A conscious effort: how messages urban high school age African-American adolescent males receive from their home and community influence the way they navigate their realities and the value they p...

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Content PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

A Conscious Effort: How Messages Urban High School Age African-American Adolescent
Males Receive from Their Home and Community Influence the Way They Navigate Their
Realities and the Value They Place on School

by

Victoria Machelle Ruffin

A Dissertation Defense Proposal Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2016

Copyright 2016 Victoria Machelle Ruffin

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 2

EPIGRAPH
“[We] must be the change [we] wish to see in the world.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
1

1
Brainy Quote (2016)
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 3

DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to all of my ancestors who came before me, those individuals
whose shoulders I stand on every day in my quest to be a better me, to excel, and to fight the
good fight…thank you for the strength to endure!

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 4

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Glory to God and to God be the Glory! Giving praise and honor to the most high~
2
Psalm 27:1 states, “The Lord is my strength and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is
my defense and my shield, whom shall I be afraid?” Thank you for the fortitude in knowing,
“With man, I experience the impossible; with You all things are possible!”
“Other things may change us, but we start and end with FAMILY.” To the melody of
my life, my daughter—my only child, the only person in this world that makes me move the way
I do, Jaden Sanaa! Thank you for your love and always knowing “I got you” and am your
Mommi regardless of my developments! To my amazingly inspiring Mama, Maria, thank you
for all the love, prayers, and support over the years. You were my first role model and the igniter
of my scholarly pursuit. Your value for education and excellence in all that we do exudes in me
too. You are my “ride or die,” I could not have traveled this course without your support! To my
stepfather, John, I thank Nicole for allowing me to take care of her dad in her absence—much
love, you are the best! To my brother James, for always having your lil sister’s back! My love
for you is endless. To my Aunt Zelda for the love, prayers, encouragement during the crunch of
it—the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, lots of love! To my Mom from another mother,
Delia, thank you for your love, guidance, mentorship, and spiritual union. You have always
encouraged me to live in my light and soar beyond all measure as a youth and adult! You helped
me see that blood may make you related, loyalty makes you family.
Inspired by educator Rita Pierson who said, “Every [scholar] deserves a champion; an
[educator] who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists
they become the best they can possibly be.” My committee provided this zeal! To my Chair,

2
Spirit Filled Life Bible Family of Faith Special Edition
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 5

Dr. Julie Slayton, a heartfelt sense of gratitude and respect for your commitment to academic
decorum! Professor Slayton was an exceptional scholar, teacher, and researcher! Dr. Slayton’s
passion for education exudes from her core. As an instructor she possessed a keen ability to
guide student learning in the process of understanding research methodology and discovery. She
was fierce in her approach to delivering quality instruction with a very welcoming disposition for
the novice researcher. I have had the pleasure of learning a wealth of knowledge from
Dr. Slayton, especially in relationship to being able to inform educational practice through case
study and interpretation of lived experiences, from the lens of data collection through semi-
structured interviews, observations, and documents from the study context, to being able to
utilize categorical, thematic, interpretive, and narrative analyses to generate results. Likewise,
during our weekly meets she demonstrated how this effort is done with integrity and was
inspiring. Dr. Slayton massaged the qualitative researcher in me! She spent countless hours
teaching me (e.g., outside of class meets, being willing to meet on weekends, after hours during
the week, answer phone calls, text, or Skype providing feedback or directing me forward—and/
or securing spaces for me to write). Her generosity with her time, her ability to be flexible, and
willingness to advise me on academic endeavors along this journey is beyond merit! A
wholehearted, thank you, for never giving up on us, always showing up, and teaching me the true
meaning of endurance and persistence!
To Dr. Jay Jackson! I can vividly recall the first time I met her, while a teacher at
Crenshaw High School, during a litigious IEP. I recall admiring her intelligence and grace as a
Black professional woman who was most definitely fighting the good fight. Who would have
known, 18 years later, with much mentorship and guidance between, I would be graced with her
presence in my life at this juncture. Thank you for the professional mentorship over the years
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 6

and the scholarly leadership with my research and dissertation! The multitude of conversations,
visits to your home processing through my data taught me so much! Jay you were my comfort in
the storm! I did not make it home soon enough after the proposal defense when I noticed
something in the mail from you! You have always reminded me of the importance of taking care
of myself and you demonstrate it in all you do! Thank you for the words of encouragement, the
flexing and generosity of your time, and the scholarly perspectives during processing of my work
that stimulated the scholar in me! I was indeed blessed to have you on this journey with me! My
love for you is endless and I look forward to working with you in the future.
To Dr. Artineh Samkian, thank you kindly for your time, direction on Black identity as it
was extensive with specific literature to be saturated in. Likewise, thank you for the thorough
support and dedication to getting me past IRB and with encouraging me to stay the course! I
appreciate your knowledge and commitment to research, again thank you!
To Drs. Alan Green and Julie Marsh, although neither of you were on my committee you
both were instrumental in influencing my progress and thoughts about my research. Thank you
for the profound educational experiences in two of my favorite classes in this program, Diversity
and Accountability. Your scholarly presentations, encouragement along the journey, discussions
about my research and findings have indeed broadened my perspective and guides future interest
with influencing the common good. Thank you for your time and commitment to student
academic growth. Special thanks to Dr. Hassan for your willingness to meet with me regarding
my research and for offering other scholars to explore regarding urban-based issues and the
African-American child. Also, thank you for the advice and direction with future possibilities
for my work. A special thank you to Dr. Rousseau, for sparking the perspective that the
narrative of my dissertation could not start with the Black American experience. Your advice to
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 7

dig deeper and pursue this journey from the cradle was the foundation of my pursuit in this
endeavor. Lastly, a special thanks to Dr. Emile Wilson, for seeing the doctor in me, way before I
even considered this a possibility. Your light touched mine!
Finally, to my Village Family, Tanya, Artis, Trené, Renee, Rosalyn, and Diane! You
ladies were my rock! I appreciate all the love and encouragement from the bottom of my heart.
To my Trojan colleagues on the doctoral flow: Sherry, Kelly, Ayanna, Lynn, and Mike for all of
our encouraging talks, sharing of literature, late night/early morning study/writing sessions, and
endless processing! We are the change we wish to see…Fight On! To Coy! You are the man! I
so appreciate you always having my back with anything I asked of you, because of you my
vision with my graphics came to life. In addition, much gratitude is expressed to all of my
mentors, teachers, and coaches along the way. I would be remised if I did not give thanks to the
young men and their families’ who participated in this study. Thank you for allowing me to
learn from you! I am, because of all of you…abundant blessings—in the mighty name of Jesus
Christ!

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 8

ABSTRACT
Systemic patterns of racial injustices have marginalized African-Americans since the inception
of this great nation. Considerable research exists on the ways in which disproportionate
educational opportunities have highlighted Black males’ academic underperformance, which has
impacted their future trajectories toward attaining higher learning or employment. Limited
research exists that focuses on the messages urban Black males receive from their home and
community. This in-depth qualitative inquiry provides insight into the experiences of nine
socially and economically disadvantaged Black adolescents high school age (14-17 years old)
males. Drawing from Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) bioecological frame, I
examined how the implicit and explicit messages communicated by family, peers, and other
individuals within their milieus interrelated, to understand how these messages influenced the
value these young men placed on school. I conducted 15 face-to-face interviews using semi-
structured interview protocols and collected artifacts each adolescent believed revealed their
values. Students’ thought processes, behaviors, interactions, and the ways they navigated their
community to survive their realities and pursuit of school was explored.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 9

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One: Introduction ..............................................................................................14
Background of the Problem ..................................................................................15
Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................24
Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................................26
Methods .................................................................................................................26
Significance of the Study .......................................................................................27
Organization of the Dissertation ............................................................................28
Chapter Two: Literature Review .......................................................................................30
Black Identity, Self-Perception, Agency and Personhood in Relationship
to School ....................................................................................................32
Cultural Values in Relationship to School .............................................................56
Resilience ...............................................................................................................94
The Role of the Parent in African-American Male School Success ......................98
Influence of Home and Community on African-American School
Outcomes .................................................................................................108
Bioecological Theory ...........................................................................................120
Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................128
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................138
Chapter Three: Methods ..................................................................................................140
Research Questions ..............................................................................................141
Research Design...................................................................................................141
Sample and Population ........................................................................................144
Instrumentation and Data Collection Procedures ................................................148
Data Analysis Procedures ....................................................................................154
Limitations ...........................................................................................................162
Delimitations ........................................................................................................164
Credibility and Trustworthiness ...........................................................................165
Ethics....................................................................................................................167
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................167
Chapter Four: Findings ....................................................................................................169
Revisiting the Conceptual Framework.................................................................170
Background of Participants ..................................................................................173
Research Question 1: How do the messages urban high school age
African-American adolescent males receive from their home
and community influence the value they place on school?......................178
Summary of Research Question 1........................................................................246
Research Question 2: How do the messages urban high school age
African-American adolescent males receive from their home,
neighborhood, and community influence the ways in which they
made choices and direct their actions in relation to school? ....................248
Summary of Research Question 2........................................................................300
Research Question 3: How do the messages urban high school age
African-American adolescent males receive from school influence
the value they place on school? ...............................................................302
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 10

Summary of Research Question 3........................................................................331
Chapter Five: Recommendations/Implications ................................................................333
Key Findings ........................................................................................................335
Discussion Research Question 1 ..........................................................................337
Discussion Research Question 2 ..........................................................................343
Discussion Research Question 3 ..........................................................................346
Implications and Recommendations ....................................................................350
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................359
References ........................................................................................................................361

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 11

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Participant Perception of Conceptual Framework Conditions from Social
Cultural Setting ....................................................................................................143
Table 2: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty
Guidelines 2015 ...................................................................................................148

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 12

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................132
Figure 2. Example of Coding Document ........................................................................159
Figure 3. Dense Urban Living .........................................................................................173
Figure 4. Urban Public School Attendance......................................................................174
Figure 5. Different High Schools Attended .....................................................................175
Figure 6. Types of Student Activities ..............................................................................175
Figure 7. Students’ Spiritual Connection .........................................................................176
Figure 8. Parents’ Education Status .................................................................................177
Figure 9. Family Structure Dynamics ..............................................................................178
Figure 10. Cycle of Promise ............................................................................................351

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 13

LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A: Glossary of Terms ......................................................................................376

Appendix B: Recruitment Information Sheet ..................................................................378

Appendix C: Recruitment Email and Flyer .....................................................................380

Appendix D: Information Sheet for Screener ..................................................................381

Appendix E: Recruitment Information Sheet 18-Year-Old .............................................382

Appendix F: Parental Permissions/Youth Assent for Participants 14-17 ........................385

Appendix G: Interview Protocol ......................................................................................388
Appendix H: Reflective Notes .........................................................................................399

Appendix I: Research Question 1’s Sample of Evidence and Themes ............................400
Appendix J: Research Question 2’s Sample of Evidence and Themes ...........................401
Appendix K: Research Question 3’s Sample of Evidence and Themes ..........................402

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 14

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
The impetus for this study comes from my early life experiences. When I was 14 years
old, my 18-year-old brother was gunned down and murdered on the streets of South Central Los
Angeles.
3
His death was the result of gang violence. I explicitly recall the internal torment I
experienced of not only coping with the untimely death of a sibling but also dealing with the
reality that another Black
4
male youth had lost his life because of the challenges that existed in
my community. In my predominately Black neighborhood, I watched immediate family
members and other community residents experience difficulty securing employment, have
frequent encounters with local law enforcement, not attend school consistently, struggle to find
housing in other parts of the city, handle, sell, use drugs, and join and participate in community-
based gangs. I struggled to make sense of the challenges affecting members of my community.
I wondered about what might have contributed to my brother’s death at such a young age. Since
his death I have thought about what might explain why two members of the same family had
such profoundly different life trajectories. What might explain why he followed the path that he
did and why I followed such a different path? I have considered the specific environmental
influences that have shaped my values. I thought about what, if any, implicit and explicit
communications from home, community, school and/or my peers I had heard that motivated me
to make the choices I made and had offered me a different outcome than his.
As I matured into adulthood and continued to be exposed to Black male youth
underperformance in the K-12 educational setting, I grew in my consciousness about the issues
affecting Black urban male youth academic achievement. I became interested in gaining a

3
In April of 2003 the Los Angeles City Council voted to replace the term “South-Central Los Angeles”
with “South Los Angeles” on all city documents and signs. Thus, South-Central Los Angeles officially
became South Los Angeles (Gold & Braxton, 2003).
4
In this dissertation I will use the terms Black and African-American interchangeably.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 15

deeper insight into what impeded this group of people’s life outcomes. I wanted to understand
the ways in which the messages Black male adolescents experienced whether observed or heard
outside of school influenced the value they placed on school.
In this study, I examined urban high school age African-American male adolescents’
perceptions of the ways in which the implicit and explicit messages they received from their
home environment (e.g., peers, community, church, parents) influenced the value they placed on
school. In the rest of this chapter I present the background of the problem, my research
question(s), the methods I employed for the study, and the significance of the study.
Background of the Problem
African-American adolescent males’ complicated relationship with school cannot be
understood absent the historical context that continues to shape and influence their present
experiences. I argue that the historical narrative within which the African-American adolescent
male exists is comprised first of the history and legacy of slavery, oppression, and
marginalization, and second, of the way in which African-American children have experienced
their educational contexts and the extent to which they have had academic success. Thus, first I
present the history of oppression, discrimination, and marginalization that continues to afflict
African-American male adolescents and then I turn my attention to African-Americans’
academic experiences.
A History of Discrimination and Marginalization
The presence of Black people in what is now the United States dates back to prehistoric
times (Bennett, 1993; Franklin & Moss, 2011; Okpewho, Davies, & Mazrui, 2001; Van Sertima,
1976). Black individuals’ history began long before White European pilgrims arrived (Bennett,
1993; Smith & Palmisano, 2001; Van Sertima, 1976; Wood, 1998). During the time early
Europeans began to settle on the lands of the “New World,” Black people were a free people
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 16

who enjoyed “[all] the liberties and privileges of the ‘free laboring class’” (Smith & Palmisano,
2001, p. 317). In addition to being members of the free laboring class, Black Africans also made
up a portion of the population that experienced indentured servitude and slavery. Other
indentured servants and slaves came from a range of other ethnic groups including Europeans,
Spaniards, and Portuguese. Not all indentured servants remained indentured. In 1650,
approximately 300 Africans residing in the American colonies were indentured servants who
became property holders and active members of their social order (Smith & Palmisano, 2001).
As the need for labor in the colonies increased, slaves from West Africa were considered
unlimited in supply and inexpensive to purchase (Degler, 1971; Franklin & Moss, 2011; Wood,
1998). They were regarded for their skills and strength (Franklin & Moss, 2011; Wood, 1998).
Thus, West Africans were highly sought after and ultimately replaced other groups as the
preferred source of labor (Smith & Palmisano, 2001). The increased demand for West Africans
as a labor force resulted in the involuntary uprooting of free Africans from their country of origin
(Bennett, 1993; Franklin & Moss, 2011, Ogbu, 1992; Wood, 1998).
Slavery lasted in the United States for approximately 245 years (Bennett, 1993; Marbley
& Rouson, 2013). Over the course of these 245 years, Black men, women, and children born in
the United States under the umbrella of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights were subjugated
and denied the protections afforded to White Americans. They were also denied their culture
and humanity as they were relegated to a life of providing free labor to others (Bennett, 1993;
Franklin & Moss, 2011; Mintz & Price, 1992).
Regardless of the beliefs stated in the United States Constitution, that all people should
share equal fundamental unalienable rights, African-Americans continued to be denied the
privileges and rights mentioned in the Constitution, even after emancipation (Franklin & Moss,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 17

2011; Palmer & Maramba, 2011). While laws passed during the Reconstruction era sought to
create greater educational, economic, and health equalities for African-Americans (Franklin &
Moss, 2011; Meier, 1991), separate but equal treatment persisted and hindered the mobility,
equal inclusion, economic development, and educational opportunities and resources for Blacks
(Franklin & Moss, 2011).
In 1878, the Supreme Court ruled that Blacks could be subjected to “separate but equal”
treatment (Plessy v Ferguson, 1878, Cornell University Law School, n.d.). The doctrine of
separate but equal paved the way to prolonged segregation. Societal structural restrictions for
African-Americans led to persistent low employment, high incarceration, and low academic
advancements (Franklin & Moss, 2011). In 1954, the Supreme Court reversed itself and ruled
that separate but equal violated the equal protection clause of the14th Amendment of the
Constitution. They found that it was unconstitutional to have Black and White Americans attend
separate schools (Patterson & Freehling, 2001). Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
required the integration of “150 school districts in eight states including the District of
Columbia” (Smith & Palmisano, 2001, p. 28). The case led to larger institutional changes that
would abolish state sponsored segregation in education across the country.
On the other hand, the ruling in Brown v Board of Education did not lead to equality
(Aaseng, 2003; Patterson & Freehling, 2001). Blacks continued not to have equal access to
housing, recreational amenities, places of worship, hospitals, cemeteries, dining commons,
employment, and educational facilities (Franklin & Moss, 2011). Even with integration, Black
youth continued to endure racial and socioeconomic inequalities that greatly influenced their life
trajectories. State sponsored discriminatory practices were one of many complex ways Blacks
were disenfranchised. In fact, during this time, the National Center for Children in Poverty
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 18

reported Blacks were 34% more likely to be classified as being from a poor family when
compared to only 10% of their White counterparts being classified this way (Fass & Cauthen,
2008; Patterson & Freehling, 2001).
As part of the laws passed during the Civil Rights era, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was
passed by Congress to overcome legal structural barriers (e.g., employing tactics of grandfather
clauses, literacy tests, “White primaries,” and poll taxes as prerequisites to, or deterrents to
voting) at both the local and state levels that denied Blacks their rights to vote pursuant to the
15th Amendment (Franklin & Moss, 2011; Smith & Palmisano, 2001). In fact, Section 5 of the
Act was specifically designed to ensure that certain states, those designated as “covered” states
because they had engaged in egregious practices to restrict voting, would not be allowed to make
changes to their voting laws without first seeking permission from the US District Court (United
States Department of Justice, 2006). This requirement that the states obtain approval from the
US District Court served as a protective factor to eliminate discriminatory practices toward
populations of citizens who had been historically and socioeconomically disadvantaged or those
who might have had limited awareness of how structural policy barriers affected their life
trajectories (United States Department of Justice, 2006).
While the Voting Rights Act did provide Blacks with access to the ballot box, it, like
Brown v Board, did not eliminate discriminatory practices that negatively affected African-
Americans. Structural barriers continued to reinforce segregation by race, class, and economic
status, further limiting Blacks’ upward mobility and inclusion in the interworking of America’s
social infrastructure (Franklin & Moss, 2011; Smith & Palmisano, 2001). Today African-
Americans continue to live in poor neighborhoods with weakened employment opportunities,
lower pupil funding allocations in public schools, lower rates of home ownership, and ownership
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 19

of homes that are of lessor value in relationship to taxes earmarked for community advancements
(Alexander, 2010; Franklin & Moss, 2011; Hamlet, 2012). Moreover, the conditions that Blacks
experience continue to marginalize and exclude them from opportunities that their more affluent
and privileged fellow citizens enjoy (Franklin & Moss, 2011; Palmer & Maramba, 2011; Parham
& McDavis, 1987).
African-Americans’ Experiences with Academic Attainment
While African-Americans have consistently and continuously experienced structural
inequality and racism that has led to disparate life outcomes when compared to Whites and
Asians (Bonilla-Silva, 2006), they have also experienced challenges in relation to academic
attainment (Alexander, 2010; Allen, Jewell, Griffin, & Wolf, 2007; Bennett, 2001; Carter, P. L.,
2004; Darling-Hammond, 2004; Davis, 2003; DuBois, 1970; Franklin & Moss, 2011; Ruiz,
1991; Ladson-Billings, 2013; Wood, 1998; Woodson, 2006). Although efforts to educate Blacks
date back to the late 1600s (Smith & Palmisano, 2001; Wood, 1998), their academic success has
been shaped by a history of oppression and marginalization in American society (Darling-
Hammond, 2004; Meier, 1991; Mintz & Price, 1992). Prior to the 1950s, Blacks were relegated
to separate and unequal educational conditions (Brown v Board of Education, 1954). After the
1950s and the passage of Brown v Board of Education, schools and districts continued to
segregate students using within-school approaches such as tracking (Wells & Oakes, 1996). In
other cases, districts resisted efforts to desegregate schools (Franklin & Moss, 2011; Patterson &
Freehling, 2001). Also in other cases, states failed to provide adequate or equitable funding to
schools serving African-American children (Carter, P. L., 2003; Darling-Hammond, 2000;
Franklin & Moss, 2011). Lawsuits over adequate and equitable funding and segregation
continued well into the 1990s. More recently, school choice has led to the re-segregation of
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 20

students in some districts and states (Figlio & Page, 2002). Charter schools and other school
choice options have also left some students in schools with students who were not able or willing
to choose schools with better resources and options (Figlio & Page, 2002; Wells & Oakes, 1996).
In addition to the disadvantages African-American children had to experience with
schooling options, they also are more likely than their White and Asian peers to attend public
schools in poor social economically disadvantaged communities with teachers who are culturally
incompetent and do not believe in their ability to be academically successful and who use a
“pedagogy of poverty” (Haberman, 1991) instead of high quality instruction that would support
their academic success. Hamlet (2012) insisted that African-American students are the most
affected by the lack of quality teachers in urban educational settings. African-American students
are also not likely to be exposed to or connected with culturally relevant content, or promoted to
gifted or honors courses where rigorous academic experiences are available (Carter, P. L., 2003,
2004; Darling-Hammond, 2004). As a result of poor teaching in the K-12 system, African-
American students generally, and African-American males more specifically, are not as
successful as their White peers (Carter, P. L., 2003; Delpit & Dowdy, 2002; Ladson-Billings,
2009).
Beyond instruction, African-American students, especially male students, tend to be over
identified and represented in special education programs. Artiles, Harry, Reschly, and Chinn
(2002) suggested that Black adolescents are disproportionately referred to special education
services. Thus, the overrepresentation and over identification of Black boys in special education
and related programs hinder their access to high quality education, opportunities to attend
college, or enroll in military services as their designations as students with emotional disturbance
reduces their chances of being selected (Artiles et al., 2002; Darling-Hammond, 2004; Hamlet,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 21

2012). Black male adolescents attending urban schools also have fewer support systems (e.g.,
counseling supports and teacher’s sensitive to their culture and way of being) (Delpit & Dowdy,
2002).
African-American students also experience higher rates of in-school discipline than their
White peers (Carter, P. L., 2003; Darling-Hammond, 2004; Litwack, 1961; U.S. Department of
Education, 2014). Pfleger and Wiley (2012) suggested that Black students are five times more
likely than Asian Americans and three times more likely than White students to be disciplined.
Lewin (2012) also discovered that African-American youth are disciplined with more intensity
when compared to their peers. In fact, a higher percent of African-Americans are suspended and
expelled when compared to their White, American Indian, or Latino counterparts (Pfleger &
Wiley, 2012). These disparities in the ways in which African-American students are treated affect
their school success.
Likewise, African-American students experience high dropout rates. The National Center
for Education Statistics (NCES, 2011) estimated the dropout rate for Black students between the
ages of 16-24 years old and for those who did not earn a high school diploma or GED to be 6.4%
compared to 2.3% for White students. Also, while Black males have increased in their graduation
rates, they continue to lag in diploma or GED attainment with on-time completion of high school
when compared to their White counterparts (NCES, 2011). The reason Black males’ dropout out
of high school and/ or lag in completion of their high school diploma continues to be debated. It
has been argued that these high dropout rates are the result of African-American students’ low test
scores. It has also been argued that their specific behaviors lead to their placement in special
education, higher rates of suspension, and/or more severe discipline than their peers (Lewin, 2012),
leading them to drop out. Another possible cause of African-American male adolescent high
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 22

school dropout rates might be that schools ignore the dropout problem (Lewin, 2012). Still, even
with the challenges of Black youth getting their high school diplomas having a high school
diploma is not enough for them to realize the American Dream.
While much literature has focused on the ways in which schools have negatively affected
African-American students’ academic attainment, others have suggested that there are problems
within the African-American community that account for African-American underperformance.
Scholars have recounted deficit-oriented accounts of Black male experiences. Some have
suggested that a “culture of poverty” exists in urban communities (Moynihan, 1965). The
culture of poverty has been explained as dysfunctional families, poor parenting, and concentrated
urban poverty resulting from political, economic, and cultural forces that influence and restrict
urban Black youth life trajectories (Moynihan, 1965; Noguera, 2003). Other research has
described Black men as lazy (Darling-Hammond, 2004; Ladson-Billings, 1995, 2009). Still
others have suggested that Black male youth are “dysfunctional,” “crisis stricken,” “uneducable,”
“dangerous,” and/or “at-risk” (Ladson-Billings, 1994; Noguera, 1996; Palmer & Maramba,
2011).
A plethora of empirical literature has suggested that African-American males
demonstrate both oppositional ethos (Arunkumar, Midgley, & Urdan, 1999; Carter, P. L., 2005;
Fordham, 1988, 1996; Fordham & Ogbu, 1986; Ogbu, 1992) and persistence (Butler-Barnes,
Chavous, Hurd, & Varner, 2013; Harris, Hines, Kelly, Williams, & Bagley, 2014; Williams &
Bryan, 2012) ethos with regard to school. Scholars who explain African-American males’ low
achievement in terms of an oppositional stance insisted their underachievement is related to a
dissonance in cultural values from their home environmental expectations when compared to in-
school expectations that mirror the dominant culture (Brown-Wright et al., 2013; Carter, P. L.,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 23

