Literature Review on "African-American Male Students in Community-Centered After-School Programs"

Literature Review 14 pages (4060 words) Sources: 14

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Indeed, they have been portrayed as negative and stereotypical images by the literature and mass media, due to which it has become extreme difficult for them to overcome these barriers (Frierson, Pearson & Wyche, 2009; Williams, 2008).

In fact, the perceived negative image of African-Americans to all the other communities in United States have been greatly developed on the basis of depiction by the mass media over the years and is still doing the same. The media has overwhelmingly focused on demonstrating one side of the African-American males where they are involved in crime, drug consumption, gang violence, and various other forms of anti-social behaviors. As an outcome of it, distorted, destructive, and pernicious opinion for African-Americans has been fostered in front of the public (Frierson, Pearson & Wyche, 2009).

The image reflected by the media exhibits that these males possess bizarre and dysfunctional behaviors, reckless attitude, quarrelsome and aggressive nature, and violent temperament that make them dangerous and people with distressing image (Covey, 2010). These factors immensely contribute to the negative perceptions amongst the other communities (Gibbs, 1988; Davis, 2003; Williams, 2008).

These images have been formed for the African-American young males because many of the adolescence have been involved in serious issues like violence, drugs, failing schools, unemployment within the community members, negative media influences, teen pregnancy, and so forth. The loss of such values is only becoming the principal reason of plague that is devastating the young members of the community and their future (Davis, 2003; Schwoch, White & Reilly, 1992; Williams, 2008).

The information that is collected from time to time over the entire nation reveals the piece of information that young African-American males are most likely to be incarcerated when compared to other community males such as Caucasian males or even Hispanic males (OJJDP, 2011). Indeed, the percentage of African-American males to be imprisoned is much higher than the other community males. Moreover, it is regrettable to state that the inmates of the prison population of African-American young males are much higher when compared to the total population of African-American males over the entire country (OJJDP, 2011).

The African-American males are only associated with an unconstructive image in the American society because media is the only source from which they have gained an insight about the young men. Moreover, the pessimistic image is also created because of the racial inequalities that result in their reaction in the form of school discipline, underachievement in academic lives, unemployment, higher rates of homicide, engagement in criminal activities, and so forth (About Time Magazine, 2004).

According to many of the studies, crime and criminal activities in American culture have been comprehensively associated with black males only (Davis, 2003; Williams, 2008). It clearly signifies the fact that according to the general population's perceptions, wherever crime (that include robbery, gang war, drug use, and so on) within the country would be committed, African-American males would definitely be involved in it (Williams, 2008). This usually happens because the cultural framework of United States is characterized by White males (Covey, 2010).

An irrefutable fact that is circulating is that out of every three black male children born presently, one will definitely land in jail one day in the course of their life. This compares unfavorably to 1 in every 17 white males or 1 in every six Latinos if the present level of incarceration goes on (Knafo, 2013). These are some of the evidence pointed out by a group advocating for reforms in prisons based in Washington, known as the sentencing project, in one of their reports on the overwhelming racial differences characterizing the criminal justice system in America. (Knafo, 2013)

Even today, Africa-American teenagers still undergo a lot of racial discrimination difficulties (Writer Thoughts). Many of the disruptive tendencies associated with their lives have a direct link to experiences of discrimination, and one of the key areas being looked at as a consequence of this is the mental health of African-American male teenagers (Writer Thoughts). In America it is well documented that many Afro-Caribbean and Africa American youths face higher risks of suffering from mental health problems due to exposure from experiences associated with racial discrimination as can be revealed by a study presented recently by the Pediatric Academic Societies yearly convention in Vancouver (American Academy Of Pediatrics). It is instructive to note that sixty years after Brown vs. Board of Education, racism is still a grave problem encountered by colored youth as a lead author Dr. Lee M. Patcher of American Academy of Pediatrics noted. He stressed that the fact that these experiences were encountered during adolescence which was a critically sensitive period for identity development was of great concern, as was their finding regarding slightly elevated rates of depression, anxiety as well as social phobias in those youth who might have had more experiences with discrimination.

The researchers arrived at this conclusion by analyzing data from the National Survey of American Life, which takes a critical look of the repercussions of ethnic, racial and cultural factors on the mental health of Afro- Caribbean's who are black residents of the United States of Caribbean descent (American Academy Of Pediatrics). A survey in which a nationally representative sample of 1,170 adolescents out of whom 1,017 were African-Americans and only 137 of Afro-Caribbean origins was carried out by the American Academy Of Pediatrics who looked at the relationships amid perceived racial discrimination or racism and several mental health issues. They intended to find out whether African-American and Afro-Caribbean teenagers who confronted racial discrimination actually had higher rates of depression, anxiety or social phobia. This was said by Pachter a professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine as well as general pediatrics chief at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children situated in Philadelphia (American Academy Of Pediatrics). He noted that this was one of the few studies that had attempted to examine the experiences of Black youth of Caribbean origin independent of the African-American youths. He further said that due to different cultural orientations, pre- and post-immigration situations and many other factors it was imperative to make distinctions between groups who are collectively designated "Blacks" similar to the way that Latinos are distinguished by their subgroupings such as Cubans, Puerto Ricans or Mexican-Americans and so on (American Academy Of Pediatrics)

The outcome of the survey indicated that during their lifetimes, 85% of adolescents experienced racial discrimination, with 17% suffering from anxiety, 13% experiencing social phobias and 6% going through severe depression while in the year prior to the survey only 14% had experienced anxiety and 4% had lived through severe depression (American Academy Of Pediatrics). Confrontation with discrimination was mainly linked to depression, social phobias and anxiety disorders 12 months prior to the survey (American Academy of Pediatrics). These links were apparent for both the Afro-Caribbean and the African-American teenagers, both male and female in their younger and older teens who participated. The findings indicated that there was increased rate of depression and anxiety among Afro- Caribbean youths exposed to more racial discrimination than their American counterparts. Patcher concluded by noting that the remaining challenge was to identify remedial measures that could help reduce the consequences of racial discrimination on mental health at the family, individual and community levels while the rest of society strived to completely end this dangerous stressor.

Social Environment and the African-American Male

In order to understand the social environment, it is imperative to gain knowledge on what a culture describes. A culture is basically formed with the unification of social behaviors such as actions, traditions, norms, values, communication, ethnicity, ways of life, and religious groups (Day-Vines & Day-Hairston, 2005). With respect to the African-American cultural patterns, they purely consider religion as the essential component in life, strongly believe in family systems, and lay key emphasis on balanced communication at home (Brock, 2009; Day-Vines & Day-Hairston, 2005).

However, the issue arises when the cultural patterns of schools and home environment are at a variance for a child, and this normally happens with the African-American child. This means that the African-American child is not able to overcome the cultural shock at school, due to which academic failure is likely to happen and these students are on the verge of suspension or expulsion (Covey, 2010; Davis, 2003). Therefore, the dissimilar home, school and social environment begets to the downfall of the African-American students' academic performances (Day-Vines & Day-Hairston, 2005; Monroe, 2006).

This is not the end of it, as the African-American males in the urban subculture are often attracted to such actions such as physical assault, sexual indiscrimination, drug intake, and academic instability that will impede them from performing a healthy social behavior (Day-Vines & Day-Hairston, 2005; Williams, 2008). The historical events and incidences exhibit that the family unit structures and church directions were there for the African-American… READ MORE

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