Work

Out of the Mouths of Babes: Black Children’s Experiences of Emotion-Focused Racial–Ethnic Socialization, Coping, and Antiracist Resistance

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Black children in the U.S. learn from scaffolded parental teachings to help manage racial discrimination. Middle childhood is an understudied developmental period for this research. This paper builds upon research on culturally informed practices Black caregivers use to rear their young with a healthy identity and socio-emotional skills to navigate racism Guided by a phenomenological qualitative approach, we conducted focus groups with 39 Black children (Meanage = 7.67, 54% girls, 46% boys). Children reported that their parents imparted a sense of positive identity in terms of their cultural heritage, skin, and hair—areas in which they experienced frequent bullying. A uniqueness of our study is that Black children also reported learning emotion-centered coping strategies that focus on their inner strengths and private speech. They adopted a range of adaptive coping mechanisms such as kindness, ignoring perpetrators, centering their positive identity, identity framing, and fighting back. Through children’s voices, we build upon previous research integrating racial–ethnic socialization (RES) with socio-emotional competencies in response to discrimination. We underscore the importance of exploring racial–ethnic identity development and socialization in childhood, a developmental period in which these processes are understudied.

Source: Behavioral Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/bs15020222

Authors: Emilie Phillips Smith, Simone E. Bibbs, Deborah J. Johnson, Lekie Dwanyen, Kendal Holtrop, LaVelle Gipson-Tansil

Institution: Michigan State University

Language: English

Topic: Racial and Ethnic Identity Research

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,654