Considerable attention---both within the research literature and popular media---has been devoted to the heightened risk of young, African American men for negative life outcomes such as early morbidity and criminal justice involvement. Much of the literature has focused upon various risk factors (such as poverty and low educational attainment) for negative life outcomes and is descriptive or quantitative in its analysis. The perspective and voices of the young men who experience this phenomenon has often been overlooked, and thus constitutes a significant gap in the literature This dissertation sought to address this gap in the literature through a qualitative research study which elicited the life stories of young African American men who are at risk for such outcomes. Spencer's (1995, 2006) phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST) was the framework through which each participant's life story was analyzed, and enabled critical examination of the manner in which the manifestation of risk and protective factors influenced life stage outcomes. Results indicated that life stage outcomes were strongly influenced by an individual's net stress engagement (the manifestation of challenges and supports within various contexts), the reactive coping strategies they employed to negotiate life stressors, and identity development / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_25242 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Contributors | Kendig, Rebecca Linnea (Author), Pearlmutter, Lynn (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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