Abstract
Nearly 15% of youth in New Orleans have been labeled “socially disconnected” from formal educational and economic systems (Babineau et al. in No longer invisible: Opportunity youth in New Orleans, http://www.thecoweninstitute.com.php56-17.dfw3-1.websitetestlink.com/uploads/OY-Data-Guide-2016-Revised-FINAL-1506966101.pdf, 2016). Socially disconnected youth face barriers to social, psychological, and economic well-being (Mendelson et al. in Public Health Rep 133:54S–64S, 2018). While there has been attention to the detrimental impacts associated with isolation in adolescence, there is a limited examination of how social isolation manifests in the lives of disconnected youth in urban communities. Data were collected from six focus groups at three youth-serving agencies in the urban south. Participants were aged 16–24 (n = 39), mixed gender, and the majority identified as African American. We utilized a thematic content analysis approach that involved multiple rounds of inductive coding. Youth reported an overarching theme of “staying to oneself’ or self-isolation. Youth constructed isolation as a complex cognitive and physical process utilized to stay safe from community and interpersonal violence. Self-isolation functioned as a tool of self-protection and as being essential to surviving and thriving amidst adversity. The consequences of self-isolation include perceptions that participants are alone to deal with life’s challenges and purposeful disengagement from community life. These findings offer a reframing of isolation that deviates from a good/bad binary to a more expansive understanding of the myriad ways isolation manifests in the lives of disconnected youth. While social service agencies aim to reconnect youth economically and academically, these findings underscore the importance of addressing upstream drivers of social disconnectedness, as well as integrating healing-centered clinical interventions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, L., Miles, M., & Steinberg, A. M. (2014). Achieving collective impact for opportunity youth. Stanford Social Innovation Review,12(4), 20–22.
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist,55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.5.469.
Babineau, K., Rossmeier, V., & Hand, D. (2016). No longer invisible: Opportunity youth in New Orleans. Retrieved from http://www.thecoweninstitute.com.php56-17.dfw3-1.websitetestlink.com/uploads/OY-Data-Guide-2016-Revised-FINAL-1506966101.pdf
Bearman, P. S., & Moody, J. (2004). Suicide and friendships among American adolescents. American Journal of Public Health,94, 89–95. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.94.1.89.
Belfield, C. R., Levin, H. M., & Rosen, R. (2012). The economic value of opportunity youth. Retrieved from https://aspencommunitysolutions.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/07/Economic_Value_of_Opportunity_Youth_Report.pdf
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology,3, 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Brown, D. W., Anda, R. F., Timeier, H., Felitti, V. J., Edwards, V. J., Croft, J. B., et al. (2009). Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of premature mortality. American Journal of Preventive Medicine,37(5), 389–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2009.06.021.
Burd-Sharps, S., & Lewis, K. (2018). More than a million reasons for hope: Youth disconnection in America today. Brooklyn, NY: Measure of America of the Social Science Research Council.
Cacioppo, J. T., & Cacioppo, S. (2014). Social relationships and health: The toxic effects of perceived social isolation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass,8(2), 58–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.v8.2.
Carter, R. T. (2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist,35(1), 13–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/001100006292033.
Checkoway, B. N., & Guiterrez, L. (2006). Youth participation and community change. Journal of Community Practice,14, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1300/j125v14n01_01.
Children’s Defense Fund. (2019). The CDF Freedom Schools model. Retrieved January 8, 2019 from, https://www.childrensdefense.org/programs/cdf-freedom-schools/.
Cook, A., Spinazzola, J., Ford, J., Lanktree, C., Blaustein, M., Cloitre, M., et al. (2017). Complex trauma in children and adolescents. Psychiatric Annals,35(5), 390–398.
Cronholm, P. F., Forke, C. M., Wade, R., Bair-Merritt, M. G., Davis, M., Harkins-Schwartz, M.,…, Fein, J. A. (2015). Adverse childhood experiences: Expanding the concept of adversity. American Journal of Prevention Medicine 49, 354–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.02.001
Delgado, M., & Staples, L. (2008). Youth-led community organizing. New York: Oxford University Press.
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York: NYU Press.
Ellis, W. R., & Dietz, W. H. (2017). A new framework for addressing adverse childhood and community experiences: The building community resilience model. Academic Pediatrics,17(7), S86–S93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2016.12.011.
Felitti, V. J., Andra, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., et al. (1998). The relationship of adult health status to childhood abuse and household dysfunction. American Journal of Preventive Medicine,14, 245–258.
Finkelhor, D., Shattuck, A., Turner, H., & Hamby, S. (2015). A revised inventory of adverse childhood experiences. Child Abuse and Neglect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.07.011.
Frye, D. A., Fang, X., Elliott, S., & Casey, T. (2017). The relationships between violence in childhood and educational outcomes: A global systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Abuse and Neglect,75, 6–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.021.
