Racial-Ethnic Socialization in Latinx Families: Cultural Resilience and Coping

In the last decade, there has been a surge in research examining racial-ethnic socialization (RES) in Latinx families building upon a research base that has established Latinx culturally resilient processes. Our chapter brings together these lines of work and presents a model for understanding the protective processes of RES in Latinx families. We first discuss the unique factors that may influence RES processes and need further attention (e.g., acculturation, immigration status, country of origin). We then present a model that delineates how RES supports the development of culturally resilient values and beliefs (i.e., racial-ethnic identity, familism values, familial resilience, critical reflection, and motivation) that lead to the enactment of culturally resilient behaviors (i.e., ethnic-racial behaviors, familism behaviors, familial coping and support, and shift-&-persist coping). We argue that together culturally resilient values and behaviors ultimately result in greater self-esteem, school engagement, prosocial behaviors, and well-being for Latinx youth as they face discrimination, marginalization, and oppression. We conclude by considering how these culturally resilient processes can be embedded in prevention and intervention efforts.