Erin B. Godfrey

By Words and Deeds: Racial Steering by Real Estate Agents in the U.S. in 2000

Abstract Although prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, studies in the 1980s found that racial steering by real estate agents in the U.S. was still occurring. That legislation was strengthened in 1988, but throughout the 1990s, no study examined whether these tougher strictures helped eliminate steering. In 2000, HUD and the Urban Institute conducted the national Housing Discrimination Study in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas to replicate and extend that earlier work. In this article, we report the results of this latest study, which examined three types of steering and three steering mechanisms, all at three geographic scales. The results indicate that steering of all types is occurring when Black and White homebuyers are involved. In at least 12 to 15% of the cases, agents provided gratuitous commentary that gave more information to White homebuyers and encouraged them to choose homes in areas with more White and fewer poor households. Steering is less prevalent when Hispanic and White buyers are involved. We also found no evidence that steering declined over the last decade, despite the toughening of the federal legislation in 1988. We conclude by discussing the implications for interracial wealth differentials and new fair housing enforcement initiatives.

Effects of SB 1070 on Children

This chapter examines how Arizonas SB 1070 may influence one slice of social life: psychological effects on children who might be directly or indirectly affected by this legislation. Our findings indicate that awareness of SB 1070 had a small but significant negative association with youths sense of being American, and this weakened sense of American identity results in a small but meaningful reduction in psychological well-being (i.e., lower self-esteem). Our results suggest that this negative relationship is stronger for first- or second-generation adolescents of all racial and ethnic groups.

Developing critical consciousness or justifying the system? A qualitative analysis of attributions for poverty and wealth among low-income racial/ethnic minority and immigrant women.

OBJECTIVES Economic inequality is a growing concern in the United States and globally. The current study uses qualitative techniques to (a) explore the attributions low-income racial/ethnic minority and immigrant women make for poverty and wealth in the U.S., and (b) clarify important links between attributions, critical consciousness development, and system justification theory. METHODS In-depth interview transcripts from 19 low-income immigrant Dominican and Mexican and native African American mothers in a large Northeastern city were analyzed using open coding techniques. Interview topics included perceptions of current economic inequality and mobility and experiences of daily economic hardships. RESULTS Almost all respondents attributed economic inequality to individual factors (character flaws, lack of hard work). Structural explanations for poverty and wealth were expressed by fewer than half the sample and almost always paired with individual explanations. Moreover, individual attributions included system-justifying beliefs such as the belief in meritocracy and equality of opportunity and structural attributions represented varying levels of critical consciousness. CONCLUSIONS Our analysis sheds new light on how and why individuals simultaneously hold individual and structural attributions and highlights key links between system justification and critical consciousness. It shows that critical consciousness and system justification do not represent opposite stances along a single underlying continuum, but are distinct belief systems and motivations. It also suggests that the motive to justify the system is a key psychological process impeding the development of critical consciousness. Implications for scholarship and intervention are discussed.

Caseworker–Recipient Interaction: Welfare Office Differences, Economic Trajectories, and Child Outcomes

Drawing on developmental and policy research, this study examined whether 3 dimensions of caseworker-recipient interaction in welfare offices functioned as critical ecological contexts for recipient families. The sample consisted of 1,098 families from 10 welfare offices in National Evaluation of Welfare to Work Strategies (NEWWS). In multilevel analyses, caseworker support, caseload size, and emphasis on employment predicted 5-year quarterly trajectories of earnings, income, and welfare receipt. Recipients in offices characterized by high support had steeper increases in earnings and income; those in offices with high caseload size had steeper decreases in income and welfare receipt; and those in offices with high emphasis on employment had steeper decreases in welfare receipt. These economic trajectories were associated with childrens reading and math achievement and internalizing behavior at ages 8-10.

Examining Correlates of Civic Engagement Among Immigrant Adolescents in the United States

Using a diverse urban sample of immigrant adolescents in the United States (N = 345) followed from 10th grade (Mage = 15.69) to 12th grade, this study examined the extent to which ecological assets (i.e., community connections and social network resources) predicted civic commitments (i.e., community engagement, social responsibility) as potentially mediated by fair society beliefs. The authors also examined whether ethnicity and generation status moderated these associations. As hypothesized, fair society beliefs were higher and predicted greater civic commitments only among Asian youth. Ecological assets were associated with greater civic commitments for all participants; these links were primarily direct for Latino immigrants and indirect (via fair society beliefs) for Asian youth. First-generation immigrants had more ecological assets and were more civically committed, however social network resources predicted fair society beliefs and community engagement only for second-generation youth. These differences indicate that immigrant youth are best understood as a heterogeneous group and suggest the need for further investigation of cultural variations in civic developmental processes.

