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The Psychologyof Black Boys and Adolescets

The Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents

  • Describes how issues relating to poverty, education, and family can lead to the "adultification" of black boys, contributing to adverse life outcomes

  • Explores the relationships between race and stress-related disorders, detailing the impact of racism on the attitudes and values of African American boys

  • Examines institutionalized racism as a pervasive and unacknowledged problem in American society​

  • Offers culturally specific interventions for working with African American males

"Spielberg and Vaughans bring brilliant social science analytics and compassionate pragmatic thought to bear upon one of our most troublesome problems in education and they demonstrate both the promise and limitations of rationale thought when superimposed on the immorality of racial and economic subjugation. Thinking within these constraints, Spielberg and Vaughans present a cogent program, informed by research, for intervening in the lives of a marginalized and oppressed group of young men. It is well that he includes, as do I, rational defiance of racist oppression. For young men fortunate enough to experience what is prescribed; an easier life is promised."

Edmund W. Gordon
John Musser Professor of Psychology, Yale University
Richard March Hoe Professor of Psychology and Education, Columbia University

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