The Relationship Between Parental Racial Socialization Practices and Racial Identity Development Within Black–White Biracial Families: A Scoping Review of Research

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify and synthesize the literature on parental racial socialization and racial identity development within Black–White biracial families, or those with one Black parent, one White parent, and at least one biological Black–White biracial child. Parental racial socialization is the process through which parents communicate information, values, and beliefs about race to their children, which equips them to become better able to navigate racially stratified contexts such as our American society. Although racial socialization practices have been widely studied within monoracial Black families, less is known about how it is practiced within Black–White biracial families and how these practices subsequently impact racial identity development in biracial people. Through an extensive literature search using PRISMA guidelines, 31 eligible peer‐reviewed empirical articles were identified, and results were organized into four major themes: (a) the nature and frequency of parental racial socialization messages; (b) the impacts of parental racial socialization from biracial youths' perspectives; (c) parental racial support strategies; and (d) the importance of parental concordance. Following a critical analysis of the studies, this review identifies several research limitations and suggests new directions for future research.