Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A
Abstract
lthough the development and well-being of ethnic and racial
minority children have received sustained attention over the past
few decades from policymakers, researchers, and practitioners
(Cabrera, Beeghly, & Eisenberg, 2012; Crosnoe & Fuligni, 2012;
McLloyd, 1990, 2006; Quintana et al., 2006), these efforts have
contributed to a body of knowledge that, while rigorous and insight-
ful, has often been deficit-oriented, emphasizing the negative effects of inadequate
economic and social resources and an elevated rate of behavior problems, decreased
social competence, and lower rates of school success among these children. A primary
focus on adversity has had the unintended consequence of eclipsing the strengths or
assets that minority families possess to raise healthy children. Consequently, we know
more about maladaptation than adaptation among minority children. Because the num-
ber of ethnic and racial children now constitutes the numeric majority (U.S. Census
2012), there is an urgency to increase our efforts to conduct rigorous studies of the
positive development of ethnic and racial minority children. A focus on positive devel-
opment, broadly defined as research that focuses on adaptation and adjustment rather
than maladjustment and adversity (Dodge, 2011; Guerra, Graham, & Tolan, 2011) is
important because it would highlight the significant variability in this population and
allow for the identification of the multiple sources and pathways of adaptation, leading
to more targeted programs and interventions.
1 The SRCD Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee (2009-2011) was comprised of (in alphabetical order) from 2009 to 2012:
Natasha Cabrera (Chair), Marjorie Jane Beeghly, Christia Brown, Juan Casas, Natalia Palacios, Jean Phinney, Monica
Rodriguez, Stephanie Rowley, Carlos Santos, Emilie Smith, Mia Bynum Smith, and Dawn Witherspoon. James Rodriguez
participated in the Committee as the Latino Caucus representative.
Social Policy Report From the Editors
Volume 27, Number 2 | 2013
ISSN 1075-7031
www.srcd.org/spr.html
This issue of Social Policy Report (SPR) is going to press just after the 50th
Social Policy Report
is published four times a year by the anniversary of the March on Washington. There is much discussion about what
Society for Research in has been gained since then—and what is still left to accomplish. It seems ap-
Child Development.
ropos to have this issue of SPR focus on the positive development of minority
children. Natasha Cabrera and the Society for Research in Child Development
Editorial Team
Samuel L. Odom, Ph.D. (Lead editor) (SRCD) Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee note that most research on minor-
slodom@unc.edu ity children utilizes a deficit framework—and they then provide an overview
Kelly L. Maxwell, Ph.D. of the growing body of research that focuses on the positive development of
kmaxwell@childtrends.org
Iheoma Iruka Ph.D. minority children. Their paper underscores the importance of the researchers’
iruka@unc.edu framework in building the knowledge base of minority children’s development
and the need for researchers to learn more about the variability within a par-
Director of SRCD Office for
Policy and Communications ticular minority group as well as the similarities across minority groups.
Martha J. Zaslow, Ph.D. SRCD has played a central role in advancing the research agenda on minority
mzaslow@srcd.org
children, especially those in poverty. Two special issues of SRCD’s journal,
Child Development, have focused on research on minority children. Following
Managing Editor
Amy D. Glaspie these special issues, SRCD funded its first themed meeting in February 2012
aglaspie@srcd.org on the positive development of minority children. This Social Policy Report is
based on that meeting.
Governing Council
Three commentaries expand on the issues raised in the Cabrera et al.
Lynn Liben Ann S. Masten
Ron Dahl Nancy E. Hill
paper. Cynthia García Coll underscores the need for a major paradigm shift in
Robert Crosnoe Kenneth A. Dodge child development so that the field builds the needed knowledge base about
Mary Gauvin Richard Lerner all children—including “minority” children who will soon represent the major-
Kofi Marfo Seth Pollak
ity demographically. Ivelisse Martinez-Beck highlights the need for a theoreti-
Kenneth Rubin Deborah L. Vandell
Thomas Weisner Dawn England
cal framework to guide research on the positive development of minority
Susan Lennon, ex officio Lonnie Sherrod, ex officio children, referencing a new research framework for young dual language
Martha J. Zaslow, ex officio learners. Vonnie McLoyd applauds the inclusion of the concept of culture in
the research to understand the strengths of minority children and offers rec-
Policy and Communications Committee
ommendations for a research agenda that will disentangle race and ethnicity
Rachel C. Cohen Brenda Jones Harden
Nikki Aikens Sandra Barrueco from socio-economic status and explore the interaction of these and other key
Maureen Black Rebekah Levine Coley social categories.
