Mixed Race Studies

The Effect of a Biracial identity Development Program on Feelings of Alienation in Biracial Children

University of San Francisco
December 2004
94 pages
Publication Number: AAT 3156115
ISBN: 9780496168002

Robin E. Schulte

A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education Counseling Psychology Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Doctor of Psychology

Research on biracial individuals has primarily been done on Black/White mixed individuals. This study examines the effects of a biracial identity development program on feelings of alienation for Asian/Caucasian and Latino/Caucasian children. A single-subject research design was conducted on three female participants, two of Asian/Caucasian descent and the third of Latino/Caucasian descent. The purpose of the research was to demonstrate whether a biracial identity development program would prevent a cultural identity crisis from forming. This was accomplished by measuring the participant’s levels of alienation. The program utilized concepts from social learning theory and incorporated various activities which included, role-modeling, the Kinetic Family Drawing, bibliotherapy, and family meetings. The social environment and cultural factors such as the race of peers, relatives, communities, and friends were examined. Results indicated that the program was not as effective as previously hypothesized. However, results also showed that this may have been due to the way the program outcome was measured.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
  • Statement of the Problem
  • Procedures
  • Definitions
  • Implications of the Study
  • Significance of the Study
• CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
  • Intermarried Couples
  • Biracial Offspring
    • A Model of Ethnic Identity Development
    • Physical Appearance
  • Counseling Interracial Families and their Children
    • Principles of Working with Interracial Couples
    • Implications for Counselors Working with Biracial Child
  • Biracial Research
    • Biracial Identity Development
  • Therapy and Biracial Identity Development
  • Social Learning Theory
  • Alienation
  • Conclusion
• CHAPTER THREE: METHOD
  • Restatement of the Major Research Question
  • Research Design
  • Participants
  • Protection of Human Subjects
  • Procedures
  • Treatment
    • Week 1
    • Week 2
    • Week 3
    • Week 4
    • Week 5
  • Instrumentation
    • Structured Interview:
    • The MEIM
  • Reliability
    • Structured Interview:
    • The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure
  • Validity:
  • Data Collection
    • Structured Interview
    • Revised Version of the MEIM:
    • Alienation Log
  • Data Analysis
    • Structured Interview
    • Revised Version of the MEIM
    • Alienation Log
• CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
  • Alienation Scores
    • Participant 1
    • Participant 2
    • Participant 3
  • Revised MEIM Scores
  • Social Validation Observations
    • Participant 1
      • Week 1-Baseline
      • Week 2
      • Week 3
      • Week 4
      • Week 5
      • Feedback Session
    • Participant 2
      • Week 1-Baseline
      • Week 2
      • Week 3
      • Week 4
      • Week 5
      • Feedback Session
    • Participant 3
      • Week 1-Baseline
      • Week 2
      • Week 3
      • Week 4
      • Week 5
      • Feedback Session
  • Summary
• SECTION FIVE: DISCUSSION
  • Limitations of the Study
    • Internal Validity
  • Recommendations
  • Implications for Practice
  • Conclusion
• APPENDICES
• REFERENCES

Purchase the dissertation here.