African American Male Youth Violence and Internalized Racism

ABSTRACT

African American males are associated with a large proportion of the youth violence in the United States today. What is contributing to the disproportionate representation of Black youth? While prior research has identified a number of risk factors, no research has examined the role of what has been identified as “internalized racism”. Question: Does internalized racism influence young African American male's propensity to engage in violence? Hypotheses: (1) the higher the level of internalized racism the higher the level of the propensity for violence; and (2) students who are receiving an African-centered education would have lower levels of internalized racism and a lower propensity for violence.

This project utilized cross-sectional methodology to survey 224 African American males ages 14-19. The participants were recruited via non-probability purposeful sampling at each of four program settings in Philadelphia: (1) a public high school (2) an African-centered charter high school; (3) residents of the Philadelphia Youth Study Center; and (4) Youth Partners from the Philadelphia Youth Violence Reduction Partnership. Written survey responses were gathered from the participants in group settings; each question was read aloud by the Principal Investigator.

Pre-validated scales were used for the key independent and dependent variables. Internalized racism was measured using the Nadanolitization scale. Violent attitudes were operationalized by using the Attitudes Towards Guns and Violence Questionnaire. Aggressive behavior was measured by the Aggressive Behavior subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist. Covariates included two sets of key risk factors: (1) items from sub-scale measures of CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (measures of delinquent friends, exposure to gangs, drug and alcohol use, and impulsivity); and (2) demographic items (e.g., age, domestic violence, income, arrests and convictions, single-parent household, relationship with parent/guardian, criminality of parent/guardian/siblings, school drop-out, selling crack cocaine).

Multiple regression analysis using STATA statistical software was employed to test the relationship of internalized racism to violent attitudes and aggressive behavior. Analysis of variance was conducted to assess differences across the four program settings for levels of internalized racism, violent attitudes and aggressive behavior.

Internalized racism showed to be a significant predictor for African American male youth violence. The higher the internalized racism scores, the higher the propensity for violence scores. Further, Internalized Racism, Aggressive Behavior, and Attitudes Towards Guns and Violence scores were significantly lower for African-centered educational students.

It is concluded that internalized racism in African American male youth is a risk factor for African American male youth violence. Practice: Black male youth involved in violence should be assessed for internalized racism; interventions that incorporate African-centered instruction should be encouraged. Policy: Key elements of African-centered instruction should be incorporated into school settings, prevention and intervention programs. Research: Replication of this study in various urban settings is needed; and there should be further examination of the role of African-centered education in the reduction of African American male youth violence.