2005; Tyler et al., 2010). On the other hand, researchers who favored the persistence
explanation believe that African-American youth who are more connected to personal, social,
and cultural resources from various facets of their lives (both home, community. and school
settings) experience increased performance in school (Butler-Barnes et al., 2013; Davis, 2003;
Harris et al., 2014).
Ladson-Billings (2013) insisted the “academic achievement gap,” when linked with the
Black males’ condition, is a consequence of an “educational debt” that has been developed over
numerous generations of past civil inequalities. Notwithstanding these challenges, the Black
community continues to preserve family values and relay cultural messages (Franklin & Moss,
2011; Mintz & Price, 1992) that the pursuit of an education is a means to overcome the injustices
as well as situate themselves in the societal construct (Marbley & Rouson, 2013).
All of the above referenced research provides evidence that several variables come into
play when unwrapping the factors that hinder African-American male students’ academic
success and the elements that lead to them choosing to not complete high school. Countless
urban Black male youth across the country today continue to succumb to environmental
adversities that affect their survival in the educational arena and limit their presence within their
families and communities (Lieberman, Kirk, & Kideuk, 2014). These urban-based afflictions
have resulted in many African-American men falling prey to the institutionalized forms of
bondage that have deterred them from school, increased their numbers in the juvenile
justice/prison systems, and relegated them to second class citizens upon their release (Alexander,
2010; Kirk & Sampson, 2011, 2013; Lieberman et al., 2014). Yet, little is known and
documented in the literature as to what the specific implicit and explicit messages are and the
ways in which school aged, African-American adolescent males attending urban high schools
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 24

perceive those external messages from home and community to influence the value they place on
school.
Statement of the Problem
Literature regarding urban African-American high school adolescent males’ poor
academic performance in comparison to their White and Asian counterparts is prevalent.
Pedagogical explanations for under performance (e.g., poor teachers, lack of resources, low
quality instruction, lack of culturally relevant or culturally sustaining pedagogy, negative parent
influence, the existence of a culture of power, peer school, and other school-based agents’
influence) exists regarding African-American urban adolescent male academic
underperformance. The literature has explained the consequences of Black adolescent males not
obtaining an education. Research suggested that higher incarceration rates, more disconnect
from family, and lessened economic advancements socially impair the life outcomes of African-
American adolescent males in urban communities.
While education has been found to be essential, Decker and Decker (2000) estimated that
only 9% of a student’s time is spent in school. This means that 91% of students’ time is spent
outside of the school setting. Thus that the majority of American students’ time is spent in their
non-school setting (e.g., home and community environments). In fact, Decker and Decker
(2000) argued:
No child can escape his community. He may not like his parents, or the neighbors, or the
ways of the world. He may drown under the processes of living, and wish he were dead.
But he goes on living, and he goes on living in the community. The life of the community
flows about him, foul or pure; he swims in it, drinks it, goes to sleep in it, and wakes to
the new day to find it still about him. He belongs to it; it nourishes him, or starves him,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 25

or poisons him; it give[s] him the substance of his life. And in the long run it takes its
toll of him, and he is. (p. 52)
The external community has great influence on the ways in which individuals within a
community see themselves. Likewise, self-perceptions play a powerful role in student
achievement and the ways in which adolescents relate to the world in general (Decker & Decker,
2000).
Scholars have addressed the achievement gap of the Black male adolescent through the
lens of school culture, teacher interactions, school policy, and parent perspectives. Yet current
empirical research offers little insight from the voices of the Black urban high school adolescent
males about the way messages from home, neighborhood, and community shape the value they
place on school. The growing body of literature regarding Black adolescent males’ perceptions
of the messages they hear in their outside-of-school environments (Land, Mixon, Butcher, &
Harris, 2014; Phelan et al., 1996) support the importance of exploring these relationships. Thus,
the intention was to learn and engage in an examination of the perceptions African-American
adolescent males have of the direct and indirect messages they received from their home culture
in regards to school.
Purpose of the Study
I used a qualitative design to investigate the African-American urban high school males’
perceptions of the messages they took from those messages shaped the ways in which they
valued school. My research questions initially specifically asked: How do the messages urban
high school age African-American adolescent males receive from their home and community
influence the value they place on school? and, How do the messages urban high school age
African-American adolescent males receive from their home and community influence the way
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 26

they navigate their realities and the value they place on school? A third research question was
added during data analysis and will be discussed in more detail in the methodology section of
this paper.
An African proverb suggests, “It takes a village to raise a child” (Healey, 1998). That
village consists of community-based members as well as those school-based agents. This
research focused on those constituents in the external hubs of the urban Black adolescent males’
community (e.g., parents, foster parents, extended family members, clergy men and women, and
other stakeholders—social workers, attorneys, community-based peers, mentors, and other
outside school members) that the participants designated as valued individuals who influenced
their thoughts and actions. Likewise, messages sent by individuals from their school-based lived
experiences were not to be ignored.
Methods
In this qualitative case study, 15 face-to-face individual interviews were conducted using
in-depth protocol by the use of purposeful sampling with 10 initial adolescent African-American
males between the ages of 14 to 17 years old who attended various urban high schools in
southern California. One participant voluntarily withdrew after the first interview. None of his
information was used or reported in this study. A total of nine adolescent African-American
males completed the entire study.
A qualitative design was used because this study sought to investigate the ways direct and
indirect messages influenced urban African-American adolescent males’ perception of the value
of school (e.g., did the messages they heard and the way the youths made sense of what they
heard influence the reasons for choice, opinion, and/ or motivation toward school?). Maxwell
(2013) asserted the qualitative design provides the researcher insights into a problem.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 27

Data collection consisted of six participants sitting for two face-to-face interviews and
three participants sitting for one face-to-face interview. A total of 15 interviews were held. All
interviews were conducted with use of in-depth protocol; all were audio-recorded with each
participant offering discussions of their lived experiences with eight of the nine sharing artifacts.
The goal was to understand how these individuals made sense of their lives and worlds
(Merriam, 2009). Thus, two semi-structured, open-ended interviews allowed these specific
adolescents chances to talk about the various facets of their outside-of-school lives as they found
those experiences relevant to their feelings about the value of school.
Significance of the Study
Many scholars have examined distinct aspects of young people’s lives from various
perspectives. With regard to urban African-American adolescents, researchers have also
investigated the Black adolescent males’ school based encounters (e.g., relationships with
support staff and school culture) and classroom engagement (e.g., with curriculum, teachers, and
peers) (Bennett, 2001; Darling-Hammond, 2000; Jackson & Moore, 2008; Ladson-Billings,
1995; Lewin, 2012). With regard to urban African-American male adolescents, research has
been conducted regarding their associations and affiliations with peers in the outside-of-school
setting (e.g., on school grounds via extracurricular and afterschool involvements) (hooks, 2004;
Hoytt, Schiraldi, Smith, & Ziedenberg, 2002). Different research exist that offer insight on non-
school experiences when examining youth. This study privileged the outside of school
experiences of urban low-income African-American male adolescents over the inside of school
experiences in relationship to the value they placed on school. More specifically, the focus was
on the intentional and unintentional messages African-American adolescents received in their
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 28

home, neighborhood, and community environments and how those messages influenced their
thinking about the choices in relation to high school and life after high school.
This research contributes to this developing body of literature by providing multiple
stakeholders (e.g., educators, community based members, mentors, church officials, family
members, and politicians) insight into the outside-of-school worlds of urban adolescent African-
American high school males and the ways in which outside-of-school messages influenced the
ways they value school. The information gained from this research better positions all
stakeholders working with urban African-American male adolescents both inside- and outside-
of-the school settings chances to: narrow the academic performance gap, increase their chances
of completing high school by examining educational programs and changing school/community
policy, deterring them from behaviors or systemic structural barriers that increase their chances
of being incarcerated by evaluating school- and community-based programs to inform local and
board policy, and provide a platform to have expanded discussions about the value in implicit
and explicit messages as the messages foster and cultivate the way in which external community
supports can advance the Black male adolescent school outcomes.
Organization of the Dissertation
This dissertation is organized in five chapters. Chapter One offered an introduction and
background of the problem, the statement of the problem, purpose of the study, methods,
significance of the problem, and/ organization of the study.
Chapter Two is a review of the literature. This chapter is an examination of three bodies
of literature. The first section focuses on cultural hegemony including topics related to African-
Americans associations toward culture and esteem of education with regard to: power of culture,
culture of poverty, and cultural identities. The second section addresses the topic of Black
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 29

identity through the lens of self-agency in relationship to adolescent attitude, peer relationships,
and social mobility in formal (school) and informal (outside-of-school) settings. The third
section addresses Black consciousness and the chapter concludes with a presentation of the
conceptual framework from the theoretical and empirical studies drawn from the literature that
shaped the research design—sampling, data collection, and analysis.
Chapter Three is a presentation of the methods that were used for this study.
Furthermore, included in this section is the introduction of the unit of analysis, my rationale for
the research approach, research questions, design and methods, sample and population, site
selection, participant selection, instrumentation, approach to data collection and data analysis,
limitations, delimitations, and approach to credibility and trustworthiness.
Findings from the research will be presented in Chapter Four. The answer to the research
questions and the themes that emerged from an intensive coding and data analysis process is
presented here. In this section terms are defined, the conceptual framework is revisited, the
background of the participants, participants’ school profiles, extra-curricular activities,
spirituality, parent education, and family structure are provided to frame the findings.
Chapter Five includes a presentation of the overview of the study, key findings for the
research questions and conclusions respectively, implications and recommendations for policy,
practice and future research; and conclusion and final summary and presentation of the cycle of
promise educational plan.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 30

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Academic achievement challenges with historically disadvantaged African-American
children situate this literature review. A myriad of scholars have investigated the Black
adolescent male from various perspectives (e.g., school pedagogy, critical race theory,
deficiencies among Black families and their children, genetics, culture of poverty,
underachievement, stereotype threat, curriculum, school discipline, racial/ethnic identities,
school-to-prison pipeline, disproportionality in special education, culturally relevant pedagogy,
and cultural competence) to mention a few. In this literature review, Black identity as a
construct of personhood in relationship to self-perception/agency with regard to school, cultural
values in relationship to school (e.g., learning in multiple worlds, home-dissonance), resiliency,
the role of the parent in African-American males’ school success, and the influence of
community and home on African-American school outcomes is presented to understand the ways
in which Black adolescents define their self in relationship to their social cultural worlds and
experience self-agency (Phelen, Locke Davidson, Cao, 1996; Tyler et al., 2010). In addition,
scholars have explored how Black adolescents explain their experiences in and out-of-school
settings that influence their academic success (Allen, 2013; Brown-Wright & Tyler, 2010;
Carter, P. L., 2003, 2006; Carter, D. J.,2007; Fordham, 2010; Nasir, McLaughlin, & Jones, 2009;
Noguera, 2003; Watkins-Lewis & Hamre, 2012). Although prior work is insightful, few studies
have examined how low socioeconomically disadvantaged urban Black male adolescents’
perceptions of how direct and indirect communications from persons and spaces in their non-
school settings (e.g., their home, neighborhood, community, and peers) influenced their beliefs
about the value of school or the way these Black adolescent males’ perceptions influenced their
actions with regards to school.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 31

In this study, an examination of direct and indirect communications African-American
adolescents in low SES urban environments received from their home, neighborhood,
community, and peers as well as the ways in which those messages influenced the value they
placed on school was explored. The research questions answered in this study are:
1. How do the messages urban high school age African-American adolescent males
receive from their home, neighborhood, and community influence the value they
place on school?
2. How do the messages urban high school age African-American adolescent males
receive from their home and community influence the way they navigate their
realities and the value they place on school?
3. How do the messages urban high school age African-American adolescent males
receive from school influence the value they place on school?
After extensive coding and analysis, research questions two and three respectively
evolved from the data collected. In order to answer these questions, I drew from the following
bodies of empirical and theoretical literature: (1) In-school and out-of-school
climates/experiences that influence a) urban African-American males’ school outcomes, and b)
their personhood with regard to self-perceptions/self-agency (e.g., emotional competence)
toward school; and (2) bioecological theory and African-American Male Theory.
This chapter is divided into three sections. First, there is a review of literature related to
the relationship between Black identity, self-perception, agency, and personhood with respect to
school. Within this section, an examination on the complexity of Black identity is situated with
interest in the ways in which Black adolescent males’ personhood influenced the way they
viewed their social cultural worlds, as well as, the ways in which they make meaning of the
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 32

communications they encounter in those unique spaces and places while in pursuit of their
education. Next, attention is given to research on relationship between outside of school support
(e.g., community organizations, and Black male adolescents’ school outcomes). Finally, the
chapter ends with my conceptual framework.
Black Identity, Self-Perception, Agency and Personhood
in Relationship to School
The research suggests ethnic identity and culture are two multifaceted evolving concepts
that differ at any given time depending on a specific individual’s self-perception, self-agency,
and the external conditions that shape them (Fordham, 2010; McCarthey & Moje, 2002; Nasir et
al., 2009). The way a person views their world is shaped by their self-perception (Myers, D. G.,
1996). Self-perception is the idea that a person has about the kind of person they are (Myers, D.
G., 1996). The complexity of what it means to be “Black” colors how Black identity and a Black
person’s self-perception evolves. In fact, Fordham (2010) argued in her “passin’ for Black”
theory, that nearly all descendants from slavery are not really “Black.” She asserted that most
descendants of slaves are some combination of African and White ancestry. Fordham (2010)
suggested that in spite of this fact, the descendants of slavery, irrespective of “skin color, hair
texture, facial features, or paternity” must “perform Blackness” (p. 4) as the result of a socially
constructed racial identity that is both adopted by and imposed on them. This position of
Fordham advocates the very nature of the intricacy of what it means to be a Black person
“Performing Blackness” in America. Fordham extended this argument to African-American
students in the K-12 arena. She posited that social and biological constructs defined by the
dominant culture influence the racial identities of African-American students and their ability to
negotiate school. Thus, her theory of ‘passin for Black’ presented the complexities of embracing
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 33

a “genetic” Black identity or an “environmentally induced” Black identity defined by micro
cultural norms.
Fordham’s (2010) research presented two single informant voices from a compilation of
students surveyed in order to demonstrate the theory in action. She presented the lives of her
participants through constructed composite portraits. One of her subjects was a Black girl whose
mother was White and father was Black. This student participant attended a predominately
White school and chose to associate with students who were non-Black. Additionally, she
presented to be more socially connected to her maternal White family regardless of her physical
features, which suggested she was Black. This student’s inability to identify with the identity
imposed on her by those around her in the school, that she was Black, created an internal identity
crisis even though her self-perception aligned with her White identity. In this situation, this
student’s self-perception did not align with popular cultures assignment of her identity. The
other student participant was White and had two White parents but she socially identified as
Black. She grew up in a predominately Black community and ascribed with the urban Black
culture. This student’s self-perception aligned with the Black culture even though she was
White. In this situation, this student’s self-perception aligned with the imposed definition of
“Blackness.” In the school setting, this student participant was socially accepted by Black
students, however her teachers shunned her “ethnic” behaviors.
Fordham (2010) suggested that regardless of each student’s self-perceptions, the
identities that others imposed on them differed than those they had adopted for themselves. This
created internal struggles that hindered their abilities to fully value and identify with their self-
ascribed perceptions. She argued the way that race and identity were positioned shaped their
interactions and performances daily. Fordham (2010) asserted that even when inherent genetic
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 34

dispositioning created a dominant identifier, identity and cultural value socialization were not
static and were constructed by the individual through their self-perceptions. The power of self-
perception intertwined with how these students perceived themselves to be in relationship to
their social cultural worlds influenced the way they viewed self in relationship to their world.
Fordham believed another layer to Black adolescent identity was formed based on the way each
individual embraced his or herself truth. This idea aligns with D. G. Myers’s (1996) definition
of self-perception, which again is defined as the idea a person has about the kind of person
he/she is. The complexity in the bearing of who defines how a person is perceived as well as
who frames Black identity is positioned here from a dominant identifier and personal
perspective.
Fordham (2010) suggested that an individual’s perceptions were also influenced by other
members within a given group (e.g., teachers projecting expected dominant cultural behaviors
regarding ways in which they perceived the White student “acting Black” should have behaved).
She suggested that identity is not linear, yet the product of genetic composition. In fact, the
nuances around identity are monolithic and specific to an individuals’ perception. Instead,
Fordham claimed multiple factors (e.g., school agents, associations, interpersonal relationships,
personal/family values) all contributed to the ways in which Black adolescents affiliated and
came to establish their self-perceptions and embrace their selves. This work is critical in the
ways in which I argue the Black adolescent males’ in my study views the world around them as
their lens is shaped by the ways in which they view self in relationship to their social cultural
settings. I further argue that their self-perceptions offer them self-agency and the ability to
manage their daily lives.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 35

Grantham and Ford (2003) provided insight on the ways in which academic achievement
affected the gifted Black male adolescents’ self-concept and achievement in relationship to racial
identity development. They contended that Black gifted students struggled with two paradigms:
(1) of having to fight to be identified as gifted and (2) once identified having to struggle to form
peer affiliations because they were gifted (Grantham & Ford, 2003). The struggle with identity
and inclusion of peers in relationship to school achievement suggested that an individual’s racial
identity might be directly or indirectly associated with individual achievement (Grantham &
Ford, 2003). Thus, at times when Black students desired to be accepted in social setting with
peers they endured emotional stress (e.g., feeling of isolation, rejection and/or loneliness) and
might choose to demonstrate less than capable school abilities in order to fit in (Grantham &
Ford, 2003). Thus, these young men coming to perceive themselves as having to present to be
less intelligent in order to fit in school influences their engagement in school. Grantham and
Ford insisted that efforts of Black gifted students damaged their scholarly reputations affected
their academic achievement and influenced these students’ self-perception in relationships to
peers and school networks.
Grantham and Ford (2003) drew from Worrell, Cross, and Vandiver’s (2001) Nigrescene
Theory that focused on the process of a person becoming Black. In relationship to this process,
these scholars affirmed eight identity types of the following themes: pre-encounter, immersion-
emersion, and internalization shaped this perspective. With regard to the pre-encounter theme
Grantham and Ford described Black people who situated their social identity around their sense
of being an American or an individual. With respect to the pre-encounter miseducation theme
Grantham and Ford described the Black person who accepted without question the negative
images, stereotypes, and historical misinformation about Black people. Regarding the theme
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 36

pre-encounter racial self-hatred, Grantham and Ford considered Black individuals who
embraced profoundly negative feelings and severe self-loathing as a result of being Black. In the
next stage of identity immersion-emersion anti-White are persons who possess a hatred for the
White race (Grantham & Ford, 2003). Persons of this mindset were suggested to only engage
with problems associated to Blacks and their problems. These persons were said to have pent up
rage. The immersion-emersion intense Black involvement theme represented persons who often
had a cult-like association with Blackness. In this theory, there were three final stages that
Worrell et al. believed influenced a Black persons’ identity. They posited the internalization
nationalist (e.g., Black persons of an Afrocentric internal and world view), the internalization
biculturalist (e.g., a Black person who equally valued being American and African-American)
and the internalization multiculturalist (e.g., a Black person whose identity fell between spaces
that were interested in resolving issues dealing with multiple oppressions and were comfortable
and confident within various groups). Worrell et al., posited that in the development of a Black
person at any given time in his/her reality (e.g., depending on resources exposed to, and/ or
experiences endured) a Black person’s identity could be influenced. Grantham and Ford argued
that awareness of these various facets of racial and cultural interactions all affected a Black
person's self-perception and served as an added layer of difficulty when the Black male gifted
child was considered. This body of literature is insightful and informs my study as the identity
inclusion of the Black gifted students mentioned in Grantham and Ford’s (2003) research was
influenced by the students’ self-perceptions which affected their achievement, peer, and school
networks (Carter, D. L., 2008; Nasir et al., 2009).
Warikoo and Carter’s (2009) research reviewed a plethora of literature on cultural
explanations for ethno-racial differences in K-12 schooling and academic performance. These
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 37

scholars presented two perspectives that compared immigrant and native minority students’
assimilation and acculturation in America and how this affected Black identity. They argued that
identity was formed as the result of cultural context and assimilation.
With respect to the topic identity formation and variation within groups, Warikoo and
Carter (2009) asserted that the relationship between academic achievement and schooling could
not be understood without seeing school identities and school behaviors as the result of the
intersections of race, ethnic, class, gender, and religion and that these concepts were not static.
Warikoo and Carter argued that diverse ethnic group expectations—in terms of group values and
external societal stereotypes—shaped people’s perspectives, treatment, and affiliations and
skewed equity and access to education from community and school group inclusions.
Warikoo and Carter (2009) acknowledged three types of assimilation: upward
assimilation, downward assimilation, and selective assimilation depending on the contours of
immigrant and community ascriptions. Warikoo and Carter situated the three assimilations to be
associated with immigrant status and connectedness to attainment of dominant cultural
hegemony (e.g., upward assimilation was suggested to be tied to first generation immigrants,
downward assimilation was tied to second-generation decline in academic performance). Here,
the ways in which a person came to make sense of self, how they perceived self in relationship to
their specific race, ethnic, class, and others’ stations in life influenced the ways individuals
associated to the world.
Hence, understanding a student’s station in relationship to depth of Black American
social construction affected the ways in which an African-American student came to value and/
or place value on school. Nevertheless, just as geographical implications played a major role in a
Black person’s gravitation toward American values, community influences did as well. Warikoo
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 38

and Carter’s (2009) work also focused on community influence in the shaping of ethnic group
connections in the context of “minority” positioning within home and school settings. With
regard to this perspective, specific immigrant minority groups were discussed (e.g., Asian ethnic
groups being stereotyped as the “model minority” academic achievement group regardless of
evidence-based research indicating disparity within Asian ethnic members’ school performance).
Warikoo and Carter further showed the complexities across ethnic groups were present within
members of similar ethnic groups. They suggested the connectedness of class and cultural
values provided assigned implications for school success, inclusion, and exclusion with regard to
ethics of those of native born ethnic groups of similar ethnic classifications. As such, they
demonstrated how specific White ethnic groups of students embraced Black students’ style as
long as the White students made up the majority of the school population. However, when the
ratio of Whites to Blacks shifted, when White students attended a mixed ethnically diverse
school where more Black students were in attendance, these specific White students declined to
embrace Black student style.
This body of literature informed my study as it provided the multifaceted components of
culture in relationship to how a person views self within the dynamics of their social cultural
worlds; more specifically here, their inner-school setting. The importance of ethnic group
positioning and how the position of what Warikoo and Carter (2009) defined minority to be and
its influence on the ways in which Black American social construction is shaped by their social
cultural worlds offers understanding of how these Black adolescents viewed self in relationship
to their bioecological stations and connection to the value they come to place on school.
With regard to whether a student was a voluntary or immigrant or involuntary or
nonimmigrant as classified by Ogbu (1992) in relation to identity associations were parallel with
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 39