For Better or Worse? System‐Justifying Beliefs in Sixth‐Grade Predict Trajectories of Self‐Esteem and Behavior Across Early Adolescence

Scholars call for more attention to how marginalization influences the development of low-income and racial/ethnic minority youth and emphasize the importance of youths subjective perceptions of contexts. This study examines how beliefs about the fairness of the American system (system justification) in sixth grade influence trajectories of self-esteem and behavior among 257 early adolescents (average age 11.4) from a diverse, low-income, middle school in an urban southwestern city. System justification was associated with higher self-esteem, less delinquent behavior, and better classroom behavior in sixth grade but worse trajectories of these outcomes from sixth to eighth grade. These findings provide novel evidence that system-justifying beliefs undermine the well-being of marginalized youth and that early adolescence is a critical developmental period for this process.

Student Motivation for Learning in Ghana: Relationships with Caregivers' Values toward Education, Attendance, and Academic Achievement.

This study examined the role that Ghanaian caregivers’ values toward education play in shaping students’ intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation for learning, and the ways these values and motivational orientations predict school attendance and achievement. Study participants included 88 students (M = 11.63 years; 48% female) from two primary schools in peri-urban Ghana and their 68 caregivers (M = 40.02 years; 60% female). Results revealed that caregivers’ perception of education as valuable was related to more intrinsically oriented profiles of motivation and higher attendance in students. Contrary to research results from Western contexts, students whose motivation was more extrinsically oriented attended school significantly more often than their intrinsically motivated peers. Finally, although attendance positively predicted academic achievement, neither caregiver values nor student motivational profiles were directly related to achievement. These findings suggest that caregivers’ values may have important implications for students’ academic thoughts and behaviours, and may be a central target for school staff aiming to improve student outcomes. These results also highlight the need for better understanding of motivational processes―both in terms of socialization and academic outcomes―in under-represented contexts where cultural values around education differ.

Barriers to school attendance and gender inequality: Empirical evidence from a sample of Ghanaian schoolchildren

Governments in sub-Saharan Africa have made marked efforts to increase school enrollment. Yet attendance and completion rates remain low, particularly for girls. This study examines the reasons that school children do not attend school in a sample of Ghanaian students. Girls were more likely to miss school because a family member was sick, whereas boys were more likely to miss school due to work. Caregivers’ inability to pay school fees and belief that it is better to educate boys than girls were related to lower school attendance for girls but not for boys. Implications of the findings to inform efforts to improve educational access for all children are discussed.

System Justification, Mental Health, and Behavior Among Disadvantaged Mothers and Their Children

Integrating social psychological research with work in child development, this study explored relationships between system justification (Jost & Banaji, 1994), maternal mental health, and child externalizing behavior among low-income immigrants and racial/ethnic minorities. Dominican, Mexican, and African American families (N = 239) were assessed when children were 14, 24, and 36 months old. Structural equation modeling was used to explore longitudinal relationships between maternal system justification and mental health and associations with child behavior. Earlier mental health was negatively related to later system justification and system justification was negatively related to childrens externalizing behavior. Implications for system justification theory, child development, and immigration are discussed.

The Maternal Ecology of Breastfeeding: A Life Course Developmental Perspective

Background/Aims: For mothers in high-income country contexts, infant feeding represents one of the most fundamental and challenging aspects of the transition to parenthood. We present a specific theoretical model, based on life course theory principles, to explicate how the maternal ecology influences breastfeeding behaviors throughout the early parenting years. Methods: Core concepts and suppositions draw from a review of extant theories for the development of infant feeding behaviors, including intraindividual models of health behavior and bioecological models of human development. We highlight where the model has strong evidentiary support and where there are gaps in the literature. Results: This review shows how life course theory has been used to describe the consequences of infant feeding behaviors, but has yet to be fully applied to the causes of those behaviors. The natural extension of life course theory to include these constructs and relationships will extend the field of breastfeeding research. Breastfeeding intervention could also be strengthened with more recognition of the life course factors that represent understudied, and thus underutilized, levers for intervention. Conclusion: Given its focus on personal history in a larger historical and ecological context, life course theory is well suited to framing discussions around the causes and consequences of breastfeeding.