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The Impact of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination on Adolescent and Early Adult Development

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The Impact of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination on Adolescent and Early Adult Development

Adolescents’ social identities are heavily influenced by their ethnic and racial identities, which are key elements of social identities. Racial and ethnic identity is a multifaceted concept that includes psychological attachment to and affiliation with a racial or ethnic group (Ginsburg & McClain, 2020). Ginsburg and McClain (2020) further reveal that racialized society has significant impact on adolescents’ identities and development processes. This is because one’s identity influences most of the treatment that they receive. Research further reveals that the 6- to 20-year-old demographic that makes up Generation Z, sometimes referred to as the Postmillennial Generation, is on track to surpass all others in terms of racial diversity (Fry & Parker, 2018). From 39% in 2002, that segment now includes 48% diverse or multiracial individuals. Beyond race, people from various ethnic, sexual, and religious groupings are visibly more prevalent in society. As a result of these demographic changes, there is an urgent significant need to address discrimination, particularly in light of glaring disparities and inequalities along the lines of social identities that are disadvantaged (Fry & Parker, 2018). In order to encourage the members of the society to address discrimination, it is important to inform them of the adverse effects discrimination has on adolescent and early adult development. Thus, this research paper’s main research question seeks to uncover the impact of racial and ethnic discrimination on adolescents and early adult development.

The data for addressing this study’s research question have been extracted from transcripts from qualitative oral history interviews available in the canvas site. Various themes have been generated from these transcripts to showcase how racial and ethnic discrimination impacts adolescent and early adult development. These themes along with citations from literature that will be utilized to interpret the findings in each theme are presented below.

Anxiety Symptoms

One theme that emerged from the data is that racial and ethnic discrimination result in anxiety symptoms among the adolescents. This theme was supported by the participant who stated that:

“No, when we see them (Whites), we were nervous. We had no Whites in school with us. We had to ride in the back of the buses…”

When asked about how seeing the whites felt, the participant further explained;

“Well, we were nervous all the time. When we saw the Whites, we got nervous. There was no telling what they would do to us.”

The following journal articles will be used to interpret the finding in this theme.

Williams, M. T., Printz, D., & DeLapp, R. C. (2018). Assessing racial trauma with the Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination Scale. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 735. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/vio0000212Sosoo, E. E., Bernard, D. L., & Neblett Jr, E. W. (2020). The influence of internalized racism on the relationship between discrimination and anxiety. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(4), 570. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/cdp0000320Cheref, S., Talavera, D., & Walker, R. L. (2019). Perceived discrimination and suicide ideation: moderating roles of anxiety symptoms and ethnic identity among Asian American, African American, and Hispanic emerging adults. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior, 49(3), 665-677. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12467Lack of Access to Quality Education

Findings also revealed that ethnic and racial discrimination impact adolescents’ access to quality education. Supporting this theme, the participant stated that;

“In high school, we didn’t get all of the good learning, you know”

This is because the school did not receive sufficient funding.

The following journal articles will be used to interpret the finding in this theme.

Trent, M., Dooley, D. G., Dougé, J., Cavanaugh, R. M., Lacroix, A. E., Fanburg, J., … & Wallace, S. B. (2019). The impact of racism on child and adolescent health. Pediatrics, 144(2). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-1765Ullah, A. A., & Chattoraj, D. (2018). Roots of discrimination against Rohingya minorities: Society, ethnicity and international relations. Intellectual Discourse, 26(2), 541-565.

Alhusen, J. L., Bower, K. M., Epstein, E., & Sharps, P. (2016). Racial discrimination and adverse birth outcomes: an integrative review. Journal of midwifery & women’s health, 61(6), 707-720. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.12490Increased fear

Furthermore, findings revealed that ethnic and racial discrimination causes increased fear among adolescents and young adult. Supporting this theme, research participant explained that:

“Regardless of how the Whites is doin’ us, just obey them, do as they say and don’t do nothing to start. Because see, at that time, we couldn’t even drink from the same fountain. We walked to the Colored. White. We couldn’t even go past that we would get slapped. We were taught not to do anything that would aggravate the Whites.”

Also, the respondent added that;

“When we saw the Whites, we got nervous. There was no telling what they would do to us.”