P. L. Carter’s (2005) theory. P. L. Carter argued three positions students would take in ways
they perceived self to survive their daily pursuits in the greater scheme of life and its networks.
Her description of African-American students from low social economic status, suggested that
those who adapted to their school cultural expectations through the lens of being what she
defined as a noncompliant believer (person refusing to adopt dominate culture hegemony but
value school), cultural mainstreamer (persons willing to assimilate and adopt the dominant
culture values but not under the purview of acting White), or cultural straddlers (persons able to
switch between the dominant and their own cultures). From the interviews in P. L. Carter’s
(2006) research, she was able to evaluate the ways in which her participants talked about
themselves in relation to experiences in their social places and spaces that offered them certain
beliefs and perceptions of self as to the ways they came to make sense of how they related to
their social cultural worlds. The perspectives of these two scholars was important with regards
to the type of Black persons to consider for this study. The distinctions Ogbu lent towards
immigrant versus voluntary status of Blacks postured a different approach to the pursuit of
education. My interest in aligning the perspective of African-American historically
disadvantaged Black adolescents situates the rationale for the criterion of this study through the
insight from these bodies of literature with regard to identity and how each Black person in the
afore research, self-constructs was based off of their cultural connections to what it meant to be
African and American versus African-American in relationship to how they come to value
school is the area of interest.
The role of identity affirming counter spaces in a predominately White high school in
reference to high achieving Black students was the area of investigation for D. J. Carter (2007).
D. J. Carter was interested in examining how nine high achieving Black students attending a
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 40

predominately White public high school on the east coast created and used informal and formal
fictive kinships relations to navigate their school experiences and affirm their self-identities.
This qualitative study explored same-race peer networks of students who gathered
together at a set location within their White school space. Participants selected for this research
were drawn from a larger study that investigated Black students attending predominately White
high schools, who were considered high achievers, had a positive racial self-concept, and who
attended public high school in an upper-middle and upper-class social economic communities
(Carter, D. J., 2007). The urban-based students that participated in this study were a part of the
Metropolitan Council for Education (METCO) busing program that promoted desegregation
while providing educational opportunities for urban students of color (Carter, D. J., 2007).
D. J. Carter (2007) completed three in-depth, face-to-face individual semi-structured
interviews of nine students who were purposively selected from a bigger sample of 13 students.
All interviews lasted no longer than 60 minutes. Each interview was conducted in private in
either the counselor’s office or an empty room and they were all audio-recorded. Students had to
meet the following criteria: be in grades 10-12, identify as Black or African-American, be a high
achiever, be in METCO or non-METCO student, and not demonstrate or have perceived shifts in
their behavior in the school context. Student participants taking at least one honors, advanced
placement, or college preparatory course met the high achiever criteria. Additionally, student
participants who were in extracurricular activities, had a GPA of 2.8 or higher, were on honor
roll, and teacher recommended qualified for the study. Also, students who were under 18 had to
get parent consent to participate in the study. Likewise, student selected adult participants from
the school (e.g., teacher or staff member at the school) were chosen to participate in this study.
The student participant interviews merged life history and discussions using open-ended
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 41

questions to get student participants to share about their school experiences and assist the
researcher with making meaning of experiences recorded. Also, formal and informal daily
observations and a focus group interview with student participants were completed.
The nature of the first interview was to gather background information from each
participant and to assemble information regarding students’ perceptions of their school, peer
relationships, and personal beliefs about success and school. The student participants were asked
to describe behaviors they engaged in at school, socially, and during extracurricular frames
within the school environment. The researchers were interested in understating how the
participants perceived their behaviors as shifts within and between the various frames. The
second interview allowed the researcher to compare student participants’ actual verse shifted
behaviors within the school setting. The third interview afforded the researcher the chance to
probe participants to reflect on their perceptions about their behaviors in relationship to expected
norms within school, social, and extracurricular school-based environments. The researcher
stressed the importance of student participants responding to perceived cost and benefits of
stipulated behaviors displayed in the three listed school settings.
Using a grounded theory approach, D. J. Carter (2007) developed the term identity-
affirming counter-spaces to categorize the ways the participants survived experiences of racism
in the school context. D. J. Carter situated her participants’ experiences in this study under the
veil of interethnic connections through fictive kinship supports. This concept supported
participants’ social identity and individual personhoods in their school setting. At times when
participants expressed school disconnect or alienation encounters to their same-race based peers,
their peers encouraged and confirmed these students’ realities. One student participant expressed
the school-based fictive kinship connections were welcomed in efforts to support a “sense of
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 42

collective struggle” between the Black students in this predominately White upper class
environment (Carter, D. J., 2007, p. 548). Although each participant expressed the appreciated
time to bond and ability to self-identity in the school setting as each participant was consciously
aware of their external presentation and what their peers considered was socially acceptable as
compared to what the dominant culture measure was normative behavior in this setting (Carter,
D. J., 2007). As such, student participants joked within their social network and revealed
behaviors that were similar to those outside of this environment (e.g., using slang, cursing, dance
moves, conversations related to similar interest in music and clothes), but were quick to code
switch when interacting with their White counterparts or staff in this setting. One student
participant reported,
I think in classrooms I’m a lot more quiet because usually there’s people in the class that
I talk to, but not all like that—to have an in-depth conversation. We’re more into what
we’re doing in class, as compared to [at] The Stairs, we’re more outgoing, like talkative.
(Carter, 2005, p. 227). (as cited in Carter, D. J., 2007, p. 550)
Another student participant reported when he engaged with his peers on The Stairs, he
spoke more freely and horse played more with same-race peers. He reported, “I try to talk as
correct as possible” when amongst his none same-peer school mates in class (Carter, D. J., 2007,
p. 550). Student participants’ behaviors in this setting were calculated and appropriate. All the
participants in this study were aware of the school climate, the school culture, and the need to
guard and connect their social identities with peers to survive experiences that made them feel
segregated (Carter, D. J., 2007). Likewise, all participants exercised the ability to navigate this
world regardless of losing their sense of Blackness. The student participants in this study who
were bused in voluntarily chose this school in order to improve diversity on this campus (Carter,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 43

D. J., 2007). Still, exclusionary differences in race did not afford in-depth diversified
experiences across racial boundaries as the racial ethnic groups ascribed to their own worlds.
The results from this study implied Black students’ awareness of the cultural hegemony
was key in their acceptance of the fictive kinship encounters and use of such encounters as a
protective factor that afforded each of the student participants in this study a shield from the
exclusive undertones from their none same-race peers and staff (Carter, D. J., 2007). All the
participants indicated the fictive kinship meetings at The Stairs provided them an outlet to self-
identify, to embrace their intellect, to discuss treatment in this setting, and as a nestled support
with their same-race peers whom were straddling similar counter cultural challenges within this
school experience. All the participants struggled with the reality of a conscious divide; however,
all the participants managed to maintain above average academic skills, partook in school extra-
curricular supports, and social gathering with same-race peers. All of the participants did not
appear discouraged academically despite challenges of race and school inclusion. Within their
perspective social groups, each participant demonstrated comfort with their peers discussing
academic expectations and living up to those expectations within this setting. Demonstrating
their smartness was not a social behavior that was not accepted by their same-race peers (Carter,
D. J., 2007). All of the student participants were very aware of the “privilege” in this experience
of being accepted to attend a public school within this community. Each participant did not
jeopardize losing his or her chance to attend a public school of this stature regardless of the racial
challenges endured. Social engagement for the student participants in this study was
operationalized as a multidimensional construct. The role of identity affirming counter-spaces
offered insight into my study as I am interested in the ways in which students’ school success is
influenced by the diversity of their social cultural spaces.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 44

Likewise, scholar D. J. Carter (2008) completed a qualitative study examining the
development of racial and achievement self-conceptions among African-American adolescents
who attended nine high schools within a large urban educational K-12 system. D. J. Carter
contended that Black students’ racial identity impacted their academic achievement and school
behaviors. Furthermore, she posited that if Black youth had positive racial identities they were
more likely to have a critical awareness of race that could serve as a protective factor toward
school and might support the ways in which they made sense of their value of school. In this
study, D. J. Carter sampled a group of students from 2005-2006 who were considered for a year-
long program sponsored by a research institution in the Midwest. The research team designed a
program to increase academic readiness through careers in teaching for social justice. This study
focused on increasing students’ interest in the teaching profession. Based on information
provided from students within a specified urban school district who expressed career interest in
teaching in urban settings, 20 students who self-identified as Black or African-American
between the ages of 15 to 17 (13 females, 7 males; 3 sophomores, and 17 juniors) volunteered
for this study. The criteria for participation was as follows: current enrollment in urban high
school, minimum GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale, and expressed interest in pursuing a teaching career
in an urban community.
All of the participants completed a Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity Scale
that measured racial centrality, racial private regard, and racial public regard. The selection of
this specific instrument supported the researchers’ interest in (1) understanding the significance
of race to participant’s self-definition (racial centrality); (2) the extent to which each student held
positive or negative feelings about his or her membership in the racial group (racial private
regards); and (3) students’ perceptions of societal beliefs about their racial group (racial public
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 45

regards). In addition to participants completing this scale, all participants engaged in one
individual semi-structured interview that lasted approximately an hour to an hour and a half. The
interviews were conducted in private within private meeting rooms at a community center in the
city of the K-12 urban district. The researchers’ interview questions focused on the ways
students’ racial and achievement self-conceptions inform their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs
about the utility of schooling for future success, their motivations and support systems for school
persistence, racial identity, and perceptions of the impact of race on their schooling experiences
and academic outcomes. This study is important as it evaluated how students’ behaviors and
their thoughts about who they are in relationship to school is shaped by their experiences,
attitudes, and beliefs about self in those specific spaces and places.
D. J. Carter (2008) analyzed the findings by dividing her participants into three
categories: high-achievers (those students with a GPA of 3.3-4.0), average-achievers (GPA of
2.5-3.2), and low-achiever (GPA below 2.5). All of the participants stressed having a positive
racial identity, critical race consciousness, and realistic attitude about the usefulness of
schooling, which allowed these Black students to persist in school. According to D. J. Carter,
the findings from her study suggested racial identity, critical race consciousness, and Black
students having a realistic attitude about the usefulness of school might serve as processes for
high academic achievement. All of the Blacks adolescent participants in this study expressed
these three elements were effective for improved academic success (Carter, D. J., 2008).
With regard to the theme evidence for high racial centrality, several participants from the
study described race to be significant to how they self-identified. Likewise, many of the student
participants linked the historical challenges of their slave ancestors and their ability to overcome
difficult experiences within our culturally hegemonic system as means to deal with adversity.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 46

Some of the participants’ ability to connect explicit expressions related to slavery served as a
motivation for pursuing positive life outcomes. For example, a 16-year-old participant that had a
3.4 GPA at the time this study was completed expressed the following “I love being Black…you
know? Since slavery times, we’ve overcome a lot and a lot of things that we’ve done in the
world [have] changed it” (Carter, D. J., 2008, p. 17). Another student participant implied the
historical motivation for self-determination in the following expression “I know what my
ancestors went through to, ummm, make it possible for me to just go to school and become
successful, and it just makes me proud to be Black because others did so much so I can succeed”
(Carter, D. J., 2008, p. 17). The awareness of these Black adolescent students of historical
oppressive matters that influenced their race were influential in their academic trajectories
(Carter, D. J., 2008). The students’ knowledge of self in relationship to cultural factors that
influenced their station in the world shaped their self-perceptions, their identity within their
social cultural worlds (Myers, D. G., 1996)
Also, a few Black male participants in this study explicitly connected their gender and
race to their overall pursuit toward academic success and self-identity. One Black adolescent
reported desiring to present a counter narrative to the common negative societal thoughts about
Black people. For this participant, being a vessel of change was significant and served as
reminders for him as to the importance of beating the odds. He stated, “my race has been a
motivating factor for me to want to do well in school” (Carter, D. J., 2008, p. 18). Having an
understanding of social positioning and the lack of civil liberties especially in relationship to
being denied certain human rights within their race historically instilled a sense of pride and
connectedness to the Black community for many of the student participants in this study (Carter,
D. J., 2008).
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 47

With respect to the theme critical race consciousness, many student participants
referenced awareness of racial inequalities when describing their self-identity in relationship to
race (Carter, D. J., 2008). The students expressed explicit understandings of historical accounts
of racism in the US towards Blacks. It was not specifically determined by the researcher in this
study whether or not that information learned from the student participants was knowledge
gained from their home (outside of school) or school settings. However, knowledge of a caste
system presented in the student participants’ descriptions of their location within society (Carter,
D. J., 2008). One student participant stated the following:
just waking up every morning, you know, if you have the interview, what if the boss or
supervisors are white, how are they going to look at you? You dress up to look like
you’re from a good neighborhood, but still the color of your skin—you can have a
master’s degree, everything you can think of, good English, nice shape, nice look, and
just the color of the skin can just sink the job…and that’s a big disadvantage…
(Carter, D. J., 2008, p. 19)
Many student participants in this study described experiencing prejudice in the larger society
based on their race (Carter, D. J., 2008). Another student reported, “I think there are a lot of
disadvantages [to being Black], because in this world that we live in today, most of the white
people…think that they are higher than the Black race” (Carter, D. J., 2008, p. 19). The
statement from this student clearly demonstrated a reflective understanding of how he was
perceived in relationship to others in his social cultural world. His ability to perceive self in a
grander world situates a conscious understanding of who he believed himself to be and how
others perceived him equally. The awareness of student participants in this study of the various
societal inequalities toward members of the Black race did not lessen their efforts toward
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 48

academic success. The student participants in this study leveraged their knowledge of historical
challenges as positive protective barriers toward their attitude and beliefs of the importance of
attaining academic achievement and life trajectories (Carter, D. J., 2008).
With respect to the theme the utility of schooling, the student participants’ connection of
positive self-worth contributed to their attitude, value, and belief of the importance school has on
their future pursuits (Carter, D. J., 2008). One student reported, “[school] builds up your
knowledge from my standpoint, and when you do well in school somebody is bound to notice.
And that somebody can help you get into college” (Carter, D. J., 2008, p. 20). Many student
participants were able to connect the importance of their ancestors’ struggles to not only doing
well currently in high school but were able to link their current school success to future
possibilities for college. The student participants’ utility of school transcended to thought of
future academic success at the college level (Carter, D. J., 2008). Thus, all of the student
participants made efforts to stay in good academic standing, as demonstrated by their high GPAs.
Likewise, all of the student participants’ descriptions and actions toward academic achievement
confirmed prior scholars’ references to the value Blacks associated toward school, how they
perceived themselves in relationship to school and school attainment, and how value in education
was deemed a positive means for future societal access. D. J. Carter’s research greatly informed
my study as she offered a wealth of insight on the ways urban Black high school age students’
perceptions of self in conjunction with their cultural orientations impacted their academic
achievement and behaviors toward school. The idea that when these students perceived their
racial disposition to be positive that they were prone to be more conscious and intentional about
their school involvement and to have a positive value of school assisted in the ways my
participants could approach the value of school.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 49

A mixed method study by Nasir et al. (2009) was presented as they examined both the
school and community social spaces that African-American youth navigated as they strived to
make sense of self and process multiple identity expectations communicated to them by their
social and cultural worlds. Data for this study was pulled from a larger two-year study
examining African-American youths’ connections and disconnections to their urban high
schools. The research team for this study focused on identity and coming to an understanding of
the ways Black students in urban communities thought about themselves and their place in the
world (Nasir et al., 2009). Additionally, the researchers examined how these student participants
performed within their school. They explored how these students’ behaviors influenced their
ascribed identities within and outside of the school settings. The research team conducted focus
groups, observations of student participants, and interviews with student participants and
teachers. The quantitative data were collected by survey. Seven case studies of 10th and 11th
grade students were conducted during the first year of the study. The team chose case studies to
gain detailed information of the student participants’ experiences as they traversed multiple
school spaces. Six of the student participants were African-American. The criteria for
participants were a willingness to engage in focus groups, observations, and specific grade
levels.
The subjects for this study attended an urban high school that was in the East Baysville
community of northern California. Jackson High school was one of five high schools in
Baysville Unified School District and consisted of approximately 670 students at the time the
study was completed. The community was situated in a low social economically disadvantaged
area where 64% of the residents were of African-American heritage. Other ethnic groups
consisted of 16% Latino and 9% Asian. East Baysville earned a reputation during the early
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 50

2000s as the “murder capital” of the city. According to Nasir et al. (2009), “The majority of
homicide victims and offenders were African-American (approximately 90%)” (p. 84). In 2000,
Jackson High School had a high school dropout rate of 46%. Jackson High School traditionally
produced poor academic performance. Also, during the time of this study Jackson was
reforming. Still, the school maintained a historical attendance of generations of Black families
within the community. Thus, the school was reported to maintain an African-American family
internal culture (Nasir et al., 2009).
Researchers for this study were provided access to student participants from a pre-
established partnership between the urban high school and the university research center that was
guiding the study. Through an after-school program directed by the research center.
communications about this study were established and determined for approval. During the
preliminary staging of this study, rapport with student participants was established by means of
focus groups. Four-hour focus group meetings were determined for the research team to increase
their understanding of the experiences of student participants’ lives. During the first year of this
study, researchers selected student participants through the promotion of opportunities for them
to share their opinions of their school and through the persuasion of food (Nasir et al., 2009).
Perspective 10th and 11th grade student participants were also recruited by school counselors
who assisted in establishing the sample pool.
The focus group experience afforded researchers’ opportunities to develop relationships
with participants and served as a means to gain insight into the participants’ perceptions about
what the researchers deemed to be connected (e.g., students who appeared to have solid
relationships with teachers, peers, attended class, completed coursework) relations or
disconnected (e.g., students that teachers and counselors regard at-risk for none high school
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 51

completion) relations to school. Those participants described as connected or disconnected from
school divided the focus groups. The connected group consisted of 11 African-American student
participants; six males and five females that met regularly with no student missing two group
meetings (Nasir et al., 2009). The disconnected group consisted of nine participants (eight
African-American and one Asian; four males and five females). Student participants’
membership was inconsistent with a mean of 5.8 attendees over the nine week sessions. This
group began with 12 students and lost a total of three participants (two dropped out of high
school prior to the focus group completion). The focus groups met for nine weeks during lunch.
The informal meetings afforded students collaborative group efforts to share their opinions about
their positioning in both school and community environments (Nasir et al., 2009). At the end of
the 9-week sessions, the researcher was presented with an opportunity to observe student
participants in their school and home settings in efforts to understand their perspective lives in
more depth.
In addition to focus groups, student participants were observed for eight days for a total
of 56 hours. The research team observed seven students as they were interested in understanding
the participant’s interactions with teachers and peers (during class and free school space). All
interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Informal conversations were recorded as well.
During the interviews, participants were asked questions pertaining to the importance of school,
relationship with teachers, safety, and instructional practices as they all related to student self-
agency (Nasir et al., 2009). Likewise, data regarding participants’ attendance and academic
performance was collected for analysis in relationship to student academic success.
During the second year of this study a survey was used to examine student participants’
relationship to school and the interconnectedness of academic and racial identities (Nasir et al.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 52

2009). Data collected on participants’ background, student provided academic performance
indexes, and the following five scales: interpersonal connection, institutional connection,
academic identity, and two scales for students’ racial identities were used to measure racial and
meanings of racial and ethnic identities. During the analysis process, the following categories of
meaning of African-American identity emerged: understanding the history of African-
Americans, expressing behaviors/beliefs that do not support school success (positive school),
expressing behaviors/beliefs that do not support school success (negative school), wearing a
particular clothing style or using Ebonics (personal style), and expressing behaviors/ beliefs that
support a “gangsta” persona (gangsta) (Nasir et al., 2009). Both of these forms of identity
classifications resulted from self-perceptions each of these students declared in their discussions
about self in relationship to their social cultural dealings in both inner-school and outer school
spaces and places.
The results from the qualitative findings section of this study suggest two versions of
African-American identity emerged. The first identity the research team labeled street savvy
African America Identity (e.g., the group that identified as “thug” or “gangsta” personification
wearing popular clothes, speaking in Ebonics, and not acknowledging their African-American
identity) (Nasir et al., 2009). The second identity was called the school-oriented and socially
conscious African-American identity (e.g., wearing popular clothes, speaking in Ebonics, being
connected to school, community, having a cultural and historical legacy, seeing oneself as a
change agent and positive force in the community) (Nasir et al., 2009).
Nasir et al. (2009) reported all the participants ascribed to being racially identified as
African-American yet differed in their explanations as to what that actually meant for them.
Likewise, Nair et al. (2009) reported all the participants differed “in the level of critical thought
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 53

about their racial realities” (p. 86). On the one hand, some participants positively associated the
African-American identity based off of the dominant cultures juxtaposition while on the other
hand some participants believed to be African-American depended on a person’s position within
in the larger context of the world (Nasir et al., 2009). The categorizing of the differences in
African-American students’ identities in this study supported other scholars’ assertions of the
variations in the ways in which Black people self-identify within the larger construct of our
society (Carter, P. L., 2005; Chavous et al., 2003; Fordham, 1988, 1996; Fordham & Ogbu,
1986; Noguera, 2003).
With regard to the identity theme street savvy, Nasir et al. (2009) reported participants in
this study who connected their identity to that of a “gangsta” were less conscious of self with
regard to race. They did not demonstrate a connection to the social, political, or historical
contours that race could have on their self-agency or academic outcomes. Student participants of
this category were observed to ditch class or “shooting dice” on campus (p. 87). Defying school
related rules or policy were common behaviors of these students. For example, a counselor
reported to one of the researchers in this study that a female participant had a history of behavior
problems that resulted in school suspensions, demotion in class level, and ultimately dropping
out of school. Another male participant that met this category was reported to approve of
community based drug dealing and to have a probation officer that he had to report to often.
Student participants of this identity reported direct ties to members within the community who
also affiliated with the “gangsta” stereotype massaged in social media. In spite of these
participants being socialized within the larger context of peers in this study, their external
affiliations strongly influenced their behavior, values, behaviors and school performance (Nasir
et al., 2009).
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 54

With regard to the identity theme school-oriented and socially conscious, participants
who met this description were connected to their community but they differed in the ways in
which they committed to the community. These participants expressed strong connections to
school, understood global implications of historical marginalization’s toward members of the
African-American race, and were able to identify self as members that could influence change
within their circumstances (Nasir et al., 2009). Two specific students who met this category
were able to straddle their home and school words respectively in spite of externally and
positively associating academically to expected school standards. These students demonstrated
the ability to consciously choose peer affiliations that favored their efforts toward school success
although they were very much aware of the external negative contentions that were pulling some
of their peers toward delinquent actions.
Nasir et al. (2009) created an other variations category to place students that did not fit
into the other two identity groups. One student participant did not fit into either group. He did
demonstrate a keen since of his Black identity and was aware of how his race situated him within
the bigger societal construct. This specific student appeared to barely meet expectations even
when challenged with rigorous courses. This participant expressed feeling disconnected with
course materials, a connection with his identity, and overall marginal performance academically.
He presented to be caught between the two worlds that the researchers described in this study.
With respect to the quantitative findings of this study, Nasir et al. (2009) used the survey
to confirm the qualitative finding on racial identity and academic achievement. The quantitative
findings suggested there were multiple ways students conceptualized what they perceived
African-American identity to mean in relationship to academic achievement and engagement
(Nasir et al., 2009). The majority of the students reported they endorsed an understanding of
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 55

history. Less than half of the participants indicated they felt school was important. As well, a
little over a fourth of the students expressed the importance of personal style. Less of the
participants expressed negative perceptions of school while a little under a fourth of the males
supported the gangsta persona compared to less than 10% of females ascribing to this identity.
The student participants in this study demonstrated strong African-American identity was
associated with academic success. In fact, many of the participants intertwined academic
pursuits to be directly tied to their perception of what it means to be African-American (Nasir et
al., 2009). However, despite these participants being consciously aware of the historical
negative treatment of their ancestors, in this study did not correlate to them having value of
school. External community associations suggest students’ complete affiliations influence their
behaviors and academic performance in and out-of-school settings. Additionally, the findings
from this study indicate students’ academic levels whether high or low did not infringe on their
connection and awareness of their Black identities. Yet, some students associate their historical
affiliations to be directly related to their academic pursuits and their school performance of
academic success afforded them certain educational capital that was not extended to their peers
that did not demonstrate school success. Still, the complexity of Black identity and the
fundamental elements of self-concept and self-knowledge frame the students’ self-perceptions
and affords offers them a means to reflect and make sense of their self in relationship to their
lived experiences. All of the examples from participants in the scholars’ research shared
regarding Black identity offer me a broader lens to evaluate students in my study: self-
perceptions and self-agency in relationship to how they come to make sense of the
communications they hear in their respective milieus and how these communications influence
the value they placed on school. Likewise, cultural values are important when we try to
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 56

understand and unravel the connection of culture, values, and school. Thus, the value of capital
affects the trajectory of student academic outcomes.
Cultural Values in Relationship to School
Bourdieu (1986) and Bourdieu and Passeron, (1973) argued cultural capital was a viable
resource in the school settings. They posited cultural capital from parents who were wealthy
extended to their children effortlessly and thus offered them an unearned advantage over children
from lower social economic standing. Bourdieu (1986) asserted the playing field was not equal
when it came to the measure of cultural capital individuals had. Bourdieu (1986) argued the
differences in people’s wealth afforded them certain educational advantages as these individuals’
cultural-capital privileges presented a leveraged social position. Bourdieu (1986) asserted the
privileged opportunities for some children when acquiring an education weakened chances for
equal access to those children from low socially economic disadvantaged backgrounds. Thus,
members of the low social economic means educational pursuits and cultural capital statuses
would be met with challenges.
Research by P. L. Carter (2003) further examined the cultural value of capital and its
relationship to school and overall student academic outcomes. P. L. Carter’s qualitative research
examined two forms of capital (e.g., dominant and non-dominant cultural capital) within the
social and academic lives of socioeconomically disadvantaged African-American youth. She
was interested in discovering the ways in which African-American adolescents negotiate their
perceptions of different values assigned to them by teachers and school administrators (Carter,
P. L., 2003). The purpose of this study was to investigate the following question: “How does the
interplay between social stratification and cultural production within schools and communities
explain persistent academic achievement gaps among various racial and ethnic groups?” (p. 136).
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 57