Elizabeth T. Gershoff Valerie Maholmes Together, Cabrera, García Coll, Martinez-Beck, and McLoyd jointly call
Tina Malti Taniesha Woods
Kenneth Dodge Seth Pollak
for more sophisticated research and more intentional sampling of minority
Shelley Alonso-Marsden Lonnie Sherrod, ex officio children across socioeconomic categories. Historically, the field has focused
Martha J. Zaslow, ex officio Sarah Mancoll primarily on minority children in poverty conditions. That must change—and
these leaders have provided the essential concepts of a research agenda for
Publications Committee the coming decade. Where will the field be in 10 to 50 years—and will we
Judith G. Smetana Marian Bakersmans-Kranenburg
have built the research base to understand the strengths and complex devel-
Pamela Cole Nancy E. Hill
Diane Hughes Roger Levesque
opmental processes of non-White children in America?
Chris Moore Laura L. Namy
Peter A. Ornstein Lonnie Sherrod, ex officio
Mary Gauvain Richard Lerner — Kelly L. Maxwell (Issue Editor)
Anna Markowitz Patricia Bauer, ex officio Samuel L. Odom (Editor)
Rob Kail, ex officio Jeffrey Lockman, ex officio Iheoma Iruka (Editor)
Samuel L. Odom, ex officio Angela Lukowski, ex officio
Jonathan B Santo, ex officio Susan Lennon, ex officio
Adam Martin
O
ur goal in this report is not to provide Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South East Asia is
an exhaustive review of the litera- rapidly increasing. Children growing up in poverty in the
ture but to highlight research pre- United States, however, are disproportionately non-White
sented at the Society for Research in and often the offspring of immigrants.
Child Development (SRCD) February This report is meant to be a springboard that
2012 themed meeting on the positive encourages researchers, policymakers, and practitioners
development of minority children and supplement it with to pay closer attention to what families and communi-
emerging research that illustrates how multiple factors ties are currently doing right to promote optimal child
at the individual, family, and community levels might development, so that these efforts can be supported and
provide opportunities for children’s positive developmen- fine-tuned through programs and interventions. To this
tal trajectories across domains (e.g., social, emotional, end, this report discusses: (1) SRCD efforts to advance
cognitive, and physical) and developmental periods (e.g., research on minority children, highlighting the 2012
infancy, childhood, and adolescence). Given space con- themed meeting, (2) key questions for the field, (3) a
straints and the fact that much more research has been brief history of research on positive development, (4)
done on some groups (e.g., African American) than on some promising intervention programs, and (5) conclu-
others (e.g., Asian Americans) and on some periods (e.g., sions and implications.
early childhood) than on others (e.g., middle childhood),
we favored research that exemplifies areas of strength in SRCD Efforts to Advance
minority children, youth, and families across groups and Research on Minority Children
developmental periods. Since 1933, SRCD’s mission has been to promote
Keeping in mind that race is a social construct and multidisciplinary research on child development and to
that there are no certain biological differences among encourage the implementation of findings to improve the
different racial groups (Collins, 2004), the term minor- lives of children and families (Cameron & Hagen, 2005).
ity families and children generally refers to individuals We highlight two efforts that address this mission and
from a variety of non-White racial groups, and ethnic specifically focus on minority children: The SRCD Ethnic
groups refers to people coming from a particular region and Racial Issues Committee and Special Issues of Child
of the world or country who share characteristics such as Development.
