Understanding the complexities of ethnic-racial socialization processes for both minority and majority groups: A 30-year systematic review

In order to promote positive intercultural relations, reduce racism and promote harmonyin diverse societies, we must better understand the processes by which both minority andmajority children and young people learn about and negotiate racial, ethnic, and culturaldiversity, processes known as ethnic-racial socialization. A critical gap within the field ofethnic-racial socialization is a systematic literature review that includes a diverse rangeof population groups. The primary goal of this paper is to systematically review researchover the past 30 years that has examined ethnic-racial socialization processes for bothminority and majority children and young people. Studies (n = 92) that included implicitor explicit ethnic-racial socialization as a primary outcome variable along with examina-tion of racism/discrimination, intergroup contact and/or cross-cultural interactions werereviewed. Our main findings highlight that the majority of studies continue to focus onthe ethnic-racial socialization of African American children by parents. However, emerg-ing studies involving different ethnic-racial and cultural groups demonstrate the need toconsider how multiple social and environmental factors and multiple influential agentsdifferentially impact on the types of messages used with children and young people. Impli-cations for future research, in relation to the adoption of multi-level frameworks andunderstanding the contribution of multiple agents across a range of contexts, are discussed.