P. L. Carter examined the variability of cultural capital and the ways in which a group of low-
income/lower status African-American students use both “dominant” and “non-dominant cultural
capital” to establish their cultural status (p. 137). She was interested in investigating the
following five key areas of African-American youth from low income status:
beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors pertaining to racial and ethnic group relations and
identity; beliefs about the opportunity structure and pathways to success and achievement
in this society; academic and career aspirations; ‘appropriate’ ethnic or cultural behaviors
among peers and family (e.g., speech, dress, codeswitching); and participation in various
school activities. (p. 140)
The student participants in this study were sampled from a prior larger study of 68 low-
income African-American and Latino families from different areas in Yonkers, New York. Said
student participants were of four categories for school classification: dropped out, currently
attending middle, high school, or college. P. L. Carter (2003) sampled 44 low-income African-
American and Latino low-income youth between the ages of 13 and 20. All of the participants
were members of families whom resided in government subsidized homes at the time interviews
were conducted. Additionally, at the time the interviews were completed in this study, 84% of
the participants were enrolled at magnet schools within Yonkers School district. Sixty-two
percent of the participants attended classes comprised primarily of African-American and Latino
students. Sixteen percent of the participants attended classes that were predominately White, 7%
of the participants attended classes that consisted of Hispanics, and 1% of the participants
attended classes of an Asian make up. A number of participants who were not enrolled in school
at the time of their respective interviews had received their GEDs, high school diplomas, and/or
had some college experiences (Carter, P. L., 2003). P. L. Carter used a grounded theory
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 58

technique to capture in this study the participants’ personal perspective of how they made sense
of their worlds from past and present experiences. Thus, all the participants were audiotaped
during their respective semi-structured, open-ended individual interviews that lasted
approximately 75 minutes over a 10-month period.
After conducting her interviews and coding, she examined the meaning behind
participants’ attitudes, actions, and beliefs in regard to racial and ethnic identity. The following
codes emerged “It’s Where You At:” Cultural Capital and Context; A Matter of Authenticity:
Culture Markers and Group Membership; Dual Capitals: A Matter of Balancing Acts; and Race,
School, and Different Cultural Capital Forms.
With respect to the theme “It’s Where You At:” Cultural Capital and Context, all student
participants indicated they shifted cultural presentations depending on the environments and
persons they were around. When asked by the researcher whether they endured certain
expectations about how they should act, who they should hang out with, and/ or how they should
speak, all of the participants reported shifting their presentations depending on the presenting
circumstances. With respect to the theme A Matter of Authenticity: Culture Markers and Group
Membership, the idea of who determines who is in a group or out of a group was explored. The
majority of the student participants indicated identifiers of dress, taste, and music were main
determinants as to whether or not an individual was considered an authentic member of the non-
dominant group. All participants were able to associate their certified identifies and
psychological sameness to what they considered Black non-dominant cultural capital. This
assignment of category was based on what P. L. Carter (2003) described as an inner group
determined cultural code. With respect to the established domain Dual Capitals: A Matter of
Balancing Acts premises concerning assimilation toward the dominant cultures’ values and
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beliefs as well as use of specified vernacular and style of dress when compared to the dominant
culture, P. L. Carter insisted this theme promoted upward economic and social mobility. With
respect to the domain area of Race, School, and Different Cultural Capital Forms, all
participants demonstrated and unwillingness to completely adapt or incorporate the expected
dominant cultural capital in school (Carter, P. L., 2003). However, knowing the importance of
when to use the dominant cultural capital assisted many of the student participants in their ability
to transverse identifies and performances (e.g., reverting back to Black non-dominant cultural
capital) when they perceived environmental indicators deemed it necessary to code switch.
With respect to the ways in which youth engaged in counter behaviors within ethnic
groups, Warikoo and Carter (2009) reviewed literature that illuminated African-American youth
from low social economic backgrounds absorption of “ghetto culture.” According to Pattillo-
McCoy (1999), students characterized the glorification of these youth toward the “ghetto
culture” as being consumed, thrilled, and having marginal interest. The more oppositional
behaviors from youth of these associations were connected with those students who were
classified as consumed supporters.
With regard to the theme multiple dimensions of culture, Warikoo and Carter (2009)
presented literature on the diverse elements of culture and the effects on the behaviors of
minority students with identification to education success. They defined culture as “values,
expressions, consumption patterns, and shared identities” (Warikoo & Carter, 2009, p. 380).
Under this veil, expressive culture was defined as a set of beliefs that included vernacular, dress,
taste, and preferences. The difficulty with detangling what specific cultural groups consider to
be standards of acceptable or what was in versus what was out was also colored by cultural
hegemony and stereotypes of minority groups that affected the ways in which ethnic group
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members shaped their realties. This body of literature informed my study as it offered the
various cultural perspectives the low SES urban Black adolescents of interest could associate
with depending on their urban social hubs that they lived in. Thus, the ways in which members
within their respective marginalized communities shared cultural norms and viewed self in
relationship to those customs and traditions could influence the value they place on school as
well as the ways in which they navigated their daily environments.
Nagel (1994) appraised ethnic boundaries and the actions/meaning regarding the ways in
which ethnicity was constructed individually, within specified groups, and the larger society.
She situated culture and identity as the two essential elements of ethnicity. She suggested
ethnicity was a fluid socially constructed phenomenon that intertwined genetic and historical
relations that functioned to shape how identity and culture situated themselves in the defining of
social factors influencing human diversity. Nagel explored the following questions:
What are the processes by which ethnic identity is created or destroyed, strengthened or
weakened?; To what extent is ethnic identity the result of internal processes, and to what
extent is ethnicity externally defined and motivated?; What are the processes that
motivate ethnic boundary construction?;What is the relationship between culture and
ethnic identity?; How is culture formed and transformed?; [and] What social purposes are
served by the construction of culture? (p. 153)
Nagel (1994) offered her thoughts in relation to each of these questions. First, she argued
that members of a given group would use ethnic boundaries to decide who was in and who did
not fit in as a member of a selected group. Also, established boundaries defined ethnic
categories and the situations to which individuals were identified in a determined category
(Nagel, 1994). Nagel argued individual and group members’ ethnic composition was directly
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connected to their perceived social worth, which was a dynamic process where ethnicity was
constantly being reinvented depending on the circumstances and interest of the persons who
ascribed to that specific ethnic group (Nagel, 1994). As such, she presented an exploration of
Armenian-Americans and their construction of identity. Nagel offered an ethnic paradox as she
described Armenian’s who were born in America could choose to claim Armenian heritage
whether or not they spoke the language, socially interacted with Armenians (e.g., church,
business, associations, or organizations), and/or married inter-ethically. Nagel suggested having
a “symbolic ethnicity” or pensive loyalty to an ascribed ethnic group both increased and
decreased ethnic association and affiliations (Nagel, 1994).
Thus, in efforts to understand how individuals from specified ethnic groups crossed
ethnic boundaries as well as averred an ethnic identity, ethnic construction was examined. Nagel
(1994) recommended three areas (Negotiating Ethnic Boundaries, External Forces Shaping
Ethnic Boundaries, and Ethnic Authenticity and Ethnic Fraud) to bind her perspective. With
respect to Negotiating Ethnic Boundaries, Nagel argued that despite ethnicity being defined
based on color in the United States, research on persons’ thoughts of self and associates of ethnic
identity suggested ethnicity was a product of social attributions where individual views of self
and group members view about a person’s ethnic identity both fused how ethnicity was
progressively constructed (Nagel, 1994). She further asserted ethnic identity was an outcome of
the interactions of external and internal beliefs from individual and group agents. For example,
Nagel declared “what you think your ethnicity is versus what they think your ethnicity is”
(p. 154) could shift a person’s ethnic ascription or identity depending on choice and the dominant
social constraints that defined ethnicity. Nagel presented an example of how Native Americans’
identities could differ depending on how they interacted socially within their ethnic groupings.
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As such, they could either be of the subtribal, tribal, regional, supra-tribal or Pan-Indian ethnic
groups depending on how they socialize with the members of their group. Moreover, Nagel
offered an example of a person from Cuban pedigree arguing that he/she could take on ethnic
identities of Latino, Cuban-American, Marielito, and White depending on the situation, audience,
and circumstances around his/her desired or perceived socialization. Lastly, Nagel shared an
examination of the intricacy within the African-American ethnic group where she weighed in on
how divergences in skin tone encouraged social positioning, acceptance, and inclusion at various
levels of the groups belonging depending on how fairer a person’s hue was. Distinctions of color
within the African-American ethnic group were acknowledged constructs that were embraced
intra-ethnically and by external groups where one’s unique physiological features as associated
with color had procured communal layers of ethnic boundaries (Nagel, 1994).
With respect to External Forces Shaping Ethnic Boundaries, Nagel (1994) argued when a
person chose to ascribe to a specific ethnic group and his/her decision was one that was solely
based off of preference then that choice influenced the agency and structure of ethnicity as ethnic
identity then became fixed and voluntary (Nagel, 1994). She contended that unlike African-
Americans, White Americans were able to discretely choose and/ or ignore their ethnic
association regardless of their hybrid origins. However, Americans of African descent were
subjected to the Black ethnic option only. Still, the distinctive classification of Americans of
African descent by the dominant ethnic group in America were matters of race and ethnic
boundaries that were situated in the context of color (Nagel, 1994). Nagel further asserted the
importance the dominant American ethnic group placed on race and color consciousness
advantaged the dominant culture when bidding for power and dominance. Nagel (1994) offered
examples of how, in spite of the economic statuses of affluent middle class African-Americans,
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that under the veil of the American construct they stood to experience both public and private
discriminations. As a consequence of the meanings behind the various stereotypes that had
traditionally and historically served to identify Blacks in a negative light, said stereotypes shaped
how inter and external ethnic group members related to one another. Likewise, such stereotypes
influenced the ways in which ethnic group members cast opinions about one another, and how
they established and recognized ethnic color boundaries within a given social order.
Within this social order, Nagel (1994) recommended that ethnicity was also politically
constructed. She provided three lenses through which she perceived this to be played out (e.g.,
immigration and the production of ethnic diversity, resource competition and ethnic group
formation, and political access and ethnic group formation). In the area of immigration and the
production of ethnic diversity, Nagel posited the politics of immigration were important factors
as governments played a vital role in the shaping of ethnicity. She advocated that the various
global conflicts and wars rewarded shifts in societal enclaves, neighborhoods, and communities
that regulated ethnic composition as the migration of people to new locales constructs fresh
ethnic identities (Nagel, 1994). With respect to politics being thought to affect resource
competition and ethnic group formation, Nagel examined the intercourse of government use of
census data to bound ethnic group mobility and formation in certain areas. Here, Nagel provided
an example of how ethnic group identification in a controlled locale warranted members of an
Indian culture the ability to cultivate an exclusive political party that served to promote a
political agenda. Thus, Nagel recommended that a person’s ethnic identification and one’s
specific ethnic boundaries whether it was an internal or external ascription could influence the
agency of an individual’s economic and political condition that could facilitate the ways in which
and to whom opportunity was tendered. Nagel reported other times policy and ethnicity could
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reinforce ethnic boundaries when situated in instances where oppressive and discriminatory
practices function to advance an agenda. For example, she provided a scenario in American
history where American embassy staff members were held hostage in the 1980s during the
Iranian revolution to suggest the increase of violence from America toward Iran and other
Middle Eastern countries was an example of how ethnically charged matters could influence
resources and how allegiances could shift when competition ensued. Nagel affirmed societal
distinctions of identity and culture provided ethnic groups advantages and disadvantages when
socially competing for resources. Lastly, she claimed political access and ethnic group
formation promote ethnic identity as well. As such, she argued that “the construction of ethnic
identity in response to ethnic rules for political access can be” a contentious process (p. 159).
Nagel provided an example of how “Whiteness” emerged in America as a socially constructed
ethnicity when White Irish ethnic group members wanted to separate themselves from Blacks’
differences in the connotations of free labor verse slave labor and White slavery.
Nagel (1994) framed the discussion of ethnic authenticity and ethnic fraud around the
argument of what constituted legitimate membership in an ethnic group and which individuals or
group members were deemed disadvantaged from the group. According to Nagel, at times
inclusiveness in groups was contingent on access to resources. She maintained that the
complexity of many Americans with multiple identities further complicated ethnic positioning
and promoted what Nagel referenced as ethnic switching in efforts for a specified ethnic group to
benefit financially. She provided examples where those who were Indian, Black, and/or Latino.
However, specific inferences to persons ascribing to be of American Indian descent in efforts to
receive monetary gain was the matter shared next. Nagel offered the example of an Indian
ascribed artesian needing to legally legitimize ethnic ship in efforts to officially sell and claim
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authorship on artwork. Nagel recommended that ethnicity construction was a fluid process that
shaped its boundaries by way of ethnic group formations, individual identification, through legal
policy, and via formal and informal ascriptions combined. According to Nagel, all of these
indicators allowed for the creation, exclusion, and inclusion of persons within our society by
ethnic boundaries either to advance or deteriorate their ethnic identity and membership
depending on particular incentives or disincentive for options to be in the in group or out of an
ethnic group.
Nevertheless, the association with culture and history were both linked to the stabilization
of ethnicity. With respect to the topic of constructing culture, Nagel (1994) offered societies
needed to have organized social-cultural systems as they afforded definitive ways to view the
boundaries of ethnicity as well as they substantiate the stock that made up ethnic cultures. Nagel
contended that individuals chose culture from a plethora of options as said individuals deemed
certain assets served their unique needs. She claimed boundaries anchor the question “who are
we?” and culture addresses “what are we?” (p. 162).
With respect to the topic of cultural construction techniques, Nagel (1994) highlighted
two areas of interest: “the cultural construction of community” (p. 163) and the “cultural
construction of ethnic mobilization” (p. 165) to examine the interplay between the pre-existing
cultural forms and the ways in which new cultural forms influenced the way ethnic groups came
to use culture resources. Nagel recommended that the cultural construction of community lived
in the construction of culture to be situated in an ethnic group’s ability to associate certain
practices, customs, beliefs, rituals, and other agreed upon cultural styles, taste, and ascriptions.
Shifts in cultural values were supported under new constructions when there was a blending of
cultural traditions from past and present (Nagel, 1994). Thus, Nagel asserted that cultural
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reconstruction could serve to benefit ethnic groups through revitalization of former practices.
She provided examples of the revitalizing of the Kwanzaa celebration in the Black community as
such an effort. During the civil rights era, the Kwanzaa tradition blended the importance of
historical cultural practices with the elements of intra-ethnic grouping connectedness and
community worth to bridge cultural awareness.
With respect to cultural construction and ethnic mobilization, Nagel (1994) suggested
social mobility was connected to ethnic cultural identity and positioning. Nagel delivered an
example of how affirmative action served to socially move minority ethnic groups by providing
opportunities for social attainment that if left to structural influences would have never warranted
ethnic groups to shift in their efforts to advance. She also offered examples of how the
reconstruction era in American history afforded African-American cultural developments of
many forms (e.g., Black Panther Party, the idea of Black Is Beautiful, the National Association
of the Advancement of Color People, the United Negro College Fund, Art, literature, and music)
to mention a few. Nagel’s research provided a wealth of insight in my study. The complexity of
the ways in which identity is shaped by societal structures greatly influenced how persons came
to new self and exit in our greater world. Still, the differences in racial identification in
relationship to White students in contrast to Black students in urban based environments were
drastic. The external and internal environments were influenced by individuals in society.
P. L. Carter’s (2003) findings indicated African-American students were able to fashion
non-dominant cultural capital when dealing with various aspects of prescribed inner group
norms. Additionally, members from the non-dominant group were able to use established non-
dominant capitals to acquire what they deemed “authentic” status positions. Also, certain
characteristics from the non-dominant cultural capital members were considered resources and
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means for members of this group to successfully navigate their daily lives amongst one another.
These ideas manifested when non-dominant members perceived their peers to not value the non-
dominant ideals and values but were thought to prefer ascription to those of the dominant culture.
There was no evidence that suggested when the participants in this study chose Black culture that
their school performance and career ambitions decreased. A large percent of the participants in
this study demonstrated the ability to fully engage in the education process while simultaneously
being able to manage and critique social norms. The social dynamics amongst Black peer groups
was more related to how each student individually defined his or her identity and was less
associated with how well they performed in school. African-American students appeared very
aware of their unique ascribed cultural differences and position in society. The findings indicate
poor Black students’ personal cultural capitals that differed from the dominant race were
beneficial within their lived communities. However as discovered in this study, these
participants’ community based cultural capital was devalued or limited.
Having an understanding of the ways in which urban Black youth perceive their cultural
identity in relationship to their community and school helps bridge means of communicating and
including culturally relevant experiences for students to feel more included in the educational
process. This research was informative as it illuminated actions, behaviors, beliefs, and values
regarding how urban African-American males navigated their daily lives. It shares the essence
of urban Black youth valuing who they believe themselves to be and still striving for academic
success. This body of literature also provides a lens that urban African-American youth are able
to consciously decide what they value as a cultural indicator of acceptance and what they chose
to exclude. The presentation of choice is clear. What is missing from this literature are the exact
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messages that are expressed in the home and community setting and whether or not those
messages sustain academic achievement for these individuals
Whereas P. L. Carter (2003) presented research on how urban African-American
adolescents who attended urban-based high schools negotiated their school environments in
relationship to identity, culture, and school outcomes. Allen (2013) investigated African-
American adolescents in the suburban setting. A qualitative study by Allen examined the ways
in which six Black men attending suburban based high schools from middle class families
resisted and accommodated school and Black peer culture in lieu of understanding family
educational expectations. During the 2008-2009 academic school year, Allen sampled a total of
10 student participants. Four of the 10 participants were from working class families and their
data was used to bind the context of experiences over space and time (Allen, 2013). In addition
to the six participants sampled, selected student preferred teachers and parents were included in
this study. Purposeful selection was used to choose the students and teachers. All the
participants attended the same high school and were from similar middle-class social economic
homes. Other similarities were all of the participants’ parents were educated and maintained a
certain level of social and cultural capital. Two of the students were sophomores, one student
was a junior, and three students were seniors in high school. The ethnic makeup of the
participants’ school consisted of 29% Black, 28% Asian, 19% Latino, 11% White, and 13%
other. Likewise, 50% of the students received free and reduced lunch and a population of
students from several communities of diverse social economic statuses were bussed into the
school. Each student participated in three formal structured and unstructured audiotaped one-on-
one interviews in their home setting. One formal interview was conducted with teachers and
within the home of selected parents.
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Allen (2013) was an active observer at various junctures of the observation process. He
engaged observations in classroom and other school-student spaces observing behaviors and
student engagement in the school setting. At times when the researcher was not clear on social
codes observed, his proximity with participants afforded him the opportunity to ask clarifying
questions that were annotated in his notes. Allen found that all of the participants believed that
they had experienced disadvantages created by the absence of their fathers. Through the process
of triangulation, Allen identified six thematic conditions in which students expressed resistance
and accommodations in the school setting as it pertained to their race, class, gender, and self-
agency. The themes were: balancing school and cool; accommodation and resistance to
schooling which included subthemes of accommodating parental expectations for school,
middle-of-the-road approach to schooling: doing just enough, tactical resistance to school
process, resistance through cool pose, and consequences of resistance.
With respect to the subtheme, Allen (2013) was interested in examining the practices his
participants employed as they socialized with peers to accommodate schooling as a practice for
racial resiliency. He discovered that although the participants in this study had parents who were
actively engaged and expressed the importance of academic attainment as well as shared specific
cultural dispositions of difference in Black academic attainment versus student expectations,
when compared to the dominant culture’s expectations, the participants in this study displayed
what Allen (2013) termed tactical resistance by “doing just enough academically to get by”
(p. 208).
With respect to the subtheme accommodating parental expectations for school regardless
of parents’ middle-class life styles, level of education, parent involvement, and explicit messages
about racial barriers, the participants’ resistant behaviors reflected internal desires to impress or
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assimilate with peer expectations, which often differed from home expectations. In various
junctures of his study, Allen probed participants of their values and acts of straddling dual
worlds. All of his participants expressed awareness of double consciousness and perspectives of
what he deemed “Black identity/culture” versus the dominant White cultural expectations. Still,
all of the students did enough to keep their parents satisfied without presenting to be outliers with
mediocre peer expectations. Allen’s findings in this regard mirror those expressed by
P. L. Carter (2005) with respect to African-American students displaying characteristics of
managing dual worlds of the lens of her theory regarding cultural straddlers.
With respect to the theme middle-of-the-road approach to schooling, doing just enough,
Allen (2013) elaborated on the self-agency of all participants in this study to ascribe to peer
expectations and norms regardless of the explicit importance of cultural values and school
importance expected from their parents. Of the six participants in this study, two maintained
overall GPAs that were under 2.5 while all the other participants maintained GPAs higher than
3.0. Thus, participants with lower GPAs expressed awareness of how their school-under-
performance hindered them being a suitable prospect for the college of their choice. They then
regrettably worked to improve their respective academic status much later in their school
experiences by deciding to make up classes to better their chances of four-year college
acceptance.
With respect to the theme tactical resistance to school process, Allen (2013) reported all
of the participants demonstrated school behaviors that he termed resisted school norms (e.g.,
arriving to class on time, being overly talkative in class, doing just enough homework, walking
out of seat, frequent use of electronics in class against school rules to mention a few). The desire
to appeal to peer expectations echoes sentiments from scholars Fordham and Ogbu (1986) with
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 71

regard to their findings that Black youth display academic competencies while balancing peer
interest.
With respect to the theme resistance through cool pose, Allen (2013) contended Black
men’s ability to perform coping systems affirmed their Black cultural identifications. Examples
shared denoted the importance of such ascriptions to purchasing expensive, trendy tennis shoes
and the implications of status in association to apparel, group status, and acceptance emerged
(Dyson, 1993).
With respect to the theme consequences of resistance, Allen’s (2013) findings indicated
the participants’ resistance to displaying full accommodation of school expectations resulted in
them not performing at the best of their abilities and their behavior impacted their achievement.
Likewise, behaviors of not following expected classroom rules (e.g., talking out of term, walking
out of class) resulted in class suspension or other school disciplinary sanctions. Cultural capital
exists in many ways; here the idea that the dissonance and/ or inability of the school system or
child’s agency to adapt to expected school norms affected their social capital and social survival.
Yet, many variables influence the ways African-American students are treated within the school
and society.
Butler-Barnes et al. (2013) examined how African-American adolescents’ personal and
cultural capitals influenced their ability to cope at times when they might have experienced racial
discrimination within school settings. These scholars were specifically interested in
understanding “How [do] strength-based assets buffer against youth who experience school-
based racial discrimination?” and “What are the implications on academic persistence in the face
of adversity?” (p. 1447).
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Butler-Barnes et al.’s (2013) study used a cross-sectional sample of 220 African-
American seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade participants from three different school districts
located in a similar Midwestern metropolitan region. The participants ranged between the ages
of 12 to 16 years of age. One district’s student population was racially and socio-economically
diverse where 46% were White, 36% were African0American, 14% Asian, and 4% other
(p. 1448). The second school district’s racial profile was predominately African-American
(93%) (p. 1448). The third school district’s profile was 63% White, 21% African-American, 8%
Asian, 7% Hispanic, and 1% other (p. 1448). From this sample 21%, 71%, and 21% respectively
of the sampled students in school districts 1, 2, and 3 qualified for free and/or reduced lunch.
Forty-two percent were male and 58% were female. The participants in this study were given a
$20 monetary gift card for taking the 30- to 45-minute survey.
Butler-Barnes et al. (2013) used multiple scales to gather data measuring participants’
responses to survey questions in the following domains Academic Persistence, School-Based
Racial Discrimination, Racial Pride, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Self-Acceptance Beliefs. In the
area of Academic Persistence, the instrument The Scales for Academic Engagement was used to
examine adolescents’ academic persistence. Four items of the following sample questions were
asked:
If I can’t get a problem right the first time, I just keep trying; When I do badly on a test, I
work harder next time; If I don’t understand something right away, I stop trying; [and]
When I have trouble understanding something, I give up. (p. 1448)
A 4-point Likert-scale trailed these questions. The ranges on the scales denoted a 1 to
represent “not at all true” to a 4 denoting “very true.” An averaged response to the four items
with higher scores represented high levels of academic persistence. In the area of School-Based
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 73