culture, language, or beliefs. For example, Latinos are
defined as people who come from Central or South Amer-
The SRCD Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee
ica, including Mexico, or from the Caribbean area (e.g.,
In 1977, SRCD established the Committee on Minority
Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic) and may be from any
Participation (COMP). In 1985, COMP became a standing
racial background. The term immigrant children refers
committee and was renamed the Committee on Ethnic
to children from any racial or ethnic group, not necessar-
and Racial Issues (ERI; McLoyd, 2006). The ERI has been
ily children of color. Given recent immigration patterns,
responsible for the development and oversight of activi-
the two largest immigrant groups in the United Sates are
ties pertaining to the participation of minority scholars in
Latinos and Asians—although immigration from Africa,
well documented (Mesman et al., 2012; McLoyd, 1998). of a select group with an entire group of people
However, not all minority children in the U.S. are grow- who share the same ethnic or cultural origin. For
ing up in poverty and, thus, not all minority children example, research on whether, and under what
experience extreme adversity. In this report we highlight conditions, becoming an American (acculturation)
the significant variability among minority children in is a risk factor has shown that second- or third-
terms of SES, immigration status, and family structure generation children have worse behavioral and
and argue for the importance of further research to ac- educational outcomes than their less acculturated
knowledge this variability at the onset and not implicitly parents but does not show which profiles of chil-
assume that all minority children are at heightened risk dren in acculturated families do better (García
for developmental compromise. Coll & Marks, 2009).
Furthermore, we argue that through family orient- There needs to be more translation of research
ed practices and cultural socialization practices, many into best practices in the classroom. For example,
minority children and youth are growing up within sup- the findings that bilingualism confers cognitive
portive and loving families, with a strong sense of ethnic advantages have not entirely trickled down to
identity and strong social competence skills as well as public school classrooms in the U.S., where there
speaking at least two languages, with all the benefits has been a decline in bilingual programs in recent
that these confer. To continue to build evidence-based years (e.g., with the passage of Proposition 227
asset oriented research, we need carefully designed in California), where emerging bilingual children
studies that do not confound SES and ethnicity; use lon- (i.e., dual-language learners) are being educated.
gitudinal designs that capture the dynamic, transactional Promoting the view that minority children,
nature of development; and acknowledge that there are including those from low-income backgrounds,
multiple pathways to successful development as well as have strengths (e.g., social skills, oral narrative
multiple definitions of what it means to be successful in skills) may predispose teachers and educators
school and in life. Such studies should also use appropri- to view these children in a more positive light,
ate control groups when comparisons are necessary and avoid negative stereotypes, and build on these
include a comprehensive view of how culturally specific strengths. For example, when teachers refer
learning environments may support children’s adjustment to dual language learners as those who “do not
in different groups. Approaches that include the weight- speak English” rather than as children who “are
ed sum of both positive and negative influences in the becoming bilingual” they are inadvertently en-
lives of minority children are more likely to be fruitful dorsing a negative perspective.
than approaches focusing on adversity. We need more longitudinal studies of child devel-
opment in minority families from diverse socio-
Lessons and Implications: economic backgrounds—including both middle-
Future research needs to take a balanced ap- and low-SES families—that would send a clear
proach that considers both adaptation and mal- message that being minority is not synonymous
adaptation because intervention science based with being disadvantaged. This research needs
only on findings of adversity and maladjustment to be conducted using sophisticated, modern
can perpetuate a deficit perspective and pro- developmental (longitudinal) designs, especially
mote harmful stereotypes that associate deficits those that evaluate dynamic transactions among
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the ERI committee members for their amazing work and commitment to this proj-
ect; special thanks to Barbara Rogoff, who gave me great feedback on an early version of this report.
I am most grateful to Jeanne Brooks-Gunn for her wisdom, generosity, and mentorship – her feed-
back was critical and timely to the shaping of this report.
