Inner-city Youth Research Articles

Preparing Inner-City Adolescents to Transition into High School

The study in this article investigated how academic preparation, career development skills, parental assistance, and social/environmental barriers predicted inner-city adolescents' psychological preparation to transition into high school. Results showed that academic preparation, parents' instrumental assistance, adolescents' career development skills efficacy, lack of teacher and peer support, and teenage pregnancy were predictive for both boys and girls. Suggestions appropriate to assist inner-city youth in preparing for high school are offered.

43: The Teen Medical Academy—increasing access to medical careers among disadvantaged inner-city youth

43: The Teen Medical Academy—increasing access to medical careers among disadvantaged inner-city youth

Cumulative Risk and Asthma Outcomes in Inner-City African-American Youth

A cumulative risk framework was used to examine the impact of the presence of multiple risk factors on key asthma outcomes (i.e., health-related quality of life [HRQoL], severity) for a sample of 149 inner-city African-American youth with asthma. The presence of a greater number of risk factors was associated with lower HRQoL and greater severity, regardless of age or gender. Cumulative risk methodology, in combination with selection of risk factors based on theoretical and empirical work, is a viable option for researchers and clinicians who are interested in examining the impact of multiple risk factors on disease functioning and status.

Associations between youth assets and sexual activity: does adult supervision play a role?

Youth participation in sexual risk behaviours continues to be a critically important public health topic. Additionally, as youth are frequently being left alone during the day without adult supervision, there are increased opportunities for sexual risk-taking behaviour. This study examined how the relationships of nine youth assets and sexual activity may vary according to the stratification of youth into two groups: self-care and supervised. Data were collected through at-home, in-person interviews from a random sample of inner-city youth (mean age = 15.4 years; 51.5% female; 48.8% White; 22.4% Black; 18.5% Hispanic; 10% Native American) and their parents (n = 1079 parent/youth pairs). Nine youth assets were analysed using multiple logistic regression. Examples of assets youth may possess are: positive role models, family communication, school connectedness, constructive use of time and aspirations for the future. The item used to assess sexual intercourse was 'Have you ever had sexual intercourse ("done it", "had sex", "made love", "gone all the way")?'. Asset/risk behaviour associations that were unique to one of the two strata were the focus of the study. Thirty-seven per cent of youth spent two or more hours per day home alone. Youth who were supervised had a greater number of unique significant associations between assets and sexual activity than youth who were in the self-care group. Youth in supervised settings may be less likely to participate in sexual activity because of the presence of assets. Certain assets may also be important in deterring sexual activity for youth who are in self-care.