Racial Discrimination, participants’ racial discrimination experiences were assessed with the
Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study. This scale included seven items of the
following samples:
Teachers call on you less often than they call on other kids because you are African-
American; Teachers grade you harder than they grade other kids because you are Black;
and, You get disciplined more harshly by teachers than other kids do because you are
Black. (p. 1448)
In the area of Racial Pride, participants’ private regard, feelings toward African-
Americans, and being African-American were measured with the Multidimensional Inventory of
African-American Identity-Teen assessment. A sample question such as the following was
asked: “I am happy I am African-American” (p. 1448). Also, a 5-point Likert scale ranging from
1 to 5 trailed the aforementioned question. A 1 was used to denoted “really disagree” and a 5
represented “really agree” responses. An average of the three responses with higher scores
signified students having a more positive regard. In the area of Self-Efficacy Beliefs,
participants’ self-efficacy beliefs were measured with the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-
Being scale. This instrument measured participants’ sense of mastery and competence in their
ability to cope with their environments. This scale consisted of four items of the following
sample question: “In general, I feel I am in charge of my life” (p. 1448). In the area of Self-
Acceptance Beliefs, participants’ positive attitude toward self was measured with the Ryff Scales
of Psychological Well-Being. The participants responded to four items of the following sample
questions: “In general, I feel confident and positive about myself,” and “For the most part, I am
proud of who I am” (p. 1449). The student participants’ responses were averaged. Higher scores
represented higher self-acceptance beliefs.
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Butler-Barnes et al. (2013) used the Integrative Model of the Study of Developmental
Competencies in Minority Children and the resilience frameworks to guide their understanding
of how personal and cultural assets might serve to buffer the negative impacts of school-based
discrimination toward the African-American participants in this study. The second, the
resilience frame, focused on the protective model. This model was intended to focus on how the
factors affect adolescents’ psychological development. This protective model suggested
personal and cultural resources might regulate and decrease the negative effects from racial
discrimination and the risk on outcomes to African-American students in this study (Butler-
Barnes et al., 2013).
Butler-Barnes et al.’s (2013) results were disaggregated by school district. The first
(diverse) school district’s results indicated that participants reported moderate to high levels of
academic persistence and moderate to high levels of school-based racial discrimination. In the
second (predominantly African-American) school district, participants reported having high
levels of academic persistence and low-to-moderate levels of school-based racial discrimination.
The participants from the third school district (predominantly White) reported having moderate
to high levels of school-based racial academic persistence and school-based racial
discrimination. Thus when school environments were more diverse, African-American students’
perceptions of experiences with racial discrimination increased. Moreover, a negative
association was found between school-based racial discrimination and academic persistence.
When students experienced high discrimination, their academic persistence was lower.
Additionally, self-efficacy beliefs, racial pride, and self-acceptance assets were positively
associated with academic persistence. Racial pride and self-efficacy were two assets considered
significantly positively related as well. Self-acceptance was significantly negatively associated
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 75

with school-based racial discrimination. Student participants in Districts 1 and 3 respectively
reported moderate to high academic persistence and moderate to high levels of school-based
racial discrimination. These two districts contained 36% and 21% African-American student’s
respectively. Likewise, participants from the low asset group (e.g., self-acceptance, racial pride,
and self-efficacy) from District 1 and 3 respectively reported experiencing higher school-based
racial discrimination. The higher the presence of other ethnic groups the more chance African-
American students stood to encounter racism from different-race peers. District 3’s participants
reported having high levels of academic persistence and low to moderate amounts of school-
based discrimination. District 2 accounted for 93% African-American study body. As such,
personal and cultural factors protected these Black adolescents from negative effects of
discriminatory experiences on adolescents’ academic persistence. Butler-Barnes et al. (2013)
found that adolescent African-American males from low socioeconomically disadvantaged
backgrounds believed that education was important to their future success was associated with
higher grade performance. Yet, the lived reality of these experiences differed. This study is
important because it addresses the external extended familial networks that served as critical
interpersonal relationships that fostered a sense of self and belonging within their perspective
social cultural worlds. Still, parents’ ability to afford students external academic supports, or
their children being offered rigorous classes, or provided certain capital within school or out-of-
school agents that could increase their chances of graduating from high school and getting into
college expands the scope of challenges influencing the Black males’ academic outcomes. The
Black male youth required structural supports of equal access to educational resources that
influence these students’ life outcomes (Butler-Barnes et al., 2013). Unfortunately, the limited
resources low SES African-American students have to contend with impact them being able to
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 76

actualize their realities post high school graduation, if they are able to complete high school. The
various experiences within their social cultural spaces and places is influenced by the
environments and persons of which they interact with daily.
In a qualitative study, Harris et al. (2014) examined the factors associated with African-
American high school male student athletes’ academic success and future college aspirations
through the lens of Bronfenbrenner and Ceci’s (1994) ecological systems theory. Harris et al.
(2014) were interested in investigating key learning skills and techniques as well as cognitive
strategies that served as contextual factors that engaged these participants cognitively and
fostered students’ academic behavior that was aligned with the school’s expectations. Harris et
al. asked the following question: “What are the factors that contribute to the academic
engagement and success of Black male student-athletes in high school?”
Through purposive and snowball sampling two Black male student athletes attending a
local high school on the east coast were chosen as the student participants for this study. Initially
10 students were recommended by the school administrator based on information provided by
the researchers. The other participants in this study included those stakeholders (e.g., educators
and parents) who were recommended by the student participants and considered key individuals
as they were reported to be important agents in terms of promoting these students athletic and
academic endeavors. The total number of participants was 10 members as follows: two varsity
student-athletes, two parents, one coach, two teachers, two school counselors, and one principal.
The two sampled 18-year-old African-American high school male participants’ met the
following criteria for the study: maintained a 3.0 or higher grade point average, completed one
AP class successfully during high school, demonstrated high levels of academic, cognitive,
relational, and behavioral engagement, and participated in varsity athletics. With respect to
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cognitive engagement, those traits comprised the participants’ ability to demonstrate critical
thinking skills both aurally and in writing. With respect to relational engagement, participants
exhibited the ability to advocate for self and form relationships with school personnel. With
respect to behavioral engagement, participants demonstrated the ability to be active learners.
The other stakeholder participants were required to have known the student participants for a
minimum of two years. All participants took part in audio-taped, semi-structured open-ended
interviews that lasted between 30 to 45 minutes. Following the interviews, the researchers coded
the interviews and two themes where identified: team approach and cultural competence. The
team approach theme supported matters pertaining to all the stakeholders’ ability to work
together, communicate high expectations, and execute “a shared vision” for the participants’
success (Harris et al., 2014, p. 188). The cultural competence theme consisted of the stakeholder
participants’ ability to discuss the contesting of prescribed stereotypes regarding African-
American men, being able to promote these Black men’s ability to be scholars before athletes, as
well as the stakeholders’ aptitude to interact with persons from diverse backgrounds (Harris et
al., 2014).
All of the participants valued the communicative interest in the team approach. The
stakeholder participants were consistent and persistent in holding students accountable for their
academic and athletic success (Harris et al., 2014). All participants reported they thought the
students needed to be encouraged to take challenging courses, to graduate, and seek higher
learning. Furthermore, the student participants indicated rapport with other stakeholders
enriched their communication. Both student athletes shared the significance of peer influence in
their efforts to stay focused on academic and athletic endeavors.
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Results revealed African-American male high school students benefited from the
networks in their respective micro and meso environmental systems. The ability for stakeholder
participants to use effective communication promoting student confidence and high expectations
while being culturally competent in relation to the student participants in this study afforded all
participants the ability to bridge efforts to support the African-American men’s athletic talents
and academic success. School, family, and community partnerships played a vital role in the
achievement of the African-American urban high school students (Harris et al., 2014).
Scholars Williams and Bryan (2013) conducted a qualitative multiple case study to
investigate the school and external (e.g., home and community) factors that contributed to the
academic success of eight urban-based, low-income African-American high school graduates.
Williams and Bryan explored the protective factors and processes that served to lessen possible
school failures as they inspected the daily lives of African-American youth. The researchers in
this study wanted to answer the question: “What experiences do African-American high school
graduates from low-income urban backgrounds report as contributing to their academic
success?” (pp. 291-292).
All of the participants, four men and four women, were between the ages of 18 and 21
years old. They all resided with a mother (with the exception of one) and identified as being of
African-American ancestry. All participants were born and attended high school on the south
side of Chicago with the exception of one who was born and attended high school in East St.
Louis, Missouri. All participants where sophomores in college, with the exception of one, and
had a cumulative high school grade point average ranging between 2.75 and 4.20 on a 4.0 scale.
Criterion sampling was used to choose the students in this study. All the participants had shared
experiences. All participants grew up in environments surrounded by poverty, chronic
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unemployment, and crime (Williams & Bryan, 2013). Other criteria were established based on
risk factors from grades 9th-12th that identified participants as follows: having been raised (1) in
low-income household, which was signified by whether or not the student was eligible to receive
free or reduced lunch; (2) in a single parent household where no spouse was reported living or in
the home; and (3) in a low-income urban neighborhood, and attended a high poverty public high
school where 76% or more of the students qualified for free and reduced lunch.
Gate keepers (e.g., counselors, deans, and educators) were contacted at a Midwestern
historically Black College and University who agreed to assist with the identification of students
for this study. A list of prospects was generated. They were called and provided an explanation
of the study. Those participants who expressed interest in the study were emailed and forwarded
a study packet with pertinent information required regarding specific criteria. Two separate
interviews (one individual and the other focus group) and meetings were scheduled and lasted an
hour. The interview questions were specifically related to the participants’ K-12 high school
experiences. The following are sample pilot questions that were asked: “Why do you think you
received good grades in school?,” and “What messages, if any, did you hear about education
while growing up in your home?” (p. 292). After the participants engaged in a feedback
exchange with the researchers, follow-up individual phone interviews were conducted that lasted
an additional 30 to 40 minutes.
After the coding process, Williams and Bryan (2013) generated 10 main themes under
three dominant categories: Home Factors, School Factors, and Community Factors with
supporting subcategories respectively denoted. With regard to Home Factors classification,
school-related parenting practices, personal stories of hardship, positive mother-child
relationships, and extended family networks were subcategories. When faced with hardships, all
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eight participants indicated the most important factors that related to their overall academic
success consisted of the following practices: “verbal praise for good grades, setting high but
realistic expectations, monitoring academic progress in school, supervision of and help with
school work, and use of physical discipline in response to bad grades and behavior in school”
(p. 293). In regard to personal stories of hardship seven of the eight participants shared personal
stories of hardships experienced by their immediate or extended family members that contributed
to their desire to complete high school and pursue higher learning. Many shared stories about
the negative consequences about dropping out of school such as unemployment and not being
able to secure well-paying job. With regard to the subcategory positive mother-child
relationships, five of the eight participants provided feedback regarding their mothers’ messages
of support. Several of the participants shared their mothers were supportive, responsive, close,
and warm. With regard to the subcategory extended family networks seven of the eight
participants reported extended family members (e.g., aunts, cousins, uncles, and grandparents)
contributed positively to their aspirations to do well academically.
With respect to the School Factors classification, the following subcategories of
supportive school-based relationships, school-oriented peer culture, good teaching, and
extracurricular school activities emerged. All eight participants indicated that at some point or
another at least one adult (e.g., coach, college advisor, teacher) from their high school showed
care for them and supported their efforts to do well in school. All participants indicated that their
school-based relationships contributed to their academic engagement and success. They reported
staff members displaying a sense of concern, understanding, openness, and warmth aided their
efforts to excel and pursue higher learning. With respect to the subcategory school-oriented peer
culture, six of the eight participants documented the significance of close friendships among
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peers who were confronted with similar community and family hardships. With regard to the
subcategory good teaching, six of the eight participants disclosed the value in their teachers to
make “learning relevant and fun” (p. 295). With respect to the subcategory extracurricular
school activities, six of the eight participants recognized the importance of extracurricular
activities (e.g., academic clubs, social organizations, and athletics).
With respect to the Community Factors classification, the following subcategories of
social support networks and out-of-school time activities were presented. In the subcategory of
social support networks three of the eight participants noted the importance of very close
relations (e.g., neighbors, family, friends, and other acquaintances) within their communities
who contributed to their academic success. The social networks within these students’
communities offered these students support, reinforcement, and guidance at pivotal times in their
lives (e.g., pregnancy, dealing with violent death of a friend or family member). With regard to
the subcategory of out-of-school time activities, four of the eight participants indicated local
churches and community organizations served as important and influential contributing factors to
their successful academic attainments.
Williams and Bryan (2013) suggested there are a range of people and experiences that
influence the value these participants placed on school. Home, school, and community factors
(e.g., implications of parenting practices, positive school-based adult relationships, and close
relationships with community networks) all offered these students support and were contributing
factors that affected their school success.
Learning in Multiple Worlds
Much research has been shared that illuminates the various factors that influence African-
American adolescents’ success in school. Many of those factors include experiences from the
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home, school, and community as important relations when optimizing these students’ academic
outcomes. Phelan et al. (1996) conducted a qualitative case study that investigated adolescents’
ability to navigate their social and personal spaces within their school environment, between peer
and family interactions to construct their realities. These scholars also presented a theoretical
model of the interactions between student school and home worlds. Phelan et al. (1996) were
interested in understanding how adolescents made meaning and understood the information
learned through the transition processes within their multiple worlds and how those shifted
between what they determined to be bounded realities influenced different members’ ability to
adapt and engage in school.
In a 2-year longitudinal study, Phelan et al. (1996) within the first year and a half
sampled 54 students from four high schools within two high school districts in California in
1989. School personnel invited participants to partake in this study. Participants selected for
this study varied in ethnicity, immigrant statuses (e.g., first, second, third, fourth generations
etc.), achievement levels (e.g., an equal number of high and low academic performance), gender
(male and female), and persons bussed in from other diverse communities (e.g., urban
communities). Two of the high schools selected for this study were described to have stable
middle-class student population. The remaining two high schools were described to have
experienced significant shifts within demographic student profiles.
Phelan et al. (1996) completed three in-depth formal open-ended interviews with all 54
participants regarding their classroom, school, who students considered important and most
influential of friends and peer groups. Additionally, questions about student family conditions to
their lives were probed. Ten students from the original sample were selected to provide
researchers the ability to engage in supplemental informal conversations to supplement formal
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data-collection methods (Phelan et al., 1996). These same researchers also collected other
demographic and descriptive family and student information. Likewise, selected teachers were
interviewed about their perceptions of students’ academic performances, school and peer group
behaviors, classroom interventions, and to gather information regarding student family
backgrounds (Phelan et al., 1996). Classroom observations were conducted by the researchers in
this study to provide information about the interactions between adolescent participants in the
study, teachers, and peer in-classroom behaviors.
Phelan et al. (1996) extended a model they called Students’ Multiple Worlds for two
purposes: (1) of describing how the participants in this study make meaning of the interactions
with persons within their home, school, and peer worlds; and (2) to bound participants’
perceptions of interactions with persons between the trifold worlds where their adaptation
techniques could be examined in the context of their school engagement. According to Phelan et
al. (1996), the distinctiveness of this approach was that the criteria were not closed to gender,
ethnicity, language acquisition, or achievement contours. Phelan et al. (1996) defined “the term
world to mean the cultural knowledge and behavior found within the boundaries of students’
families, peer groups, and schools…where values and beliefs, expectations, actions, and
emotional responses familiar to insiders” were established (p. 225). With respect to “the terms
boundaries and borders” the researchers defined them to mean the “real or perceived lines or
barriers between worlds” (Phelan et al., 1996, p. 225). Additionally, the terms social setting,
arena, and context referred to places and events where participants performed and interacted
(Phelan et al., 1996). Phelan et al. (1996) also used the term cultural knowledge to situate the
specific type of information the participants in this study would gain from their interactions with
family and peers in both their school and social worlds.
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In efforts to control the parameters of which the participants in this study could
demonstrate the ways in which they navigated their transitions with competence in school,
Phelan et al. (1996) systematized four typologies to describe the students’ worlds: Type 1
Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions, Type 2 Different Worlds/ Boundary Crossing Managed,
Type III Different Worlds/Boundary Crossing Hazardous, and Type IV Borders Impenetrable/
Boundary Crossing Insurmountable. Phelan et al. (1996) asserted the four typologies were
affected by external conditions (e.g., classroom/ school climate, family circumstances, and peer
interactions). Phelan et al. (1996) emphasized that a mixture of combinations was possible for
the binding of perceptions to be experienced (e.g., between peers and school, peer and peer,
peers and family, and peers/family and school to mention a few).
With respect to typology Type 1: Congruent Worlds/Smooth Transitions, Phelan et al.
(1996) determined patterns of participants’ movements were determined mostly by participants
who came from two parent families where importance on family values and solidarity was
embraced. Within this perspective, family values included: academic achievement (e.g., not
exactly a straight A student but doing the best one could), and effort (e.g., toward work, school,
and sports). The participants of this world shared similar school and home beliefs (e.g., same
peers in in-school and out-of-school setting, parent involvement in school culture–parent
meetings, school sporting events, teachers are aware of student/family values). With regard to
this world, one student participant indicated his comfort with school culture, expressed he
selectively chose peers to affiliate with in-school and out-of-school environments as he perceived
those peers to share he and his family’s customs and values. Additionally, this participant was
aware of the differences amongst students in his school that he considered were not authentic
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 85

members of their school culture. Student participant Ryan indicated during an interview
question the following remark,
yeah, it works better that way because they all—the people that don’t really get good
grades in our group—they want to get good grades and they’re always working. It’s not
like they’re just here because the state says they have to be. (Phelan et al., 1996, p. 229)
Ryan was a White student participant that demonstrated comfort within the bounds of his
ascribed world but expressed disinterest connecting with peers he perceived differed from self.
This participant could not rationalize the need to cross boundaries as his affiliation and group
interest were supported by his school culture (e.g., he was tracked with the same students), home
environment and peer associations mirrored (e.g., he socialized with the same in-school and out-
of-school peers of the same cultural values).
With respect to typology Type II: Different Worlds/Boundary Crossing Managed, Phelan
et al. (1996) determined patterns of participants’ movements were determined by behaviors that
were considered acceptable by the dominant culture. Participants who demonstrated behavior of
this typology were considered to be invisible to their teachers as they perceived their teachers to
lack knowledge or interest in participants’ backgrounds. Despite participants’ awareness of
exclusiveness to class or lacked engagement in class with peers or teachers their academic
progress was sustained. With regard to one Asian student, immigrant difference and awareness
of her cultural values influenced the ways in which she chose to adapt to her school culture.
Issues of alienation as a result of non-connectedness to peers in her school setting as she was
bussed in to school presented with student perceiving lessened opportunities to bond with school
peers. Participant perceived her school peer relationships were hindered by proximity
community differences. Additionally, although this participant’s parents attended her school
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 86

