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"W A Y ?" I B A R I D: HAT RE OU Nterviews With Iracial Dolescents About Their Acial Dentity Evelopment
"W A Y ?" I B A R I D: HAT RE OU Nterviews With Iracial Dolescents About Their Acial Dentity Evelopment
”
INTERVIEWS WITH BIRACIAL ADOLESCENTS
ABOUT THEIR RACIAL IDENTITY
DEVELOPMENT
By Kerri Bowby
INTRODUCTION
o Interracial marriage population: 4.9% (2000
census).
Peer Culture:
Renn (2003)
Grapes(2002)
Multicultural Education:
Morrison (2001)
Lee, Guang-lea, Johnson, Willis (2000)
TAJFEL’S SOCIAL IDENTITY
THEORY(1979)
“Social identity is the individuals
self-concept derived from
perceived membership of social
groups” (Hoga & Vaughan 2002).
Group behavior: composed of
three components:
Categorization
Identification
Comparison
“After being categorized of a
group membership, individuals
through the process of self-
categorization of identification, an
identity is formed” (Stets 2000:
224).
METHODOLOGY
Participants
Four Latino-American biracial young adults (non-random)
Two male/two female
Ages 20-22
Procedure:
Qualitative study
30-50 minute Interviews
18-20 open-ended/close-ended questions
Gatekeeper
Limitations:
Face-to-face
My racial identity
Emotional conflict with past experiences
Small scale
FINDINGS
o Respondents’ Racial Identity Construction
o All four respondents reported that they first
noticed differences between themselves and
people of different ethnic groups in grade
school.
o “ I remember in elementary I had a lot of African
American friends and I wanted my hair to look
like theirs and that is when I noticed something
was different”
o A majority of the interviewees attributed their
family (parents or primary caregiver) as a major
influence on their racial identification.
o All respondents claimed that their parents did not
put a lot of significance on race and as a result,
acknowledged their dual ethnicity as “white and
Hispanic,” but ethnically identified themselves as
white.
FINDINGS
o Peer Culture
o All four respondents reported no incidents
of discrimination due to their ethnicity.
However, they felt somewhat detached
from certain racial/ethnic groups because
they were “mixed” and lacked certain racial
characteristics such as language.
o “I feel like I don’t fit in with the hardcore
Guatemalans because I don’t speak
Spanish so it’s kind of hard for me to be
like talking to them in their native
language so I can’t really fit it.”
o All four respondents claimed to socialize