Robert J Jagers
Biographic Data
| ID | 87204 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Robert J Jagers |
| GIVEN NAMES | Robert J |
| FAMILY NAME | Jagers |
| SIGNATURE | JAGERS R J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Michigan |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 39 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 573 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Using critical media literacy and Youth-Led research to promote the sociopolitical development of black youth: Strategies from our voices
In this paper Dr. Nkemka Anyiwo shares results from the Our Voices project with Black youth. The goal of that project was to promote the sociopolitical development (SPD) of the young participants b
Socioemotional competence in context: Black adolescent boys' socioemotional competence, neighborhood‐school racial (in)congruence, and social adjustment
The current study examined patterns of Black adolescent boys' socioemotional competence (SEC) in the midst of racial (in)congruence of their neighborhood and school contexts and the associations of these patterns with self- and teacher-reported social adjustment. Data collected from 417 Black adolescent boys in 7th-11th grade were analyzed using a multilevel class analysis to derive student-level classes of SEC and neighborhood racial composition…
Transformative Social and Emotional Learning: Work Notes on an Action Research Agenda
The potential for transformative social and emotional learning (SEL) was conceptualized as a lever in service of equity. This article explains the next steps and working assumptions the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has employed to collectively address the inequities that exist in schools. The proposed research agenda has implications for the continuous improvement of various resources. It also supports the fo…
Incongruent Impressions: Teacher, Parent, and Student Perceptions of Two Black Boys’ School Experiences
For many Black boys, poor academic performance and high rates of school discipline are often related to biases in how they are perceived and treated at school. These biases oftentimes misalign with how Black boys view themselves and how family members perceive them at home. Few studies examine how different stakeholders’ perceptions of Black boys manifest and shape the middle school experience. The current study employed an embedded case study de…
Relating through Oppression: Longitudinal Relations between Parental Racial Socialization, School Racial Climate, Oppressed Minority Ideology, and Empathy in Black Male Adolescents’ Prosocial Developm…
This research explored whether Black male adolescents' (N = 453; M age = 13.72, SD = 1.33) perceptions of parental racial socialization (i.e., behavioral racial socialization) and school racial climate (i.e., equitable school racial climate) were associated with prosocial outcomes (i.e., prosocial behaviors and positive relations with others) across three waves of adolescence. This study also explored whether youth's beliefs about the extent to w…
Considering multiple levels of influence on adjustment in school: Ethnic–racial public regard, peer socialization, and social‐emotional learning practices
Adolescence represents a developmental period of marked increase in the development of ethnic–racial identity (ERI) and the importance and influence of friends. Moreover, scores of studies have revealed that ERI and friendships are influential factors in many different academic and psychosocial outcomes for adolescents. However, the development of these relations between ERI, friendships, and academic and psychosocial adjustment do not occur in a…
The Development of Ethnic-Racial Identity Process and Its Relation to Civic Beliefs among Latinx and Black American Adolescents
Systemic social and emotional learning: Promoting educational success for all preschool to high school students
Social and emotional learning (SEL) has become more central to education because of demand from educators, parents, students, and business leaders alongside rigorous research showing broad, positive impacts for students and adults. However, all approaches to SEL are not equal. Systemic SEL is an approach to create equitable learning conditions that actively involve all Pre-K to Grade 12 students in learning and practicing social, emotional, and a…
School-Based Social-Emotional Learning and Ethnic-Racial Identity Among African American and Latino Adolescents
This study sheds light on the interrelations of universal, school-based social-emotional learning strategies and ethnic-racial identity over time. We assessed exposure to social-emotional learning practices and ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution among 367 middle school students (70% African American, 30% Latinx; 51% girls) across 3 years. The results of a latent growth model with social-emotional learning practices as a time-varyin…
Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): Toward SEL in Service of Educational Equity and Excellence
This article seeks to develop transformative social and emotional learning (SEL), a form of SEL intended to promote equity and excellence among children, young people, and adults. We focus on issues of race/ethnicity as a first step toward addressing the broader range of extant inequities. Transformative SEL is anchored in the notion of justice-oriented citizenship, and we discuss issues of culture, identity, agency, belonging, and engagement as …
Peer support development among Black American and Latinx adolescents: The role of ethnic–racial centrality
