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Inner‐City African American Parental Involvement in Children's Schooling: Racial Socialization and Social Support from the Parent Community
Author(s) -
McKay Mary McKernan,
Atkins Marc S.,
Hawkins Tracie,
Brown Catherine,
Lynn Cynthia J.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1023/a:1025655109283
Subject(s) - socialization , health psychology , psychology , developmental psychology , inner city , public health , african american , social psychology , sociology , medicine , socioeconomics , nursing , ethnology
Parents ( n = 161) and teachers ( n = 18) from an urban elementary school serving primarily African American children completed questionnaires regarding racial socialization, social support, and involvement in activities that support youth educational achievement at home and school. Parental reports of racism awareness, and contact with school staff were significantly correlated with parent reports of at‐home involvement and at‐school involvement. Parent reports of social support from the parent community were significantly related to at‐home involvement only. Relative to teacher reports, parents reported more formal contacts with school staff, and higher levels of racism awareness, religiosity, and African American cultural pride. Teachers and parents agreed on school climate and parental levels of at‐home and at‐school involvement. The results suggest that racial socialization processes are related to parent involvement in children's schooling and that increased efforts are needed to bridge a cultural gap between parents and teachers in inner‐city communities.