Sites of Resilience in Street-identified Black Males: How Resilience Mediates Economic Well-being and Pro-violent Attitudes

• In Event: Social Institutions and Crime

Abstract

Guided by Sites of Resilience Theory, this street participatory action research (Street PAR) project examined how economic well-being and attitudes toward violence were mediated by psychological wellbeing, social cohesion and educational attitudes in a community sample (N=450) of street-identified Black-American boys and men in the Northside and Westside sections of Wilmington, Delaware. Analysis revealed a negative association between perceptions of economic well-being and pro-violence attitudes; and a series of mediation analyses showed that psychological wellbeing, social cohesion and educational attitudes played an important role for understanding why economic well-being relates to pro-violence attitudes. As expected, street-identified Black boys and men who reported greater economic well-being also tended to endorse relatively higher levels of psychological well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, positive self-esteem), more positive attitudes about schooling, and higher levels of social well-being. Also discussed are policy recommendations related to the racial wealth gap and violence; as well as Street PAR as a methodology and individual-level intervention for Street PAR Associates.

Authors

• Brooklynn Hitchens, University of Maryland, College Park

• Yasser Arafat Payne, University of Delaware

• Naomi Samimi-Sadeh, University of Delaware

• Nadia Bounoua, University of Maryland, College Park