Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Youth Resilience and Culture pp 117–129Cite as

Stigma, Stereotypes and Resilience Identities: The Relationship Between Identity Processes and Resilience Processes Among Black American Adolescents

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology ((CAPP,volume 11))

Abstract

In the United States, the experience of race—as a social construction—is an important cultural context to be considered in understanding resilience among black children and youth. Their normative developmental changes and challenges are complicated by their experiences as members of a socially constructed racial group and the associated racial disparities in social and economic outcomes (e.g., education, employment, wealth, standards of beauty and attractiveness, etc.). These disparities are the result of longstanding, collective racialized socio-historical experiences of blacks in the United States. Collectively, their individual, family and community-level ways of “making meaning” of, and responding to, these experiences reflect various manifestations of adaptive culture—consistent, patterned and collective responses to these group-level race-based challenges. As a critical developmental and protective mechanism, intergenerational racial-ethnic socialization can influence the behaviors and identity orientations of children and youth. Using Spencer’s Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory, the authors explore existing literature to determine how one of Ungar et al.’s Seven Tensions—identity—is shaped by American race-based societal constructions and the racial-ethnic socialization of black children and youth in the United States.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bagley, C., & Young, L. (1988). Evaluation of color and ethnicity in young children in Jamaica, Ghana, England and Canada. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 12, 47–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banks, J. A. (1984). Black youths in predominantly White suburbs: An exploratory study of their attitudes and self-concepts. The Journal of Negro Education, 53(1), 3–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., Campbell, J. D., Krueger, J. I., & Vohs, K. D. (2003). Does high self-esteem cause better performance, interpersonal success, happiness or healthier lifestyles? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(1), 1–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonner, F. A., Lewis, C. W., Bowman-Perrott, L., Hill-Jackson, V., & James, M. (2005). Definition, identification, identity, and culture: A unique alchemy impacting the success of gifted African American Millennial males in school. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 33(2), 176–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, P. J., & Howard, C. (1985). Race-related socialization, motivation, and academic achievement: A study of Black youths in three generation families. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 134–141.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, D. J. (2007). Why the Black kids sit together at the stairs: The role of identity-affirming counter-spaces in a predominantly White high school. The Journal of Negro Education, 76(4), 542–554.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter-Andrews, D. (2009). The construction of Black high-achiever identities in a predominantly White high school. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 40(3), 297–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, K. B., & Clark, M. K. (1939). The development of consciousness of self and the emergence of racial identification in Negro preschool children. Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 591–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, K. B., & Clark, M. K. (1940). Skin color as a factor in racial identification of Negro preschool children. Journal of Social Psychology, 11, 159–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, K. B., & Clark, M. P. (1947). Racial identification and preference in Negro children. In T. M. Newcomb & E. L. Hartley (Eds.), Readings in social psychology (pp. 169–178). New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupree, D. (2010). Cognitive development in the global era: A social justice issue? In D. P. Swanson, M. C. Edwards, & M. B. Spencer (Eds.), Adolescence: Development during a global era (pp. 63–93). New York, NY: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupree, D., Spencer, M. B., & Fegley, S. (2007). Perceived social inequity and responses to conflict among diverse youth of color: The effects of social and physical context on youth behavior and attitudes. In R. K. Silbereisen & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Approaches to positive youth development (pp. 111–131). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fegley, S. G., Spencer, M. B., Goss, T. N., Harpalani, V., & Charles, N. (2007). Colorism embodied: Skin tone and psychosocial well-being in adolescence. In W. Overton & U. Mueller (Eds.), Body in mind, mind in body: Developmental perspectives on embodiment and consciousness. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., & Garcia, H. Y. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67(5), 1891–1914.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gopaul-McNicol, S. (1988). Racial identification and racial preference of black preschool children in New York and Trinidad. The Journal of Black Psychology, 14(2), 65–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, A., & Anderson, K. A. (2008). “I have to be three steps ahead”: Academically gifted African American male students in an urban high school on the tension between an ethnic and academic identity. Urban Review, 40, 472–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harper, S. R. (2006). Peer support for African American male college achievement: Beyond internalized racism and the burden of “acting White”. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 14(3), 337–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, M. S., & Thomas, K. M. (2009). The hidden prejudice in selection: A research investigation on skin color bias. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(1), 134–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, D., Rodriguez, J., Smith, E. P., Johnson, D. J., Stevenson, H., & Spicer, P. (2006). Parents’ ethnic–racial socialization practices: A review of research and directions for future study. Developmental Psychology, 42(5), 747–770.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, M. L. (2002). “If you’re light you’re alright”: Light skin color as social capital for women of color. Gender and Society, 16(2), 175–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, J. M. (1972). Prejudice and racism. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, P. S., Levine, E., & Charry, M. M. (1979). The effect of skin color and hair differences on facial choices of kindergarten children. The Journal of Social Psychology, 107, 287–288.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, C. D., Spencer, M. B., & Harpalani, V. (2003). “Every shut eye ain’t sleep”: Studying how people live culturally. Educational Researcher, 32(5), 6–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, T., Xue, Y., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2006). Immigrant differences in school-age children’s verbal trajectories: A look at four racial/ethnic groups. Child Development, 77(5), 1359–1374.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (2006). Stigma and its public health implications. Lancet, 367, 528–529.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (2014). Stigma power. Social Science & Medicine, 103, 24–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markus, H. R. (2008). Pride, prejudice, and ambivalence: Toward a unified theory of race and ethnicity. American Psychologist, 63(8), 651–670.