Mixed Race Studies

What’s in a name? An exploration of the significance of personal naming of ‘mixed’ children for parents from different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds

The Sociological Review
Volume 56, Issue 1, February 2008
pages 39–60
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.2008.00776.x

Rosalind Edwards, Professor in Social Policy
Families & Social Capital Research Group
London South Bank University

Chamion Caballero, Senior Research Fellow
Families & Social Capital Research Group
London South Bank University

This article is concerned with how and why parent couples from different racial, ethnic and faith backgrounds choose their children’s personal names? The limited literature on the topic of names often focuses on outcomes, using birth name registration data sets, rather than process. In particular, we consider the extent to which the personal names that ‘mixed’ couples give their children represent an individualised taste, or reflect a form of collective affiliation to family, race, ethnicity or faith. We place this discussion in the context of debates about the racial and faith affiliation of ‘mixed’ people, positing various forms of ‘pro’ or ‘post’ collective identity. We draw on in-depth interview data to show that, in the case of ‘mixed’ couple parents, while most wanted names for their children that they liked, they also wanted names that symbolised their children’s heritages. This could involve parents in complicated practices concerning who was involved in naming the children and what those names were. We conclude that, for a full understanding of naming practices and the extent to which these are individualised or affiliative it is important to address process, and that the processes we have identified for ‘mixed’ parents reveal the persistence of collective identity associated with race, ethnicity and faith alongside elements of individualised taste and transcendence, as well as some gendered features.

Read or purchase the article here.

The social care system and mixed race young people: placing the individual child at the heart of decision making

People in Harmony
Central London, England
2010-11-11

A one-day conference from People in Harmony which will consider why mixed race young people are over-represented in the care system, how they fare in the system and beyond, and how existing procedures could be improved upon.

About the Conference

The emergence of a sizeable mixed race population provides us with the opportunity to look again at racial stereotyping, and at how public services engage with individuals who do not slot into a single racial group. The need for this is perhaps most acute in the area of looked after children and wider social care – the focus of this conference.

Mixed race young people are over-represented in the care system, which has important implications for their long term prospects. A number of reasons may contribute to explaining this over-representation – social class, cultural differences in attitudes to marriage and long term relationships, widely dispersed family and a consequent lack of informal support structures. However, the tendency of service providers to see ‘black’ children as separate from their white mothers and to question the ability of white mothers to raise ‘black’ children may also play a part.

There have been major disagreements about local authority policies which insist on the right ‘racial match’ between child and adoptive family (based on Children Act 1989 Section 22 (5) (c)). Much evidence suggests that the key to successful placements is not a good racial match, but the young person’s wishes and the warmth of the adoptive family.

This conference will seek to explore these difficult issues with openness and honesty, drawing on research and academic work, and on personal experience. It will provide delegates with an opportunity to consider:

• Whether too much time is spent finding the right label (is it dual heritage rather than mixed race, and does it really matter?).
• Why ‘racial matching’ between young people and adoptive families may have been over-emphasised at the expense of adopted children – has cultural competence simply become a new dogma?
• The direct experience of mixed race young people who have been in the care system.
• Why social class and social heritage means that outcomes are very different among mixed race young people.
• Whether there is sufficient support for parents, especially single parents, of mixed race children – and how this is informed by perception of white mothers with ‘black’ children.
• How the care system – including wider services like education and CAMHS – can work towards better outcomes?

Organisations which book places at this event are invited to take up free exhibition space to encourage an exchange of information and resources.

Certificates of attendance will be available.

For more information, click here.

Experiences and Processes Affecting Racial Identity Development: Preliminary Results From the Biracial Sibling Project

Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology (formerly Cultural Diversity and Mental Health)
Volume 4, Number 3 (August 1998)
pages 237-247
DOI: 10.1037/1099-9809.4.3.237

Maria P. P. Root

Examined what drives the process of racial identity development in general for persons of mixed racial heritage and what experiences account for some differential choices within the same family. 20 sibling pairs of mixed racial heritage (aged 18–40 yrs) completed packets including an extensive background questionnaire, a body image inventory, a racial resemblance inventory, a sibling racial resemblance inventory, a brief mental health inventory, a racial experiences inventory, and an identity questionnaire. Ss also participated in two 2-hr interviews. Four types of experiences surfaced that appear to influence the identity process: hazing, family dysfunction, other salient identities, and the impact of integration. These experiences were explored within the framework of the ecological model of racial identity development.

