Understanding the Black male experience: Recommendations for clinical, community, and school settings

Abstract

The characterizations of Blackness and maleness are stark and pervasive throughout the theoretical and scientific literature. Too often, Black males occupy a vicarious and distinctive position in American society. The depictions of Black males are rarely casted in a positive manner. Instead, an overpowering image of incompetence, unintelligence, complacency, and propensity to result to violence consumes the livelihood of Black males in the United States. Thus, despite these perceptions, they have been resilient, successful, and stubbornly resistant to negative typecasts. Moreover, there has to be a better awareness and understanding of the educational challenges and psychological and social struggles that Black males endure as “they define who they are, build and maintain relationships, cope with racism, and search for strengths in the African American way of being”. Further, more research is needed to better support Black males in clinical, community, and school settings. This special issue on the Black male experience is a step in this direction. To that end, the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development (JMCD) presents five theoretical, qualitative, and quantitative articles focusing specifically on the Black male experiences in both clinical and educational contexts. Each article, in its own way, amplifies the importance of culturally responsive approaches.

A Rites of Passage Counseling Group: Black Panther as a Metaphor of Strength and Resiliency for Young Black Males

“…Even with the ratification of the law, the next 100 years Jim Crow rules sustained an aura of psychological oppression for Black people. While some argue these past events are not relevant in modern society (Owens, 2019), a more robust intellectual stance indicates otherwise (Burt et al, 2023;Ford et al, 2023;Williams et al, 2023). So called "Black codes" (laws created to curtail Black freedom and autonomy) coupled with Jim Crow led to institutionalized racism which is prevalent today (Raheem & Hart, 2019).…”

“…A salient example of how discrimination manifests in AP policies is from Ford et al (2023) These implicitly biased policies have led to a deterioration in educational attainment for many Black boys (Fletcher Jr., 2023;Hines et al, 2020). Thus, the biological integrates with social and cultural factors, impacting behavior, perceptions, and wellbeing (Burt et al, 2023).…”

“…While systemic racism is obviously an underlying factor, other issues are also prevalent, such as missed opportunities that could potentially enhance the academic potential of Black boys (Fletcher Jr., 2023). While it was difficult to experience and endure, a hopeful outcome of George Floyd's unnecessary death was that systemic change could occur (Burt et al, 2023;Edwin & Daniels, 2022). In some professions, this phenomenon occurred with organizations self-examining and admitting their role in institutional racism.…”

“…Moreover, when taking into consideration restrictive state laws, school counselors and other professionals have an obligation to protect clients (ACA, 2023;ASCA, 2022;Burt et al, 2023). Thus, a rites of passages counseling group centered on attributes of Black Panther does offer school counselors a contemporary, culturally-affirming, research-supported intervention (Bailey & Davis, 2018;Bucciferro, 2021;Raheem & Hart, 2019).…”

“…School counselors need to understand the historical significance of systemic racism in the U.S., but must not think it is the only factor dominant in participants lives (Day-Vines et al, 2022). There are many features of Black males' lives (i.e., intersectionality), and attempting to reduce them to a single element is problematic and demeaning (Burt et al, 2023). Many well-intentioned school counselors attempt to be culturally competent, but instead come across as pandering, or insincere (Bryan et al, 2017).…”