The following journal articles will be used to interpret the finding in this theme.

Steele, J. L. (2016). Race and general strain theory: Examining the impact of racial discrimination and fear on adolescent marijuana and alcohol use. Substance use & misuse, 51(12), 1637-1648. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2016.1191513Williams, M. T., Printz, D., & DeLapp, R. C. (2018). Assessing racial trauma with the Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination Scale. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 735. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/vio0000212Lund, E. M. (2021). Even more to handle: Additional sources of stress and trauma for clients from marginalized racial and ethnic groups in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 34(3-4), 321-330. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2020.1766420Lack of Freedom

Finings also revealed that ethnic and racial discrimination causes lack of freedom. Supporting this theme, the respondent explained that:

“…And after we grew up, to see what different way people were living. To me, we were slaves. We were enslaved. But we never knew.”

The following journal articles will be used to interpret the finding in this theme.

Laster Pirtle, W. N. (2020). <? covid19?> Racial Capitalism: A Fundamental Cause of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Inequities in the United States. Health Education & Behavior, 47(4), 504-508.

Craemer, T., Smith, T., Harrison, B., Logan, T., Bellamy, W., & Darity Jr, W. (2020). Wealth implications of slavery and racial discrimination for African American descendants of the enslaved. The Review of Black Political Economy, 47(3), 218-254. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034644620926516Increased Poverty

Also, ethnic and racial discrimination was found to cause increased poverty. One respondent explained that they were living in a segregated area and every black was poor. The respondent further stated that;

“…we didn’t realize that we were poor. Because everybody around us was poor.”

This implies that ethnic and racial discrimination cause poverty.

To support this theme, the participant also added that;

“Most of the time the parents didn’t have the fare, ten cents or fifteen cents. A group of us we would walk together and it was a long, long walk”

The following journal articles will be used to interpret the finding in this theme.

Shim, R. S., & Compton, M. T. (2020). The social determinants of mental health: psychiatrists’ roles in addressing discrimination and food insecurity. Focus, 18(1), 25-30. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20190035Iceland, J. (2019). Racial and ethnic inequality in poverty and affluence, 1959–2015. Population Research and Policy Review, 38(5), 615-654.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-019-09512-7Seider, S., Clark, S., Graves, D., Kelly, L. L., Soutter, M., El-Amin, A., & Jennett, P. (2019). Black and Latinx adolescents’ developing beliefs about poverty and associations with their awareness of racism. Developmental Psychology, 55(3), 509. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/dev0000585Poor self-Esteem

Furthermore, findings revealed that racial and ethnic discrimination causes lower self-esteem among the adolescents discriminated against. Supporting this theme, the respondent claimed that:

“Then, when we got a bus for us to go to school, we had to get on the back of the bus. We get on the bus; we pay our bus fare but we have to get off and walk all the way to the back and just sit on that back seat. We can get on the bus. A few Whites were on. But we still could not sit there.”

The following journal articles will be used to interpret the finding in this theme.

Yang, T. C., Chen, I. C., Choi, S. W., & Kurtulus, A. (2019). Linking perceived discrimination during adolescence to health during mid-adulthood: Self-esteem and risk-behavior mechanisms. Social Science & Medicine, 232, 434-443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.06.012Urzúa, A., Ferrer, R., Godoy, N., Leppes, F., Trujillo, C., Osorio, C., & Caqueo-Urízar, A. (2018). The mediating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being in immigrants. PloS one, 13(6), e0198413. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198413Benner, A. D., Wang, Y., Shen, Y., Boyle, A. E., Polk, R., & Cheng, Y. P. (2018). Racial/ethnic discrimination and well-being during adolescence: A meta-analytic review. American Psychologist, 73(7), 855.

References

Fry, R. & Parker, K. (2018). Early Benchmarks Show ‘Post-Millennials’ on Track to Be Most Diverse, Best-Educated Generation Yet. Phew Research Website. Accessed from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/11/15/early-benchmarks-show-post-millennials-on-track-to-be-most-diverse-best-educated-generation-yet/Ginsburg, K. R., & McClain, Z. B. R. (Eds.). (2020). Reaching teens: Strength-based, trauma-sensitive, resilience-building communication strategies rooted in positive youth development. American Academy of Pediatrics.