twice for parent and other informational meetings, participant was hesitant to have her parents
attend for fear of ridicule by her peers regarding her Filipino ethnicity. Still, this participant
demonstrated the ability to navigate and negotiate her different worlds. She placed high
importance on earning high grades for fear of peer judgment. Moreover, an example of this
specific participant’s sister’s choice was expressed with concern from participant of sibling peer
selection. This participant felt her sister who elected to attend their home school had chosen to
socialize and engage with home-based peers that did not share their family values but beliefs and
customs similar to those of urban peer ascriptions. This participant demonstrated the ability and
desire to cross bounds as she voluntarily selected peer affiliations and to attend her current
school with parent influence as well. Nevertheless, experiences of alienation were visible as all
of these participants in-school peers differed from her peers from her community.
With respect to typology Type III: Different Worlds/Boundary Crossing Hazardous,
Phelan et al. (1996) determined patterns of participants’ movements were conditional.
Participants who fashioned patterns of this world wavered with regard to engagement and
withdrawal with peers, family, and school. At times, when participants perceived their teachers
to relate, include, and embrace their home culture, students engaged. Other times, when
participants perceived peer and family values to differ from school expectations, participants
inconsistently withdrew academically. A Mexican, second generation identified gifted
participant’s academic performance reflected mastery of a few classes with participant earning
As and Bs. However, her performance in class where she perceived she was invisible to her
teacher resulted in course failure (e.g., academic withdrawal and disengagement in that specific
class).
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With respect to typology Type IV: Borders Impenetrable/Boundary Crossing
Insurmountable, Phelan et al. (1996) found that participants’ movements were constrained when
their values, beliefs, and expectations were met with resistance from participants’ peers, family,
and school-based agents. In these cases, participants considered school to be irrelevant to their
life trajectories. Participants’ perceptions constrained their movement and ability to adapt.
Additionally, one participant expressed discomfort with school expectations resulted in desire to
be more connected with home-based peers. The student participant in this study was a second-
generation Mexican female who had a community-based peer attending her high school.
However, dissonance of home, family, and school values impacted participants’ school
engagement.
Home-Dissonance
Home-dissonance offered my specific study an investigative lens into the cultural values,
cultural identity, beliefs, and norms that African-American male high school students receive in
their non-school spaces and places. It allowed a comparison of home and community
environments and how those communications affected this specific group’s value of school.
Tyler et al. (2010) examined several academic and psychological variables associated
with how urban, low-income high school African-American students’ perceived differences
between their values and operations existing in a formal school setting versus those demonstrated
in-the-home or out-of-school environments. This quantitative study was conducted to answer the
question “Does home-school dissonance significantly predict several academic and
psychological factors for African-American High School students?” (p. 412).
In Tyler et al.’s (2010) research, 239 Black male and female students were drawn from a
larger study. Two predominately urban African-American attended high schools located in the
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southeastern region of the United States were randomly selected. The students participated in
this study matched the larger sample in demographics and profiles. The majority of the students
received free and/or reduced lunch; were classified as 17-year-old juniors with an average GPA
of 2.98. Thirty-four percent were male and 63% were female.
Tyler et al. (2010) used the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS) to investigate
the relation between a learning environment, motivation, affect, and behavior. They examined
how the following variable influenced the African-American students’ values of school: home-
school dissonance, academic cheating, disruptive behavior, academic efficacy, mastery goal
orientation, and performance avoidance orientations. The items were scored via a 5-point Likert-
type scale where the range on the student scales anchored at 1 represented “not at all true” to 5
being “very true.” For the purposes of my research question, I will focus only on results
associated with dissonance between home and school. Sample items from the Perceptions of
Parents, Home Life, and Neighborhood category under the Dissonance Between Home and
School subscale were as follows: “I feel troubled because my home life and school life are like
two different worlds” and “I am not comfortable talking to many of my classmates because my
family is very different from theirs.” The subscales were separated into student and teacher
scales. The student scale was used to evaluate a student’s outlook on goals set by the teacher,
goals set in the classroom, parents or home life, and personal achievement. Tyler et al. (2010)
found home-school dissonance to be associated with students’ feelings of discomfort in the
school environment as the school culture and beliefs differed from those beliefs and cultural
ethics the students related to within their homes.
The results from this study indicated home-school dissonance was significantly
associated with African-American high school male students’ behaviors in school, performance
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orientations (addressing those things students’ perceived they could successfully execute and/ or
their ability to perform in the classroom setting for the sake of not looking like they did not
know), and academic cheating (from the lens of mastery goal orientation looking at those
learners being more interested in positive external indicators of accomplishment) (Tyler et al.,
2010). The more disconnected African-American male high school students felt the more
negative their attitudes were in school. The results suggested home-school dissonance was not
significantly predictive of mastery goal orientation, academic efficacy, or the students’ grade
point average. On the other hand, the implicit and explicit messages African-American students
received from their home and community environments influenced their attitude toward school.
Brown-Wright and Tyler (2010) examined associations between home-school dissonance
and academic and psychological factors for African-American high school students. Brown-
Wright and Tyler (2010) asked the following question(s): “Does the reported degree of
dissonance between home and school have any association with high school student’s classroom
behaviors, particularly classroom disruptive behaviors?,” (p. 146) and “Is the relationship
between home-school dissonance and classroom disruptive behaviors significantly mediated by
amotivation reports?” (p. 147). The sampled 80 African-American high school males classified
as 17-year-old juniors with an average GPA of 2.98 drawn from two predominately urban
African-American attended high schools located in the southern region of the United States who
were participating in a larger study of 344 students. The majority of the students received free
and/or reduced lunch.
Multiple instruments were used for this study. The first, the Academic Motivation Scale:
College Version was used to assess students extrinsic, intrinsic, and amotivation styles. This
Likert scale ranged from 1 “does not correspond at all” to “7 “corresponds exactly.” The
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extrinsic motivation focused on the performance of activities that assist students with reaching a
particular goal (Brown-Wright & Tyler, 2010).
The second instrument used in this study, the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales
(PALS) was used to investigate the relationship between a learning environment, motivation,
affect, and behavior; to examine how the following variables influenced African-Americans’
values of school: home-school dissonance, academic cheating, disruptive behavior, academic
efficacy, mastery goal orientation, and performance/avoidance orientations influence. The items
were scored via a 5-point Likert scale where the range on the student scales anchored at 1
represented “not at all true” to 5 being “very true.”
Results revealed home-school dissonance reports for African-American male high school
students were significantly associated with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation reports and reports
associated with amotivation. Also, home-school dissonance was associated with specific goal
orientations, academic efficacy, and classroom disruptive behavior. Tyler et al. (2010) asserted
home-school dissonance framed a viable argument as an essential predictor to how urban
African-American high school students perceive their home values to influence their attitude
toward schooling.
Arunkumar et al.’s (1999) research focused on a longitudinal comparative examination of
the differences in values, beliefs, and behavioral messages African-American and White students
received within their home and school settings. This quantitative study was conducted to answer
the questions
Do African-American students experience higher levels of home-school dissonance than
do European American students?; Do students who experience high levels of dissonance
between home and school (top one third on the measure of dissonance) feel less hopeful,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 91

more angry, have lower self-esteem, engage in more self-depreciation, feel less
efficacious, have a lower grade point average than students who experience no or low
levels of dissonance (bottom one third on the measure of dissonance)?; Do students who
experience high levels of dissonance between home and school exhibit a more negative
pattern of change in their emotional and academic well-being when they move from the
fifth grade in elementary school to the sixth grade in middle school than do students who
experience no or low levels of dissonance?; and, Does experiencing high or low
dissonance have a stronger relation to changes across the transition in the emotional and
academic well-being of African-American students than European American students?
(pp. 445-446)
For the purposes of my research question, I will focus only on results associated with the
distinctions in home school messages that specifically affect African-American students who:
(1) struggled with integrating school expectations from teachers and school culture, and (2) their
ability to negotiate home culture expectations to those expected in the school environments when
their cultural ascriptions differed from those accepted by the dominant expectations and values is
the center of focus (Arunkumar et al., 1999).
Arunkumar et al. (1999) sampled 475 initially were fifth grade elementary students who
moved to middle school and later he studied them as ninth graders in high school. Eighteen
elementary schools from three school districts within southeastern Michigan with working class,
ethnically, and economically diverse student populations were invited to participate in this study.
Two 40 minute surveys were administered by several trained research assistants to 546
participants in their schools. The survey was administered to African-American, European
American, Native American, Asian, and Hispanic students. Low numbers of Native American,
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Asian, and Hispanic participants did not allow for a comparison across these ethnic groups. Of
the two remaining groups, 206 participants were African-American and 199 were European
American. In efforts to single out those participants who reported feeling dissonance between
home and school, students were separated according to the way in which they responded to the
survey. Two groups were generated for those participant’s responses. Participants who scored at
the top and bottom third of the distribution scale (e.g., those who scored above 2.5 on the scale-
those experiencing dissonance, or below 1.67-those experiencing low or no dissonance) for
home-school dissonance were chosen for the study. One hundred forty-four participants were
identified as high dissonance and 84 participants of African-American background and 60
European Americans comprised this category. One hundred sixty-four participants were
identified as low dissonance students, which comprised 93 of the African-American and 71 of
the European American students. Sixty-six participants from the low dissonance group received
free lunch and 7 received reduced lunch (p. 447). The high dissonance group did not
demonstrate significant differences in those participants who received free or reduced lunch.
Arunkumar et al. (1999) created the Home-School Dissonance Scale for this study, which
consisted of a 5-point scale used to measure level of dissonance experienced in home-school.
Participants who scored above 2.5 on the scale were categorized as those individuals
experiencing dissonance and those that scored below 1.67 where those individuals experiencing
low or no dissonance (p. 447). The Home-Dissonance Scaled measured: home-school
dissonance, hopefulness, self-esteem and self-deprecation, anger, and self-efficacy. The home-
school subscale consisted of six items consisting of 5-points ranging in scores where a score of 5
represented “very true” to 1 denoted “not true at all.” Sample items from the home-school scale
were as follows: “I feel troubled because my home life and my school life are two different
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worlds, and I don’t like to have my parents come to school because their ideas are very different
from my teachers’ ideas” (p. 448). With respect to the subscale hopefulness, Arunkumar et al.
constructed items centered on the participants’ feelings about their future aspirations. A sample
item from the hopefulness subscale was as follows: “I am excited about what the future holds for
me” (p. 449). With respect to the self-esteem and self-deprecation subscale, the Rosenberg Self-
Esteem Scale was used to assess the participants’ self-deprecation and self-esteem. Sample
items were as follows: “I feel I do not have much to be proud of, and I feel I have a number of
good qualities” (p. 449). The anger subscale measured how often the participants perceived they
were angry during a determined period of time. A sample item is as follows: “How often have
you felt really mad at other people?” (p. 449). With respect to the subscale self-efficacy,
participants where measured on their beliefs in their ability to master their daily schoolwork. A
sample item is as follows: “I’m certain I can master the skills taught in class this year” (p. 450).
The results from this study conflicted with what the researchers hypothesized. There was
no significant difference in home-school dissonance being associated with African-American and
White students. Differences did exist between the two groups denoted as high versus low
dissonance. The African-American participants who demonstrated high levels of dissonance had
low self-worth, lower grades, less academic motivation, and considered angrier. However,
African-American students categorized in both the low and high dissonance groups did not
demonstrate differences in feelings of self-efficacy. The White students in the high dissonance
group demonstrated lower levels of self-efficacy when compared to their low dissonance peers in
this study. According to Arunkumar et al. (1999), the messages African-American students
received from their home environments regarding beliefs, values, and behavioral expectations
would present to be conflicts with African-American students’ ability to negotiate the values that
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are played out in the school setting versus those they bring with them from home. These results
suggested the perspectives that African-American students bring to school could not solely
account for their lack of school connectedness and overall academic performance. However,
there are various factors that may influence African-American students’ ability to transverse
school and home settings other than the difference in cultural values and socialization.
Resilience
McGee’s (2013) research investigated the protective and risk factors of 11 African-
American male students to uncover possible factors that might account for their resilience,
success in high school, and more specifically their performance in math courses. McGee (2013)
conducted her study from the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST)
perspective as she was interested in understanding how African-American male teenagers made
sense of their experiences in spite of the multitude of challenges of growing up in predominately
Black urban communities. This qualitative study was conducted to answer the questions:
How do high-achieving African-American male high school students describe the risk
factors and protective factors that are present in their high school experiences and lives?,
and, How do the participants make sense of and respond to situations they consider as
heightened forms of risk? (p. 455)
McGee’s (2013) research took place at four urban charter high schools in a Midwestern
city during the spring and summer semesters of a school term. The public school system where
the study took place was comprised of 410,000 students in both 600 K-12 schools and 70 charter
schools combined. The public school district demographics approximations were as follows:
50% African-American, 40% Latino/a, 10% White, and 5% Asian. Approximately 87% of the
students attending these specific public schools qualified for free and/ or reduced lunch. The
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majority of the students attending the charter schools were from low-income background, 90%
received free and reduced lunch; 60% were African-American and 35% were Hispanic. Nine
percent of the students were English language learners and 12% required special education
services. It was estimated that less than 60% of the freshman would graduate from the public
high school. Also, it was estimated that fewer than 55% of the graduates would continue to
pursue higher learning.
McGee (2013) recruited participants by distributing flyers before and after school to high
school students explaining the purpose of the study. Additionally, she presented STEM-college
presentations to select students as Math is a STEM initiative and her sample population was
purposeful. Seven hours of observations were completed in upper level mathematics classrooms
on each site during her recruitment of participants. No observations were reported to take place
during the actual study. Criteria for this study was for students to have a grade point average of
3.0 or higher, math teacher identification of the top 5% in class, be Black male charter high
school student, live in an urban area, and be an 11th or 12th grader. Nine of the participants
were 11th graders and two were seniors. The majority of the 11th grade participants were
enrolled in one of the following courses: pre-calculus, trigonometry, or honors algebra II at the
time of the study. The 12th grade participants were enrolled in the calculus or AP statistics
courses. McGee (2013) conducted interviews and observations with all 11 participants who were
audiotaped. Ten of the 11 participants were videotaped. One participant requested to not be
videotaped. The life-story interview format was used to provoke participants’ experiences at
school, home, and neighborhood context. The interviews were directed in a semi-structured
method that averaged 72 minutes.
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Following extensive coding, McGee (2013) identified three emergent themes from her
data collected as follows: “the impact of racial stereotypes, the complications associated with
being perceived both as a threat and threatened, and the lack of college-related opportunities and
coursework” (p. 459). As high achievers, all participants expressed the way in which they
demonstrated the ability to cope with risk navigating their perspective urban lives. With regard
to the racial stereotypes domain a subtitle of reaction and defiance of the Black and Black Male
Stereotype developed. All respondents indicated feelings of being placed at personal risk from
established stereotypes regarding Black males residing in urban neighborhoods. All participants
cited stereotypes connected to African-American’s social condition and economic status
uniquely identified them in a particular caste. With regard to participant responses to the
following question: “What stereotypes frequently associated with Black people or Black males
impact you the most?” (p. 459); stereotype answers as “all Black males have a link [food stamps]
card, “Black males are lazy,” “Black men are stupid,” and “Black students, both male and
female, are not as bright as White or Asian students” (p. 459). All participants indicated they
perceived these questions stereotypical beliefs of what others think about Blacks. Participants
responded two fold to questions regarding stereotypes. Either the participants choose to ignore
the stereotype or they opted to prove the conception flawed. Eight of the 11 participants’
responses suggested the need to demonstrate opposing behaviors than what was expected, to
attain high academics, and to physically carry themselves (e.g., style of dress, classroom
behavior) in ways that discredited the stereotypes they perceived their teachers or society
ascribed to them. All participants reported they achieved in the face of the multiple stereotypes;
however, they occasionally felt the stereotypes did profoundly affect them.
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With respect to the domain the complications associated with being perceived both as a
threat and threatened, two subcategories emerged: academic survival techniques and social
survival techniques. In the area of academic survival techniques, 9 of the 11 participants
reported being able to enhance their outcomes for success if they employed a multitude of tactics
and practices that served as protective factors that shielded them from various stereotypes (e.g.,
dressing preppy, hanging with smart students, and being friendly). All of the participants
expressed the challenges of managing community risk and stereotypes that shaped their
identities. Likewise, all students indicated their daily relations made them more aware of their
self-agency. With respect to the social survival technique domain, all participants were able to
demonstrate the use of resiliency and academic competence despite the various challenges they
had to endure. Seven of the participants expressed receiving protection from their family
members in support of their academic efforts. Also, the majority of the participants in this study
expressed the need to have “street credibility” (e.g., acting “hard” to avoid clusters of Black
males in the community bothering them) (McGee, 2013, p. 463).
With respect to the lack of pre-college opportunities, all the participants expressed their
lack of access to college-level course or rigorous course work. Six participants reported not
being aware of the importance of AP courses. Nine of the 11 participants indicated they had not
received college counseling support even though they all were successful academically and
intended on pursuing higher education. Thus, these findings mirror what prior researchers in this
literature review have discovered regarding Black male’s desires to pursue higher learning. Yet,
the importance of inter-relational connections influenced their outcomes and access to
opportunities depending on the capitol/resources made available to them.

