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Adjustment and Developmental Patterns of African American Males: The Roles of Families, Communities, and Other Contexts

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Boys and Men in African American Families

Part of the book series: National Symposium on Family Issues ((NSFI,volume 7))

Abstract

Despite the numerous challenges that most African American males confront, growing up in a society in which they and their families continue to be marginalized, many are able to survive and thrive. In this chapter, consideration is given to examining both struggles and victories confronting African Americans raising healthy sons. Drawing on Ecodevelopmental theory, and a relational development system model, we highlight the protective nature of families in buffering their sons from risk often associated with disparities confronting African American males, including academic outcomes and behavioral health, namely conduct/delinquent problems and early sexual initiation and substance/drug use. Further, the protective nature of person-context relations are examined to identify malleable targets that can be manipulated in preventive interventions aimed to reduce disparities in these multiple domains. Finally, our review raises an important question: Why is the study of African American male’s adjustment and development primarily based on their lived experiences in public spaces and institutions and void of their lives as members of families? The implications of this omission for theory building, research, and policy are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

Murry’s effort on this book chapter was supported by the Lois Autrey Betts Endowment. Family and Community Health Study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH48165 through funding for the Center for Family Research in Rural Mental Health at Iowa State University and Center for Family Research at University of Georgia. Additional funding was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station Project #3320.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human and Organizational Development, Vanderbilt University, Peabody College, Nashville, TN, USA

    Velma McBride Murry

  2. Department of Health Policy and Management, Field School of Public health, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Eryn Piper Block

  3. Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Na Liu

Authors
  1. Velma McBride Murry
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  2. Eryn Piper Block
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  3. Na Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Velma McBride Murry .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Trinity College of Arts and Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Linda M. Burton

  2. Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Dorian Burton

  3. Social Science Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Susan M. McHale

  4. Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Valarie King

  5. Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Jennifer Van Hook

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Murry, V.M., Block, E.P., Liu, N. (2016). Adjustment and Developmental Patterns of African American Males: The Roles of Families, Communities, and Other Contexts. In: M. Burton, L., Burton, D., M. McHale, S., King, V., Van Hook, J. (eds) Boys and Men in African American Families. National Symposium on Family Issues, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43847-4_2

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