Adolescence is a developmental period when youth are increasingly likely to turn to their peers for support, and it is also a time of increased salience and development of ethnic-racial identity (ERI). Ethnic-racial centrality, a dimension of ERI, could be a predictor in the development of peer support, as youth with a stronger self-concept on the basis of their ethnic-racial identity might garner stronger peer relations. The current study examin…
Friends matter: Ethnic-racial identity and school adjustment among African American and Latino early adolescents
The current study investigated the role of ethnic-racial identity (ERI) on early adolescents’ school adjustment, as moderated by their school friends’ aggregate ERI. The study drew data from a longitudinal socioemotional project in a Midwestern U.S. middle school. Surveys were administered twice over a 6-month interval with a sample of 161 African American and Latino sixth through eighth grade students. Results suggested a promotive role of ERI, …
School climate and ethnic‐racial identity in school: A longitudinal examination of reciprocal associations
The messages youth receive in schools about how they matter as individuals and as members of ethnic‐racial groups are influential in constructing their developing ethnic‐racial identities (ERI). However, the developing ERI students hold also have a role in shaping their experiences at school. The current study examined the longitudinal and reciprocal association between ERI (exploration and resolution) and school climate (support for cultural plu…
Prosocial Behaviors of Black Adolescent Boys: An Application of a Sociopolitical Development Theory
Sociopolitical development theory asserts that critical social analysis informs prosocial behaviors. We suggest that one aspect of Black adolescents' critical social analysis development is an oppression analysis, in which Black adolescents consider (1) the importance of race to they are, (2) their personal feelings about their racial group, and (3) the experience of oppression for minority groups. The current study examined oppression analysis a…
Framing Social and Emotional Learning among African-American Youth: Toward an Integrity-Based Approach
This essay offers a cursory analysis of the potential of social and emotional learning (SEL) to foster optimal growth among African-American youth. Over the past two decades, the field of SEL has come to encompass a range of programs and practices that promote core social and emotional competencies (e.g., self-awareness, selfmanagement, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making) in schools and communities to support d…
You Do What You See: How Witnessing Physical Violence Is Linked to Violent Behavior Among Male African American Adolescents
African American boys are more likely than same-aged counterparts to live in disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by exposure to physical violence, lower socioeconomic status, poor parent education, and acts of violence. The current study used structural equation modeling to test the associations between witnessing violence, peer and parent expectations, peer behaviors, self-efficacy to avoid violence, and violent behavior as the outcome. Re…
It's in My Hood: Understanding African American Boys’ Perception of Safety in Their Neighborhoods
Youths' perceptions of their neighborhood are shaped by continued exposure to neighborhood influences. African‐American boys in poor, urban contexts are more directly affected by their neighborhoods and are more likely to develop related difficulties such as victimization experiences, and exposure to violence. This study examines African‐American boys' perceptions of safety in their neighborhood. Data were collected in 1994 from 553 African‐Ameri…
Middle School as a Developmental Niche for Civic Engagement
The present study investigated how school climate, school connectedness and academic efficacy beliefs inform emergent civic engagement behaviors among middle school youth of color. These associations were examined both concurrently and longitudinally using a developmentally appropriate measure of civic engagement. Data were drawn from two subsamples of a larger study of social/emotional development in middle school (cross‐sectional sample n = 324…
The Role of Sociopolitical Attitudes and Civic Education in the Civic Engagement of Black Youth
Civic engagement is important for individual and community well‐being. In the current study, we use survey data from a nationally representative sample to examine how sociopolitical attitudes, such as political cynicism, perceptions of institutional discrimination, and political efficacy, along with civic education relate to civic engagement among 593 Black youth, ages 15–25. We found perceived institutional discrimination, political efficacy, an…
It’ll Never Be the White Kids, It’ll Always Be Us”: Black High School Students’ Evolving Critical Analysis of Racial Discrimination and Inequity in Schools
We examine how Black high school students, participants in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program, understand issues of racial discrimination and inequality in their schools. Through semi-structured individual interviews conducted early in the program, eight students (six boys and two girls) recount experiences of racial stereotyping, discrimination from teachers and staff, lack of institutional support for a positive racial climate…
Connecting Self-Esteem and Achievement: Diversity in Academic Identification and Dis-identification Patterns Among Black College Students
Using a person-oriented approach, we explored patterns of self-esteem and achievement among 324 Black college students across the freshman college year and identified four academic identification profiles. Multivariate analyses revealed profile differences in academic and psychological outcomes at beginning and end of freshman year (academic contingencies of self-esteem, anxiety, depressive symptoms, perceived stress), suggesting different condit…
Caregiver Experiences of Discrimination and African American Adolescents’ Psychological Health Over Time
The present study examined the effect of caregivers' experiences of racial discrimination on their adolescent children's psychological functioning among a sample of 264 African American dyads. Potential relations between caregiver discrimination experiences and a number of indicators of adolescents' (aged 12-17) psychological functioning over time were examined. It was found that caregiver discrimination experiences were positively related to ado…
The Impact of Age and Type of Intervention on Youth Violent Behaviors
Culture: A Possible Predictor of Morality for African American Adolescents
This study examined the ways in which cultural orientation (communalism and material well‐being) and empathy influence the moral reasoning of African American middle to late adolescents. Specifically, this study utilized path analysis to investigate Ward's (1995) hypothesis that a communal orientation would promote morality among African American adolescents, while a material well‐being orientation would mitigate against it. In addition, it was h…
Protective Factors Associated with Preadolescent Violence: Preliminary Work on a Cultural Model
This study explores the influences of communal values, empathy, violence avoidance self‐efficacy beliefs, and classmate's fighting on violent behaviors among urban African American preadolescent boys and girls. As part of a larger intervention study, 644 low‐income 5th grade students from 12 schools completed a baseline assessment that included the target constructs. Boys reported more violent behaviors, and lower levels of empathy and violence a…
Sociopolitical Development
This paper examines theories and concepts relevant to sociopolitical development (SPD). As an emerging theory, SPD expands on empowerment and similar ideas related to social change and activism in community psychology—oppression, liberation, critical consciousness, and culture among them. SPD is the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, analytical skills, emotional faculties, and the capacity for action in political and social syste…
The Role of Sociopolitical Attitudes and Civic Education in the Civic Engagement of Black Youth
Civic engagement is important for individual and community well‐being. In the current study, we use survey data from a nationally representative sample to examine how sociopolitical attitudes, such as political cynicism, perceptions of institutional discrimination, and political efficacy, along with civic education relate to civic engagement among 593 Black youth, ages 15–25. We found perceived institutional discrimination, political efficacy, an…
It’ll Never Be the White Kids, It’ll Always Be Us”: Black High School Students’ Evolving Critical Analysis of Racial Discrimination and Inequity in Schools
We examine how Black high school students, participants in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program, understand issues of racial discrimination and inequality in their schools. Through semi-structured individual interviews conducted early in the program, eight students (six boys and two girls) recount experiences of racial stereotyping, discrimination from teachers and staff, lack of institutional support for a positive racial climate…
A relational framework for the study of religiosity and spirituality in the lives of African Americans
Religiosity and spirituality are defining features of African American life. However, within psychology, research on African American religiosity and spirituality has proceeded without benefit of a conceptual framework. This paper labors toward a framework that examines the roles of religion and spirituality in the development and maintenance of social relationships. We review empirical research on the role of religion and spirituality in the liv…
Caregiver Experiences of Discrimination and African American Adolescents’ Psychological Health Over Time
The present study examined the effect of caregivers' experiences of racial discrimination on their adolescent children's psychological functioning among a sample of 264 African American dyads. Potential relations between caregiver discrimination experiences and a number of indicators of adolescents' (aged 12-17) psychological functioning over time were examined. It was found that caregiver discrimination experiences were positively related to ado…
Prosocial Behaviors of Black Adolescent Boys: An Application of a Sociopolitical Development Theory
Sociopolitical development theory asserts that critical social analysis informs prosocial behaviors. We suggest that one aspect of Black adolescents' critical social analysis development is an oppression analysis, in which Black adolescents consider (1) the importance of race to they are, (2) their personal feelings about their racial group, and (3) the experience of oppression for minority groups. The current study examined oppression analysis a…
Culture and Social Outcomes among Inner-City African American Children: An Afrographic Exploration
This study employs the Triple Quandaryframework as a paradigmfor describing the cultural orientations of 50 inner-city African American sixth graders. The implications of the relative endorsement of these orientations and some specific expressionsfor social outcomes of empathy, Machiavellianism, delinquency, and aggression were also examined. Three cultural orientations-Anglocultural, marginalized minority, and Afrocultural as well as the compone…