Minority Children
The Future Majority of the USA
Cynthia García Coll
Carlos Albizu University
I
n this timely policy report, and performance in our indicators important variables that are perti-
Natasha Cabrera and the Ethnic are affected by these deficits: the nent to understanding the most basic
and Racial Issues Committee mothers of preschool children that developmental processes?
gives us a critical review of the do not follow our parenting dictates, It’s not only a matter of just
accomplishments and limita- the children who fall behind in school more research; what they are advo-
tions of the recent scholarship and eventually drop out, the adoles- cating is a paradigm shift that implies
on minority children and youth in the cent who gets involved with gangs or new theories, methods, etc. We need
USA. The use of the word minority the justice system, etc. The pages of to ascertain the right parameters to
in this context has been repeatedly the field’s most prestigious journals, understand adaptability, resilience
contested and I applaud the use of it Child Development and Developmen- and positive developmental out-
by Cabrera and others because this is tal Psychology, have minorities over- comes. The basic questions are: What
not only a matter of numbers. represented in articles of so called developmental processes seem to
The word minority implies the at-risk children and youth. be operating similarly across popula-
lack of access to critical resources But things are changing, and tions? What are unique processes and
and to the positions of power that that is what Cabrera et al. aptly point contexts such as multi-racial/cultural
make decisions of the allocation of out. We have a growing understand- families, bilingualism, extended fam-
those resources. Blacks in Apartheid ing of these populations, and we have ily involvement, high value in educa-
were the numerical majority and a lot to learn. We need to pay atten- tion with little know-how, familism,
a real minority in terms of these tion to their message for a variety coping with racism, various levels
indicators. And as Cabrera et al. aptly of reasons. The demographics of our of acculturation and ethnic identity,
show, minority families and children country are shifting such that the biculturalism, etc.?
are overrepresented in high risk majority of children in this country And thus as we watch the
conditions derived from the lack of will be soon so called “minorities.” minority children become the major-
access to such resources such as good That is already happening in school ity in the USA, let’s not become an
medical care, high quality child care, systems and cities all over the nation. esoteric and obsolete science but one
preschools, housing, and schools as These populations are the future that captures the important process-
well as educational opportunities and majority of our nation. es, those that matter for promoting
high pay employment for the parents, But aside from its practice and positive development in these grow-
the core of the problem. We are not policy implications, the issues and ing populations. Let’s also embark
talking about at-risk children and recommendations raised by Cabrera on identifying not only the norma-
families; we are talking about at- et al. are a matter of good science. tive but also the richness of group
high-risk living conditions. Do we want a science of child de- and individual differences in these
Perhaps because of this over- velopment that is not valid for the populations and providing a nuanced
representation, the literature on majority of children? That speaks of understanding of the unique adapta-
this population has been skewed developmental processes that are tions and the ensuing and necessary
toward the study of the poor minority unique to an increasingly unrepre- institutional changes that will have
families and children whose behavior sentative population? That disregards to follow.
T
he selection of the topic quently, theoretical and conceptual may affect development and the
of positive development frameworks have been built on find- mechanisms through which differ-
of minority children for ings that do not reflect the experi- ential development within groups
SRCD’s themed meeting ences of racial and ethnic minority could be explained. However, it also
held on February 2012 children. highlights large gaps in the evidence
in Tampa, came at a Developing fully specified base and the measurement of key
critical juncture in the history of the theoretical and conceptual frame- constructs, including the absence of
United States when, as stated in this works for the study of our youngest measurement tools. Similar types of
Social Policy Report, close to half minority children is an important expanded frameworks are needed to
of the children in this country are first step to guide new research that guide the study of the development
of racial or ethnic minority status. can fill critical gaps in our evidence of young children from racial and
Today, many developmental psy- base. A recent effort from research- ethnic minority backgrounds as well
chologists and other early childhood ers affiliated with the Center for as new tools to measure key factors
researchers acknowledge the need to Early Childhood Research, Dual affecting their development.
