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Playing to Win: Baseball as a Racialized Parenting Strategy

Webb, Curtis L, III
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15117986308512

Abstract Details

2017, MA, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Sociology.
What do recreational teams, Cub Scouts, and ballet recitals all have in common? Each of these activities are examples of extracurricular activities (ECA) that parents often enroll their children; one parenting strategy that is important for parents across racial and class lines. This study draws on twenty-five in-depth interviews with parents whose children are in the Cincinnati Urban Youth Academy (CUYA), an extracurricular program centered on developing baseball and softball skills. This study explores if and how parents' racial and class backgrounds, and the gender of the child affect the ways parents perceive children's involvement in ECAs, with a focus on their experiences in CUYA. All of the parents in this study practiced some form of concerted cultivation, a parenting style where parents have their children constantly involved in organized activities to help their development. The findings suggest that parents of different racial backgrounds all sought out racial socialization opportunities through ECAs, but the actual racialization processes varied across racial lines. I also found that a child’s gender affected parents’ thoughts on potential program benefits and involvement in ECAs. Parents of girls stressed the importance of character development and being involved in a diverse set of ECAs, while parents of boys stressed physical development and involvement in fewer similar ECAs. As child involvement in ECAs continues to increase, understanding the role of ECAs as a parenting strategy is important because it is commonly associated with good parenting. This project provides evidence that parents see ECAs, and more specifically CUYA, as more than a simple baseball or softball program, but a racial socialization tool, network builder, skill booster, and an organization to set up their children for future success.
Littisha| Bates, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Erynn Casanova, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
87 p.
Sociology
Race; Parenting; Concerted Cultivation; Extracurricular Activities

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Webb, III, C. L. (2017). Playing to Win: Baseball as a Racialized Parenting Strategy [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15117986308512

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Webb, III, Curtis. Playing to Win: Baseball as a Racialized Parenting Strategy. 2017. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15117986308512.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Webb, III, Curtis. "Playing to Win: Baseball as a Racialized Parenting Strategy." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin15117986308512

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin15117986308512
210
© 2017, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Playing to Win: Baseball as a Racialized Parenting Strategy by Curtis L Webb III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.