African American adolescent males' perceptions of their community resources and constraints: A longitudinal analysis

Abstract

The research study investigated African American adolescent males' perceptions of their community resources and constraints. The participants were drawn from a sample of African American adolescents participating in a cross‐sectional longitudinal study in a large Southeastern American city. Research findings for two waves of data collection are reported [(8th, 9th, & 10th graders) and (10th, 11th, & 12th graders)]. The measures used were a combination of qualitative and quantitative instruments. The results from qualitative analyses indicated that adolescent males communicated with significant adults when confronted with negative experiences. Also, adolescent males reported awareness of negative neighborhood characteristics like drugs and violence. However, when students were asked about barriers that would keep them from reaching their life goals, over 2/3 of the sample had positive goal expectations. The measures used in the quantitative were subjected to reliability and validity checks. The instruments used had alphas above the .70 standard. The measures were The Black Male Experiences Measure, a revised‐Machismo Measure and a Revised‐Hassles Measure. The year 03 & 05 revised‐Machismo Measure (referred to as the Bravado Construct) was the dependent variable. Measures of daily hassles and negative/positive experiences were used to predict exaggerated bravado attitudes in males (F (4, 116) = 8.09, p > .001). The variance accounted for in the model was 19.64%. The implications of the study support beliefs that negative attitudes are learned and are associated with negative contextual experiences. Exaggerated male identity attitudes may be coping strategies for survival in high‐risk environments. Suggestions for prevention and intervention programs are given. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Interaction Between Race and Gender and Effect on Implicit Racial Bias Against Blacks

“…Black males have been stereotyped as aggressive and anti-intellectual. 34,35,74,75 Black men have been also stereotyped as "endangered, aggressive, angry, superhuman, subhuman, lazy, hyperactive, jailed, and paroled, on probation, lost, loveless, incorrigible, or just simply self-destructive". 76,77 In line with subordinate male target hypothesis, racial discrimination may be mostly a male to male phenomenon.…”

“…[29][30][31][32] There is growing evidence suggesting that exposure and vulnerability to racial bias is a function of the intersection of race and gender, with Black men having higher exposure and vulnerability to discrimination than Black women. 17,22,[33][34][35] In addition to exposure, 17 the intersection of race and gender also alters harmful effects of discrimination. 23,[36][37][38][39] In a short cohort, an increase in discrimination was associated with a subsequent increase in depression of male but not female Blacks, 23 a finding which could be replicated over longer periods.…”

Measuring Neighborhood: A Conundrum for Human Services Researchers and Practitioners

“…However, this is not always the case as some studies utilize all quantitative measures of neighborhood that provide data on varying components of the construct neighborhood. Studies that have taken a mixed methods or mixed measures route to measuring the construct neighborhood have proven fruitful (Bass and Lambert 2004;Korbin et al 1998;Cunningham 1999;Kingston et al 1999;Perkins and Taylor 1996;Seidman et al 1998). In this section, I review the measures employed in a couple of these studies.…”

Disparities in Mental Health Service Utilization among Low-Income African American Adolescents: Closing the Gap by Enhancing Practitioner’s Competence

“…These relationships are dynamic and interactive but rarely discussed from a treatment perspective by white providers. The relationship between an interactive influence of identity and competence processes during adolescent development is under-studied and frequently misunderstood (Cunningham, 1999, Spencer, Swanson, & Cunningham, 1991Spencer, Dupree, & Swanson, 1996).…”