Courage Under Fire: Effects of Urban Nonschool Spaces' Influence on Black Male Adolescent School Pathways

• In Event: 42.022 - Knowledge to Action: Academic Journeys in and out of School

Abstract

The American student spends 91% of their K-12 experience in the non-school setting (Decker & Decker, 2000). The home, neighborhood, and community is undoubtedly a space contributing to the ways in which Black urban adolescent males negotiate their surroundings, make meaning of their daily realities, and the value they place on school. Using qualitative interpretive methods from a dissertation study Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (2005) and Bush and Bush’s (2013) African-American male theory provide a frame and opportunities to understand the experiences of nine socially and economically disadvantaged urban high-school-aged Black adolescent males. The findings illuminate several themes one specifically: Courage Under Fire informs the “hood” contentions that impact these youths freely being able to traverse their neighborhood as Black men.

Author

• Victoria M. Ruffin, University of Southern California (Rossier)