RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Cheryl Buehler: I'm interested in the contextual elements of socialization processes. This interest manifests in the examination of models of the role of family processes in explaining youth problem behaviors through the lens of ethnicity and gender (Krishnakumar, Buehler, Barber, 2003; Krishnakumar, Buehler, Barber, in press). I collaborate with Dr. Ambika Krishnakumar on much of this work (one of my former doctoral students, now at Syracuse University). Click here for an in press paper with Dr. Ambika Krishnakumar.
Anne Fletcher: Dr. Fletcher is currently Principal Investigator for a 3-year, externally funded, longitudinal study examining the nature of elementary-aged children's relationships with their friends' parents, as well as the extent to which parents of children who are friends form meaningful relationships themselves. This project focuses on children's friendships both within schools and within the broader context of the community and is particularly interested in the manner in which such relationships may differ within Black versus White families.
Andrea G. Hunter: The major aims of my research are to explore the linkages between the life course, families, and social structure, and to broaden research on African Americans, especially families. I have sought to meet these aims by (a) asking fundamental questions about the family and the interconnected lives of its members, and (b) reframing old questions and expanding interpretations of aspects of black family life, past and present, that have defined the field of black family studies. Specifically, my research focuses on (a) variations in the context, structure, and social organization of families and social networks, and their impact on the roles, behavior, and well-being of family members across the life span; (b) constructions of gender and the ways in which gender affects family roles and life course trajectories; and (c) f amily history, the intersection of the life course and social change, and the social, economic, and cultural transformations affecting African American families over the last century. My approach is interdisciplinary, I draw primarily on life course theory and feminist perspectives, and I use a variety of methodological approaches (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method) in my research.
Marion O'Brien: I am interested in the development of parents' caregiving schemas (their values, attitudes, and beliefs about parenting and children) and how these differ by cultural background and in mothers and fathers. I am also studying parental health beliefs and their influence on parent-child relationships in families of children with disabilities.
Andrew Supple : I am interested in racial-ethnic variation in parenting behaviors and how parental socialization may vary in its influence on adolescents in different cultural groups. I am currently conducting a comparative study, for example, of parental influence on adolescent outcomes with samples of Hmong and European American adolescents.
Jonathan Tudge: I am interested in parents' childrearing values and beliefs, and how they try to translate that into practice with their young children. My research features lengthy observations of 3-year-olds' typically occurring everyday activities. We observe the children over the equivalent of one day in their lives, observing wherever they are situated, in home, child-care center, with grandparents, friends, shopping, etc., focusing on the activities in which they are involved, their partners, and their roles. We then follow the children for the next few years, through their first years in formal schooling, collecting data on their performance from their teachers and parents. In Greensboro we have equal numbers of Black and White families, half from working class backgrounds and half from middle class backgrounds, and evenly divided by child's gender. This is also a cross-cultural project, however, and so we have similar data from other ethnic groups, including Russian, Estonian, Luo (Kenya), and Korean. In each case I am interested in class and ethnic variation in parents' values, beliefs, and practices, and how these influence children's performance in school.