Supporting Resilience in Black Male Youth Exposed to Community Violence: A Stakeholder Point of View

Format

Individual Presentation

Presenters

Indya A. Walker, University of North Carolina at GreensboroFollow

First Presenter's Institution

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

First Presenter’s Email Address

iaperry@uncg.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Indya A. Walker is a PhD Student in the Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) program at The University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). She has a master of science degree in HDFS and her research and professional goals are informed by her experience working in the nonprofit sector as a coordinator for a mentorship program providing wraparound services for Black and Latinx male youth and families. With a passion for resilience in African American / Black males and families, Indya seeks to learn more about contributing factors of resilience to assist communities and organizations in developing programs and practices that foster resilience. She is currently the Lab Manager for the Centering Black Voices research lab and is utilizing research data to build a qualitative scholarship on community violence and resilience in Black males and families.

Location

Session 1 Breakout (Vernon)

Strand #1

Hands: Safety & Violence Prevention

Strand #2

Home: Family & Community Engagement

Relevance

This presentation focuses on qualitative study findings highlighting the importance of supporting resilience in Black male youth and young men exposed to community violence and the essential role of community stakeholder perspectives in fostering resilience. Community violence is a significant risk factor for African American / Black male youth (Hands) however Black male youth and young men exhibit resilience and city-wide efforts that engage stakeholders, agencies, and organizations across community sectors can foster resilience and aid in violence reduction and prevention (Home & Hands).

Brief Program Description

This presentation will discuss findings from a qualitative study that was part of the HealingGSO project that explored the thoughts and perceptions of 29 community stakeholders about resilience in Black boys and young men and the resources and barriers that exist for fostering resilience in community violence-impacted Black male youth and young men in the city of Greensboro, NC.

Summary

Young Black males in the U.S. disproportionately experience the negative effects of violent victimization, witnessing community violence, and dealing with the loss of loved ones and close friends and peers to homicide and gun violence. Community violence has been shown to affect the social, emotional, mental, physical, academic, and cognitive well-being and development of Black youth. However, several Black boys, male youth, and young men find ways to overcome and navigate life, exhibiting resilience following community violence exposure. Too often community stakeholders are missing from conversations around resilience in Black males impacted by community violence in their communities. These individuals and their perceptions play an essential role as they can expand social capital and often have decision-making power and access to networks that can implement programs, services, policies, and resources to help foster resilience in Black male youth and young men impacted by community violence. Greater attention and call for stakeholder input and action have been emphasized in recent research. Qualitative researchers utilized community-based participatory research (CBPR) techniques (Israel et al., 2013) to conduct in-depth semi-structured individual interviews with 29 community stakeholders with diversity in race, gender, lived experiences, and occupation in Greensboro, North Carolina. Community stakeholders represented nonprofit leaders, medical professionals, clergy, business leaders, educators, elected officials / civic leaders, community healers, media, coaches, grassroots activists, and law enforcement. Results show that community stakeholders believe a number of external resources across sectors in the community can contribute to resilience in Black boys and young men impacted by community violence with mentoring as a prominent theme. Although acknowledging the opportunities and resources existing in their community to support resilience, Greensboro community stakeholders highlighted community dynamics that create barriers to supporting resilience in Black males. This information can be useful for understanding the importance of community stakeholder perspectives and offer some insight into the capacity of a city to support resilience in Black male youth and young men that have been exposed to community violence.

Evidence

• Community violence is associated with several negative outcomes (psychological, behavioral, social, physical, academic, etc) for African American / Black male youth (Burnside & Gaylord-Harden, 2019; Gaylord-Harden et al., 2017; Heron, 2021, Smith & Patton, 2016; Voisin & Berringer, 2015).

• Resilience is exhibited in Black males exposed to community violence (Diclemente et al., 2018; Woods-Jaeger et al., 2020).

• Stakeholder perceptions are needed and wanted and cross-sector stakeholder input and action are desired by Black adolescents impacted by community violence (Allison et al., 2011; Woods-Jaeger et al., 2019).

• Resilience is shaped by internal and external factors (Luthar, Crossman, & Smith, 2015). Emphasis on the role of community in fostering resilience in children, youth, and families is increasing with cross-sector and multi-systems level resources being important for promoting resilience and combatting community violence (Payne & Button, 2009).

References

Allison, K. W., Edmonds, T., Wilson, K., Pope, M., & Farrell, A. D. (2011). Connecting youth violence prevention, positive youth development, and community mobilization. American Journal of Community Psychology, 48(1-2), 8–20.

Burnside, A. N., & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2019). Hopelessness and delinquent behavior as predictors of community violence exposure in ethnic minority male adolescent offenders. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology: An Official Publication of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 47(5), 801–810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0484-9

DiClemente, C. M., Rice, C. M., Richards, M. H., Grimes, C. T., Morency, M. M., White, C. D., … Pica, J. A. (2018). Resilience in urban African American adolescents: the protective enhancing effects of neighborhood, family, and school cohesion following violence exposure. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 38(9), 1286–1321. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431616675974

Gaylord-Harden, N. K., So, S., Bai, G. J., & Tolan, P. H. (2017). Examining the effects of emotional and cognitive desensitization to community violence exposure in male adolescents of color. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 87(4), 463–463.

Heron, M. (2021). Deaths: Leading causes for 2019. National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 70. No 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

Payne, B. K., & Button, D. M. (2009). Developing a citywide youth violence prevention plan: Perceptions of various stakeholders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 53(5), 517-534

Israel, B. A., Eng, E., Schulz, A. J., & Parker, E. A. (2013). Methods for community-based participatory research for health (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Luthar, S. S., Crossman, E. J., & Small, P. J. (2015). Resilience and adversity. In R.M. Lerner and M. E. Lamb (Eds.). Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science (7th Edition, Vol. III, pp. 247-286). New York: Wiley

Payne, B. K., & Button, D. M. (2009). Developing citywide youth violence prevention plan: Perceptions of various stakeholders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 53(5), 517-534

Smith, J. R., & Patton, D. U. (2016). Posttraumatic stress symptoms in context: Examining trauma responses to violent exposure and homicide death among Black males in urban neighborhoods. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 86(2), 212 – 223. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000101

Voisin, D. R., & Berringer, K. R. (2015). Interventions targeting exposure to community violence sequelae among youth: a commentary. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(1), 98–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-014-0506-1

Woods-Jaeger, B., Berkley-Patton, J., Piper, K. N., O'Connor, P., Renfro, T. L., & Christensen, K. (2019). Mitigating negative consequences of community violence exposure: perspectives from African American youth. Health Affairs, 38(10), 1679–1686. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00607

Woods-Jaeger, B., Siedlik, E., Adams, A., Piper, K., O'Connor, P., & Berkley-Patton, J. (2020). Building a contextually-relevant understanding of resilience among African American youth exposed to community violence. Behavioral Medicine (Washington, D.c.), 46(3-4), 330–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2020.1725865

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to learn from research on the perspectives of community stakeholders about the capacity (strengths and barriers) of cities to support resilience in Black boys, male youth, and young men following community violence exposure.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to consider the important role community stakeholders' perceptions play in supporting resilience and community violence reduction and prevention efforts.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to gain insight into qualitative community-based participatory research on resilience and community violence.

Keyword Descriptors

Resilience, Black Males, African American, Youth, Community Violence, Stakeholders

Presentation Year

2023

Start Date

3-6-2023 10:15 AM

End Date

3-6-2023 11:30 AM

Recommended Citation

Walker, Indya A., "Supporting Resilience in Black Male Youth Exposed to Community Violence: A Stakeholder Point of View" (2023). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 6.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2023/2023/6