The Praeger handbook of urban education

Introduction The Power of Hope in the Trenches Context of UE No Child Left Behind and Urban Education: The Purpose and Funding of Public Education, by Thomas Brignall III The Militarized Zone, by Ronnie Casella The Significance of Urban Street Vendors, by Marina Karides Why Should Urban Educators Care about Community Organizing to Reform Schools? by Hollyce C. Giles Race/Ethnicity & UE A Cociological Critique of 'Meaningful Differences:' A Functional Approach to the Parenting Style of Low-Income African American Families, by Linda B. Benbow The Business Community, African-American Leaders and School Governance: A Case of Competing Interests in School Reform, by Lisa Gonsalves Black Women Activists, Leaders and Educators: Transforming Urban Educational Practice, by Gaetane Jean-Marie, Channelle James, and Shirley Bynum Dilemmas Confronting Urban Principals in the Post-Civil Rights Era, by Tondra L. Loder Bring In Da Noise, Bring in DuBois: Infusing an African-American Educational Idealogy into the Urban Education Discourse, by Kecia Hayes Race, Class and Gender in Urban Education: Exploring the Critical Research on Urban Pedagogy and School Reform, by Marvin Lynn, A. Dee and et al. Whiteness in Teacher Education, by Patricia Burdell, Ph.D. Should the Holocaust be Taught in Urban Schools? by Dr. Tibbi Duboys Rethinking the White Man's Burden: Identity and Pedagogy for an Inner City Student Teacher, by John Pascarella and Marie Gironda African American Teachers: The Dying Group, by Dr. Deidre Ann Tyler Social Justice Participatory Democratic Education: Is the Utopia Possible? Porto Alegre's Citizen School Project, Possible? by Luis Armando Gandin and Gustavo E. Fischman Teaching/Pedagogy Identity as Dialectic: Re/Making Self in Urban Schooling, by Wolff-Michael Roth The Professional Development of Teachers of Science in Urban Schools: Issues and Challenges, by Mary M. Atwater and Malcolm B. Butler Contemplative Urban Education, by David Forbes, Ph.D. Conflict Resolution Strategies for Inner-City Youth, by Meridith Gould and Anthony Tadduni One Day at a Time: Substitute Teaching in Urban Schools, by Frances Helyar Developing Scholar-Practitioner Leaders in the Urban Education in Crisis, by Raymond A. Horn, Jr. Voice, Access, and Democratic Participation: Towards a Transformational Paradigm of Parent Involvement in Urban Education, by Edward M. Olivos and Alberto M. Ochoa Rewriting the Curriculum for Urban Teacher Preparation, by Cynthia Onore Rethinking Learning and Motivation in Urban Schools, by Robert Rueda and Myron H. Dembo The Testing Movement and Urban Education, by Rupam Saran Forming a Circle: Creating a Learning Community for Urban Commuting Adult Students in an Interdisciplinary Studies Program, by Roslyn Abt Schindler Tolerance with Children: A Critique of Zero Tolerance in School Discipline, by Jill Rogers Literacy in Urban Education: Problems and Promises, by Anne Dichele and Mordechai Gordan Complicating our Identities as Urban Teachers: A Co/Autoethnography, by Dr. Monica Taylor and Dr. Lesley Coia Democratic Urban Education: Imagining Possibilities, by Patrick M. Jenlink and Karen Embry Jenlink How to Explore, Critique, and Sustain NYC-based Arts/Education After-School Funding and How to Utilize Youth Participant Researchers as Investigators, by Jen Weiss The Need for Free Play in Natural Settings, by William Crain Any Given Saturday, by David Reed Purple Leaves and Charlie-Horses: The Dichotomous Definition of Urban Education, by Tricia Kress Exploring Urban Landscapes: A Postmodern Approach to Learning, by Priya Parmar, Ph.D. and Shorna Broussard, Ph.D. Power & UE Global Capitalism and Urban Education, by David Baronov Towards an Anti-Colonial Education, by Mostafa MouhieEddine and Rebecca Sanchez Education in a Globalized Society: Over Five Centuries, the Colonial Struggle Continues, by Joseph Carroll-Miranda Universities, Regional Policy and the Knowledge Economy, by Michael A. Peters and Tim May The Individual vs. the Collective in a Time of Globalization: Educational Implications, by Judith J. Slater School Finance in Urban America, by Lynne A. Weikart, Ph.D. Language & UE Evaluating Programs for English Language Learners: Possibilities for Biliteracy in Urban SchoolDistricts in California, by Karen Cadiero-Kaplan and Alberto Ochoa Bilingual-Bicultural Literacy Pedagogies and the Politics of Project Head Start, by Ronald L. Mize, et al. Cultural Studies & UE Hollywood's Depicti

Evaluation of a Theater-Based Youth Violence Prevention Program for Elementary School Children

The present study evaluated the impact of Urban Improv (UI), a theater-based youth violence prevention (YVP) program developed for inner-city youth, on three behavioral and psychological outcome domains: aggressive behaviors, prosocial behaviors, and scholastic attention and engagement. This study compared outcomes for 77 elementary school students in classrooms designated to receive UI with those of 63 students from matched control classrooms. Findings revealed that students who received UI were superior to matched controls on all outcome domains. Findings support UI as a promising practice for YVP with urban elementary school students and suggest that greater attention should be focused on application of theater-based programs in YVP.

Food Intake and Exercise Frequency Survey of Inner-City Youth Involved in a Structured After-School Program.

Food Intake and Exercise Frequency Survey of Inner-City Youth Involved in a Structured After-School Program.

Looking for America: The Disassociation of Urban Youth

Many educational initiatives have been and continue to be based on a macro-social system understanding of communal roles, values, norms, interactions, perceptions, and realities. This practice neglects the unique impediments and social norms that exist within the myriad of micro-social systems in the United States. This work draws attention to the disassociation of America's inner-city youth through an analysis of educational initiatives and macro-social system beliefs that have prescribed a macro-social system remedy for micro-social system ailments.

Constructively Challenging Diverse Inner-City Youth's Beliefs About Educational and Career Barriers and Supports

This study examines school and work barrier beliefs about the limitations of education for future career rewards and perceived supports for attaining the educational and career aspirations of low-income, inner-city, African American, Hispanic/Latino(a), and Caribbean immigrant youth. The authors find that higher levels of school andwork barrier beliefs are associated with lower aspirations, particularly for minority youth who are less recent immigrants. The authors described workshops designed to constructively challenge counterproductive school and work barrier beliefs by expanding participants' learning about accessible sources of support for attaining their school, work, and life goals. Results indicate that participants endorse two types of support sources: contextual supports (relational and community resources accessible in their environments) and personal resources (psychological assets within the individual). The authors propose that personal resources be conceptualized from social learning theory as facilitative task approach skills (e.g., productive work habits, learning-oriented performance expectations, helpful cognitive processes, beneficial problem orientations, self-regulated emotional responses, and other personal assets).

‘At the Bottom of the Social Heap’: A Youth Underclass in Inner-city Harare?

In the social sciences, not many theses have been as contentious as the underclass thesis. Nevertheless, whether as a heuristic device to study society or as a target of ideological or academic attack, the underclass thesis has been used a focus of attention by a wide spectrum of researchers, politicians and journalists. In post-industrial societies the debate on the existence, nature and causes of the underclass has been raging on for decades. There is a plethora of ideological, policy, ontological and methodological disputes around it. This discussion takes the underclass thesis to the streets of Harare in Zimbabwe. It explores the possibilities of the formation of an underclass among the inner-city youth of Harare. Using indicators developed by Roberts and other scholars, the paper suggests something different is happening among the inner-city youth. While not proclaiming the existence of an underclass, the paper traces the emergence of a distinct inner-city social group to both structural and cultural factors.

4: Physician gender preference in adolescent males within an inner-city youth population

4: Physician gender preference in adolescent males within an inner-city youth population

Perceived Involvement in Condition Management among Inner-City Youth with Asthma and Their Primary Caregivers

This study examined patterns of agreement versus disagreement in family perceptions of caregiver and youth involvement in asthma management tasks and associations of these patterns with youth asthma outcomes. Fifty-six caregiver-child dyads completed questionnaires of family involvement in asthma management and asthma health outcomes (i.e., symptom days, health care utilization, and medication adherence). Discrepancies were documented for perceptions of both caregiver and youth involvement. Caregiver overestimation of youth involvement in asthma management was associated with greater asthma severity and more asthma symptoms. Discrepancies in family perceptions of involvement pose salient challenges for effective clinical management and require clinical attention.

Youth assets, aggression, and delinquency within the context of family structure.

To identify youth assets associated with reduced aggressive and delinquent behavior of youth residing in 1-parent households but not of youth residing in 2-parent households. Data were collected from inner-city youth and their parents (N = 1,277 youth-parent pairs) using in-home, in-person interviews. Logistic regression analyses, stratifying by 1- and 2-parent household status, were conducted. Several assets were significantly associated with reduced risk behavior only for youth residing in 1-parent households. There appear to be specific assets (eg, Family Communication, Responsible Choices) that are more important for youth living in 1- versus 2- parent households.

Gender and Ethnic Differences in the Co-occurrence of Adolescent Risk Behaviors

Objectives We consider gender and ethnic differences in the co-occurrence of adolescent behaviors related to health and well-being. Design Using a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997–2000), we examine behavior among students as well as school drop-outs. We use latent class models (LCMs) to identify subpopulations of adolescents with similar patterns of co-occurring behaviors. The generalizability of the findings for African American adolescents in the 1970s is considered using a sample of inner-city youth from the Pathways to Adulthood Survey. Results For all ethnic groups, we find a subpopulation with ‘problem behavior’ characteristics (in which early sexual initiation, alcohol use, smoking, marijuana use, and truancy are all highly prevalent). This cluster is most common among European American adolescents and among young men. A subpopulation characterized by behaviors often leading to poor social outcomes (e.g. truancy, early sexual initiation and fighting) is most common for African American adolescents, especially young African American men. Conclusion Our findings suggest that multi-factorial interventions which address the interrelationships between all of the behaviors are relevant regardless of gender or ethnicity. However, the ethnic and gender differences in the likelihood of specific patterns of interrelationships highlight the importance of considering the ethnic and gender composition of a population when developing future research and interventions.