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McAdoo, H. P. (1985). Racial attitudes and self-concept of young Black children over time. In H. P. McAdoo & J. L. McAdoo (Eds.), Black children: Social, educational, and parental environments (Sage focus editions, Vol. 72, pp. 213–242). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKown, C., & Weinstein, R. S. (2003). The development and consequences of stereotype consciousness in middle childhood. Child Development, 74(2), 498–515.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, A. B. (2008). Self-emancipation and slavery: An examination of the African American’s quest for literacy and freedom. The Journal of Pan African Studies, 2(5), 78–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogbu, J. U., & Simons, H. D. (1998). Voluntary and involuntary minorities: A cultural-ecological theory of school performance with some implications for education. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 29(2), 155–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, C. P. (1991). Social reasons for skin tone preference of black school-age children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61(1), 149–154.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Zhou, M. (1993). The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variants. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 530, 74–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scardamalia, M. (1977). Information processing capacity and the problem of horizontal decalage: A demonstration using combinatorial reasoning tasks. Child Development, 48, 28–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmermund, A., Sellers, R., Mueller, B., & Crosby, F. (2001). Attitudes toward affirmative action as a function of racial identity among African American college students. Political Psychology, 22(4), 759–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seta, J. J., Seta, C. E., & McElroy, T. (2003). Attributional biases in the service of stereotype maintenance: A schema-maintenance through compensation analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(2), 151–163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smedley, A., & Smedley, B. (2005). Race as biology is fiction, racism as a social problem is real: Anthropological and historical perspectives on the social construction of race. American Psychologist, 60(1), 16–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, E. P., Atkins, J., & Connell, C. M. (2003). Family, school, and community factors and relationships to racial–ethnic attitudes and academic achievement. American Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 159–173.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (1983). Children’s cultural values and parental child rearing strategies. Developmental Review, 3, 351–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (1984). Black children’s race awareness, racial attitudes, and self-concept: A reinterpretation. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 25(3), 433–441.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (1995). Old issues and new theorizing about African American youth: A phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory. In R. L. Taylor (Ed.), African-American youth: Their social and economic status in the United States (pp. 37–69). Westport, CT: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (1999). Transitions and continuities in cultural values: Kenneth Clark revisited. In R. C. Jones (Ed.), African American children, youth and parenting (pp. 183–208). Hampton, VA: Cobb & Henry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (2005). Crafting identities and accessing opportunities post-Brown. American Psychologist, 60(8), 821–830.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (2006). Phenomenology and ecological systems theory: Development of diverse groups. In R. M. Lerner & W. Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology, vol. 1: Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 829–893). New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (2008). Phenomenology and ecological systems theory: Development of diverse groups. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Child and adolescent development: An advanced course (pp. 696–735). New York, NY: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (2011). American identity: Impact of youths’ differential experiences in society on their attachment to American ideals. Applied Developmental Science, 15(2), 61–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B., Dupree, D., & Hartmann, T. (1997). A phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST): A self-organization perspective in context. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 817–833.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B., Fegley, S., & Dupree, D. (2006). Investigating and linking social conditions of minority children and adolescents with emotional well-being. Ethnicity & Disease, 16(3), 67–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B., & Harpalani, V. (2004). Chap 3: Nature, nurture, & the question of “How?”: A Phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory. In C. Garcia-Coll, K. Kearer, & R. Lerner (Eds.), Nature and nurture: The complex interplay of genetic and environmental influences on human behavior and development (pp. 53–77). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B., Noll, E., Stoltzfus, J., & Harpalani, V. (2001). Identity and school adjustment: Revisiting the “Acting White” assumption. Educational Psychologist, 3(1), 21–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stepanova, E. V., & Strube, M. J. (2009). Making of a face: Role of a facial physiognomy, skin tone, and color presentation mode in evaluations of racial typicality. The Journal of Social Psychology, 149(1), 66–81.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, T. G., Thomas, A. J., Nellands, T. B., & Jackson, T. R. (2010). I’m no Jezebel; I am young, gifted and Black: Identity, sexuality and Black girls. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34, 273–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, M., Brown, M., Liebenberg, L., Othman, R., Kwong, W. M., Armstrong, M., & Gilgun, J. (2007). Unique pathways to resilience across cultures. Adolescence, 42(166), 287–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1982). Vulnerable but invincible: A study of resilient children. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J. E., & Roberson, J. K. (1967). A method for assessing racial attitudes in preschool children. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 27(3), 671–689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Community College of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Davido Dupree

  2. Applied Psychology and Human Development program, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Davido Dupree

  3. Nemours Health and Prevention Services, DuPont Children’s Hospital, Wilmington, DE, USA

    Tirzah R. Spencer

  4. Department of Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Margaret Beale Spencer

Authors
  1. Davido Dupree
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tirzah R. Spencer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Margaret Beale Spencer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Davido Dupree .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

    Linda C. Theron

  2. Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Linda Liebenberg

  3. Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Michael Ungar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Dupree, D., Spencer, T.R., Spencer, M.B. (2015). Stigma, Stereotypes and Resilience Identities: The Relationship Between Identity Processes and Resilience Processes Among Black American Adolescents. In: Theron, L., Liebenberg, L., Ungar, M. (eds) Youth Resilience and Culture. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9415-2_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation