Below the Surface

Below the Surface
Author: Deborah Rivas-Drake
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2021-06-08
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0691217130

A guide to the latest research on how young people can develop positive ethnic-racial identities and strong interracial relations Today’s young people are growing up in an increasingly ethnically and racially diverse society. How do we help them navigate this world productively, given some of the seemingly intractable conflicts we constantly hear about? In Below the Surface, Deborah Rivas-Drake and Adriana Umaña-Taylor explore the latest research in ethnic and racial identity and interracial relations among diverse youth in the United States. Drawing from multiple disciplines, including developmental psychology, social psychology, education, and sociology, the authors demonstrate that young people can have a strong ethnic-racial identity and still view other groups positively, and that in fact, possessing a solid ethnic-racial identity makes it possible to have a more genuine understanding of other groups. During adolescence, teens reexamine, redefine, and consolidate their ethnic-racial identities in the context of family, schools, peers, communities, and the media. The authors explore each of these areas and the ways that ideas of ethnicity and race are implicitly and explicitly taught. They provide convincing evidence that all young people—ethnic majority and minority alike—benefit from engaging in meaningful dialogues about race and ethnicity with caring adults in their lives, which help them build a better perspective about their identity and a foundation for engaging in positive relationships with those who are different from them. Timely and accessible, Below the Surface is an ideal resource for parents, teachers, educators, school administrators, clergy, and all who want to help young people navigate their growth and development successfully.

Exploration of Ethnic and Ego Identity Development in Black Americans

Exploration of Ethnic and Ego Identity Development in Black Americans
Author: Alonzo DeCarlo
Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
Total Pages: 60
Release: 2009-10
Genre:
ISBN: 9783838314846

Understanding how African American youth appear to manage the struggles of race and ethnic consciousness as well as achieving the normal developmental outcomes of adolescence associated with ego identity requires extensive research. More study is necessary to ascertain how ego, racial, and ethnic identity evolves over time and the nature of this development in other areas of African American adolescents lives. Afro-centric theories on development with empirical support would make major contributions to our understanding of identity development for African American adolescents. Studies that capture the cultural subtleties of identity development in African American youth will make tremendous contributions to the intervention and prevention strategies for mental health, judicial and educational practitioners working with this population.

Who Am I?

Who Am I?
Author: Olutunde E. Clarke
Publisher:
Total Pages: 218
Release: 1998
Genre: African Americans
ISBN:

Blacked Out

Blacked Out
Author: Signithia Fordham
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 426
Release: 1996-03-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 022622998X

This innovative portrait of student life in an urban high school focuses on the academic success of African-American students, exploring the symbolic role of academic achievement within the Black community and investigating the price students pay for attaining it. Signithia Fordham's richly detailed ethnography reveals a deeply rooted cultural system that favors egalitarianism and group cohesion over the individualistic, competitive demands of academic success and sheds new light on the sources of academic performance. She also details the ways in which the achievements of sucessful African-Americans are "blacked out" of the public imagination and negative images are reflected onto black adolescents. A self-proclaimed "native" anthropologist, she chronicles the struggle of African-American students to construct an identity suitable to themselves, their peers, and their families within an arena of colliding ideals. This long-overdue contribution is of crucial importance to educators, policymakers, and ethnographers.

Racial Identity Development for Black Adolescents: Over Time and At School

Racial Identity Development for Black Adolescents: Over Time and At School
Author: Amirah Lindsey Saafir
Publisher:
Total Pages: 95
Release: 2020
Genre:
ISBN:

This dissertation consists of two studies that explore the development of ethnic racial identity for Black adolescents during middle and high school. Both studies draw from a longitudinal school-based study of about 6,000 ethnically diverse early adolescents' social and psychological adjustment in 26 schools that varied in ethnic diversity. The analytic sample for this dissertation consisted of only students that self-identified as Black/African American. In Study 1, I examined the developmental trajectory of growth in 3 parameters of ethnic racial identity--ethnic pride, ethnic exploration, and out group orientation--from 6th-12th grade. Piecewise latent growth curve models revealed that each aspect of ethnic racial identity followed a unique pattern of growth. While ethnic pride and out group orientation seemed to both grow in middle and high school, ethnic pride was relatively stable in middle school and then showed a pattern of growth in high school. Furthermore, both ethnic pride and ethnic exploration showed a significant drop at the start of high school. In Study 2, I focused in on ethnic pride to explore school ethnic context as a potential explanation for changes in ethnic pride over time, especially at the transition to high school. I considered a variety of aspects of the school ethnic context including actual ethnic representation of Black students, perceived representation, and change in representation. I also explored the impact of racial discrimination as a psychological aspect of the ethnic context. Results from latent growth curve models revealed that only perceived ethnic representation impacted ethnic pride. I found that perceptions of declining representation from middle school to high school predicted the drop in ethnic pride at the start of high school. Furthermore, perceiving more same ethnic peers in 9th grade predicted a faster recovery for ethnic pride during high school. Findings from this dissertation point to an important relationship between school ethnic context and ethnic racial identity.

Handbook of Race, Racism, and the Developing Child

Handbook of Race, Racism, and the Developing Child
Author: Stephen M. Quintana
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 524
Release: 2008-07-10
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0470189800

Filling a critical void in the literature, Race, Racism, and the Developing Child provides an important source of information for researchers, psychologists, and students on the recent advances in the unique developmental and social features of race and racism in children's lives. Thorough and accessible, this timely reference draws on an international collection of experts and scholars representing the breadth of perspectives, theoretical traditions, and empirical approaches in this field.