NCJ Number
205647
Journal
Youth & Society Volume: 35 Issue: 4 Dated: June 2004 Pages: 420-451
Date Published
June 2004
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This study used interviews and participant observation to examine how ethnic-minority students in an urban high school experienced discrimination.
Abstract
For the first wave of data collection, the sample consisted of 20 Asian-American, 20 Latino, and 20 African-American ninth-grade high school students (50 percent girls and mean age of 14.2). The data were collected during the 1996 and 1997 academic year. A second wave of interviews (Time 2) was conducted with the same students during the 1997 and 1998 academic year. Choosing the sample from mainstream English classes, a requirement for all ninth-grade English-speaking students, resulted in a sample of students who represented the student body as a whole in terms of race, class, and gender, and it also limited the sample to those who were proficient in English. The most prominent racial/ethnic groups were Latino (48 percent), Asian-American (36 percent), and African-American (15 percent). More than 90 percent of the students in the school were eligible for free lunch. The school involved in the study was a comprehensive, historically immigrant school located in a neighborhood known for its succession of immigrant groups in New York City. In the three-tiered system of New York City public schools, the school in the study was a typical, lower-tier, comprehensive or neighborhood high school; most of the schools in this tier are the largest and least academically successful schools in the city. Semistructured and in-depth interviews were used to capture the intricacies of students' views, including their perceptions of interactions with peers and teachers. One of the researchers also conducted participant observation from October 1997 until March 1998 in six classrooms after she completed 2 years working in the school as a project coordinator for AmeriCorps. She observed hallways, extracurricular activities, and teachers' interactions with students. The content analysis of the student interviews revealed thematic variations and similarities across ethnic and racial groups in the type and source of discrimination. Asian-American students reported that their experiences of discrimination were primarily with their non-Asian peers; they also discussed experiences of discrimination between the American-born Asians and foreign-born Asians. Their direct or overt experiences of discrimination often occurred outside the school. Participant observation as well as the interviews revealed numerous incidents of physical harassment of the Asian-American students by the non-Asian-American students in school. African-American and Latino students reported discrimination from adults in positions of authority, including teachers, police officers, and shopkeepers, in contrast to the Asian-American students, who experienced discrimination primarily from peers. Assumed stereotypical characteristics were often the focus of derogatory comments and attitudes, notably immigration status, language use, music preferences, and/or style preferences. All students were emotional about the ways in which the assumption of uniformity is harmful and how the interaction between positive and negative stereotypes shapes their daily interactions. This study indicates the importance of research on the various subtle as well as overt manifestations and sources of racial discrimination both between and within racial and ethnic groups in various contexts. 12 notes and 56 references