Relationships Among Youth Assets and Neighborhood and Community Resources

Recent research suggests that a youth development framework emphasizing youth assets may be a promising intervention strategy for preventing adolescent risk behaviors. Understanding how neighborhood and community resources relate to youth assets may aid in identifying environmental strategies to complement individually oriented asset-building interventions. In this study, 1,350 randomly selected inner-city youth and their parents (paired interviews) were interviewed in person. After controlling for demographic characteristics of youth and parents using multivariate logistic regression, parental perception of neighborhood safety was associated with the nonparental adult role model asset, peer role model asset, and for African American youth, the community involvement asset. City services and neighborhood services were associated with use of time (groups/sports) and use of time (religion), respectively. Psychological sense of community was associated with community involvement for Native American youth. Findings suggest that neighborhood and community-level influences should be considered when designing youth development interventions to reduce risk behaviors.

Review of Investing in Children, Youth, Families, and Communities: Strengths-Based Research and Policy.

KENNETH I. MATON, CYNTHIA J. SCHELLENBACH, BONNIE J. LEADBEATER, and ANDREA L. SOLARZ (Eds.) in Children, Youth, Families, and Communities: Strengths-Based Research and Policy Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2004, 376 pages (ISBN 1-59147-062-5, US$49.95 Hardcover) Reviewed by DOUG SYMONS There is a poignant scene in the movie Apollo 13 in which the managers at Mission Control receive a litany of information about systems that are not working in the ill-fated space ship. The flight controller, played by Ed Harris, gets frustrated with this negative information, and immediately shifts the mind-set by asking the question, Can you tell me what on that space craft is working? The shift of attention is therefore from the problems to the positives; from deficits to assets. The same kind of mind-set shift is contained in the edited book Investing in Children, Youth, Families, and Communities, which advocates a strengths-based approach to family-based research and social policy. Instead of deficit-based models of social problems, resiliency models are advocated in which factors associated with competence and positive developmental outcome are identified and promoted (see Masten & Coatsworth, 1998). Instead of an emphasis on diagnostic issues for existing problems, prevention is stressed so that negative outcomes do not arise and positive outcomes do. This rationale resonates with community psychologists (e.g., Rappaport & Seidman, 2000) and family practitioners, which should not be surprising given that this APA publication was supported by APA's Divisions 27 (Community Psychology) and 37 (Child, Youth, and Family Services). In Canada, the current Zeitgeists of wellness, health promotion, and family support services are all consistent with this volume. This book consists of 19 chapters. Three opening chapters lay out the principles of strengths-based approaches to research and public policy for children and families. The next seven chapters address specific topic areas in which children are known to be at-risk for negative outcomes of various kinds. These include separation and divorce, abuse and neglect, witnessing domestic violence, teenage parenting, alcoholic parents, and pediatric chronic illness. Each chapter specifies resiliency factors in which positive child outcomes result in these social contexts, as well as social policies designed to promote these positive outcomes. For example, within the chapter on public policy for children of divorce, the promotion of positive relationships between children and both custodial and noncustodial parents is stressed, as well as the importance of co-parenting in an amicable fashion (see Budd, 2001; Stahl, 1994). This chapter also describes the proliferation of mandatory parent divorce education programs in the United States. These programs are similar to parent information programs in Canada that have come into existence through provincial Ministries of Justice, with the support of the federal government. Eight chapters are committed to a variety of community-based programs. These are based on the needs of inner-city youth, children, and adolescents in schools, young people from African-American and Latino backgrounds, and children with issues getting along with peers. These chapters also lay out prevention-oriented programs designed to promote positive outcomes in youth and their families, and a number of specific examples of programs with demonstrated effectiveness are described in each of these topics, and public policy considerations are considered throughout. There is some variability here on the relevance of these chapters to the Canadian context, given significant differences between the United States and Canada in healthcare delivery systems, education within provincial jurisdictions, and approach to multiculturalism and bilingualism. The examples given are almost exclusively American, with one exception being the school-based bullying programs of Craig and Pepler (1997). …

