Ethnic Identities and Socialization

The Family
1. Charlotte Butler : Study of teenagers
  1. She studied a group of East Midlands teenage second and third generation Muslim girls and looked at their attitudes and beliefs on a range of topics and issues. She found that families are important in shaping the identities of young Muslim women. While they want their independence through education and a career, they don't want to break family links.
2. Asian Families
  1. Anwar
    1. Argued that Asian families socialize children into a pattern of obligation, loyalty and religious commitment, which, in most cases, they accept.
      1. However, he noted three issues that were seen to be causing tension between Pakistani parents and children in regard to their cultural identity: 1) Western clothes, especially for girls. 2) Arranged marriage. 3) The question of freedom.
        On these issues, the family can be a site of conflict between generations, the younger generation has socialized with people with very different values and attitudes.
  2. Ghuman
    1. Outlined some of the socialization practices of the first generation of Asian parents :
      1. Children were brought up to be obedient, loyal to and respectful of their elders and the community around them.
        Social conformity was demanded and individualism was not encouraged.
        The choice of education was left in the hands of their parents
        The choice of marriage partner was thought to be best left to parents. Children were taught the drawbacks of dating, pre-marital sex and the disadvantages of love marriages.
        Religious training was considered to be very important because it reinforces values. The role of mother-tongue was seen as crucial in maintaining links between generations.
  3. Ballard
    1. Examined South Asian families in Britain and found that many first-generation migrants saw British culture as attaching little value to family honour and placing relatively emphasis on maintaining kinship ties
      1. As a result many first-generation immigrants became very cautious and conservative in their attitudes to family life. They wanted to ensure that standards of behaviour in the family did not slip and that children were kept under close scrutiny
        He found that young second-generation Asians had the experience of two cultures - they behaved in ways that fitted into the culture of the wider society for part of the time, but at home conformed to their ethnic subculture.
3. Bhatti
  1. She carried out research into 50 British Asian families in the South of England. The research was largely based upon in-depth interviews, most of which were with Muslims of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin,
    1. She found that there was a continuing emphasis on loyalty to the family and on trying to maintain traditional practices related to marriage. For example, most families were keen to maintain links with relatives in Bangladesh or Pakistan
      1. Bhatti found that izzat, or family honour, was taken very seriously, with particular emphasis being places on the behaviour of daughters, /she found mothers saw their roles as being of paramount importance
Religion
1. Jacobson
  1. Studied young Pakistanis and found that they see Islam as crucial in creating their identity. It has a strong impact on their identity in terms of diet, worship, dress, behaviour and their everyday routines and practices
    1. For many it is a defensive identity, created as a response to being excluded from white British society
2. Gardner and Shakur
  1. Found that among young Bengalis, allegiance to Islam was becoming more common
    1. They argue that this is because it provides young Bengalis with a sense of support and gives them a postive identity denied by white culture
Mass Media
1. Gillespie
  1. Notes that one way in which the media helps to shape ethnic identities is through allowing geographically dispersed communities to keep in touch with cultures that exist in their perceived countries of origin.
    1. For example, she shows how television and videos are used to recreate the culture of South Asians in Britain.
  2. The media also helps create new ethnic identities to emerge. She found that young British Punjabis use television and videos to redefine their ethnic identities.
    1. They actively experience different cultures and mix them into new identities. This might include aspects of the American Dream ideology alongside identification with other Muslims. These can be called Hybrid identities.
2. Gilroy
  1. Argues that young African-Caribbeans often adopt identities based around influential media role models such as 50 cent.
    1. Gangsta rap and hip-hop in particular, accessed through MTV and other tv channels, have been powerful influences.
      1. The adoption of aspects of the gangsta rap lifestyle often symbolizes opposition to white society.
Education
1. Mac an Ghaill
  1. Carried out an ethnographic study of 25 African-Caribbean and Asian students studying A levels in a sixth-form college in the Midlands, where he found some teachers held racist attitudes.
    1. Later he found that in response to such racism students develop survival strategies in order to resist negative labelling. This includes ethnic minority groups forming close relationships and subcultures.
2. Fuller
  1. Has also documented how ethnic identity may be used to resist racial stereotyping in school. She outlined how young black females resisted discrimination, forming a close group and resisting negative non-academic labels.
3. Basit
  1. Conducted interviews with 24 Muslim girls, their parents and 18 of their teachers. By comparing the views of the non-Asian teachers she interviewed with those of the girls themselves, Basit found some common misconceptions existed about Asian girls.
    1. For example, most teachers recognized that Islam was important to the girls. However, many of them saw it as an oppressive religion into which girls were indoctrinated. The girls themselves, on the other hand, did not see religion as oppressive.
      1. Likewise, the teacher thought that family life was oppressive for the girls and they saw arranged marriage as being undesirable. The girls,however, had very different perceptions. They had little or no sense of oppression,
New Ethnic identities
1. Postmodernists
  1. Have developed the idea of 'hybridity' to refer to the mixing of two or more cultures in a 'pick-and-mix' approach to identity construction.
    1. Charlotte Butler
      1. Studied young third-generation Muslim women women and found that they choose from a variety of possible identities, Some will choose to reflect their ascribed position through wearing of traditional dress, while others may take a more 'negotiated' postition
        This may mean adopting Western ideas about education and careers while retaining some respect for traditional religious ideas about the role of women.
    2. Johal
      1. His study of third-generation British Asians, who he termed 'Brasians', found that they have a dual identity in that they inherit an Asian identity and adopt a British one.
        This results in Asian youth 'code-switching' and adopting a 'white mask' in order to interact with white peers at school or college, but emphasizing their cultural difference when they feel it is necessary.
    3. Les Back
      1. Observed how new hybrid identities have been emerging among young people in Britain. In his study of two council estates in South London, he found that British white, black and Asian youngsters were trying out new cultural 'masks'.
        His research showed that interracial friendship and interaction was common in and around the capital, and that this produced considerable 'cultural borrowing' and experimentation in relation to music, dress and language.
        This meant, for example, that white and Asian youngsters living in these areas were more likely to listen to rap and reggae music than ,say, pop and rock.
    4. Gill
      1. Carried out a survey among British Asian sixth form students in the West Midlands and found they could identify groups of students and being 'Brasian'.
        This new ethnic identity includes a 'black' style of dress, black linguistic forms and musical tastes, friendship groups that included black youths and physical appearance that imitates black style.

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Ethnic Identities and Socialization

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