Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

Race and ethnicity are neither scientifically reliable nor valid categories, and assignments to racial or ethnic categories are often based on observer biases, changing situational identities, and historical-political vagaries (Lee 1993; Kaplan and Bennett 2003; Williams 2007). In real life, people do not have only one fixed racial or ethnic identity which remains the same over time and space and that can be accurately measured. A further complication inherent in categorization is that people embrace biracial, multiracial, and multi-ethnic identities, which makes the categories even more difficult to sustain, compare, and enumerate. Current racial and ethnic categories for federal data collection are not sensitive to the complex intra-group heterogeneity that exists in the nation (Kaplan and Bennett 2003; Office of Management and Budget 1997).

Alison Stratton, Ava Nepaul, and Margaret Hynes, “Issue Brief – Race and Ethnicity Matters: Concepts and Challenges of Racial and Ethnic Classifications in Public Health,” The Connecticut Health Disparities Project, (Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut Department of Public Health, Fall 2007). http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/hisr/pdf/race_and_ethnicity_matters.pdf.

The Well-Being of Children Living With Interethnic Parents: Are They at a Disadvantage?

Posted in Articles, Family/Parenting, Media Archive, Social Science, Social Work, United States on 2012-05-24 18:20Z by Steven

The Well-Being of Children Living With Interethnic Parents: Are They at a Disadvantage?

Journal of Family Issues
Volume 33, Number 7 (July 2012)
pages 898-919
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X11420938

Jennifer Pearce-Morris
Department of Sociology
Pennsylvania State University

Valarie King, Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Human Development & Family Studies Director
Pennsylvania State University

An increasing number of U.S. children are living with interethnic parents, yet we know relatively little about how they are faring. Using data from the first wave (1987-1988) of the National Survey of Families and Households, this study examines differences in child well-being between children living with interethnic parents and those living with same-ethnic parents. Results provide only limited evidence that child well-being is lower among children living with interethnic parents. Compared with children in same-ethnic families, children living with interethnic parents exhibited higher levels of negative affect, and this difference could not be explained by differences in background or family characteristics, levels of parents’ relationship stressors, or parenting quality. At the same time, however, no differences were found in global well-being, positive affect, or behavior problems. Children living with interethnic parents may face some greater difficulties that warrant concern, but they do not appear to face pervasive disadvantages.

Read or purchase the article here.

Tags: Jennifer Pearce-Morris, Journal of Family Issues, Valarie King

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Mixed Race Studies

The Well-Being of Children Living With Interethnic Parents: Are They at a Disadvantage?

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