Examining the Relationships between Racial-Ethnic Socialization, Racial Identity, and African American Youth’s Academic Outcomes: An Analysis with Implications for Social Work Research, Practice and Policy

[摘要] Compared to their counterparts, African American youth on the average, are significantly disadvantaged in the American Public K-12 education. Examination of the resources, and processes that are key to educational success suggests that African American youth underachievement may potentially be driven by disparities in access to opportunities, and processes at multiple levels of their educational experience. While the vast majority of the research has documented and hypothesized about the problem and the causes of underachievement in Black youth, few have focus on identifying culturally relevant resources within the African American families and communities to improve the educational experiences and outcomes for these youth especially in social work.In response, the current study employed path analysis, and data from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS) to examine culturally protective and compensatory factors (racial socialization and racial identity) in African Americans, and the mechanisms by which they operate to influence healthy psychosocial adjustment and academic performance. The findings, which revealed previously unexplored mechanisms by which various structures of racial identity reinforce each other, suggest that race-based messages and practices related to the racial/cultural heritage of African Americans in combinations with practices that alert youth to potential discrimination and the strategies to deal with them hold some positive gains in developing positive sense of self that foster healthy psychosocial adjustment and academic performance in Black youth.Additionally, this study highlights the content, the structure, and the processes by which racial identity as a source of strength may be cultivated, transformed, and maintained. Social workers and related disciplines in the applied field stand to foster strength in Black youth if they incorporate racial-ethnic socialization, and advocate for opportunities that support youth’s exploration, development, and commitment to and affirmation of positive racial identity with the strategies to help them live out such identity.

[发布机构] the University of Pittsburgh