Increasing prosocial behavior and academic achievement among adolescent African American males

African American adolescents disproportionately perform poorly compared to peers in both behavioral and academic aspects of their educational experience. In this study, African American male students participated in an after-school program involving tutoring, group counseling, and various enrichment activities. All students were assessed regarding their behavioral changes using attendance, discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions reports. The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT) and the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA) were used to assess the adolescents' improvement in their skills in reading and mathematics. After the end of the two-year program, initial results showed that the adolescents had increased their daily attendance, decreased discipline referrals, and had no suspensions or expulsions. These results also indicated that although the students entered the program at different skill levels, they were assessed to have the ability to function at their appropriate grade level. Their average improvement in basic skills was at least two grade levels. Implications drawn from the findings include: (a) there is a need to emphasize appropriate assessment prior to beginning a skill improvement program; (b) a need to emphasize the use of individualized learning plans and tutors; and (c) a need to further investigate the role of assessment and intervention in after-school programming in order to close the achievement gap.     

Race and gender matter: a multidimensional approach to conceptualizing and measuring stress in African American women

Based on prior research and theory, the authors constructed a multidimensional model of stress in African American women comprised of race-related, gender-related, and generic stress. Exposure to and appraisal of these three types of stress were combined into a higher-order global stress factor. Using structural equation modeling, the fit of this stress factor and its ability to predict distress symptoms were examined in 189 socioeconomically diverse African American women aged 21 to 78. Results support the multidimensional conceptualization and operationalization of stress. Race-related, gender-related, and generic stress contributed equally to the global stress factor, and global stress predicted a significant amount of variance in distress symptoms and intensity. This model exhibited better fit than a model without a global stress factor, in which each stress component predicted distress directly. Furthermore, race-related, gender-related, and generic stress did not contribute to distress beyond their representation in the global stress factor. These findings illustrate that stress related to central elements of identity, namely race and gender, cohere with generic stress to define the stress experience of African American women.     

African American adolescent mothers and grandmothers: A multigenerational approach to parenting

This study is an adaptation and extension of Apfel and Seitz’s (Family Relations, 40(4), 421–429, 1991) models of adolescent parenting and adolescent-grandmother relationships to a sample of 148 African American, first-time adolescent mothers and their 6-month-old infants. The Parental Supplemental model, in which adolescent mothers and grandmothers shared caregiving, described 63% of Apfel and Seitz’s (1991) sample and 66% of the current sample. Shared caregiving was not associated with conflict in the adolescent mother–grandmother relationship. Adolescent mothers who had caregiving responsibilities and a supportive adolescent-grandmother relationship also reported competence in their parenting role. Findings provide support for Apfel and Seitz’s Parental Apprentice model, in which young mothers gain competence through direct caregiving experience in the context of a supportive relationship.     

Child Rearing in African American Families: A Study of the Disciplinary Practices of African American Parents

This study examined the disciplinary patterns and practices of 121 African American parents. Results indicated that the context of the disciplinary episode influenced how African American parents disciplined their children. Implications for counselor education and practice are discussed.     

Effects of mothers' racial socialization and relationship quality on African American youth's school engagement: a profile approach

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between profiles of adolescents' reports of their mothers' racial socialization (e.g., racial pride and racial barrier messages) and feelings toward their mothers' parenting (e.g., providing a warm, positive climate; using child-centered strategies) and youth engagement. This research addresses the paucity of literature that examines the impact of mothers' parenting as a buffer to declines in school engagement for African American youth. Given that parenting is embedded in a specific cultural niche, this study examines the synergy between racial socialization and mother-child relationship quality. Engagement outcomes consisted of a participant's ability to persist on task in the face of obstacles (task persistence) and their interest and active participation in class (academic engagement). Latent profile analysis on the sample of 94 self-identified African American youth (ages 11-14) revealed three profiles of racial socialization and affective relationship quality. The profiles and their associations with adolescent engagement are discussed. The findings support the importance of examining racial messages in tandem with broad parenting.     

African American Women in Therapy:

Theoretical and cultural issues related to the treatment of African-American women are explored, with particular emphasis on the utility of two psychological models for use with this group. The Afrocentric and feminist orientations of psychology are examined as they address the unique condition of African American women. A synthesis of these models is proposed to more accurately describe the experiences of African American women, and examples of cultural issues that may emerge in therapy are considered within the context of this integrated model.     

