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Previous studies have demonstrated that bilingualism among Latinos in the United States may not necessarily result in negative status attainment consequences. Such studies have typically overlooked gender differences in the consequences of bilingualism. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study (N=866 females; 737 males), we analyzed gender differences in how bilingualism among Latino families (as experienced in childhood and adolescence) may affect the status attainment of young adults. Results indicated that females were more substantially affected by language use and ability in the family context than males. The findings suggest that gender roles within Latino families are interwoven with the effects of bilingualism. Practice and policy implications include how schools and educators must address the gendered nature of bilingualism.

The growth of the US latino population is a source of concern for many white Americans, who assert this means the death of the US way of life and the English language. This racialized rhetoric masks an attempt to maintain the pre-eminence of the language of the dominant group over latinos and thus helps whites to sustain their political-economic domination. Using interviews with seventy-two middle-class latinos in seven US states, we document five strategies employed by the whites in everyday interaction to discourage latinos' heritage language use and resistance to such discrimination. Finally, we discuss ideological elements in US culture that hide the racism in these language struggles. Keywords: Latinos; Hispanics; language; Spanish; discrimination; oppression.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2008.00220.x Byline: Joe R. Feagin (1), Jose A. Cobas (2) Abstract: When North American slavery was established in the 1600s, an interpretive perspective was developed that sought to justify the institution of African American slavery. This composite perspective, a 'white racial frame,' was later extended by whites to other racial groups such as Latinos/as. This racial frame, which has become white 'common sense,' includes important racial stereotypes, understandings, images, and inclinations to act. Various forms of this racial framing exist among different U.S. racial groups, but a strong white racial frame has prevailed because whites have long had the power and the resources to impose this reality. A hegemonic situation occurs when people of color consent in various ways to this white racial framing and common sense. This acceptance varies. We discuss four forms of consent to white racial framing that appear in our in-depth interviews in a national sample of Latinos/as. Three forms reference Latinos: acceptance of elements of the racial frame, active enactment of the racial frame, and internalized violence. The fourth use of racial framing is directed by Latinos at African Americans. Author Affiliation: (1)Texas A&M University (2)Arizona State University

This study sought to determine how several child-rearing behaviors within the Chinese parent-adolescent relationship were predictive of youthful sell-esteem through either collectivistic or individualistic socialization approaches. Theoretically based relationships were tested with structural equation modeling to examine whether dimensions of parental behavior (i.e., support, reasoning, monitoring, and punitiveness) influenced the self esteem of Chinese adolescents through the mediating influences of either conformity (i.e., collectivism) or autonomy (i.e., individualism) in reference to parents. The sample for this study consisted of 497 adolescents from Beijing, China, ranging in age from 12-19 years of age. Data were acquired with self-report questionnaires administered in school classrooms. Results provided support for parental behaviors as predictors of self-esteem development through individualistic patterns of socialization. Although collectivistic parent-adolescent patterns did not predict the self-esteem of Chinese adolescents, several results supported a collectivistic conception of socialization through significant relationships involving parental behaviors as predictors of adolescent conformity to parents. Some results of this study highlight the significance of parental support and dimensions of moderate parental control (e.g., reasoning and monitoring) within the Chinese parent-adolescent relationship, while identifying only a minimal role for punitive behavior. KEYWORDS. Chinese parent-adolescent relations, Chinese self-esteem, Chinese parental behavior, collectivism, individualism

Parents' child-rearing behaviors have been identified as major sources of influence on the self-esteem of adolescents from Western societies and Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. The pattern of relationships found in samples of Hong Kong adolescents has been similar to the pattern found among samples of U.S. adolescents, but contrary to what might be expected in collectivistic societies such as mainland China. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to test specific dimensions of parenting behaviors as possible predictors of adolescents' self-esteem in mainland China. Self-report data were acquired for this study from 480 adolescents who attended secondary schools located in Beijing. Results indicated that patterns of socialization between parents and adolescents in mainland China were similar to those found in the United States, although explanations for these results may differ from those characteristic of the United States and other Western societies. Reasoning, monitoring, and autonomy-granting behavior by Chinese parents were positive predictors, whereas `punitiveness was a negative predictor of Chinese adolescents' self-esteem (both males and females). Contrasting with patterns commonly found in the United States was the finding that parental support was not a predictor of Chinese adolescents' self-esteem.

