Associate Professor Sheretta Butler-Barnes has received a three-year $697,914 National Science Foundation grant for a project titled “Collaborative Research: Black Parents’ Racial Socialization Competencies and Youth Outcomes in Response to Racial Violence.”
She will collaborate with researchers at the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro on a longitudinal study following Black families over time to understand the impact of Black parents’ stressors and coping with racial violence and the effect on their child’s academic, well-being and activism outcomes.
“Our grant focuses explicitly on Black parents’ race-related experiences, parenting practices and socialization on adolescents’ developmental competencies in two states, Missouri and Virginia, which have both experienced nationally televised racist incidents,” Butler-Barnes said. “The regions were selected not only for feasibility but for the shared similar histories of racial violence. Both regions have experienced racial violence that ranges from racial hate groups (the alt-right movement) to police killings (Michael Brown). Although the racial incidents occurred some time ago, Black families in these regions are still being impacted.”