Noni K. Gaylord-Harden - Associate Professor of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago Part of the Youth-Nex Conference: Youth of Color Matter: Reducing Inequalities Through Positive Youth Development #YoCM15 Panel 1 - "Culturally-Grounded Approaches to Positive Youth Development" Cultural beliefs, traditions, and pride can play an integral role in promoting positive development for youth from ethnic minority backgrounds. In this panel, we will hear about connections between cultural values and healthy development for American Indian youth, culturally-linked coping strategies among African American teens, and the benefits of emphasizing cultural pride in natural mentoring relationships.

1. Shifting the Narrative on Development in
Youth of Color:
Noni Gaylord-Harden, Loyola University Chicago
5th AnnualYouth-Nex Conference 2015

2.  MATTER
 “worthy of attention”

3.  What are the normative developmental
experiences ofYOC?
 Ayman-Nolley &Taira (2000)
 WhiteYouth  “Family”
 YOC  “Risk-taking Behavior”
 Development of YOC framed in deficit-based
models (GarcíaColl et al., 1996; McLoyd & Randolph, 1985;Tucker &
Herman, 2002).
 “pathologizing” and “idealizing”

4.  Leads toYOC being
 overdiagnosed with “socially disruptive”
psychiatric disorders (Mizock & Harkins, 2011; Schwartz &
Feisthamel, 2009)
 disproportionately suspended and expelled from
schools (Fenning & Rose, 2007; Reynolds et al., 2008)
 overrepresented in the juvenile justice system
(Steinberg, 2009)

5.  YOC are problematic and threatening
 Perception of BOC as superpredators (Jennings, 2014).
 Black boys perceived as older and less innocent by
police officers (Goff et al., 2014)
 Latino males perceived as threats to national
security and American values (Chavez, 2013; Fujioka, 2011)

6.  Purpose
 To identify profiles of
community violence
exposure in African
American youth
 241 African American 6th
– 8th graders
 mean age = 12.86

7. 0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
You saw someone
commit a crime
(e.g., stealing,
selling drugs, etc.)
in your
neighborhood.
You heard
gunshots fired at
your school or in
your
neighborhood.
You saw someone
carrying a
weapon.
You saw someone
being threatened
with a knife or
gun.
Someone close to
you was
threatened with a
knife or gun.
Someone close to
you was shot or
attacked.
You were
physically
attacked by
someone not in
your family.
You were
threatened with a
knife or gun.
Someone stole
something
valuable from you
(more than $5).
High Exposure
Victimization
Low Exposure
ProbabilityofEndorsingItems

8.  Purpose:
 to identify profiles of
community victimization
and aggressive behavior
in AfricanAmerican male
adolescents
 223 African American
male adolescents
 Mean age = 15.15
8

9. -1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Non Aggressive Non-
Victims
Aggressive Victims
Aggressive Non-
Victims

10.  Purpose:
 examine interrelationships
among community violence,
protective factors, and
mental health
 504 predominantly African
American adolescents
 77% of the sample
 moderate levels of risk
 high levels of protection

11. Journal of Research on Adolescence
Volume 24, Issue 3, pages 512-525, 16 AUG 2014 DOI: 10.1111/jora.12129
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.12129/full#jora12129-fig-0003

12.  What are the normative developmental
experiences forYOC?
 Adaptive functioning is a common experience
forYOC
 Lack of focus on positive functioning is
allowing biases to prevail.
 Burgeoning body of research

13.  PYD = alignment between youth strengths
and environmental resources (families,
school, communities) (Lerner et al., 2009)
 Assets are embedded in the families and
communities that socialize these youth

14.  Role of cultural assets forYOC
 Familism values predicts PYD in Mexican youth
(Knight & Carlo, 2012).
 Engaging American Indian youth in Native cultural
practices and worldviews promotes PYD (Kenyon &
Hanson, 2012).
 Parents’ racial socialization efforts promotes PYD
in African American youth (Evans et al., 2012).
 Ethnic identity promotes PYD in African American
and Latino youth (Williams et al., 2014)

15.  What is the importance of identifying
culturally specific assets forYOC?
 Narrow the knowledge gap on variability in the
experiences ofYOC
 Guide the development of contextually- and
culturally-relevant interventions

16.  PYD research needed to
 provide a more balanced and holistic perspective
ofYOC.
 Highlight number ofYOC to help us understand
how to expand the numbers of theseYOC who
thrive.