Systemic social and emotional learning: Promoting educational success for all preschool to high school students
Social and emotional learning (SEL) has become more central to education because of demand from educators, parents, students, and business leaders alongside rigorous research showing broad, positive impacts for students and adults. However, all approaches to SEL are not equal. Systemic SEL is an approach to create equitable learning conditions that actively involve all Pre-K to Grade 12 students in learning and practicing social, emotional, and a…
Further Examination of the Spirituality Scale
This study provides additional data on a newly developed paper-and-pencil measure of spirituality from an Afrocultural perspective. Sixty-eight African American and 75 European American college students completed the Spirituality Scale and indices of internal, external, and quest religious motivation, divine and personal agency, and religious and existential well-being. Results indicated that the Spirituality Scale had good internal consistency i…
An Afrocultural Social Ethos: Component Orientations and Some Social Implications
Two studies explored an Afrocultural social ethos: its component orientations of spirituality, affect, and communalism; and their connections with psychosocial functioning among inner-city African American youth in Grades 5 through 7. Positive endorsement and moderate positive correlations among the orientations were found in each study. In Study 1, an Afrocultural social ethos was predictive of more cooperative and more competitive academic atti…
The Communalism Scale and Collectivistic-Individualistic Tendencies: Some Preliminary Findings
Communalism is an Afrocultural dimension that highlights the fundamental interdependence of people. This two-part study provided data on the construct validity of a newly developed Communalism Scale by exploring its relationship with indexes of collectivistic and individualistic tendencies. One hundred and ten African American college students completed the Communalism Scale and indexes of self-concept and interpersonal attitudes. Eighty-six stud…
Connecting Self-Esteem and Achievement: Diversity in Academic Identification and Dis-identification Patterns Among Black College Students
Using a person-oriented approach, we explored patterns of self-esteem and achievement among 324 Black college students across the freshman college year and identified four academic identification profiles. Multivariate analyses revealed profile differences in academic and psychological outcomes at beginning and end of freshman year (academic contingencies of self-esteem, anxiety, depressive symptoms, perceived stress), suggesting different condit…
Friends matter: Ethnic-racial identity and school adjustment among African American and Latino early adolescents
The current study investigated the role of ethnic-racial identity (ERI) on early adolescents’ school adjustment, as moderated by their school friends’ aggregate ERI. The study drew data from a longitudinal socioemotional project in a Midwestern U.S. middle school. Surveys were administered twice over a 6-month interval with a sample of 161 African American and Latino sixth through eighth grade students. Results suggested a promotive role of ERI, …
Middle School as a Developmental Niche for Civic Engagement
The present study investigated how school climate, school connectedness and academic efficacy beliefs inform emergent civic engagement behaviors among middle school youth of color. These associations were examined both concurrently and longitudinally using a developmentally appropriate measure of civic engagement. Data were drawn from two subsamples of a larger study of social/emotional development in middle school (cross‐sectional sample n = 324…
School climate and ethnic‐racial identity in school: A longitudinal examination of reciprocal associations
The messages youth receive in schools about how they matter as individuals and as members of ethnic‐racial groups are influential in constructing their developing ethnic‐racial identities (ERI). However, the developing ERI students hold also have a role in shaping their experiences at school. The current study examined the longitudinal and reciprocal association between ERI (exploration and resolution) and school climate (support for cultural plu…
The Development of Ethnic-Racial Identity Process and Its Relation to Civic Beliefs among Latinx and Black American Adolescents
Predictors of Moral Reasoning among African American Children: A Preliminary Study
This study examined the ways in which gender, empathy, and cultural orientation (communalism and competitive individualism) influence the moral judgments of urban fifth and eighth grade African American children. Pencil and paper measures of these constructs were completed by 44 fifth and 46 eighth graders. Results revealed greater endorsement of communalism among girls than boys. Separate correlation matrices and path analysis models were comput…
Peer support development among Black American and Latinx adolescents: The role of ethnic–racial centrality
Adolescence is a developmental period when youth are increasingly likely to turn to their peers for support, and it is also a time of increased salience and development of ethnic-racial identity (ERI). Ethnic-racial centrality, a dimension of ERI, could be a predictor in the development of peer support, as youth with a stronger self-concept on the basis of their ethnic-racial identity might garner stronger peer relations. The current study examin…
