“Strap up:” Sexual socialization and safer sex practices among African American youth in foster care

Abstract

Adolescent sexual health is often reflected through a problem-oriented lens. This serves to reinforce prevailing sexual scripts and cultural images of disenfranchised youth. Very little is known about the support young people in foster care, particularly youth of color, need to stay sexually healthy and safe. This article presents data on the sources and types of sexual socialization experiences that supported African American transitional age youth in foster care to protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Eighteen African American participants (18 to 21-years old) who reported condom use in two quantitative interviews were selected to participate in a qualitative interview. A mapping exercise and thematic analyses were used to identify the participants' sources of support and sexual socialization experiences. The study's findings indicated the youth had a combination of informal and formal sources that conveyed four types of STI/HIV prevention messages: Effective, Affective, Affinity, & Tangible. The majority of the participants (83%) received all four types of STI/HIV prevention messages from adult, partner and/or peer sources. Sources who motivated the participants the most to protect against STIs/HIV had a strong relationship with the youth and communicated openly about safer sex practices. Results of this study provide implications for future research as well as indications for practice that may be incorporated into training for child welfare practitioners, foster parents, kinship caregivers, and others who encounter youth in foster care.