Life-style and substance use among male African American urban adolescents: A cluster analytic approach

Cluster analyzed four variables: school attendance, employment, church attendance, and delinquency, to develop life-style profiles. Data from 218 African-American urban adolescents were used in the study. Five meaningful clusters were retained and subjected to criterion validity analyses using measures of spirituality, participation in a voluntary organization, self-esteem, and friend's substance use. The five clusters were then compared on cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug use. The results suggest that a life-style that includes an adaptive compensatory behavior component may be more adaptive than a life-style that does not include compensatory behavior. For example, youths who left high school before graduation but were involved in church reported less alcohol and substance use than youths who left school and were not involved in any meaningful instrumental activity. Implications for intervention and future research on high-risk behaviors are discussed.     

African American students' ratings of Caucasian and African American counselors varying in racial consciousness

African American college students (63 female, 30 male) rated vignettes of counselors varying in racial consciousness (high vs. low) and race (African American vs. Caucasian). Participants then completed a counselor rating scale and the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Short Form; T. A. Parham & J. E. Helms, 1981). African American counselors were rated more favorably than White counselors, and high racially conscious counselors were rated more favorably than low racially conscious counselors. The African American counselor with high racial consciousness was rated the most favorably. Several significant correlations were found between participants' racial identity attitudes and their ratings of counselors. Implications for the training of both African American and White counselors are considered.     

African American cultural history and reflections on Jung in the African Diaspora

Racism is defined as a psychopathology and the ground in which the covenant of whiteness is rooted and mirrored in the system of apartheid structured by American Constitutional Jurisprudence between 1857 and 1954. This historical period overshadowed Carl Jung's visit to America between 1909 and 1937. The spirit of the times and practices of racism coloured Jung's views, attitudes, and theories about African Americans, just as colonialism coloured his attitudes toward Africa and Africans. Consequently Jung failed to see the African Diaspora and the extraordinary intellectual and artistic period of the Harlem Renaissance (1919‐1929). Its introduction here foregrounds the exceptionalism of African Americans and the cultural continuity of African ancestry. This exceptionalism was not seen by Jung and there have been no attempts to redress its omission from analytical psychology and other sub‐disciplines of Western psychology. Jung's theories of personality and psychoanalysis and his negative projections about primitivism among Africans and African American ‘Negroes’ would have been mediated by knowledge of a legislated American apartheid and the Harlem Renaissance which occurred within the barriers of apartheid. In this paper I posit that culture, kinship libido, and the African principle of Ubuntu are healing modalities that play a critical role in instinct and the relational ground of human psychology and biology, from which culture as an environmental expression constellates around common goals of the human species. Cultural equivalencies and expressions within the wisdom traditions and mythologies of the Africa Diaspora are considered. Specifically, the Bantu principle of Ubuntu or ‘humanity’ is identified as the relational ground in African cultures, while the Kemetic‐Egyptian deity Maat, as an archetypal anima figure and the religio‐mythology offer a transcendent position from which to critique the inequities and constitutional jurisprudence that structured American apartheid. Maat is the personification of truth, justice, balance and weighing of the heart in orderly judicial processes. In her we find the alignment of the spirit and matter in the law and judgement. The paper concludes with reflections on pathways toward healing the psychopathology of racism and recommendations to enhance clinical training and practice.     

Other race recognition: a comparison of black American and African subjects

The ability of black American and black African men to recognize previously seen white male faces was assessed. Relationships between recognition, performance scores and quality of interracial experience were also examined. Black American participants (n = 10) performed significantly better and made fewer false responses than the Nigerian participants (n = 10). Significant positive relationships were found between performance scores and interracial experience. Differential use of cues for discriminating white male faces by both groups was also found.     

Economic pressure in African American families: a replication and extension of the family stress model

This study of 422 two-caregiver African American families, each with a 10-11-year-old focal child (54% girls), evaluated the applicability of the family stress model of economic hardship for understanding economic influences on child development in this population. The findings generally replicated earlier research with European American families. The results showed that economic hardship positively relates to economic pressure in families. Economic pressure was related to the emotional distress of caregivers, which in turn was associated with problems in the caregiver relationship. These problems were related to disrupted parenting practices, which predicted lower positive child adjustment and higher internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The results provide significant support for the family stress model of economic hardship and its generalizability to diverse populations.     

Uncovering the mystery: factors of African American suicide

Traditionally, African Americans have registered lower rates of suicide than other ethnic groups. In the last 20 years this pattern has changed, particularly among young African Americans. To date, the research conducted regarding this phenomenon has been limited for a variety of reasons and previous research has been inconclusive in determining risk factors of African American suicide. The purpose of this paper is to identify risk and protective factors specific to African American suicide. To determine the factors, the 1993 National Mortality Follow-back Survey was analyzed. The risk factors identified include being under age 35, southern and northeastern residence, cocaine use, firearm presence in home, and threatening others with violence. Some of the protective factors associated with African American suicide include rural residence and educational attainment. These results provide valuable information about completed African American suicides in relation to Whites. Several of these factors are unique to African Americans.     

