Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Studies of Families in Context

Family scholars have developed a greater sensitivity to the relative neglect of families of color in research. However, there are a number of limitations in the research on families of color; specifically, race and ethnicity are often confounded with socioeconomic indicators and community of residence. This makes it difficult to identify the true effects of ethnicity and culture. In addition, race and ethnicity may interact with chronic poverty in such a way as to further interfere with and reduce life opportunities. Here we discuss some of the theoretical and conceptual issues pertaining to race, ethnicity, and culture as they affect family functioning and children's development. In addition, we introduce a collection of papers that address family functioning and children's development among families who are diverse ethnically, racially, socioeconomically, and by geographical location and community. The issues posed in this paper and in the Special Section challenge the field to reconsider how we study families and child development from culturally grounded perspectives. Family scholars are developing greater sensitivity to the need to include families of color in research (Demo, Allen, & Fine, 2000). This awareness is due in part to the growing proportion of these families in the U.S. population (Hernandez, 1997) and to the low quality of life often associated with the chronic poverty that African Americans and Latinos often experience (Elder & Eccles, 1995; McLoyd, 1990). Race and ethnicity may interact with poverty to interfere with life opportunities, as racism, discrimination, and prejudice create disparities between people of color and White Americans in terms of economic power, political influence, civil rights, and access to resources. Researchers generally do not address the ways in which the external stressors that are associated, directly or indirectly, with racism affect life circumstances and quality of life among families of color or the impact of those circumstances on family functioning (Murry, 2000). The extant research also has not disentangled the influences of race, social class, and culture on family functioning. Scientists could begin to examine race and social class separately by including in their studies families of color from various socioeconomic groups (e.g., Hill, in press). Consensus has yet to be reached about the meaning of culture in studies on families of color. From a cultural competence perspective, social scientists need to understand the cultures of families to succeed in recruiting families of color for research studies and in developing effective interventions for them (Cauce & Gonzales, 1993). Few studies, however, disentangle culture from a group's historical and social experiences; this confounding leads to difficulty in identifying the specific influences that culture exerts on families (Jagers, 1996). Much conceptual and empirical work is needed in this area. Conceptual and methodological issues concerning race, ethnicity, and culture led to the formation of the Study Group on Race, Culture, and Ethnicity under the leadership of Nancy E. Hill, Emilie P. Smith, and Velma McBride Murry. The group includes 12 multidisciplinary, multiethnic scholars who are committed to advancing family studies by defining and conceptualizing race, culture, and ethnicity; by developing meaningful assessments of them; and by examining their influence on family processes, including parenting, ethnic socialization, and child development. The group's aim in presenting the papers included in the Special Section is to challenge traditional ways of studying African American and Latino families by encouraging social scientists to rethink, reshape, and strengthen their understanding of the centrality of race, culture, and ethnicity to family processes among all populations, especially those of color. We also hope that the issues raised here will stimulate new theoretical models and methodologies for studying families in general and families of color in particular. …