This pilot study introduces the comprehensive race socialization inventory (CRSI), an amalgam and extension of existing inventories that systematically captures the race socialization process within Black families. Using survey data collected in 2000 and 2001 from a convenience sample of Black adolescents (n= 18) and a random sample of Black college students (n= 225), the authors compare data yielded from the CRSI with data yielded from existing inventories of race socialization. The authors find that CRSI components such as (a) onset and recency, (b) the most useful message, (c) multiple sources, (d) anticipatory socialization messages, and (e) socializing behaviors are absent from existing race socialization inventories. Because the CRSI captures these critical components of the race socialization process, the authors argue that it is an improvement over existing inventories. The authors report measures of central tendency and dispersion to demonstrate the utility of the CRSI and also discuss its reliability and validity.
Bowman, P. J., & Howard, C. (1985). Race-related socialization, motivation, and academic achievement: A study of Black youths in three-generation families. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 134-141.
2.
Boykin, A. W., & Toms, F. D. (1985). Black child socialization. In H. P. McAdoo & J. L. McAdoo (Eds.), Black children: Social, educational and parental environments(pp. 159-173). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
3.
Brown, T. N., & Lesane-Brown, C. L. (2005). Race socialization messages across historical time. Manuscript submitted for publication.
4.
Caughy, M. O., Randolph, S. M., & O’Campo, P. J. (2002). The Africentric home environment inventory: An observational measure of the racial socialization features of the home environment for African American preschool children. Journal of Black Psychology, 28, 37-52.
5.
Demo, D. H., & Hughes, M. (1990). Socialization and racial identity among Black Americans. Social Psychology Quarterly, 53, 364-374.
6.
Fischer, A. R., & Shaw, C. M. (1999). African American mental health and perceptions of racist discrimination: The moderating effects of racial socialization experiences and self-esteem. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 395-407.
7.
Harrison, A. O. (1985). The Black family’s socializing environment: Self-esteem and ethnic attitude among Black children. In H. P. McAdoo & J. L. McAdoo (Eds.), Black children: Social, educational, and parental environments(pp. 174-193). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
8.
Hughes, D., & Chen, L. (1997). When and what parents tell children about race: An examination of race-related socialization among African American families. Applied Developmental Science, 1, 200-214.
9.
Hughes, D., & Chen, L. (1999). The nature of parents’ race-related communications to children: A developmental perspective. In L. Balter & C. S. Tamis-LeMonda (Eds.), Child psychology: A handbook of contemporary issues(pp. 467-490). Philadelphia: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis.
10.
Jackson, J. S. (Ed.). (1991). Life in Black America. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
11.
Marshall, S. (1995). Ethnic socialization of African American children: Implications for parenting, identity development, and academic achievement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24, 377-396.
12.
McAdoo, H. P. (1988). The role of Black fathers in the socialization of Black children. In H. P. McAdoo (Ed.), Black Children: Social, educational, and parental environments(pp. 213-242). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
13.
Miller, D. B. (1999). Racial socialization and racial identity: Can they promote resiliency for African American adolescents?Adolescence, 34, 493-501.
14.
Parham, T. A., & Williams, P. T. (1993). The relationship of demographic background factors to racial identity attitudes. Journal of Black Psychology, 19, 7-24.
15.
Peters, M. F. (1985). Racial socialization of young Black children. In H. P. McAdoo & J. L. McAdoo (Eds.), Black children: Social, educational and parental environments(pp. 159-173). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
16.
Phelps, R. E., Taylor, J. D., & Gerard, P. A. (2001). Cultural mistrust, ethnic identity, racial identity, and self-esteem among ethnically diverse Black university students. Journal of Counseling and Development, 79, 209-216.
17.
Phinney, J. S. (1992). The multigroup ethnic identity measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 156-176.
18.
Phinney, J. S., & Chavira, V. (1995). Parental ethnic socialization and adolescent coping with problems related to ethnicity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 5, 31-53.
19.
Sanders-Thompson, V. L. (1994). Socialization to race and its relationship to racial identification among African Americans. Journal of Black Psychology, 20, 175-188.
20.
Sellers, R. M., Rowley, S. A. J., Chavous, T. M., Shelton, J. N., & Smith, M. (1997). Multidimensional inventory of Black identity: Preliminary investigation of reliability and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 805-815.
21.
Stevenson, H. C. (1994). Validation of the scale of racial socialization for African American adolescents: Steps toward multidimensionality. Journal of Black Psychology, 20, 445-468.
22.
Stevenson, H. C. (1995). Relationship of adolescent perceptions of racial socialization to racial identity. Journal of Black Psychology, 21, 49-70.
23.
Stevenson, H. C., Cameron, R., Herrero-Taylor, T., & Davis, G. Y. (2002). Development of the teenager experience of racial socialization scale: Correlates of race-related socialization frequency from the perspective of Black youth. Journal of Black Psychology, 28, 84-106.
24.
Stevenson, H. C., Reed, J., & Bodison, P. (1996). Kinship social support and adolescent racial socialization beliefs: Extending the self to family. Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 498-508.
25.
Thompson, C. P., Anderson, L. P., & Bakeman, R. A. (2000). Effects of racial socialization and racial identity on acculturative stress in African American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 6, 196-210.
26.
Thornton, M. C. (1997). Strategies of racial socialization among Black parents: Mainstream, minority, and cultural messages. In R. J. Taylor, J. S. Jackson, & L. M. Chatters (Eds.), Family life in Black America(pp. 201-215). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
27.
Thornton, M. C., Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., & Allen, W. R. (1990). Sociodemographic and environmental correlates of racial socialization by Black parents. Child Development, 61, 401-409.