Participating in Research: Attitudes within the African American Church

We assessed associations between pastor and congregant characteristics and congregant attitudes about research participation among African American churches. Respondents shared their attitudes regarding how willing, ready, and confident they were about research participation. The outcome measure, the index of research preparedness, summed responses across the domains of willingness, readiness, and confidence. Pastor age and pastor educational attainment were independently associated with a congregants’ higher index of research preparedness. Young and educated pastors were significantly associated with congregant attitudes about participation preparedness, a finding that highlights the importance of the pastor regarding congregant research participation decisions.     

African American Muslims: Intersectionality and Cultural Competence

Although African American Muslims constitute 40% of all American‐born Muslims (Pew Research Center, 2011), they are virtually absent from the literature. Increasing the presence of African American Muslims in the literature may improve counselors' cultural competence when working with them. Using intersectional theory, the authors outline the rich history of African American Muslims and highlight ways counselors can improve their cultural and spiritual competence when working with African American Muslims.     

Suicidal Behaviors in the African American Community

This article reviews the risk and protective factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the African American community. The authors provide a brief review of the history of suicide research in African American communities and critique some of the paradigms and underlying assumptions that have made it difficult to address the problem of suicidal behaviors in the African American community. The article also summarizes the articles that are presented in this special edition of the Journal of Black Psychology on suicidality in the African American community.     

African American Adolescent-Caregiver Relationships in a Weight Loss Trial

Successful family-based weight loss interventions for African American adolescents are rare. Parent-adolescent interactions supporting adoption of healthier nutrition and physical activity practices are not well understood. African American caregivers' and adolescents' perspectives on how they worked together to achieve weight loss need further exploration. This study describes the relationships experienced by adolescents and caregivers during the 6-month, evidence-based FIT Families weight loss trial and explores differences between families whose adolescents were successful and unsuccessful with weight loss. Exit interviews conducted with 136 adolescents (age 12–16 years; BMI percentile ≥95) and their caregivers (primarily mothers) were taped and transcribed verbatim. Content and thematic analysis was conducted to explore differences between groups stratified by weight loss. Five adolescent-caregiver relationship patterns emerged which describe dyads working together, working alone, working against each other; caregiver support and caregiver working on self. When relationship patterns were compared between groups stratified by weight loss, three themes emerged: motivation, support, and persistence. Families that achieved the greatest weight loss referred more often to working together to reach weight loss goals, attributed their success to adolescent self-motivation, with engaged caregiver support which allowed families to persist in change efforts. Family relationships involving adolescent autonomy, engaged parental support, and persistence despite challenges, clustered differently among adolescents who were successful at weight loss compared to those who were not. Interventionists trained to reinforce effective adolescent-parent interactions will advance behavioral interventions for families who have typically benefited least in prior interventions.     

Evaluating the generalizability of a fear deficit in psychopathic African American offenders

Laboratory studies of psychopathy have yielded an impressive array of etiologically relevant findings. To date, however, attempts to demonstrate the generalizability of these findings to African American psychopathic offenders have been largely unsuccessful. The fear deficit has long been regarded as the hallmark of psychopathy, yet the generalizability of this association to African American offenders has not been systematically evaluated. In this study, we used an instructed fear paradigm and fear-potentiated startle to assess this deficit and the factors that moderate its expression in African American offenders. Furthermore, we conceptualized psychopathy using both a unitary and a two-factor model, and we assessed the constructs with both interview-based and self-report measures. Regardless of assessment strategy, results provided no evidence that psychopathy relates to fear deficits in African American offenders. Further research is needed to clarify whether the emotion deficits associated with psychopathy in European American offenders are applicable to African American offenders.     

Factor Structure of the Parenting Scale in a Low-Income African American Sample

We evaluated the relative goodness-of-fit of two factor structures of the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O'Leary, Wolf, {&} Acker, 1993) among two samples of low-income African American families. Participants included 271 mother-child dyads from urban and rural areas in the southern and southeastern US, who completed the Parenting Scale along with other measures of parenting style and dyadic relationship. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) indicated that a two-factor solution, comprising Laxness and Overreactivity dimensions, was the better fit to the data. Some direct evidence for convergent validity was provided by a correlation between the Laxness factor of the Parenting Scale and the Firm/Lax Control subscale of the Children's Report of Parenting Behavior Inventory (CRPBI). Results are discussed in term of Brody and Flor's (1998) “no nonsense” parenting style.