What is Culture and its Influence on Socialization? H607: Ethnicity, Context & Family Dynamics

The plan Conceptualizing Ethnicity Conceptualizing Culture Defining & Orienting Concepts Cultural influences in parenting

Plausible Origins of Race Differences Geographic Isolation Time Genetic Distinctiveness Suited for Context Racial Differences + Time Mobility Sustained Cultural Practices

What is Ethnicity? Origins of word Ethnos—nation or tribe Ethnikos—nationality Euphemism for “race” What are the prevailing definitions? Common ancestry/history; Shared language, beliefs, norms, religion & behaviors How is it used? Levels of analysis: Individual vs. societal levels Race/ethnicity dependent on context or population Comparative work on ethnicity results in conclusions based on culture

Conceptualizing Ethnicity (Sollors) Ethnicity and Class The role of power and oppression Ethnicity as a substitute for class? Content and Meaning of Modern Ethnic Identification Why do we need it? Why does it persist? Ethnic Boundaries and Nuclei Do we really want to be a melting pot?

Impact on families “Outer ring” societal conceptualizations change microsystems within families The luxury of being silent on race Doing nothing is not neutral Undoing the negative messages on race Congruence between “outer ring” culture & microsystem culture Negotiating race Across settings (economic, demographic, representation) Within families (colorism; marriage patterns, differential socialization) Across developmental stage With opportunity (skin color & income; racial profiling) Negotiating Ethnicity Practices for maintaining group identity and practices, while navigating broader society When is assimilation possible, desirable, and avoided

My definitions…with Burton et al. Race—both biologically and socially constructed based on physical characteristics and biological reactivity, “involves assumption that individuals can be divided based on phenotype or genotype and that those groups have meaningful differences.” Ethnicity—group membership based on nationality and/or collective history/ancestry; individual and group conceptualizations “a subset of people whose members share a common national ancestral, cultural, immigration or religious characteristics that distinguish them from other groups”

Important future directions Explore race as a context and how it stratifies rather than solely as a binary category Understand colorism as it impact “within group” and “within family” socialization Understanding the intersection of racial stratification of immigrants cultural experiences and US stratification And how immigrants navigate it as part of acculturation

What is culture? Orienting concepts for understanding culture… It isn’t just what other people do Understanding one’s own cultural heritage, as well as others, requires taking the perspective of people of contrasting backgrounds Cultural practices fit together Cultural communities continue to change, as do individuals There is not likely to “One Best Way.” (but not every way is good)

Cultural frameworks 4 Dimensions that frame a cultural implicit ideologies Time (oriented to past, present, future) Perspective on Human Activity (being, doing, becoming) Social Relationships (hierarchical, lateral, individualist) People-Nature Relationships (subjugation, harmony, mastery) Implicit ideologies form the foundation of belief systems They are psychologically efficient!!