You Do What You See: How Witnessing Physical Violence Is Linked to Violent Behavior Among Male African American Adolescents
African American boys are more likely than same-aged counterparts to live in disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by exposure to physical violence, lower socioeconomic status, poor parent education, and acts of violence. The current study used structural equation modeling to test the associations between witnessing violence, peer and parent expectations, peer behaviors, self-efficacy to avoid violence, and violent behavior as the outcome. Re…
Culture: A Possible Predictor of Morality for African American Adolescents
This study examined the ways in which cultural orientation (communalism and material well‐being) and empathy influence the moral reasoning of African American middle to late adolescents. Specifically, this study utilized path analysis to investigate Ward's (1995) hypothesis that a communal orientation would promote morality among African American adolescents, while a material well‐being orientation would mitigate against it. In addition, it was h…
Relating through Oppression: Longitudinal Relations between Parental Racial Socialization, School Racial Climate, Oppressed Minority Ideology, and Empathy in Black Male Adolescents’ Prosocial Developm…
This research explored whether Black male adolescents' (N = 453; M age = 13.72, SD = 1.33) perceptions of parental racial socialization (i.e., behavioral racial socialization) and school racial climate (i.e., equitable school racial climate) were associated with prosocial outcomes (i.e., prosocial behaviors and positive relations with others) across three waves of adolescence. This study also explored whether youth's beliefs about the extent to w…
Protective Factors Associated with Preadolescent Violence: Preliminary Work on a Cultural Model
This study explores the influences of communal values, empathy, violence avoidance self‐efficacy beliefs, and classmate's fighting on violent behaviors among urban African American preadolescent boys and girls. As part of a larger intervention study, 644 low‐income 5th grade students from 12 schools completed a baseline assessment that included the target constructs. Boys reported more violent behaviors, and lower levels of empathy and violence a…
Transformative Social and Emotional Learning: Work Notes on an Action Research Agenda
The potential for transformative social and emotional learning (SEL) was conceptualized as a lever in service of equity. This article explains the next steps and working assumptions the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has employed to collectively address the inequities that exist in schools. The proposed research agenda has implications for the continuous improvement of various resources. It also supports the fo…
Are Cultural Values Predictors of Moral Reasoning in African American Adolescents
This study explored the effect of cultural orientation on African American adolescent moral reasoning. Because African communal values are cornerstones of African American communities and related concepts such as perspective-taking and social relationships influence morality, African cultural values were expected to positively predict moral reasoning in the youth. Individualistic values were expected to negatively predict moral reasoning. Fifty 1…
School-Based Social-Emotional Learning and Ethnic-Racial Identity Among African American and Latino Adolescents
This study sheds light on the interrelations of universal, school-based social-emotional learning strategies and ethnic-racial identity over time. We assessed exposure to social-emotional learning practices and ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution among 367 middle school students (70% African American, 30% Latinx; 51% girls) across 3 years. The results of a latent growth model with social-emotional learning practices as a time-varyin…
In Search of Quality Education for African-American Children
Attitudes Toward Academic Interdependence and Learning Outcomes in Two Learning Contexts
Research into the relative impact of alternative learning environments has revealed that, for all students, contexts featuring cooperation are more effective in facilitating learning outcomes than are those featuring competition or individualism. Of central import for the present study is research whose findings conclude that cooperative settings are particularly fertile for African American students (e.g., Kagan, Zahn, Widaman, Schwarzwald & Tyr…
Culture and Social Outcomes among Inner-City African American Children: An Afrographic Exploration
This study employs the Triple Quandaryframework as a paradigmfor describing the cultural orientations of 50 inner-city African American sixth graders. The implications of the relative endorsement of these orientations and some specific expressionsfor social outcomes of empathy, Machiavellianism, delinquency, and aggression were also examined. Three cultural orientations-Anglocultural, marginalized minority, and Afrocultural as well as the compone…
The Communalism Scale and Collectivistic-Individualistic Tendencies: Some Preliminary Findings
Communalism is an Afrocultural dimension that highlights the fundamental interdependence of people. This two-part study provided data on the construct validity of a newly developed Communalism Scale by exploring its relationship with indexes of collectivistic and individualistic tendencies. One hundred and ten African American college students completed the Communalism Scale and indexes of self-concept and interpersonal attitudes. Eighty-six stud…
