Abstract
This dissertation was a qualitative, exploratory study on how mono racial Chinese grandparents racially and ethnically socialize their Chinese-White biracial grandchildren. Participants included thirteen grandmothers, five grandfathers, and fourteen biracial grandchildren. All participants were living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Interviews were conducted with grandparents and their grandchildren to determine grandparents’ racial and ethnic socialization methods as well as how biracial grandchildren responded to their grandparents and how they viewed themselves as biracial individuals in the U.S. The study also considered the effect of the ecological context on socialization. The two main theoretical frameworks used in this study included: Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory and Root’s “border crossings” theory. This study had two main goals: 1.) Providing an examination of how Chinese grandparents have addressed their grandchildren’s biracial status, how they ethnically and racially socialize their biracial grandchildren, as well as the challenges that they have faced in the socialization process; and 2.) How biracial grandchildren view their grandparents and ecological systems in their process of racial and ethnic socialization. This study’s findings have shown the various ways in which grandparents and ecological contexts have influenced their biracial grandchildren’s ethnic and racial socialization. The study’s results could help inform family service agencies and health professionals better understand and work with biracial families, especially as the United States’ racial demographics continue to change over the following decades. The findings are pertinent as countries’ demographics change in the next few years with interracial marriages becoming more common.
Presenters
Grace CheeSenior Lecturer, SR Nathan School of Human Development/Social Work Program , Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), Singapore
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Biracial Children, Biracial Grandchildren, Chinese-Caucasian Families, Chinese Grandparents, Interracial Marriage
