This study employs the Triple Quandaryframework as a paradigmfor describing the cultural orientations of 50 inner-city African American sixth graders. The implications of the relative endorsement of these orientations and some specific expressionsfor social outcomes of empathy, Machiavellianism, delinquency, and aggression were also examined. Three cultural orientations-Anglocultural, marginalized minority, and Afrocultural as well as the component Afrocultural expressions of spirituality, communalism, and affect were operationalized. Results indicated greater endorsement of an Afrocultural orientation than of either of the other two. Greaterdivergence betweenAfrocultural variables and the other cultural orientations were associated with lower levels of undesirable attitudes and behaviors. This was particularly true of an Anglocultural orientation. Findings are discussed in terms of the methodological limitations and the apparent negative impact of an Anglocultural orientation among African American children. Directions forfuture research are considered.

Communalism is an Afrocultural dimension that highlights the fundamental interdependence of people. This two-part study provided data on the construct validity of a newly developed Communalism Scale by exploring its relationship with indexes of collectivistic and individualistic tendencies. One hundred and ten African American college students completed the Communalism Scale and indexes of self-concept and interpersonal attitudes. Eighty-six students returned to complete measures of values and in-group identifications. Results conformed largely to expectations. Communalism Scale scores were negatively correlated with individualistic attitudes. Positive relationships werefound between communalism scores and collectivistic attitudes, values, and perceived similarity to parents, relatives, and ethnic group. Discussion focuses on the implications for future research using the Communalism Scale.

Two studies explored an Afrocultural social ethos: its component orientations of spirituality, affect, and communalism; and their connections with psychosocial functioning among inner-city African American youth in Grades 5 through 7. Positive endorsement and moderate positive correlations among the orientations were found in each study. In Study 1, an Afrocultural social ethos was predictive of more cooperative and more competitive academic attitudes and lower levels of a Machiavellian attitude. When orientations were examined, spirituality emerged as a positive predictor of two academic attitudes. In Study 2, an Afrocultural social ethos was predictive of empathy and a more altruistic view of human nature. At the level of orientations, affect was a unique predictor of these variables. Gender-not cultural ethos or orientations-was predictive of peer-ratedprosocial behaviors. Discussionfocuses on implicationsforfuture research on culture and the social development of African American youth.

Despite the high prevalence of psychiatric and substance use disorders in this population, many remain untreated. The consequences of terminating welfare assistance are worthy of further investigation, given the potential for adverse effects on both mothers and their young children.

This article provides an account of a 10-year collaborative documentation of community leadership in an African American community on the South side of Chicago. The stories are oriented to several critical incidents in the life course of the collaboration. They are told from the perspectives of one university professor, four graduate students, and one community leader. Together they provide an account of how this research was shaped by the interactions of the research team with members of the community, how research questions emerged, methodologies were developed, ways of gathering data were tried and tested, and interpretations of data unfolded. Special attention is given to the ways in which the process and products of this research contributed to the community's own process of leadership development. The stories also discuss the various roles participants in this collaboration played both in the academic arena and in the community, and how they experienced gender, race, nationality, and social status.