Read the entire article here.

White like who? The value of whiteness in British interracial families

Ethnicities
Volume 10, Number 3 (September 2010)
pages 292-312
DOI: 10.1177/1468796810372306

France Winddance Twine, Professor of Sociology
University of California, Santa Barbara

The value of whiteness is not fixed, rather it has contradictory and competing meanings among members of Black British interracial families. Drawing upon racial consciousness interviews and participant observation conducted as part of a longitudinal study of Black-White interracial families in England, this article presents the analysis of five black members of interracial families to show the fluid value of whiteness. An analysis of interviews with sixteen black family members uncovered four discourses or analytical frames employed by blacks as they evaluated the impact of their white family member upon the family.  These four frames reveal that white family members are perceived as both a source of status and stigma. Black family members perceived their white spouses, partners and sisters-in-laws as: 1) an asset – a source of economic, social and symbolic capital, 2) a source of injury, 3) a cultural liability and 4) a source of sexual adventure that threatened the respectability of the family.

Read or purchase the article here.

Interracial Families: Current Concepts and Controversies

Routledge
2008-11-26
176 pages
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-415-99034-9

George Alan Yancey, Associate Professor of Sociology
University of North Texas

Richard Lewis, Jr., Special Assistant to the President and Associate Professor of Sociology
University of Texas, San Antonio

A unique book offering both a research overview and practical advice for its readers, this text allows students to gain a solid understanding of the research that has been generated on several important issues surrounding multiracial families, including intimate relations, family dynamics, transracial adoptions, and other topics of personal and scholarly interest.

Table of Contents

• List of Figures and Tables
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Overview of Intergroup Relations and Their Impact on Interethnic and Interracial Marriages
• Chapter 3: Interracial Dating
• Chapter 4: Interracial Marriage
• Chapter 5: Multiracial Identity
• Chapter 6: The Multiracial Movement and the U.S. Census Controversy
• Chapter 7: Transracial Adoption
• Chapter 8: Multiracial Families: Conclusions and Looking Ahead
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

Biracial Utahns seeking identity

Deseret News
Salt Lake City, Utah
2005-03-12

Elaine Jarvik

They’re biracial — equally Polynesian and white. But most prefer to think of themselves as Polynesian, says University of Utah graduate student Kawika Allen, who recently studied 84 Polynesian-Caucasian Utahns.

Allen, who grew up with an Hawaiian mother and a Caucasian father, presented his findings Friday at the ninth annual Pacific Islander Awareness Week at the University of Utah…

…Growing up in Utah, Allen’s Polynesian friends sometimes thought he wasn’t Polynesian enough, and he wasn’t sure if he fit in his father’s white world either. That angst later led to a master’s thesis on biracial identity among Utah’s biracial Polynesians, who now number more than 3,000.

Although previous research of other biracial Americans found that children tend to identify more with the same-sex parent, regardless of ethnicity, Allen found that among Polynesian-Caucasian Utahns, children tended to identify more with the Polynesian parent, regardless of gender.

He also found that biracial Polynesians were more likely to receive negative messages about being biracial if their fathers, rather than mothers, were Polynesian…

Read the entire article here.

Familial Ethnic Socialization Among Adolescents of Latino and European Descent: Do Latina Mothers Exert the Most Influence?

Journal of Family Issues
Volume 27, Number 2 (February 2006)
Pages 184-207
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X05279987

Andrea G. González
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Associate Professor, School of Social and Family Dynamics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Arizona State University

Mayra Y. Bámaca-Colbert, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Pennsylvania State University

This article examines gender and family composition differences in 98 biethnic adolescents’ reports of familial ethnic socialization and ethnic identity. Using analysis of variance, four groups (i.e., adolescent males with Latina mothers and European American fathers, adolescent females with Latina mothers and European American fathers, adolescent males with European American mothers and Latino fathers, and adolescent females with European American mothers and Latino fathers) are compared on the above measures. Results indicate that sons of Latina mothers reported the highest levels of familial ethnic socialization. No significant differences emerge between groups on a measure of ethnic identity.

Read or purchase the article here.

