages, i.e., parental messages that address the distinctive experiences and challenges of African-Americans in America, are beneficial for African-American adolescents’ engagement in class work and persistence in completing tasks when such messages are delivered in the context of a parenting style that emphasizes support for autonomy and involvement that is appropriate for the adolescent years. The study found that adolescents who received racial socialization in the context of involved and democratic parenting reported high engagement in class work and the completion of assigned tasks. Racial pride was directly related to academic engagement. This finding adds to the body of literature that links parental messages about the legacy and history of African-Americans to academic engagement. Self-worth messages were not related to the outcomes explored in this study. As predicted, “racial barrier socialization” (mother’s attention to ways that being African-American results in fewer opportunities than those available to other racial and ethnic groups) communicated within the context of a high-quality maternal-adolescent relationship (democratic-involved) has a positive impact on engagement in class work and task completion. The importance of both the broad family context and socialization centered in the child’s racial group membership should inform academic interventions as well as counseling practices with ethnic-minority youth and their families. This sample of 94 African-American youth reported on maternal style, racial socialization, task persistence, and emotional school engagement. 2 tables, 2 figures, and 40 references