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The Role of the Parent in African-American Male School Success
Watkins-Lewis and Hamre (2012) investigated African-American parenting qualities and
their association with early childhood cognitive and academic school readiness. They were
specifically interested in the ways in which maternal traditional beliefs, warmth, and confidence
parenting were associated with children’s academic readiness (Watkins-Lewis & Hamre, 2012).
One hundred and five African-American children were sampled from a larger study that was
conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD, 1994).
Participants of diverse geographic regions, economic backgrounds, and ethnic groups from 24
hospitals within the vicinity of 10 data collection sites around the country were selected for this
study. A total of 5,416 women met the criteria of English speaking mothers who were over 18
years of age, that gave birth to a healthy infant, and had no plans to move out of the area within a
year were selected out of an initial 8,986 pool of parents that gave birth. The use of a stratified
random sampling plan led to even proportions of families being recruited who did not graduate
from high school, who were considered an ethnic minority, and those that were single parents. A
total of 1,364 children were enrolled in the study by the time the students became children. Of
the families recruited, 24% were ethnic minorities, 11% were mothers without a high school
education, 14% were single mothers, 53% were planning to work full time, 23% were planning
to work part time, and 24% had no plans for employment. Of the 105 children included in the
study, 50% of them were female. The average age of the mothers was 24.34 and 75% of the
mothers were of low social economic to poverty statues.
Watkins-Lewis and Hamre (2012) used parental beliefs, maternal confidence, and
maternal warmth to measure students’ cognitive development and achievement. With regard to
parental beliefs, parents completed a parent rating scale that assessed their perceptions about
childrearing and educational beliefs. With regard to parent-child relationship, maternal warmth
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was measured by an evaluation scale that assessed parent-child relationships. Items on this scale
addressed parent emotions and beliefs about their relationship with the child and the child’s
behaviors toward the parent. With respect of the maternal confidence interaction, maternal
confidence was assessed in a laboratory setting where mother-child interactions were observed
and videotaped for 15 minutes over 54 months. The measure included two tasks that added
complexity that required the mother to provide instruction and assistance with her child. The
other activity encouraged play between the child and parent. Parents with low confidence were
considered those parents who acted depressed, were considered passive, or were inattentive in
their interactions with their child. A confident parent was a parent who was observed to not be
afraid of being embarrassed by their child during interactions. Parent confidence was rated from
low to very high. In this study, child participants’ cognitive readiness was assessed through the
use of a psycho-educational battery that assessed the child’s cognitive abilities (e.g., ability to
point to responses, name objects familiar and unfamiliar via pictures presented). Child
participants’ achievement was evaluated by use of students reading, math, and phoneme
knowledge by means of letter-word identification, applied problems, and word attack skills.
Additionally, teacher reported student achievement measures were used to provide a global
perspective of students’ achievement abilities.
The results from Watkins-Lewis and Hamre’s (2012) research indicated that
disadvantaged African-American youth benefited academically from structured parenting
experiences where warm, strict, and highly parented-directed practices were involved. The
findings went against what the researchers hypothesized. Traditional parenting beliefs of the
authoritative or “progressive” parenting style did not promote youth development and school
readiness competencies (Watkins-Lewis & Hamre, 2012). This style of parenting was suggested
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to have negative effects on child development (Shears, Whiteside-Manshell, McKelvey, & Selig,
2008). The traditional Black parenting beliefs were associated with lower cognitive and
academic development (Watkins-Lewis & Hamre, 2012). Parenting style and parent economic
stations both influenced their children’s connection to school.
A quantitative study by Ream and Palardy (2008) examined the social class differences in
the availability and educational utility of parental social capital in middle schools. They were
specifically interested in the role social capital might play in creating educational rewards for
both privileged and socio-economically disadvantaged students. Ream and Palardy (2008)
defined social capital as the ability to use their membership in a specific group to access network
potential or perceived resources. Using a national survey on adolescent 8th graders, the
following two questions were examined:
Are there difference (across upper-, middle- or working, and lower-class groupings) in
the availability of various forms of parental social capital as measured during the eighth
grade school year?, and, Is parental social capital convertible into measureable
educational outcomes, including eighth grade track placement and test scores, and does
its rate of convertibility differ across social class groupings? (p. 241)
According to Ream and Palardy (2008), depending on a family’s social status the values
learned from parental figures might differ and could affect child rearing practices. This
influence on the effect of the child could influence the ways in which students were able to use
family-based resources with promoting their academic endeavors. As such, these scholars
asserted that persons from low social economic background versus those who were more affluent
might have differences in parental styles. Depending on how involved a parent was or not or his
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or her social/cultural capitals all influenced the quality of resources and supports African-
American males received.
In this study, Ream and Palardy (2008) used data from the National Education
Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS), which surveyed approximately 25,000 8th grade students.
By means of a two-stage stratified sample design schools were selected. Students were sampled
from the selected schools. Information from parents, students, school administrators, and
teachers was analyzed. Ream and Palardy (2008) analyzed data regarding family socioeconomic
status, family make up (e.g., the number of parents in the house hold and their relationships to
the children), and race, ethnicity, and family background from the base-year survey.
Participants’ achievement tests and track placements were criteria as well. Participants who met
all the criteria were retained for the study. The total sample consisted of 24,241 participants for
this study. The participants were divided into the following three social groups for comparative
class-base analyses: upper, middle and working, and lower classes. Participants were further
classified by means of socioeconomic status. When the 4,227 participants scored one standard
deviation above the mean of the entire sample they coded for “upper class.” Those 15,822
participants with socioeconomic scores between positive one and negative one standard
deviation they coded for the “middle and working class.” When the 4,192 participants scored
one or more standard deviations below the mean they coded as “lower class.”
Two dependent variables were comprised: a latent construct of academic achievement
and an indicator of students’ lack of placement (Ream & Palardy, 2008). Achievement was
measured by participant 8th grade standardized results in history, reading, math, and science.
The tracking outcome was measured by the types of classes the students were enrolled in (e.g.,
enriched, advanced, and/ or accelerated). Those participants enrolled in two or more of the
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designated courses were ranked for the high track. To control for race and ethnicity and family
structure, Ream and Palardy (2008) isolated social class affects with regard to the participants’
parents’ ability to adapt social capital into educational outcomes. These scholars developed a
four-item latent scheme to situate various forms of parental social capital: (1) Parents Help
Student, (2) Parents Visit School, (3) Parent Teacher Association (PTA) involvement, and
(4) Parents Influence School. With respect to parent social capital latent construct, Parents Help
Students, this area was a five-item construct that included the frequency of parent-student
discussions regarding specific courses to take, school events to get involved in, content studied in
class, and the ability to plan high school programs. With respect to parent social capital latent
construct Parents Visit School, this area comprised a three-item concept that included attendance
at school meetings, parent class visits, and attendance at other various school-sponsored events.
With respect to parent social capital, PTA Meetings, this area consisted of PTA membership,
attending PTA meetings, and other sponsored events. Finally, with regard to parent social
capital construct, Parent’s Influence School, this area comprised a two item construct that
included parent feedback and involvement with establishing policy that would support improving
student outcomes.
The results from Ream and Palardy’s (2008) research suggested that some forms of
parental social capital created educational value. The researchers were interested in the
educational utility of parental social capital. Ream and Palardy selected NELS items that
provided approximations for informal assessment (parents with their children interactions) and
formal (interactions between parents and other adults). These researchers were able to measure
social capital across familial and extra-familial settings (Ream & Palardy, 2008). They
accounted for the quantity (existence of a relationship) and the quality (the nature of that
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relationship). Ream and Palardy (2008) developed four constructs: Parents Help Student,
Parents Visit School, PTA Involvement, and Parents Influence School. The findings indicated
the distribution of parental social capital was more beneficial for students from middle-class
social networks as compared to those of a socioeconomically disadvantaged status. Positive
associations between Parent Help Student construct suggest student outcomes improved when
parents were engaged despite their social order. The findings did not support the assertion that
students from lower socioeconomic statuses were tracked lower academically. The results
indicated that those participants who coded for middle and working class were less likely to be
enrolled in two or more advanced tracked courses. Participants classified in the highest class
were reported to be enrolled in the most advanced tracked courses. In regard to the utility of
parental social capital by class, students’ outcomes improved when parents engaged in
conversations with adolescents about their school involvement and efforts regardless of social
class positioning. Thus, the idea that parent involvement was critical in the adolescents’ success
in addition to parents’ social positioning being able to afford the students more resources
suggested that both factors contributed to the overall success of Black adolescents’ academic
achievement and educational outcomes (Ream & Palardy, 2008).
Hines and Holcomb-McCoy (2013) examined the influence of parenting and parental
factors on African-American male students’ behaviors and development from the context of
understanding how ecological factors (e.g., family structure, church attendance, and parent
monitoring) influenced academic outcomes. This quantitative study was conducted to answer
the questions: “What is the relationship between the perceived African-American parenting style
and the academic achievement of African America males?,” and, “Which combination of factors
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(e.g., family structure, church attendance, parental communication, parent monitoring) best
predicts African-American male high school achievement?” (p. 70).
Hines and Holcomb-McCoy (2013) sampled 153 Black male 11th and 12th grade
students from two schools within a large school district outside of a major city in the
northeastern section of the United States. Fifty-eight of the participants in this study were 17
years old and 74 were 18 years old. The majority of the students in this study where 12th graders
with an average grade point average of 2.62. The participants from the two schools shared
similar demographics. A priori power analysis was conducted. Sixty-three of the participants
had not taken honors courses (e.g., international baccalaureate, advanced placement course).
Fifty students indicated taking at least one or more honors course. Ninety-two students reported
they had not participated in college preparatory programs. Other students indicated they were
affiliated with high schools that had college programs such as: Talent Search, Gear Up, Upward
Bound, and College Summit. Eighty-two participants reported residing in suburban
communities, 61 indicated they lived in urban communities, 8 indicated rural communities, and 2
did not indicate.
Hines and Holcomb-McCoy (2013) used the Parenting Style Index and the Academic and
Family Supplemental Questionnaire for their study. The Parenting Style Index consisted of two
subscales: My Parent scale and My Free Time scale. The Parenting Style Index used a 4-point
Likert scale ranging from 4 being “strongly agree” to 1 denoting “strongly disagree.” The My
Parent subscale was comprised of 18 items that assessed the “extent to which adolescents
perceive their parents as loving, responsive and involved” (p. 71). An example of a sampled
question from this scale was: “My parents say you should not argue with adults.” The My Free
Time subscale evaluated the supervision and restrictiveness characteristics of a work week
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(Hines & Holcomb-McCoy, 2013). Four response items followed each comprised question: “In
a typical weekend, what is the latest you can stay out on Friday or Saturday night.” Respective
response options included “I am not allowed out…,” “before 8:00 a.m.,” “8:00 to 8:59 a.m.,”
“9:00 a.m. to 9:59 a.m.” “10:00 to 10:59 a.m.” (p. 71).
With respect to the Academic and Family Supplemental Questionnaire this instrument
was composed of three sections: school information, school and community information, and
family information. The section on school information consisted of items about the
“participants’ age, grade level, parents” highest education level, advanced placement courses,
and involvement in school” (p. 72). A sample question from this category was “What is the
highest level of education obtained by your mother?” (p. 72). With respect to the section on
community information, that assessed the type of communities these participants lived in (e.g.,
urban, suburban, rural), the church they attended, parents’ marital status, and parents’ means of
monitoring the participants’ school and community activities were pursued through the following
sample questions: “I attend a place of worship (e.g., church, synagogue, or temple) at this rate,”
and “How would you describe the community you live in?” (p. 72). With regard to the section
on family information that comprised the relationships between students and parents, participants
were asked the following questions: “How would you describe your communication style with
your father?” and “How would you describe your communication style with your mother?”
(p. 72).
The results from this study indicated no significant relationship existed between
parenting styles and enrollment of students in honors courses. Positive predictors of students’
grade point averages were suggested to be related to fathers’ educational level and students
residing in a two family home. A high percent of African-American participants who were 18
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and older indicated that their parents had an authoritative parenting style. In order to account for
parenting style to be significantly related to academic achievement of African-American
students, the researchers created a one-way analysis of variance between each parent style and
the participant’s enrollment in honors classes. The results suggested no significant relationship
existed between the four parenting styles and the participant’s enrollment in honors courses. The
important information gained from this study investigated the interrelations of parent and child in
connection with external environmental supports suggesting collective spaces and individuals
account for these adolescent males’ school success. This study’s results were instrumental in the
understanding of relations between African-American high school males and their parents. The
microsystem influences and messages established at that level may influence how African-
American males come to value their school experiences.
Dotterer, Lowe and McHale’s (2014) research was a quantitative inquiry that expanded
the literature on the importance parental influence has on African-American adolescents’
academic growth trajectories. Dotterer et al. (2014) examined parent-child interactions within
their bioecological worlds as a means of discovering the ways in which parent-child relationships
affect student academic success. In this study, Dotterer et al. (2014) drew data from a 3-year
longitudinal study of gender socialization and development of 197 African-American families.
The criteria for participation consisted of the following: two parent family home dwelling where
the parents lived together for a minimum of 3 years (parents did not have to be legally married),
persons self-identified as Black or African-American, and were rearing at least two offspring in
middle childhood or adolescent development. Participants were recruited from two substantial
African-American populations within two large metropolitan areas on the eastern seaboard. Half
of the sample were of selected hired African-American’s living within the targeted communities.
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These participants were recruited by positing and distributing flyers within the community
businesses, local churches, and youth centers. The other half of the participants were recruited
by efforts of a marketing firm providing a list of names and addresses of African-American
families with school age students between the fourth and seventh grades who resided within the
targeted geographic zone. At this juncture, letters and postcards were sent to families describing
the study with return contact for interested participants willing to partake in the study.
The parents were of either working class or middle class status where the average family
income was $89,760. The youth selected attended schools varied in ethnic minority enrollment.
The averaged sample school consisted of two thirds of the students being African-American.
Eighty percent of the students in this study attended public schools and 20% attended private or
parochial schools.
A total of three home-based interviews were conducted each year of the study with
mothers, fathers, and youth individually. The parent interviews lasted approximately 2 hours and
youth interviews approximately an hour. Upon interview completions, parents were paid a $200
stipend.
Parent-adolescent closeness was assessed by means of a parent behavioral rating
inventory. Adolescents in this study rated their parents. The parents were provided a parent-
adolescent conflict rating scale to assess their child-parent conflict frequencies. Additionally,
school grades, student GPA, school bonding, school self-esteem, and family background
characteristics were evaluated along with information gained from parent/student interviews to
determine African-American student’s academic trajectories. The cohort-sequential designed
afforded variability in data collection points.
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The findings indicated gender difference in achievement trajectories suggested boys have
lower levels of academic achievement throughout adolescent when compared to girls.
Additionally, boys in this study demonstrated extremer declines in school self-esteem during
adolescence. Likewise, the findings indicated that parent-adolescent relations were impacted by
the warmth of parent-student interactions. During times of high warmth and less conflict
between parent and child, students’ academic performance improved. However, as this was a
longitudinal study, findings showed student academic achievement, school bonding, and school
self-esteem all declined over a period of time. Declines in school self-esteem were more distinct
for boys. The findings from Dotterer et al.’s (2014) research supports other scholars’ evidence
that as African-American male adolescents continue in their educational trajectories in public
school settings that they are less engaged and display academic challenges that impact their
chances of graduating from high school and pursuing higher learning at the college level.
Influence of Home and Community on African-American
School Outcomes
A qualitative study by Land, Mixon, Butcher, and Harris (2014) investigated the external
community and home experiences of six successful 18-year-old urban low-income high school
males who identified as African-American with shared backgrounds. Purposeful selection was
used to choose the students in this study. One researcher was an administrator at a high school
within the seventh-largest school district in the United States. All the participants came from
homes where at some point one or both parents were absent during a period of the student’s life
for reasons such as: incarceration, drug addiction, or death. Other similarities were all of the
students planned to attend a two-year community college or had been accepted into a university.
Two of the participants had been accepted into a four-year university on partial or full
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scholarship. Five of the six students were on track to graduate with their graduating class. The
other student was one grade level behind. One student lived in public housing with his mother,
another student was homeless and lived in a shelter his senior year. The remaining four students
who were on grade level had varied home environments. Two students resided in single family
homes with siblings and mother. A phenomenological narrative design was used to describe the
perception of the participants’ experiences and how they interpreted those experiences. Each
student participated in two audiotaped approximate hour length one-on-one interviews.
The findings were separated into categories of Challenges and Barriers Experienced and
Supports That Students Receive. Challenges and Barriers Experienced was comprised of the
following subcategories: absent fathers, lack of stability in the home, negative influences of
peers and community, and inadequate school experiences. Land et al. (2014) found that all of
the participants believed that they had experienced disadvantages created by the absence of their
fathers. These disadvantages included not knowing how to “be a man” and a greater inclination
to misbehave in school in relation to their teachers and other authority figures. With respect to
the lack of stability they experienced, they indicated that they did not have parental involvement
or financial support and that there were times when they could not count on their families to
provide them with good role models. They all experienced periods when they could not stay at
home because their parent or family members engaged in inappropriate behaviors in their homes.
There were other times when they were required to take care of family members who otherwise
they might have expected to take care of them (e.g., parents, aunts, etc.). With respect to
negative influences of peers and the community, all of the participants indicated that they were
surrounded by “drug dealers, pimps, and gang members” (p. 151). None of the participants
indicated that they had any relationships with peers or within their community that they believed
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offered positive influences for them. With respect to inadequate school experiences, the
participants agreed that they did not have caring or good teachers. They also indicated that the
school communicated a “negative expectation system” for them because they were “Black and
poor” (p. 152).
On the other hand, all of the participants were able to overcome the barriers they
described. These supports were categorized as follows: spiritual growth, responsibility to
mother, helpful school personnel, and inner motivation to succeed. With respect to spiritual
growth, all of the participants indicated that they looked to God as a resource to help them
overcome the negative influences surrounding them. They all attended a religious institution of
some kind and engaged in religious practices that they credited with helping them overcome the
barriers they faced. With respect to responsibility to mother, all the participants took pride in
making “their mothers proud” (p. 153). All the participants mentioned they depended on their
mother figure (e.g., grandmother, aunt, or actual mother) for “guidance, support, and
encouragement” to assist them with academic achievement (p. 153). Also, they all indicated
being a witness to their family struggles inspired their success in spite of their adversities. For
example, one student’s mother’s battle with cancer did not minimize her ability to work full
time, care for self and family. With respect to helpful school personnel, all participants indicated
they did not have anyone from their external environments advocate for them “when something
went wrong in school” (p. 153). They all reported a learned ability to self-advocate. For
example, participant(s) sought guidance from a school administrator not being able to resolve an
issue with a teacher. Another student in his perceived closeness with an administrator began to
reference her as “Momma.” Additionally, several of the participants recalled divulging personal
home issues with key school agents who became supports that assisted them with various
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situations as required. One participant indicated he opted to not share personal matters about self
and that he felt “little support” in the school setting. This student was specifically concerned
about perceptions of others regarding “thinking that they are helping you out” (p. 154).
However, even with his thoughts about others getting in his personal business, he was successful
with seeking school-based mentors that he indicated influenced his thinking. With respect to
inner motivation to succeed, all the students indicated they desired less responsibility than their
peers and wanted to be “normal students.” All the participants reported they “started out down
the wrong” path (p. 154). Likewise, all the participants indicated family members and older
sibling influences impacted their community and school involvements. All reported at some
point their feelings about the utility of school changed as they realized education was essential
for them and their family overcoming their circumstances. All the participants realized they
needed to: grow up early, endure the negative effects of the communities they resided in, manage
the inadequate school environment, deal with having an absent parent (e.g., father), and high
self-worth to prevail over the “bad hand that they had been dealt in life” (p. 154). Additionally,
all participants expressed an inner thirst “to do more, to have more, and to be better” to model
and ultimately provide a better life for self and family (p. 155). In spite of their adversities,
personal motivation and internal drive guided the participants’ choices to succeed.
Land et al. (2014) asserted all the participants’ ability to solve problems, maintain self-
sufficiency, and utility of social skills aided these African-American men in their use of cultural
and social capitals that afforded them the fortitude to establish meaningful relationships and trust
key individuals in efforts to sustain academic success in the absence of a father. The Black
males’ constructed cultural capital, their ability to form relationships with persons in their school
and out-of-school environments supported their efforts to manage school successfully.
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Additionally, having the ability to establish social capital, being able to seek out the information
they needed while establishing relationships built on trust were key factors that influenced their
school success. The trusting relationships were essential in their development of inner
motivation to succeed (Land et al., 2014). Also, these young men’s ability to capitalize on their
faith, interpersonal skills, cultivate meaningful school and home relationships with teachers,
family (genetic and extended), and community members regardless of having an absent parent
supported their success in school.
Through a mixed-methods approach, P. L. Carter (2006) investigated how low income
African-American youth negotiated the boundaries between school and peer group context and
whether or not variable forms of negotiating existed. P. L. Carter sampled 68 African-American
and Latino low-income native born male and female youth between the ages of 13 and 20. These
students resided in New York and were of four categories for schooling: dropped out, currently
attending middle, high school, or college. The participants in this study were sampled from a
prior larger quasi-experimental longitudinal study of 317 low-income African-American and
Latino families from different areas in Yonkers, New York.
The participants in this study were exclusively tape recorded in a two-part interviewed
process over a 10-month period. The first set of individual interviews lasted approximately 90
minutes. The second part of the group interviews consisted of a semi-structured, open-ended
survey interview protocol that measured students’ attitudes and beliefs about life outcomes,
career mobility, school performance, connection to school, job attainment, general roles, and
specific cultural behaviors among their peers, family, and racial ideology (Carter, P. L., 2006).
Additionally, three single-sex group interviews were conducted. The group interviews were
conducted for the purpose of uncovering the meaning behind the attitudes and actions that deal
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with racial and ethnic identity and beliefs. Other areas of inquiry in the group interview explored
meanings behind race relations, structural opportunities, and the means to attain achievement and
success in society (Carter, P. L., 2006). P. L. Carter selectively chose middle and high school
students in her sample to capture academic performance based on two categories of grade point
averages. The high achievers were the students who performed one standard deviation above the
average GPA of the sample. The lower achievers were students who performed lower than the
baseline performance of the high achievers in this study.
During the coding process, P. L. Carter (2006) assigned categories to the participants in
her sample. She categorized students as: cultural straddlers, noncompliant believers, and/ or
cultural mainstreamers in after she conducted her study to discover how Black students socially
collected their identities. Cultural straddlers were individuals who demonstrated the ability to
embrace the values and understand the functions of both dominant and non-dominant cultural
norms while holding on to their personal self-ascribed identities (Carter, P. L., 2006). She
explained cultural mainstreams as those persons who were aware of the cultural norms
established in popular culture that influenced the social, economic, and academic success in
American society. These specific individuals adopted the dominant achievement expectations
and expected minority group members’ behaviors to mirror those of traditional assimilationist’s
values across school, work, and community settings (Carter, P. L., 2006). Noncompliant
believers were mindful of the dominant values; adopted their own personal non-dominant norms
with no intention of adapting dominant cultural prescribed values about society or in school.
Through the process of triangulation, P. L. Carter (2006) explored the meaning behind
participants’ attitudes, actions, and beliefs in regard to racial and ethnic identity. She also
investigated participants’ views regarding race relations, means to success, achievement, and
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societal opportunities (Carter, P. L., 2006). For example, in efforts to determine participants’
racial or ethnic beliefs she asked the following questions: “In your family, are there expectations
related to your [racial or ethnic] background, to how you should act? How much say or power
do you think Black [Spanish or Latino] people have in American life and politics?” (p. 311).
With respect to cultural mainstreamers, P. L. Carter coded participants according to their
responses if she perceived they maintained an assimilationist perspective being able to transverse
both the school and dominant settings. With respect to participants that met the noncompliant
believers’ category, P. L. Carter coded them based off their criticism when responding to
questions of systemic inequalities and around their ability to maintain their cultural essence
without desiring to take on the expected performances of the dominant culture (Carter, P. L.,
2010). For example, P. L. Carter asked the question “What are your feelings about the ways
you’re “supposed” to behave as a [member of racial or ethnic group]” (p. 311). With respect to
cultural straddlers, P. L. Carter coded questions dealing with how the participants purposefully
managed systemic inequalities. She explored how the participants navigated peers, school, and
work environments. The following are questions she asked: “People in my family have not been
treated fairly at work, no matter how much education they possess” and “People like me are not
paid or promoted based on education” (p. 311).
P. L. Carter’s (2006) findings posit Black students demonstrate the ability to fully engage
in the educational process while simultaneously being able to manage and critique social norms.
Furthermore, her findings revealed the social dynamics amongst Black peer groups is more
related to how each student individually defines his or her identity and is less associated with
how well they perform in school. More importantly, her study highlighted the complexity of
peer interpersonal relationships among Black minority students. African-American students
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appeared very aware of their unique ascribed cultural differences and position in society in
general.
Levin, Belfield, Muenning, & Rouse (2007) presented an economical assessment of the
consequences of not equaling the playing field for Black males with regard to education and
access. Black men trailed others in educational opportunities and outcomes of youth successful
trajectories into adulthood (Levin et al., 2007). The lack of community-based supports narrowed
advancements for Black men gaining employment and increased their chances of incarceration
(Levin et al., 2007). Thus, educational gains had historically served as vessels to liberate Blacks
as a means of evening the playing field (Belfield, Nores, Barnett, & Schweinhart, 2006). Levin
et al. (2007) suggested that Black men’s educational success and life outcomes stand to deposit
more into the economic infrastructure. Black men being educated fared to improve health cost,
criminal justice cost, and overall has a greater investment in public returns. Nettles (1991)
posited the Black community opportunities to continue advancements with Black children by
improvement of African-American students’ social capital across networks of social services,
adult supporters, and other amenities that cultivated development, growth, community
connectedness, and academic advancements. Nettles offered four basic processes she affirmed
would support efforts to engage and advance Black students’ school outcomes: conversion,
mobilization, allocation, and instruction. Within these constructs, she defined community as an
environment with three measureable characteristics: structure, culture or climate, and the
involvement process (Nettles, 1991).
Nettles (1991) developed three terms to measure community as an environment. The
phrase community structure outlined the social and physical characteristics within a bounded
community. With respect to the concept of community climate, Nettles expressed the phrase to
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embody the rules, norms, and values that govern, promote social interactions with community
members, and facilitate members’ growth and progress. With regard to the community
involvement process, Nettles defined the term to consist of actions the organization and the
individual take to promote student development. Additionally, with regard to ways in which
parents and community-based stakeholders were able to contribute to the overall growth and
development of students within Black communities, the terms conversion, mobilization,
allocation, and instruction were developed by Nettles. She provided the following meanings to
each typology. Nettles described the term conversion to be the means of shifting students in the
desired direction. The next term mobilization was used in the context of targeting change within
organizations by means of addressing activities of citizenship participation, involvement or
awareness of legal actions, and student inclusion in neighborhood organizing the community
(Nettles, 1991). With regard to students getting involved, the term allocation was used to define
ways to improve students’ access to resources (Nettles, 1991). Nettles defined the term
instruction to encompass the “actions that support social learning and intellectual development”
(Nettles, 1991, p. 133).
Themes related to the importance of social capital for Black students were as follows:
community characteristics and risk, the mediating role of community involvement, reducing the
impact of risk, reduction of negative chain reactions, task accomplishment, and opening up
opportunities (Nettles, 1991). Nettles (1991) used these topics to situate the relevance of
community-based social capital efforts for Black students and to suggest ways to understand how
the use of social capital can improve educational outcomes for Black students. Regarding the
topic community characteristics and risk, Nettles suggested the communities that Black children
reside in can offer adverse outcomes toward their future success. She contended that research on
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the effects the neighborhood had on social spaces put students in situations to engage in
delinquent behaviors. She provided evidence about research that examined students from low
social economic backgrounds. A specific study examined community disorganization and the
relationship to community-based crimes between male and females within the specified
neighborhoods. The results indicated both male and female participants reported to be
negatively influenced by peers and less committed to school when engaged in delinquent type
community-based behaviors. Still, matters affecting the complexities of oppositional distractors
within urban communities that affect Black students’ achievement are multifaceted (Nettles,
1991). With respect to the theme the mediating role of community involvement contributions,
Nettles emphasized the importance of understanding the protective factors that enhance Black
children’s chances of responding to at-risk community-based conditions. Danziger and Farber
(1990) insisted Black students who managed to beat the odds did so with backings from various
adult supporters. Other researchers like Rutter (1987) affirmed being able to reduce the risk of
impact and reduce the negative chain reactions once Black students were exposed to delinquent
behaviors within the community served to decrease future effects to similar behaviors. Rutter
added that Black students’ self-esteem and self-efficacy were developed through relationships,
valued task completion, and when engaged in new experiences. He believed permitting
opportunities of access improves students’ social capital by providing them resources (Nettles,
1991). Having knowledge of the importance of community involvement processes could lessen
how people react to threatening life events (Nettles, 1991).
With respect to the theme reducing the impact of risk, the main focus was on students’
exposure to health related risk. Nettles (1991) established Black students from low social
economic backgrounds were primary consumers of school-based clinics to meet their health
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needs. Thus, the research provided a myriad of community-based risk behaviors that prompted
challenges of Black students’ overall health. According to Nettles (1991), communities needed
to empower student agents in urban environments by providing adequate information. Also,
having skilled health professionals would have lessened chances of these students missing school
and possibly increasing their chances of reaching optimal health to meet their educational
outcomes.
With respect to the theme reduction of negative chain reactions, Nettles (1991) believed
Black students’ limited access to resourceful adults within their communities resulted in their
dependency on peers. Suggestions for mentorship and advocacy community-based programs
(e.g., Project RAISE) provide urban youth extracurricular and supplemental educational supports
(e.g., tutoring, provide attention, methods to improve habits, and responsibility). The idea that
communities can adopt internal programs that foster and cultivate expectations for students was
supported by evidenced-based research (Nettles, 1991). According to Nettles, early interventions
were suggested to improve Black student life trajectories.
With respect to the topic task accomplishment, Black churches were considered to be
pivotal entities that provided tutoring, after school supports, summer programs, and moral
education with shaping educational outcomes for Black students. Likewise, with respect to the
topic opening up opportunities, various community-based program have been urban hubs that
have cultivated students’ talents, learning interest, community activism, and other skills (Nettles,
1991). However, the small number of programs available to the number of students that need the
services present challenges. Still, the research suggested that the positive implications for having
community-based programs and the right adult supports all serve as protective factors that
enhance Black students’ life trajectories. This literature informed the current study of interest as
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it shared the value and complexity of external community-based supports. My research was
interested in exploring the messages African-American adolescents heard within the external
community and home and how those messages influenced their value of school. Past research
that showed the value and successes of other urban-based community programs offer the
possibility that information could be gained in this study as those pockets of service still exist
and could be organizations that contributed to portions of social capital Black students had to
maximize their educational success.
Moore-Thomas and Day-Vines (2010) analyzed a variety of strength-based literature that
explored the cultural competencies related to effective school collaboration and interactions
between African-American students, families, and their communities in efforts to understand the
importance of cultivating social capital within community-based environments. According to
Moore-Thomas and Day-Vines, school-family-community partnerships are essential
relationships warranting development as families and community stakeholders served as key
agents that influenced youth success in school. Moore-Thomas and Day-Vines believed the
benefits of family, school, and community partnerships were reciprocal (e.g., they provided
school personnel cultural insights and the school provided families information regarding
resources to support student learning). Historical issues between family and school relationships
brewed as a result of African-American families being denied access to quality education. The
lack of trust and inclusion in the education infrastructure presented barriers for effective
communication and ultimately being able to establish necessary supports for student
development with school staff and family (Moore-Thomas & Day-Vines, 2010). The researchers
in this study directed their discussion around the importance of parents and families bridging
support from school-based counselors. For the sake of my study, this discourse was applicable
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beyond counselor effectiveness in this process of bridging community and parent partnerships.
Information regarding the need for youth advocacy via school choice and school improvement
by means of establishing deliberate opportunities to promote educational policy that access and
equity options for urban based youth was the area of interest with this body of literature. Moore-
Thomas and Day-Vines suggested that community-based programs such as the Harlem
Children’s Zone, An Achieve Dream, Black Achievers Program, Year Up, and Youth Together
were urban-based programs statewide that have provided evidenced-based methods to shift urban
youths’ academic trajectories. The programs these scholars highlighted showed the benefit of
partnering with community-based stakeholders as well as how school-based employees’
awareness of external supports can aid in servicing the whole child in in-school and out-side-
school environments.
Bioecological Theory
The literature on the ecological theory ranges in depth and complexity. Bronfenbrenner
and Ceci’s (1994) ecological model suggests that multiple environments (i.e., home, school,
community) and people within these environments influence the educational experiences of all
students. Bronfenbrenner and Ceci’s ecological model explains the layers that shape a student’s
environment and affects his or her development. Bronfenbrenner (1977) developed a
bioecological model of human development to explain how everything in a child and the child’s
environment affect the ways in which they develop and connect to the world (Bronfenbrenner,
1977, 1979, 1986, 2005; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994). Bronfenbrenner (2005) asserted
children were gradually impacted by the world around them. He provided an evolving
theoretical approach to study human development over time (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 1979, 1986,
2005; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994). Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) and
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Bronfenbrenner and Ceci (1994) defined the bioecological model of human development as a
theory of understanding the links between human developments around an examination of a
person’s activity in multiple environments that shape human growth. With respect of scientific
inquiry research, Bronfenbrenner investigated the inter-relational effects on external relational
phenomena as associated with biopsychological influences on human behavior while life
happens (e.g., historically, present, and future) (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). The following are the
five levels Bronfenbrenner (1977) defined as the ecological environmental clusters influencing
child development, growth, behavior, and inter-relational activities with other persons and
environment: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the
chronosystem.
With regard to the microsystem models, Bronfenbrenner (1977) defined the microsystem
to be a complex set of relations between the developing person and their environment (e.g., home
school, workplace) (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). Four properties in the microsystem provided
reciprocity for field research to occur: reciprocity, recognizing the functional social system,
beyond the dyad, and indirect impact of physical factors (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). With respect
to reciprocity, Bronfenbrenner (1977) provided the following formal proposition 1: unlike the
traditional laboratory experimental model, the ecological model offers a unidirectional approach
that allows for reciprocal processes to unfold (e.g., not just effects of A on B, but how B affects
A). With respect to recognizing the functional social system, Bronfenbrenner provided the
following proposition 2: an ecological experiment recognizes the social system all of the
participants and them in relationship to their environment. With respect to beyond the dyad,
Bronfenbrenner offered proposition 3: this design takes into account the existence of dual
persons inter relating to one another. It includes subsystems where dyads and triad levels of
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person’s interactions can be considered to weigh-in on person behavior and actions within a
specific environment. With respect to indirect impact of physical factors, Bronfenbrenner
offered proposition 4: accounts for the environment and the environments’ indirect influence on
the social processes that take place within a given setting.
With regard to the mesosystem model, Bronfenbrenner (1977) defined it as a set of inter
related settings that retrain the developing person at a particular point in his or her life (e.g.,
adolescence, parent dying, workplace) (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). With respect to interactions
between settings and ecological transitions, Bronfenbrenner promoted propositions 5 to 7 as
elements influencing child development and growth. Under the theme of interactions between
settings, proposition 5 was defined as a model that explores the behaviors and developments of a
person in multiple settings with multiple interdependencies. Proposition 6 was defined as a
process of accounting for the subsystems related to an individual’s growth and development and
how the associations across social environments can affect the ways in which the person evolves.
Under the theme of ecological transition, Bronfenbrenner situated proposition 7 as the means of
looking at the ecological transitions of a person’s life (e.g., role and setting function of the
persons’ growth or events in life cycle pertaining to care and responsibility). These transitions
are not limited to one stage of life; it incorporates transitions across a person’s life span.
With regard to the exosystem model, Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) defined it
as an extension of the mesosystem that includes formal and informal social structures (e.g.,
social network, government, transportation facilities). With respect to the theme setting, in
context, Bronfenbrenner situated proposition 8 as an investigative process that goes beyond
one’s immediate setting and connecting that person to larger contexts that affect events in their
immediate space. With regard to the macrosystem model, Bronfenbrenner (1977) defined it as
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the highest level or overarching set of environmental constructs that include culture, subcultures,
economic, social, educational, legal, and political systems. This level examines the explicit and
implicit structural terms and ideologies and their interrelations on personal development and
growth. With respect to the theme the transforming experiment Bronfenbrenner situated
proposition 9 as the space that defines one’s goals, roles, activities, and provide interconnections
between systems. With regard to the chronosystem inclusion in Bronfenbrenner’s (1986)
bioecological theory, he developed this model to examine the influence on the person’s
development during changes over their lifespan in environments in which a person lived
(Bronfenbrenner, 1986a). He defined the chronosystem model as the space where normative
(e.g., school entry, puberty, college, divorce, retirement, winning the lottery) construct occur
(Bronfenbrenner, 1986a, p. 724).
For the purpose of this research I will not fully elaborate Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979,
1986, 2005) model in this study. Instead, I will focus on three key levels of the bioecological
frame: (1) the microsystem (e.g., characterizes parents, relatives, close friends, teachers, mentors
who participate in the life of developing a person on a fairly regular basis over an extended
period of time). For example, this level explores the home environment, interactions with
parents, siblings, school, peers, etc.; (2) the mesosystem consists of the interconnected
interactions between different parts of a person’s microsystem that influence each other. The
interactions between a person’s microsystem have indirect impact on the individuals. For
example, the relationship between a student’s parents and teacher. When the parent is active in
student’s school (e.g., attending parent meetings, volunteering), these actions have a positive
impact on student development. Different elements of the microsystem function in unison here.
In contrast, the student could experience a negative affect if the elements of his microsystem
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worked against each other; (3) the exosystem is the level that examines the setting. The person
does not have to be an active participant in the setting. This area looks at the effects of the
setting on the person. The affects the person (e.g., such decisions they have no say in the
decision-making process). An example would be the type of job the parent has. If the parent is
in the military and is deployed for several months out of the year, the child has no say in his
father’s absence. However, his fathers’ absence can affect the child’s development as he has no
say on the demands of his father’s work.
Controversy in human development research challenges with regard to the rigor and
relevance of the bioecological theory that emerged. Historically, research was assessed through
the veil of laboratory-based scientific assessment where variables and subjects could be
controlled both by the environment and researcher. Many researchers believed the qualitative
inquiry design could not defend a structured scientific approach to research and that the
naturalistic observation inquiry lacked in its delivery of validity (Blurton-Jones, 1972; McGrew,
1972; Bronfenbrenner, 1977). During the bioecological theory’s formative years,
Bronfenbrenner (1977) argued sole laboratory experimentation limited the scope of research
discovery and exploration. He stressed researchers being limited to a physical location for
observations restricted the information rich naturalistic perspective that field inquiry stood to
offer (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). Bronfenbrenner further declared in order for a person to fully
understand human development the researcher had to go beyond the traditional one dimensional
direction of observations that assessed behavior in isolation by means of a one or two people
assessment where both individuals were observed in the same place (Bronfenbrenner, 1977).
Bronfenbrenner insisted converging the investigation of the social relevance in research of
person’s behavior should extend qualitative inquiry to a multiple-directional examination where
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several individuals in various settings could be observed in connection to their activities with
others within milieus as the individual and environments evolve (Bronfenbrenner, 1977).
Bronfenbrenner defined ecological validity “to include the environmental context in which
research is conducted” (1977, p. 516). His philosophy supported a need for human behavior and
development inquiry to include analysis of the whole child experience not just what the
researcher was able to observe about an individual but what the individual expressed from their
experience in the environment (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). He believed the field experiment offered
a more personalized assessment where a more direct understanding of a situation could be
evaluated (Bronfenbrenner, 1977). Likewise, Bronfenbrenner supported his claims with
evidence from the then cutting edge inquiry-based research that examined mother child
interactions in the laboratory setting and homes where results suggested difference in the ways
evidence was interpreted. The distinctive differences of research observed in confined
laboratory environments versus those observed in what he considered real-life situations revealed
behavior and development orientations differed depending on the environment (Bronfenbrenner,
1977). Bronfenbrenner emphasized research in real life settings that involved objects and
activities of everyday life could provide scientifically structured inquiry. He defined:
the ecology of human development as a scientific study of progressive mutual
accommodations, throughout the life span, between a growing human organism and the
changing immediate environments in which it lives, as this process is affected by relation
obtaining within and between these immediate settings, as well as the larger social
context, both formal and informal, in which the setting are embedded. (p. 515, emphasis
in the original)
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The evolution of Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) bioecological systems
theory developed into a larger framework over time. From the formative years to present, shifts
in inclusionary matters appeared regarding outlining the structures of ecological environment to
examine constructs of human growth and development. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) research added
the importance of contexts pertaining to child rearing. He focused on the value in examining
child behavior and growth with regard to family size, parents’ professions, social class, ethnic
background, single versus dual family parent residing in home, parent involvement, parent
networking capitals, and the child’s ordinal position (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Bronfenbrenner
massaged more of what he labeled primary and secondary contexts that explored the conditions
within immediate environments that affected human growth and development (Bronfenbrenner,
1979). Additionally, significance of the impact of third parties in external settings, the
interactions between settings and school as he defined as an alienable setting all contributed to
the ways in which children came to grow and develop. With regard to the school setting,
Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) research stressed the internal shifts of staff connectedness to family,
school, and parents as school systems were changing in location, demographics, and values that
mirrored student and families attending them (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1986). Bronfenbrenner
(1979) posited that student behavior and growth altered depending on various relative
circumstances within the people, self-agency, and community environments.
Bronfenbrenner’s (1986) research included the value of genetics and environmental
processes. He developed two dimensions in this research to support human development and
growth that focused on (1) the external systems affecting the family and (2) the manner of which
external systems exercise their influence (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). He continued to regard the
external systems affecting the family through his previously defined external paradigms yet he
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added the chronosystem model that accounted for changes over time within a person and in a
person’s environment (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). He posited two types of life transitions affected a
child or youths’ growth in this model. He postulated the normative (school entry, puberty,
entering the labor force, marriage, retirement) and the non-normative (a death or severe illness or
the family, divorce, moving, winning the sweepstakes) were all continuous elements that could
affect and influence the family process and the child or youth’s development and growth
(Bronfenbrenner, 1986). In this body of literature, Bronfenbrenner pushed the importance of
parental support networks through evidence of multiple research studies that illuminated the
power of kinship connections on family mobility, student activity, family survival, and family
transitions all which affected the child or youths’ ability to sustain a sense of awareness, being
able to initiate, execute, and/ or control their own volitional actions in the world
(Bronfenbrenner, 1986).
In Bronfenbrenner and Ceci’s (1994) research they argued that several proximal
processes influenced a child’s development. As my research is not exploring the nature-nurture
narrative, this body of literature is not germane to my study.
In large, Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) bioecological models of human
development provide a progressive fluid means to explore the multifaceted realms of human
development and growth in regard to the multitude of settings and interactions between other
persons in their external environments (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 1979, 1986). Similarly, the
significance of a child or youths’ awareness of his or her self-agency, activities within, and the
effects the environment contribute to his or her reality, growth, and develop all impact the ways
in which they make sense of the world, make daily choices, and identity within society
(Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 1979, 1986).
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Bush and Bush (2013) presented the African American Male Theory (AAMT). This
theory builds on the ecological systems theory, suggesting that there is something unique to the
experience of being an African-American male in society. They argued there was a need to
divide the microsystem into two categories when exploring the depth of African-American
adolescents’ position and trajectories within our society. They argued that the microsystem was
comprised of two, not one, category—as suggested in the original theory. The first category they
suggested is an inner microsystem that contains an individual’s biology, personality, perceptions,
and beliefs. The second category was defined as an outer microsystem that offered a space to
investigate the effect or influence of an individual’s family, peers, neighborhood, and/ or school
environments (e.g., micro, meso, exosystem). Bush and Bush also added another layer to the
collective analysis of the ways in which Black adolescents navigated their daily spaces in
relationship to achievement—a subsystem space. The subsystem space is situated between the
microsystem and mesosystems. Bush and Bush defined this space to encompass the supernatural
spirit, collective will, and unconscious archetypes.
Each of these bodies of literature contributed to my understanding of the types of
messages, intentional and unintentional, overtly communicated through words and actions, and
indirectly or inadvertently communicated through words and actions that were likely to influence
an urban high school age African-American male adolescents’ perceptions of the value of school.
I now turn my attention to the study’s conceptual framework.
Conceptual Framework
According to Merriam (2009), “a theoretical framework is the underlying structure, the
scaffolding, or frame of concepts, assumptions, expectations, beliefs, and theories that supports
and informs your research” (p. 66). The bodies of literature presented in my literature review
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provided insight into the ways in which cultural identification and achievement influenced
African-American adolescent’s self-perception formation and cultural values. For my
framework, I asserted that the meaning an African-American adolescent constructed as a result
of the communications he heard and observed from individuals within both his in school and out-
of-school (e.g., home and community) settings would influence the ways he placed value on
school.
Based on the literature, I argued that the interactions African-American students had with
individuals within their school or home and community environments influenced the value they
came to place on school. However, for the purposes of this dissertation I was specifically
interested in understanding the messages African-American urban adolescent males received
from their non-school (e.g., home and community) environments. Likewise, my interest was
particularly in how the direct or indirect messages from their home and community milieus
influenced the value they place on school, how they made meaning of these communications,
and the ways in which these messages shaped the way they navigated their daily realities. Thus
from the data collected, research question three emerged. Research question three addressed the
inquiry of how the inner-school environment influenced the way these low SES urban Black
adolescent males’ placed value on school. The overwhelming description about these
participants’ inner-school experiences was critical in the ways in which each participant placed
value on school. The weight of the information they shared could not be ignored in this study’s
findings.
As evidenced by many scholars in various domains (e.g., anthropology, sociology,
psychology, and biology) around the world, our universe thrives from the multitude of
interconnected systems and/ organisms. As such, human beings exist within those systems and
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engage in bidirectional relationships with other individuals, their environment, and other
universal phenomena. The research from the literature review and Bronfenbrenner’s (1977,
1979, 1986, 2005) bioecological framework situated the importance of understanding how the
African-American urban adolescent male associated in his complete interrelations with all
stakeholders across his home and school settings that influenced the ways that he made sense of
communications and connected those messages to school.
Drawing from Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) bioecological systems theory
and Bush and Bush’s (2013) African American Male Theory, I argued African-American
adolescents’ development and perceptions were a result of their interrelational connections with
persons in their immediate and extended environmental settings (e.g., peers, home, community
agents, and extended family members) and were influenced by the multidimensional social and
cultural macro level associations that affected the ways in which these students grew and
developed. I further argued that being able to frame spaces for the African-American adolescent
male that accounted for the way the community and home environment influenced human
development through the position of the ways in which Black adolescents’ perceptions of self,
community, and school was shaped by multi-directional interactions with individuals between
their microsystem, mesosystem, and exosystem—external environments that influenced these
adolescents value of school. More specifically, drawing from Bush and Bush’s (2013) theory
that builds on Bronfenbrenner’s (1986, 1989, 2005) ecological model as they suggested a unique
divide of the microsystem paradigm into inner (e.g., spaces where perceptions are formed) and
outer (e.g., spaces where the adolescent is able to investigate the effect of their family, extended
family, peers, peer groups, neighborhood, and church) expanded on the ways in which African-
American male adolescents traversed their daily interrelated spaces. It is in Bush and Bush’s
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 131