Ginwright, S. (2018). The future of healing: Shifting from trauma-informed care to healing centered engagement. Retrieved December 3, 2019 from https://medium.com/@ginwright/the-future-of-healing-shifting-from-trauma-informed-care-to-healing-centered-engagement-634f557ce69c.
Green, D. (2014). Freedom schools for the twenty-first century. The Western Journal of Black Studies,38(3), 163–176.
Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books.
House, J. S. (2011). Social isolation kills, but how and why? Psychosomatic Medicine,63(2), 273–274. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-200103000-00011.
Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research,15(9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687.
Madkour, A. S., Johnson, C. C., Clum, G. A., & Brown, L. (2011). Disaster and youth violence: The experience of school-attending youth in New Orleans.,49(2), 213–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.06.005.
Mendelson, T., Mmari, K., Catalano, R. F., & Brindis, C. D. (2018). Opportunity youth: Insights and opportunities for a public health approach to re-engage disconnected teenagers and young adults. Public Health Reports,133, 54S–64S. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354918799344.
Metzler, M., Merrick, M. T., Klevens, J., Ports, K. A., & Ford, D. C. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences and life opportunities: Shifting the narrative. Children and Youth Services Review,72, 141–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.10.021.
Moore, M. (2003). Socially isolated? How parents and neighbourhood adults influence youth behavior in disadvantaged communities. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 26, 988–1005. https://doi.org/10.1080/0141987032000132450.
Morse, J. (2015). Critical analysis of strategies for determining rigor in qualitative inquiry. Qualitative Health Research,25(9), 1212–1222. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315588501.
Patel, M., Liddell, J., & Ferreira, R. (2018). An evaluation of the positive action program for youth violence prevention: From schools to summer camps. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal,35, 519–530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-018-0536-6.
Phinney, J. S. (1989). Stages of ethnic identity development in minority group adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence,9(1–2), 34–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431689091004.
Polanco-Roman, L., Danies, A., & Anglin, D. M. (2016). Racial discrimination as race-based trauma, coping strategies, and dissociative symptoms among emerging adults. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy,8(5), 609–617. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000125.
Rankin, B. H., & Quane, J. M. (2000). Neighborhood poverty and the social isolation of inner-city African American families. Social Forces, 79(1), 139–164. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2675567
Richmond, M. E. (1903). Friendly visiting among the poor: A handbook for charity workers. New York: The Macmillan Company.
Rogers, L. O., Scott, M. A., & Way, N. (2015). Racial and gender identity among Black adolescent males: An intersectionality perspective. Child Development,86(2), 407–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12303.
Saldana, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd.
Salloum, A., & Overstreet, S. (2012). Grief and trauma intervention for children after disaster: Exploring coping skills versus trauma narration. Behavioral Research and Therapy,50, 169–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2012.01.001.
Seal, D., Nguyen, A., & Beyer, K. (2014). Youth exposure to violence in an urban setting. Urban Studies Research,368047, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/368047.
Smithson, J. (2009). Focus Groups. In P. Alasuutari, L. Bickman, & J. Brannen (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of social research methods (pp. 357–370). Los Angeles: Sage.
Sousa, C., Mason, W., & Herrenkohl, T. (2018). Direct and indirect effects of child abuse and environmental stress: A life course perspective on adversity and depressive symptoms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,88(2), 180–186. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000283.
Stige, B., Malterud, K., & Midtgarden, T. (2009). Toward an agenda for evaluation of qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research,19, 1504–1516. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732309348501.
Taylor, R. J., Taylor, H. O., & Chatters, L. M. (2016). Social isolation from extended family members and friends among African Americans: Findings from a national survey. Journal of Family Social Work,19(5), 443–461. https://doi.org/10.1080/10522158.2016.1181127.
Wilson, W. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Witherspoon, D. P., Daniels, L. L., Matson, A. E., & Smith, E. P. (2016). Racial—ethnic identity in context: Examining mediation of neighborhood factors on children’s academic adjustment. American Journal of Community Psychology,57(1–2), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12019.
Zaleski, K. L., Johnson, D. K., & Klein, J. T. (2016). Grounding Judith Herman’s trauma theory within interpersonal neuroscience and evidence-based practice modalities for trauma treatment. Smith College Studies in Social Work,86(4), 377–393. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377317.2016.1222110.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the staff at the Youth Empowerment Project, Café Reconcile, Liberty’s Kitchen, and the Cowen Institute for their support in conceptualizing and implementing this research project. Also, we would like to thank the voices of the youth represented in this research.
Funding
Funding for this research was generously provided by the Lavin Bernick Fund provided by Tulane University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Storer, H.L., McCleary, J.S., Pepin, E. et al. “That’s Why I Stay to Myself”: Marginalized Youth’s Meaning Making Processes of Social Disconnectedness. Clin Soc Work J 48, 25–34 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-019-00740-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-019-00740-0