A Theory of African American Offending by James D. Unnever Shaun L. Gabbidon

Author:James D. Unnever, Shaun L. Gabbidon [James D. Unnever, Shaun L. Gabbidon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Criminology, Ethnic Studies, General, Sociology
ISBN: 9781136809217
Google: 9g7_j_xMcQIC
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2011-03-15T05:41:38+00:00

Coping with Racism

It is clear that African Americans racially socialize their children to prepare them to successfully resist their racial subordination. This includes African American parents teaching their children how to successfully cope with both acute and chronic encounters with racial injustices. Utsey, Ponterotto, Reynolds, and Cancelli (2000:73) define coping as “the process whereby an individual attempts to manage, through cognitive and behavioral efforts, external or internal demands that are assessed as exceeding one’s resources.” The research on how African Americans cope with racism is limited but is attracting greater attention, especially as scholars continue to document the deleterious health consequences of racial subordination. We also note that the research on how African Americans cope with general stress (e.g., relationship problems) may not generalize to how they respond to racial discrimination. Research indicates that African Americans are less likely to engage in problem-solving and seek social support in racially stressful situations than in more general stressful situations (Plummer and Slane, 1996). In part, this reluctance stems from the power differentials that are intrinsic to experiences with racial injustices.

We encourage scholars to study the many nuanced ways that African Americans provide specific guidance as to how their children can best resist their racial subordination. This research should detail the connections between specific coping strategies and racial socialization experiences.

Along these lines, we could only find two articles that examined the complex relationship between racial socialization and specific coping strategies. These studies showed that African American adolescents who reported receiving frequent messages concerning racism from their parents or guardians were more likely to use a problem-solving coping strategy—attempts to change the dynamics of the encounter—and to seek social supports (Scott, 2003, 2004). Thus, these findings indicate that African American parents can decrease their children’s likelihood of offending if the content of their racial socialization includes providing their children with effective coping skills to fend off the toxic effects of racial discrimination. Indeed, Scott (2004:134) concludes that “racial socialization serves a protective function for African American adolescents. African American adolescents who are not prepared for the multiple racial assaults they may encounter in everyday interactions may be more at risk for internalizing racial oppression and utilizing ineffective coping strategies.” Below we review the limited research on the different coping strategies African Americans use to resist their racial subordination.

Brondolo et al.’s (2009) excellent review of the coping literature outlines the substantial demands placed on African Americans as they try to effectively resist their racial subordination. They contend that the choice and effectiveness of the coping strategy must be related to the intensity and nature of the racial injustice, the perceived degree of intentionality of the perpetrator, the potential consequences of the racist act, and the availability of resources to assist in their resistance. In addition, different types of coping may be needed at the time of exposure, following the episode, and in coping with the long-term consequences. That is, African Americans need to have coping mechanisms that allow them to immediately resist acts of racial

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.