The question of why we need to think about how we research race demands a conceptualization of race that captures both its social construction and its temporal evolution. We need both an understanding of race and clarity about how we talk about it in our design and conduct of research, and in how we interpret and apply it in our findings. As a…

Kappan editor Rafael Heller interviews Annette Lareau about her research into different experiences of childhood and family life. In her observations of families of different social classes, she learned that upper-middle-class families approach parenting as an act of "concerted cultivation" requiring ongoing attention, making them more…

The interaction between doctoral education and social class is under-researched, yet is perceived to play an important part in securing social mobility. Research that does exist tends to focus on issues of access or transition, rather than considering experiences during the doctorate. This article focuses on doctoral students' experiences of…

This paper asks whether education is a viable route to better livelihoods and social inclusion for children living in poor urban areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It uses qualitative interviews with 36 students aged 11-16, living in slum and middle-class areas, and also draws on data from a larger, mixed-methods study to provide context. Many children…

Middle-class respondents mistakenly deny that the work ethic is strong among the poor, fundamentally misunderstand how high work ethic leads to increased feelings of insecurity, and mistakenly project for the poor a strong identification of welfare income with income from quasi-illegal sources. (Author)

Scores on the Parental Attitudes Research Instrument and on Rotter's Internality-Externality Scale were compared for 28 lower class black mothers of high risk infants and 34 mothers of same-age infants from the general population of a Southern University town. (GO)

Discusses the struggles of middle- and lower-class black women to use social programs and affirmative action mandates to advance their status. Examines ways their struggles have affected their self-perceptions and relationships with each other. (Author/JS)

To understand the African-American family, the African-American poor and middle class must be investigated. Extra costs mean that it is much harder for African Americans to reach the middle class. Ways to improve the economic status of African-American families and to increase the middle class are discussed. (SLD)

This conference paper points out that there are different patterns of social deviancy among the various socioeconomic classes, and remedial treatment must take this class differential into account. For example, practitioners should be aware that there is a greater incidence of brain damage among children from impoverished families, and that…

Noting that there is near universal agreement that children from families with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have access to more of the resources needed to support their positive development than do lower SES children, this monograph examines the myriad questions remaining regarding relations among SES, parenting, and child development from a…