If we consider Marx an economist, then Weber and Simmel were the first major sociologists to devote considerable attention to the causes and consequences of the economic behavior of religious and ethnic groups. As is known, one of Weber's major interests was the part played by different religious groups in the development of rational capitalism in the West (Weber 1958). Weber concluded that adherents of Calvinism and other Protestant sects were possessed of a worldly asceticism which was highly consonant with the requirements of modern capitalism. Elsewhere, Weber pondered a related issue, to wit, why "no modern and distinctively industrial bourgeoisie of any significance emerged among the Jews" (1964, p. 249). Weber's answer adduced, among other things, that a serious study of Jewish law was more compatible with such pursuits as moneylending and that the institution of the dowry "favored the establishing of the Jewish groom at marriage as a small merchant" (1964, p. 255). Another reason why, in Weber's view, industrial production was not a favored activity among Jews was the dual ethic: "what is prohibited in relation to one's brothers is permitted in relation to strangers" (1964, p. 250). As a result of the dual ethic, the Jew, unlike the Calvinist, found it "difficult... to demonstrate his ethical merit by means of characteristically modern business behavior" (1964, p. 252).As for Simmel, he saw the European Jews' tendency to engage in trade as being inextricably related to their status as "strangers" in society. As he put it (1964, p. 403): Throughout the history of economics the stranger everywhere appears as the trader, or the trader as stranger... Trade can always absorb more people than primary production; it is, therefore, the sphere indicated for the stranger, who intrudes as a supernumerary, so to speak, into a group in which the economic positions are actually occupied -- the classical example is the history of European Jews.The impact of Weber's and, especially, Simmel's pioneering ideas regarding ethnicity and economic behavior is discernible early in U.S. sociology. The notion of the "trader as a stranger" is found in the work of Park (1950a, 1950b), Wirth (1928), and Stonequist (1937). Becker's book (1956) devoted an entire chapter to "middleman trading peoples," in which he discusses, among other things, the concept of the "dual ethic." For reasons not entirely clear, interest in the sociology of ethnic economic behavior remained dormant for a while, but reappeared in the 1950's (Cahnman 1957; Rinder 1958; Stryker 1959; Blalock 1967). This interest persists today under the leadership of Bonacich, Light, and Portes, among others. As a result, a considerable body of writings has emerged. Although this literature has added to our knowledge, it suffers from some problems. There are issues which have not been explored sufficiently, discrepancies regarding important concepts, contradictions, and dubious assumptions. In brief, the field of study seems to be in need of careful reexamination. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate such a reasses- sment.

The role played by the Latinos' race in assimilation to the American society is discussed. Studies reveal that when Latinos marry outside their own national-origin groups, Whites tended to marry non-Latino Whites, but Nonwhites tended to marry other Latino Nonwhites.

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model designed to predict risk behavior (i.e., cigarette and/or alcohol use) in a sample of Mexican American females who were pregnant and ranged in age from adolescence to early .adulthood. The model consisted of six hypothesized predictors-acculturation status, intergenerational family conflict, acculturative stress, educational attainment, household income, and age of respondent, which were proposed as antecedents of risk behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to test both the direct and indirect effects for a set of proposed antecedents to the tendency for Mexican American females to engage in risk behaviors. Several of the hypothesized relationships were supported, with the strongest predictors of risk behavior being acculturation status, intergenerational family conflict, and acculturative stress. An important conclusion was that risk behavior by Mexican American females increased as they became more acculturated to the social circumstances of the U.S. Another notable result was that risk behavior increased among Mexican American females as they experienced higher levels of intergenerational conflict within their families.