Writing for the Uninspired Reader

that is happening in our society. phrases, and varied meanings of a contained writing form such as the essay, the short story, the novel, or the poem. second process is that of owning the essential meaning of the piece being read, incorporating it fully into the reader's intellectual landscape. It is only when readers have the ability to fully absorb the material being read that the process becomes pleasurable and a lifelong reader is created. Until then reading is only a chore and, to many, only another opportunity to fail. While a great deal of attention is paid to the decoding or defining of single words, if the word can be sounded phonetically and recalled from memory, it is considered successfully decoded and therefore read. But I believe that in the uninspired reader, a lack of understanding of either the culture, subculture, or social strata from which the words are derived can still limit the concept of ownership. A phrase such as has money could mean, depending on the context, that the referenced he has some money as opposed to no money, or it could mean that the referenced he has a great deal of money. As I decode this phrase I depend on my recognition of the individual words but also on the cultural range that gives me access to several possible meanings. This is even clearer in a phrase like Western Europe. term has little meaning to a person lacking knowledge of European history and development. A morning headline announcing that The economy grew despite a decline in consumer spending depends on a wider information range than many readers enjoy. When we consider the knowledge range of some inner-city youths, it is easy to see that the lack of information relative to culture, social issues, or just plain data can interfere with the decoding process sufficiently to make reading a chore. I get this same feeling when I read computer manuals. I have a perfect ability to sound out the words and usually can define them individually, but the codification of tech talk invariably prevents me from incorporating the material into my own intellectual scenario, and I find myself guessing at what is meant. I'm not simply suggesting that some young people have a language other than English as their

Community Policing and Youth as Assets

Community policing is the most important innovation in American policing today. It receives broad political support and is endorsed by a diverse cross-section of the legal academy. Among community policing's underappreciated virtues is that it provides a better way to regulate police conduct than does the traditional model of judicial enforcement of the Fourth Amendment. But although there is much to be said for community policing, it has not reached its potential. The most important group from a public safety standpoint - inner-city youth and young adults - has largely been left out of the new policing model. This group is still policed under the discredited warrior approach to policing, which views the young exclusively as threats to public order. But despite the powerful image of urban youth as threats, most inner-city young people are law-abiders. They are also the principal victims of the law-breaking minority. They therefore have a profound stake in both ensuring public safety and in reducing police abuse and harassment. Building on lessons from policing experiments in Boston and Chicago, this Article will advocate a model of community policing that allows young people to join other citizens in regular group deliberations with neighbors and local officers to set policing priorities.

Urban Odyssey: Theatre of the Oppressed and Talented Minority Youth

This research study describes a community-based pedagogical and theatrical project that centered on the use of creative writing, drama, and music as tools to unearth and cope with social problems. The class was grounded in the work of Brazilian teacher, actor, and activist Augusto Boal and philosopher Paolo Freire. The activities at a free summer school for gifted and talented adolescents called the Urban Odyssey were designed to provide inner-city youth with the opportunity to dialogue and act around issues of racism, sexism, ableism, classism, and other social problems that they face as part of their everyday existence. Descriptions of the school and activities; instructions on how to use the forum theater concept; and reactions of students, teachers, and community members are included. Implications for school and community work are explored.

Addressing the Urban Pipeline Challenge for the Physician Workforce: The Sophie Davis Model

The convergence of numerous trends indicates that a physician shortage by 2020 is likely. There is a 25% growth in the overall population, but that of the college-age sector is increasing by only 5%. The numbers of African Americans and Latinos in that sector will increase more than will members of other population groups; these two groups are most affected by the uneven quality of science education in urban high schools. Challenges to create a pipeline of a large, diverse, and qualified pool of medical school applicants are great, and are influenced by the actual and perceived cost of medical school tuition and the competition from other professions. Since 1973, the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, a seven-year joint BS/MD program, has expanded access to medical school education for talented inner-city youths, including minorities and those with limited financial resources. Students receive a BS degree and their first two years of medical school education and, upon successful completion of the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1, transfer to one of five cooperating medical schools in New York State that confer the terminal MD degree. Sophie Davis integrates medical studies in the baccalaureate program, using actual performance in medical studies as a predictor of success. Of the more than 1,400 of its graduates, 25% are African American, 8% are Latino, 28% are Asian American, and 39% are white. Over 25% of its current student body comes from federally defined low-income families, and almost three-quarters qualify for New York State financial aid. The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education is a model that offers a partial response to those factors that will challenge the achievement of an adequate supply of physicians for our urban communities. The author describes the model in detail and explains how it helps talented but unevenly educated students rise to the challenge of a medical education.