Cultivating a Morality of Care in African American Adolescents: A Culture-Based Model of Violence Prevention

1995 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janie Ward
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Violence Prevention ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Oppression ◽  
Black Racial Identity ◽  
Racial Solidarity

In this article, Janie Ward looks at the historical traditions of caring, interdependence, and valuing justice within the African American community. She posits that what has been lost to African American youth enmeshed in the violence of U.S. society is an awareness that aggression is a violation of the care and connectedness implicit in the notion of Black racial identity and community. Ward concludes that a solution to youth violence may lie in reconnecting African American teens to the communal values and traditions that have allowed Blacks to develop racial identity and racial solidarity in spite of their economic and social oppression in the United States.

African American Racial Identity and Learning

Education ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank C. Worrell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Academic Achievement ◽  
African American ◽  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
The United States ◽  
European American ◽  
Black Racial Identity ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Racial identity is one of the most frequently studied cultural identities in the United States, and it is examined most frequently in relation to African Americans. Racial identity is also examined in European American samples to a lesser extent, and there is a growing literature on the racial identity of biracial and multiracial individuals. Racial identity and ethnic identity are similar constructs, and there are some researchers who do not distinguish between the constructs, using the terms and the measurement instruments interchangeably. However, as the instruments are developed in relation to theoretical models that speak to one or the other construct specifically (i.e., ethnic or racial identity), this perspective is not adopted in this article. Thus this article focuses solely on racial identity as a construct and does not include literature on ethnic identity or studies that used instruments developed to measure ethnic identity. The relationship between racial identity and learning, and more specifically academic achievement, is typically studied in the context of the achievement gap among racial and ethnic groups in the United States, and is most closely associated with the achievement gap between African American and European American students. Thus, studies of the relationship of racial identity to learning typically involve black racial identity but not white racial identity. In most of the scholarship in this area, researchers examine the relationship of black racial identity attitudes to academic achievement or other academic constructs (e.g., motivation). Additionally, two of the preeminent theories of underachievement in African Americans and other underachieving groups—that is, cultural ecological theory and stereotype threat—implicate racial identity as a contributing factor. Although there is a strong belief that racial identity is related to learning, there is still considerable debate about the contexts in which this relationship is manifested and the strength and explanatory power of the relationship, and the evidence in favor of a direct relationship between the racial identity and learning is mixed at best.

scholarly journals “You’ve Gotta be Careful”: Familial Messages Regarding Sexual Behavior and Sexual Relationships among African American Adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 1146
Author(s):  
Gary Harper ◽  
Darnell Motley ◽  
April Timmons Tyler ◽  
Donald Tyler ◽  
Joseph Catania ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
African American ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
Family Members ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sexual Relationships ◽  
Sexual Decision Making

Background: Research on the sexual behaviors of African American youth has primarily focused on associated risks, with a dearth of studies examining a fuller representation of African American adolescents’ sexual lives. This study explored the range of messages African American adolescents receive from family members regarding sexual behavior and sexual relationships. Methods: Participants were 52 sexually experienced African American youth (male = 32, female = 20) between the ages of 15 and 17 recruited from community-based organizations in the United States. Youth participated in individual in-depth qualitative interviews, and data were analyzed using a phenomenological framework. Results: Participants received a variety of messages about sexual behavior and sexual relationships from a range of family members including parents, siblings, grandmothers, aunts/uncles, and cousins. Types of messages clustered into three domains: sexual decision-making, quantity and quality of sexual activity, and sexual health promotion; with themes and sub-themes emerging within each area. Conclusion: Gender differences in the types of messages received are explored, and applications of the findings to the development of family-involved community interventions that promote sexual and reproductive health are discussed.

Emotional Girls and Rational Boys: The Gendering of Violence Among Urban, African American Youth

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toya Z. Like ◽  
Jennifer E. Cobbina
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
Symbolic Interaction ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Neighborhood Context ◽  
Disadvantaged Communities ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Interaction Approach

Much scholarship has given primacy to neighborhood context and its effect on youth violence within disadvantaged communities. The structural features of these environments, including various forms of disadvantage such as extreme poverty, unemployment and family disruption, have resulted in cultural adaptations that embrace the use of violence and the construction of violent identities as a means of survival and protection especially among youth. We adhere to and contribute to this perspective by recognizing the contributions of the symbolic interaction approach that underscores the process by which these identities are constructed. Recent developments in this area have emphasized the intersecting inequalities of race, gender and class that shape individuals’ understandings of and perceptions of violence. We draw on these works and analyze in-depth interviews with 72 urban, African American adolescents to examine the process by which they perceive and negotiate violence (and thus construct violent identities) and we further consider whether these constructions of violence are gender-specific.

Metacognitive Knowledge, Skills, and Awareness: A Possible Solution to Enhancing Academic Achievement in African American Adolescents

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-639
Author(s):  
Annie K. Smith ◽  
Sheila Black ◽  
Lisa M. Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
African American ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
African American Students ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
African American Adolescents ◽  
The United States ◽  
Metacognitive Knowledge ◽  
Future Research ◽  
American Students

The resegregation of public schools in the United States continues to place African American students at an academic disadvantage with—oftentimes—limited educational resources and fewer qualified teachers. Providing African American students with skills and strategies to succeed has never been more urgent. Metacognition, often defined simply as “thinking about thinking,” is a construct and process that may explain how students can improve and control their thinking and learning. Given the educational inequality African American students often face, providing strategies—with which they have control—may help empower students to better navigate and make the best of their daily academic experiences and environment composed of limited physical and human resources. Toward this end, recent research on metacognition looks promising and may be one viable option to enhance academic achievement among students. In this article, we consider three related areas that inform African American youth educational experiences: (a) the history of the educational context which African American youth have long faced, (b) the laws that have historically and currently buttress and inform the educational landscape for African American youth, and (c) one potential solution (i.e., metacognitive knowledge, skills, and awareness) to reduce or ameliorate some of the problems outlined in the history and laws that have been implicated in the low levels of academic achievement among some African American youth. Following the review of these related literature bases, we offer recommendations on how the extant literature bases may inform directions for future research that is focused on metacognition and that is ethically and culturally responsive.

Racial identity and psychosocial outcomes among African American adolescents

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Caldwell ◽  
T. Chavous ◽  
R. Sellers ◽  
L. Kohn Wood ◽  
M. Zimmerman
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Psychosocial Outcomes ◽  
African American Adolescents

Exploring the Impact of Skin Tone Perception on Race-Related Outcomes and Familial Functioning Among African American Youth: Implications for African-Centered Interventions

2021 ◽  
pp. 104438942110271
Author(s):  
Husain Lateef ◽  
Heather Smyth ◽  
Maya Williams ◽  
Adrian Gale ◽  
Ed-Dee Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
African American Youth ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Skin Tone ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Racism and its ramifications are salient societal-level factors that detrimentally affect African American youth and families. Few studies have investigated how African American youth experience discrimination within families and society and colorism’s impact on racial identity, despite extensive racial discrimination research. We assessed whether the perceptions of African American youth of their skin tone affected their racial identity, familial functioning, and everyday discrimination, using the National Survey of American Life–Adolescent Supplement data. We found no significant relationships among skin tone perception, racial identity, familial functioning, or everyday experiences of discrimination. Conversely, age and gender differences were significant predictors of racial identity, family functioning, and discrimination reports. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for social work practice.

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