Further Examination of the Spirituality Scale
This study provides additional data on a newly developed paper-and-pencil measure of spirituality from an Afrocultural perspective. Sixty-eight African American and 75 European American college students completed the Spirituality Scale and indices of internal, external, and quest religious motivation, divine and personal agency, and religious and existential well-being. Results indicated that the Spirituality Scale had good internal consistency i…
Communalism: Conceptualization and Measurement of an Afrocultural Social Orientation
In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in expressions of cultural integrity among African Americans. Many more recent efforts have argued that such expressions of integrity are rooted in an African cultural legacy and that these Afrocultural expressions continue to help shape the contours and textures of the African American experience (e.g., Boykin, 1983, 1986; Nobles, 1991; Stuckey, 1987; Thompson, 1983). Among expressions though…
An Afrocultural Social Ethos: Component Orientations and Some Social Implications
Two studies explored an Afrocultural social ethos: its component orientations of spirituality, affect, and communalism; and their connections with psychosocial functioning among inner-city African American youth in Grades 5 through 7. Positive endorsement and moderate positive correlations among the orientations were found in each study. In Study 1, an Afrocultural social ethos was predictive of more cooperative and more competitive academic atti…
Religiosity, volunteerism, and community involvement among African American men: An exploratory analysis
Social activists have argued that African American men must play a prominent role as volunteers in social programs that affect the African American community. Using a sample of African American men (N= 171), the present study examines the relative utility of social capital, communalism, and religiosity variables as predictors of volunteerism, membership in community-based as well as political and social justice organizations, and the number of ho…
Predictors of Moral Reasoning among African American Children: A Preliminary Study
This study examined the ways in which gender, empathy, and cultural orientation (communalism and competitive individualism) influence the moral judgments of urban fifth and eighth grade African American children. Pencil and paper measures of these constructs were completed by 44 fifth and 46 eighth graders. Results revealed greater endorsement of communalism among girls than boys. Separate correlation matrices and path analysis models were comput…
A relational framework for the study of religiosity and spirituality in the lives of African Americans
Religiosity and spirituality are defining features of African American life. However, within psychology, research on African American religiosity and spirituality has proceeded without benefit of a conceptual framework. This paper labors toward a framework that examines the roles of religion and spirituality in the development and maintenance of social relationships. We review empirical research on the role of religion and spirituality in the liv…
Factors Predicting Communal Attitudes among African American Men
This study examines the direct effects of demographic variables, religiosity, psychosocial stress variables (i.e., financial and relational stress, reported exposure to injustice), and sociostructural variables (i.e., racism) on the communal attitudes of African American men. Age and educational attainment were not systematically associated with communalism. However, there is some evidence of a negative relationship between income and communalism…
Violent Crime: Assessing Race and Ethnic Differences
Analysts have long noted that some societies have much higher rates of criminal violence than others. They have also observed that the risk of being a victim or a perpetrator of violent crime varies considerably from one individual to another. In societies with ethnically and racially diverse populations, some ethnic and racial groups have been reported to have higher rates of violent offending and victimization than other groups. This exceptiona…
Sociopolitical Development
This paper examines theories and concepts relevant to sociopolitical development (SPD). As an emerging theory, SPD expands on empowerment and similar ideas related to social change and activism in community psychology—oppression, liberation, critical consciousness, and culture among them. SPD is the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, analytical skills, emotional faculties, and the capacity for action in political and social syste…
Are Cultural Values Predictors of Moral Reasoning in African American Adolescents
This study explored the effect of cultural orientation on African American adolescent moral reasoning. Because African communal values are cornerstones of African American communities and related concepts such as perspective-taking and social relationships influence morality, African cultural values were expected to positively predict moral reasoning in the youth. Individualistic values were expected to negatively predict moral reasoning. Fifty 1…
Protective Factors Associated with Preadolescent Violence: Preliminary Work on a Cultural Model
This study explores the influences of communal values, empathy, violence avoidance self‐efficacy beliefs, and classmate's fighting on violent behaviors among urban African American preadolescent boys and girls. As part of a larger intervention study, 644 low‐income 5th grade students from 12 schools completed a baseline assessment that included the target constructs. Boys reported more violent behaviors, and lower levels of empathy and violence a…