focus research on the developmental Language Learners (Castro, 2013), Although socio-cultural theo-
trajectories of racial and ethnic mi- drew from extant and emerging de- ries of development afford the
nority children growing up in diverse velopmental frameworks related to development of frameworks to study
societal, community, and familial sociocultural theory (García Coll et cultural, ethnic and racial minority
contexts, and to separate the effects al., 1996; Rogoff, 2003) to propose populations, they neglect to address
of socioeconomic status from those a conceptual framework specific to some factors that may affect inter-
related to experiences determined the study of development in young and intra-individual differences in
by their racial and ethnic status. dual language learners in the United development. This is particularly
However, efforts to understand how States. The authors present the true when studying the develop-
contexts interact with individual connections between macro- and ment of very young children due
characteristics in determining de- micro-level influences on young dual to the rapid rate of development
velopment have been hampered by language learners’ development and between birth and six years, and
a lack of theoretical and conceptual caution about relying too much on because development is so intercon-
frameworks to guide research. This macro-level factors, such as socio- nected across domains. There exists
is especially true in the area of early economic status, thus neglecting a disconnect between developmental
childhood development, the period variability within groups, and the research focusing on the sequenc-
from birth through school entry, idiosyncratic ways in which macro- ing of development in particular
where much research has focused on level factors manifest themselves in domains—what some would call
the majority population of White, different minority communities and basic developmental research in, for
non-Hispanic children, or of children families. The conceptual framework example, language, social cognition,
from low-income households regard- proposed by Castro et al. guides reasoning, and socio-emotional,
less of race and ethnicity. Conse- the specification of factors that and how this may vary based on the
T
he most compelling stressors on child functioning. The positive development in low-income
rationale for the focus ideological skirmishes that erupted and working-class ethnic minority
on positive develop- during the 1960s and 1970s over children seems no less critical given
ment is the need for a notions such as “culture of pov- their sizable representation in these
counterweight to the erty,” “cultural disadvantage,” and populations, reduced chances to
predominant emphasis “cultural deficit” brought disrepute actualize their potential, and the
on negative outcomes, risks, and ad- to the general concept of culture disparaging attitudes they encounter
versities in prior research on children because of its link to a victim- in numerous contexts stemming from
from certain ethnic and racial minor- blaming perspective (McLoyd, 2004), a mixture of ethnic bias and Ameri-
ity groups (e.g., African Americans). fomenting apprehension among can’s steadfast ideological commit-
Positive outcomes and healthy adap- scholars about its value in efforts to ment to individual (and in this case,
tation are more than the absence of understand low-income and ethnic parental) culpability as a primary
negative outcomes and problematic minority children’s socialization explanation of poverty (Haller, Hol-
adaptation—and the precursors of and development (Sullivan, 1989). linger, & Raubal, 1990).
positive development are not neces- It is heartening that scholars study- A research agenda that in-
sarily the obverse of the antecedents ing positive development in ethnic cludes a focus on low-income and
of problematic development. minority children have reclaimed the working-class children may also have
It appears from the special concept of culture and incorporated the advantage of advancing our un-
section on positive development in cultural processes as assets in their derstanding of the role of culture in
ethnic minority children published in conceptual models and research de- the positive development of ethnic
Child Development Perspectives (Ca- signs. They have also played a cen- minority children. It is conceivable
brera, Beeghly, & Eisenberg, 2012) tral role in advancing the measure- that psychological and behavioral
and Cabrera et al.’s report on the ment of culture-related concepts, repertoires rooted in the culture of
themed meeting that as a strengths- an important accomplishment given origin are more salient and con-
based perspective has taken hold, the longstanding and problematic sequential among low-income and
attention to cultural processes in tendency to use racial/ethnic group working-class children than their
ethnic minority families has bur- membership as a proxy of culture. middle-class counterparts because
geoned (e.g., familismo, communal- Cabrera et al.’s report suggests their economic circumstances to a
ism, collectivistic orientation, ethnic broad consensus about the impor- significant degree segregate them
and racial identity and socialization). tance of developing a rich knowledge from the everyday practices of
Underlying the co-occurrence of base on the development and social- mainstream society. Allen and Boykin
these trends is the idea that these ization experiences of middle-class (1992) reached this conclusion in
families rely on cultural values and ethnic minority children. Progress their analysis of sources of hetero-
beliefs to promote healthy develop- toward filling this glaring gap over geneity in the expressions of African
