ABSTRACT
This chapter reviewed and discussed a few of the traditional psychological theories and empirical research on people of color (the minorities). The concept of gender and the salience of including, in fruitful ways, an analysis of culture, ethnicity, race, and class into discussions on gender and socialized behavior were explored. A brief historical overview of the experiences of women from four ethnic minority groups (African Americans, American Indians, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans), as well as a summary of quality-of-life issues facing them, was presented.
The scope of psychological inquiry into culture, race, ethnicity, and gender to date has seemingly been limited to identifying and appreciating the diversity among ethnic groups in general and among ethnic 118 119women in particular as it pertains to gender. What is also needed and to date has not been done is an analysis into the ethnic boundary that defines the group, that is, the social boundaries structuring social life. As discussed earlier in the chapter, social boundaries involve a complex organization of behavior and social relations such that the nature of interactions among people are in a sense determined by unconscious cuing of being fellow members of an ethnic group or not. It thus entails the assumption that the two are fundamentally “playing the same game,” and there is the potential for diversification and expansion of their social relationship to cover eventually all different sectors and domains of activity. On the other hand, a dichotomization of others as strangers, or outsiders, implies a recognition of limitations on shared understandings and interactions. The status of a given group within society helps determine whether the ethnic meaning for a given group or individual becomes positive, ambivalent, or negative, which bears greatly on how the group and the individual behave. Highlight on Parenting
Effective parenting enables parents to encourage and facilitate the development of healthy, well-adjusted children who are prepared to deal with the vicissitudes of life. By definition, effective parenting presupposes that the quality of the parent–child relationship and parenting skills are sound. In 1990 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsored a conference that reviewed research on successful families. The following characteristics were found among strong, healthy families: communication, encouragement of individuals, expressing appreciation, commitment to family, religious/spiritual orientation, social connectedness, ability to adapt, clear roles, and time together (Foster et al., 1996). Each of these characteristics may have different definitions and requirements by ethnic group.
A child having matured in a family that facilitated these characteristics has achieved a harmonious balance between one’s private, inner reality of the self and experience, and one’s public presentation of self in the outer (social) reality. Conversely, ineffective parenting as evidenced in the research on violent youth, for example, indicates disturbances in the parent–child relationship that interfere with a child’s development, predisposing the child to later difficulties. Given the ethnic and multicultural diversity as well as social class differences within contemporary American society, no one model or ideal child-rearing method exists (Fantini & Cardenas, 1980). There must be a recognition of the community values, the dignity inherent in local cultural customs, and the need for tolerance in relating to cultural diversity. While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to examine the differences in child rearing among and between people of color of different socioeconomic status and ethnocultural backgrounds, it is worthwhile to acknowledge that differences in child rearing relative to our pluralistic society may impact on the issues raised in this discussion.
Recent thinking about family systems and our understanding of unconscious motivations helps to expand our knowledge about the transmission of family patterns across generations. Not only explicit family rules but also powerful implicit rules allow the expression of certain feelings and inhibit others. The concept of quality time may also serve to illustrate the ideas cited. In one sense the term seems euphemistic in that it serves to assuage the guilt and, in some instances, contradict the common sense of some parents who, realizing that while they are away from their children, parenting responsibilities must be delegated to others, or in many cases to the children themselves (e.g., latchkey children). Alternatively quality time alludes to a psychological space in which ideas, attitudes, fantasies, expectations, intentionality, parent–child schemes, and skills about parenting determine the characteristics of the actual parenting. Achieving quality time on a regular, consistent basis has become close to impossible for all types of families, especially dual-career families, working-class families in which both parents have one or more jobs, and single-parent families. For some the issue is child supervision while parents are working, a much more fundamental concern than quality time with children. This is poignantly illustrated in the tragic circumstances in New York City of the recent deaths of a 9-year-old girl and her 17-month-old brother. A fire broke out in their home when they were left home alone without supervision while their mother (a single parent with two jobs), who had decided to go on to work when the baby-sitter failed to arrive, was working her shift at McDonald’s (Khan & Mohajer, 2003).
I am reminded of a conversation I had with a colleague whose children are now grown. She said that one advantage of being in academia was the flexible schedule. All through her children’s childhood and adolescence she prided herself in “being” there for them. She was disturbed by a recent conversation with her adult daughter whose recollection of her mother during those years was quite different; the daughter felt that her mother had always been preoccupied with work and not “all there.” Fabe and Wikler (1978) describe four factors that affect how a working mother will adapt to parenting: (1) the demands of her work, (2) her attitudes about her job, (3) her use of child care, and (4) her personal reaction to motherhood. Even with the involvement of the father in child care, the stress and strain of being responsive to the child’s needs and fulfilling other, often conflicting, responsibilities may impact on child rearing vis-à-vis the emotional availability of the parent and the quality of the parent–child interactions; this is especially true for people of color who face discrimination based on cultural or ethnic–racial prejudice.
For Women of Color in the United States, race, gender, and class are so intertwined that manifestations of their presence constantly permeate our lives. The fictions ascribed to us form a socially constructed reality or pseudo-reality of stereotypic images idealized and devalued by society at large, and internalized by us in varying degrees. These images capture the shadow rather than the essence of our lives, thereby limiting opportunities, and possible experiences, hence curtailing our potential and prohibiting what could be. Similar sentiments are expressed by other women who, while not directly subjected to oppressive forces because of race, nonetheless feel and are oppressed by other forms of discrimination prevalent in our society. Engendering psychology and including in meaningful ways the influences of culture, race, ethnicity, and class will provide psychologists with the tools necessary to shatter the fictive images that destroy us and pave the way for self-definitions that affirm and appreciate our differences as well as our commonalities.