Lone Mothers of Mixed Racial and Ethnic Children: Then and Now

Runnymede Trust
June 2010

Chamion Caballero, Senior Research Fellow
Families & Social Capital Research Group
London South Bank University

Rosalind Edwards, Professor in Social Policy
Families & Social Capital Research Group
London South Bank University

Information from the UK Census indicates that parents of children from mixed racial or ethnic backgrounds constitute one of the highest lone parent groups in the country. Like all other groups of lone parent families, these are overwhelmingly headed by mothers.

In this research report Dr. Chamion Caballero and Prof. Rosalind Edwards, of the London South Bank University, pulls together data from interviews with mothers of mixed-race children whose fathers are absent. Some of the anecdotal evidence is from those who brought up their children decades ago, and this is compared with the experiences of women doing the same today.

The report explores the specific racisms, prejudices and stereotypes that this group of women and children have been faced with – both then and now – and where, if anywhere, they have been able to turn for support.

To read the report, login or register for free here.

Meeting the Needs of Multi/Biracial Children in School and at Home

University of Wisconsin, Stout
December 2009
62 pages

Brea Cunico

A Research Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Guidance and Counseling

In an extension of research on marginalized populations, the present study identified and explored the unique needs of biracial/multiracial children. Unlike their single-race counterparts,the experience of the multiracial child is substantially different due to their ambiguous ethnicity.  A review of literature on this topic revealed six major themes among the multiracial community.  Following a thorough discussion of each need, implications for the school counselor and parents of biracial children has been provided.  To raise awareness and concern for this population in schools and at home, recommendations for application of research in this area of study center on educational and child rearing strategies for the school counselor and parents of biracial children. Practical suggestions are provided in  a convenient manual, along with a supplementary list of resources.

Table of Contents

Abstract

Chapter I: Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the Study
Assumptions of the Study
Definition of Terms
Limitations of the Study

Chapter II : Literature Review
Biracial Movement into America
Statistical Portrait
Racial Identity Model—Marguerite Wright
Maladaptive Behaviors Observed in Biracial Children
Exploration of Needs
Affirmation
Special Hair/Skin Care
Positive Sources to Identify With
Affiliation
Clear Ethnic Title
Freedom to Individualize
Summary of Findings

Chapter III: Methodology
Subject Selection and Description
Instrumentation
Promising Practices
Supply List
Data Collection Procedures
Data Analysis
Limitations of the Resource Manual

Chapter IV: Resource Manual
Note to Recipient
Navigating the Manual
Promising Practices [Manual]
Supply List [Manual]
References

Read the entire paper here.

Multifaceted Identity of Interethnic Young People: Chameleon Identities

Ashgate Publishing
May 2010
Illustrations: Includes 24 (including 5 tables) line drawings
234 x 156 mm
224 pages
Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-7546-7860-1
eBook ISBN: 978-0-7546-9691-9
BL Reference: 305.8’0083-dc22
 
Sultana Choudhry, Principal Lecturer in Psychology and Director of Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health
London Metropolitan University, UK

The number of interethnic individuals is one of the most striking demographic changes in Britain over the last decade. Demonstrating both that identity is fluid and multifaceted rather than fixed, and that people of an interethnic background do not necessarily experience identity conflict as proposed by some social scientists, Multifaceted Identity of Inter-ethnic Young People explores the manner in which interethnic young people define their identities. In doing so, it also looks at their parents and their experiences as interethnic couples in society. Presenting rich new empirical information relating to young people of Black, White, Asian and Chinese interethnic backgrounds, this book also examines the impact that inter-religious relationships have upon young people’s sense of identity, whilst also discussing the implications of the election of America’s first interethnic president. As such, it will be of interest to social scientists working in the fields of race, ethnicity and identity.

Read the introduction here.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Placing Identity Theory and Research in Context
Introduction
Social science theories and research on identity
The science of ethnic and inter-ethnic identity

Part 2: The Research
How the research was carried out

Part 3: Voices – Non Inter-Ethnic and Inter-Ethnic
Non-inter ethnic parents and children
Inter-ethnic couples

Part 4: The Coming of the Chameleons
Who am I? Identities adopted
A chameleon identity
The fine art of choosing an identity
The impact of being inter-ethnic
Conclusions: the future is inter-ethnic

Appendices
References
Index