The Impact of Age and Type of Intervention on Youth Violent Behaviors
Culture: A Possible Predictor of Morality for African American Adolescents
This study examined the ways in which cultural orientation (communalism and material well‐being) and empathy influence the moral reasoning of African American middle to late adolescents. Specifically, this study utilized path analysis to investigate Ward's (1995) hypothesis that a communal orientation would promote morality among African American adolescents, while a material well‐being orientation would mitigate against it. In addition, it was h…
Caregiver Experiences of Discrimination and African American Adolescents’ Psychological Health Over Time
The present study examined the effect of caregivers' experiences of racial discrimination on their adolescent children's psychological functioning among a sample of 264 African American dyads. Potential relations between caregiver discrimination experiences and a number of indicators of adolescents' (aged 12-17) psychological functioning over time were examined. It was found that caregiver discrimination experiences were positively related to ado…
Connecting Self-Esteem and Achievement: Diversity in Academic Identification and Dis-identification Patterns Among Black College Students
Using a person-oriented approach, we explored patterns of self-esteem and achievement among 324 Black college students across the freshman college year and identified four academic identification profiles. Multivariate analyses revealed profile differences in academic and psychological outcomes at beginning and end of freshman year (academic contingencies of self-esteem, anxiety, depressive symptoms, perceived stress), suggesting different condit…
The Role of Sociopolitical Attitudes and Civic Education in the Civic Engagement of Black Youth
Civic engagement is important for individual and community well‐being. In the current study, we use survey data from a nationally representative sample to examine how sociopolitical attitudes, such as political cynicism, perceptions of institutional discrimination, and political efficacy, along with civic education relate to civic engagement among 593 Black youth, ages 15–25. We found perceived institutional discrimination, political efficacy, an…
It’ll Never Be the White Kids, It’ll Always Be Us”: Black High School Students’ Evolving Critical Analysis of Racial Discrimination and Inequity in Schools
We examine how Black high school students, participants in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) program, understand issues of racial discrimination and inequality in their schools. Through semi-structured individual interviews conducted early in the program, eight students (six boys and two girls) recount experiences of racial stereotyping, discrimination from teachers and staff, lack of institutional support for a positive racial climate…
Middle School as a Developmental Niche for Civic Engagement
The present study investigated how school climate, school connectedness and academic efficacy beliefs inform emergent civic engagement behaviors among middle school youth of color. These associations were examined both concurrently and longitudinally using a developmentally appropriate measure of civic engagement. Data were drawn from two subsamples of a larger study of social/emotional development in middle school (cross‐sectional sample n = 324…
Framing Social and Emotional Learning among African-American Youth: Toward an Integrity-Based Approach
This essay offers a cursory analysis of the potential of social and emotional learning (SEL) to foster optimal growth among African-American youth. Over the past two decades, the field of SEL has come to encompass a range of programs and practices that promote core social and emotional competencies (e.g., self-awareness, selfmanagement, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making) in schools and communities to support d…
You Do What You See: How Witnessing Physical Violence Is Linked to Violent Behavior Among Male African American Adolescents
African American boys are more likely than same-aged counterparts to live in disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by exposure to physical violence, lower socioeconomic status, poor parent education, and acts of violence. The current study used structural equation modeling to test the associations between witnessing violence, peer and parent expectations, peer behaviors, self-efficacy to avoid violence, and violent behavior as the outcome. Re…
It's in My Hood: Understanding African American Boys’ Perception of Safety in Their Neighborhoods
Youths' perceptions of their neighborhood are shaped by continued exposure to neighborhood influences. African‐American boys in poor, urban contexts are more directly affected by their neighborhoods and are more likely to develop related difficulties such as victimization experiences, and exposure to violence. This study examines African‐American boys' perceptions of safety in their neighborhood. Data were collected in 1994 from 553 African‐Ameri…
Psychology (38 works) · Social Psychology (28 works) · Developmental psychology (26 works) · Social Psychology (20 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Political science (19 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (15 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (13 works) · Youth Development and Social Support (12 works) · Pedagogy (10 works)