ment in their children and to buf- the next decade is essential. The American culture. They found pre-
fer the negative effects of various need to study strengths, assets, and liminary evidence from laboratory
Natasha Cabrera Dr. Cabrera joined the University of Ivelisse Martinez-Beck, Ph.D. is a Senior Social Science
Maryland faculty in 2002 and arrived with several years of Research Analyst and Child Care Research Team Leader in
experience as an SRCD Executive Branch Fellow with the the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE),
National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop- Administration for Children and Families, U. S. Depart-
ment. Her current research topics include: father-child ment of Health and Human Services. She received her
and mother-child relationships, predictors of adaptive and graduate degree in Developmental Psychology and Lin-
maladaptive parenting, children’s social and emotional guistics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where
development in different types of families and cultural/ she focused her research on the influences of language
ethnic groups, and the mechanisms that link early experi- on young children’s cognitive development. Her work at
ence and parenting to children’s later cognitive and social OPRE involves developing the child care research agenda,
development. She has published in peer-reviewed jour- managing research projects, and representing the OPRE
nals on policy, methodology, theory, and the implications and child care policy research perspective in diverse fed-
of minority fathers’ and mothers’ parenting on children’s eral interagency research work groups. Dr. Martinez-Beck
cognitive and social development. She is the co-editor of is the Federal Project Officer for the National Survey of
the Handbook of Father Involvement: Multidisciplinary Early Care and Education and has lead research efforts
Perspectives (2012), and two co-edited volumes entitled in OPRE on topics related to quality of early childhood
Latina/o Child Psychology and Mental Health (2011). She programs, professional development of the early child-
won the National Council and Family Relations award for hood workforce, and evaluation of Quality Rating and
best research article regarding men in families in 2009. Improvement Systems. Dr. Martinez-Beck is co-editor of
three volumes: Critical Issues in Early Childhood Profes-
sional Development (2006), Quality Measurement in Early
Cynthia García Coll was the Charles Pitts Robinson and Childhood Settings (2011), and Applying Implementa-
John Palmer Barstow Professor of Education, Psychol- tion Science to Early Care and Education Programs and
ogy and Pediatrics at Brown University until 2011. Then, Systems (2013).
she moved back to Puerto Rico and became the Dean of
Graduate Programs and Research at the College of Natu-
ral Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Vonnie C. McLoyd is the Ewart A. C. Thomas Collegiate
campus until she recently joined Carlos Albizu University Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan—Ann
as Professor and Director of the Center for Scientific Re- Arbor. She has written extensively about methodological
search. She received a Bachelor’s degree from the Uni- and conceptual issues in the study of African American
versity of Puerto Rico in 1974. She received her Ph.D. in children and families and has a longstanding interest in
Personality and Developmental Psychology from Harvard how race, ethnicity, and culture shape child socializa-
University in 1981. She has published extensively on the tion and development. Her research has been supported
sociocultural influences on child development with par- by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National
ticular emphasis on at-risk and minority populations. She Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the
has served on editorial boards of multiple journals and William T. Grant Foundation, and the Rockefeller Founda-
has co-edited several books. Her current research seeks tion. McLoyd’s work has been published in Child Devel-
to document and explain immigrant pathways in educa- opment, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Marriage
tion and risky behaviors as evidenced by U.S. children and and Family, American Psychologist, Journal of Adolescent
adolescents. She is the Incoming Chief Editor of the Child Research, Developmental Review, and the Journal of So-
Development journal. cial Issues. Currently, she is an Associate editor of Ameri-
can Psychologist.
Purpose
Social Policy Report (ISSN 1075-7031) is published four times a year by
the Society for Research in Child Development. Its purpose is twofold:
(1) to provide policymakers with objective reviews of research findings
on topics of current national interest, and (2) to inform the SRCD mem-
bership about current policy issues relating to children and about the
state of relevant research.
Content
The Report provides a forum for scholarly reviews and discussions of devel-
opmental research and its implications for policies affecting children. The
Society recognizes that few policy issues are noncontroversial, that authors
may well have a “point of view,” but the Report is not intended to be a ve-
hicle for authors to advocate particular positions on issues. Presentations
should be balanced, accurate, and inclusive. The publication nonetheless
includes the disclaimer that the views expressed do not necessarily reflect
those of the Society or the editors.
The Committee on Policy & Communications which founded the Social Policy
Report, serves as an advisory body to all activities related to its publication.