(2013) subsystem space where these students’ educational development, social, psychological,
and spiritual positioning in relationship to achievement is encompassed.
Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework for this study. Within this visual diagram,
four conditions were considered when determining the ways in which African-American males
perceived the direct and indirect messages they heard and saw within their home and community
environments. The figure presented has gone through multiple revisions as the coding and data
analysis process and data collection emerged nuanced perspectives of the conditions that
influenced the nine low SES urban African-American male adolescents’ perceptions and position
in relationship to how their unique social cultural worlds affected their responses to the research
protocol.
With respect to Condition 1, I argued that at times when Black adolescent males
perceived direct or indirect messages from individuals (e.g., family, peers, community) within
their home, neighborhood, and community to be positive in addition to perceiving positive
messages from school that they would see school as a valuable place. I also expected that their
behaviors would support their statements that school was valuable. Drawing on D. J. Carter
(2008) and Nasir et al. (2009), I argued that those Black male adolescents who saw school as
valuable would also have positive self-perceptions and understand their own value in relationship
to school and the ways they navigated their realities. They would also be more likely to see
themselves “school-oriented and socially conscious” of their African-American station within the
greater construct of society. I posited that these messages would be both verbal as well as
through the actions they observed and demonstrated from those around them. The
communications would come from parents, neighbors, strangers in their neighborhood, inner-
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 132

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework
 Condition 1: Student perceive (+) messages from home communication about school; plus (+) neighborhood and
community messages about school; plus student perceive (+) messages from school; = (+) value of school.
 Condition 2: Student perceive (+) messages from home communication about school; plus (+) or (-) messages from
neighborhood and community about school; plus student perceive (-) messages from school; = (+) or (-) value of
school.
 Condition 3: Student perceive (-) messages from home, plus (-) and/ or (+) messages about school from
neighborhood and community; Student perceive (+) messages from school = (+) and/ or (-) value of school.
 Condition 4: Student perceive (-) messages from home about school, plus student receives (-) messages from
neighborhood and community about school; Student perceive (-) messages from school = (-) value of school.

school and outside-of-school peers, teachers, administrators, and other community-based agents.
Black adolescents would experience communications both actively (through conversations and

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 133

daily interactions in their outside-of-school and within-school settings) as well as passively, as
they live their daily lives.
Drawing on Allen (2013), I argued that positive messages about the value of school may
come from parents in terms of parents’ involvement and social positioning. Thus, even with
having positive messages from home and positive messages from school these students would
perform academically (even if their endeavors are not exceptional but marginal in attempt). I
argued that the value of parental social capital weighs heavy on the resources and opportunities
Black adolescent males would have. Also, I argued that the messages from parents that are
direct or implied and those observed all affected their future outcomes.
Equally, drawing on Ream and Palardy (2008) whose research on the ways in which
parental social capital influenced Black adolescents’ school performance, I argued that when
these students heard and saw positive communications from their parents that they would value
school (even if their performance was marginal and these students felt they had to dummy down
their school performance that they would not fail school) and a high self-regard even in the
presence of peer pressures (desiring to be accepted by peers). Similarly, drawing on the works of
Hines and Holcomb-McCoy (2013), I argued that when Black adolescents perceived direct
communications from their parents where the student and parent relationship was nurtured by
parent involvement and concern with students’ school outcomes that the Black male would value
school.
In addition, drawing on the research from Dotterer et al. (2013) that investigated the ways
in which both working and middle class Black families’ parental involvement with their Black
boys influenced the ways they performed in school, I argued that the closer African-American
adolescents were with their parents the higher their self-worth they would have and the better
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 134

their school value would be. Thus, drawing on Dotterer et al.’s (2013) and Bush and Bush’s
(2013) research and theory that suggested the depth of the Black adolescent’s males
interrelational encounters that afford him positive perceptions whether direct or indirect from
individuals within his community would offer him positive school value and self-ascription as
they were able to actively engage in their academic lives but that their peer associations might
have played a more important role in their connection to school.
Likewise, drawing on P. L. Carter’s (2006) theory I argued that when students
demonstrated the ability to see value in their home cultures and in-school settings that these
cultural straddlers were best able to embrace the expected norms and value school. I further
argued that when adolescents were able to positively associate with the direct and indirect
communications from their home and community and were able to perceive positive direct or
indirect messages from their school setting that they would have a positive self-perception and
value school. Additionally, they were better equipped to navigate the world around them.
With respect to Condition 2, I argued that at times when a Black adolescent male
perceived direct or indirect messages from individuals (e.g., family, peers, community) within
his home and community to be positive in addition to perceiving negative messages from school
that Black adolescents might have either a positive or negative value of school. With regard to
having negative value of school, I drew on D. J. Carter (2008) and argued that Black adolescents
who received positive messages from parents and the home environment but received negative
messages from the school environment that they felt they did not belong there because of
racial/ethnic differences or racism and were not likely to value school. This belief that school
was not valuable was not connected to their perspective of their culture. However, they did
perceive positive messages about school from their home environments. Still, these Black
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 135

adolescents’ value of school was preserved regardless of their exclusive perspectives from the in-
school climate. Additionally, drawing from Arunkumar et al. (1999), I argued that when Black
adolescent males had high levels of dissonance from home and community settings that these
students would value school if the direct and indirect messages from the school setting were
positive and influenced their self-perceptions in positive ways. However, at times when these
students’ self-worth was influenced (e.g., they feel hopeless, have low self-deprecation, and self-
esteem) that they would not value of school.
With regard to Black adolescents having a positive value of school, drawing on Williams
and Bryan’s (2013) qualitative study that investigated the ways in which school and external
home and community factors contributed to low-income urban African-American adolescent
learning, I argued that when low SES urban Black male adolescents attending K-12 setting
perceived direct and indirect messages from their home and school to be positive that regardless
of their impoverished community-based issues that they would value school. I argued that
despite students feeling they experienced dual realities as their home and school cultures differed
Black male adolescents were able to value school when their self-agency was positive and they
perceived direct or indirect school messages based interrelations with persons in the school
setting were positive.
Also, drawing on Phelan et al.’s (1996) qualitative study that investigated adolescents’
ability to navigate their social and personal spaces (e.g., home, school, and peer constructs), I
argued that Black adolescents who perceived the direct and indirect communications from home
to be positive even when having negative school perceptions that they would value school and
secure a healthy self-perception. Thus, adolescent urban Black males of this type would
demonstrate the ability to navigate and negotiate their different spaces within the world.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 136

Pulling from Moore-Thomas and Day-Vines (2010), I argued that regardless of the
positive messages African-American adolescents perceived from their home that the negative
direct or indirect messages from their community would result in Black adolescent males not
having value of school.
With respect to Condition 3, I argued that at times when a Black adolescent male
perceived messages from individuals (e.g., family, peers, community) within his home to be
negative in addition to perceiving positive messages from school that Black adolescents might
have either a positive or negative value of school. Drawing on Tyler et al.’s (2010) quantitative
study that investigated the cultural values, culture identity, beliefs, and norms Black male
adolescents received in their home and community settings, I argued that these youth’s value of
school would be determined by indirect (e.g., the things they see and hear within their
community and home) and direct (e.g., the behaviors they witness in their community and their
home) messages from individuals within their communities. Thus, when Black adolescent males
perceived messages outside of school to be negative (e.g., perceiving their family values to differ
from those expected in school or having feelings of not knowing how to perform in the school
setting as their home culture differed) that they would not value school even during times when
perceived school messages were positive (both in terms of actual messages and also in terms of
behaviors).
Furthermore, drawing from Land et al.’s (2014) qualitative research that investigated the
ways in which African-American low-income male adolescents coped with school in the absence
of a father or parent in the home, I argued that when Black adolescents heard and witnessed
negative direct or indirect messages from within their home and community environments but
perceived positive direct or indirect messages from their school setting (e.g., counseling, teacher,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 137

staff support/ guidance) that they would value school. I argued that depending on the student’s
self-agency and closeness to the individuals within his home and community that the student
perceived is informing him positively influenced the student’s value of school regardless of
home and community messages being negative the Black adolescent would end up with a
positive perception of school.
Drawing on McGee (2013), I argued that when Black adolescents faced dilemmas that
caused them to be vulnerable to community-based threats, protective factors (e.g., being smart,
dressing a certain way, and having a friendly disposition) would afford them positive value of
school. I further argued that the value in students’ self-agency in regard to the utility of school
influenced the ways in which they perceived direct or indirect community and home messages
and swayed the meanings they took from the messages and ultimately embraced.
Drawing from Butler-Barnes et al. (2013), I argued that Black male adolescents required
structural supports to equal educational opportunities that would influence their life outcomes.
Thus, as Butler-Barnes et al. discovered that Black adolescents had positive regard for utility of
education but their lived realities differed; which I argued inadvertently suggested a negative
perception of the likeness that home and/ or community communications about the value of
school might influence the Black males value of school in a negative regard (e.g., it being
considered a pursuit that is hoped for but not a reality actualized).
With respect to Condition 4, I argued that at times when a Black adolescent male
perceived messages from individuals (e.g., family, extended) within his home to be negative in
addition to perceiving negative messages from neighborhood, community, and school that Black
adolescents might not value school. Drawing on the research from Levin et al. (2007) and
Nettles (1991), I argued that the structural community barriers (e.g., lack of jobs in the Black
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 138

urban community, lack of financial resources to the Black family structure, and lack of exposure
to quality academics/teachers/instruction) all influenced the ways in which Black adolescents
had access to social and economic capitals. These limited resources diminished their self-agency
and the value they saw in school even during times that they saw and heard individuals from
within their home and community environments promoting the positive aspects of school. I
argued that the negative direct and indirect messages the Black male adolescents experienced
within their respective communities devalued their self-perceptions.
Conclusion
This literature review explored the ways Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005)
bioecological systems and Bush and Bush’s (2013) African American Male Theory influenced
the ways in which Black adolescent males develop and actively perceive direct and indirect
messages from their home and community environments to influence the way they valued
school. The dynamics between the persons and places within these low SES environments are
complex opportunities to learn from individuals that live in these respective situations. I argued
being able to investigate how low SES Black adolescent males attending urban high school
perceived messages from their home, neighborhood, and community settings would offer insight
into the ways in which these individuals perceived their micro, meso, and ecosystem paradigms
to affect their academic and life outcomes. I argued that having an opportunity to interview
these adolescents as well as observe them in their home and community environments grants
lived experiences that would reflect the various factors of interpersonal relationships that can
only be experienced in their non-school environments. I argued it is important to gain
understanding of the low SES Black urban adolescent males’ self-worth with regard to his self-
prescription and how the ways he views self relates to school to answer my research questions
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 139

and to better understand the ways in which they value school. As literature on the ways in which
African-American youth transverse their non-school places exists, the ways in which previous
scholars addressed the Black adolescent males station in those places differed in rational,
perspectives of interest, and relevance to school. It was the goal of this research to contribute to
the literature regarding the ways in which low SES Black adolescent males attending urban high
school who identify as being African-American in pursuit of academic achievement receive
communications from persons and places in their non-school social cultural worlds to influence
the value placed on school.
Chapter Three includes a description of the rationale for the qualitative approach, the
research questions, sample/participant selection, interview techniques for Black adolescent
males, the protocol used, participant observation and artifacts, procedures for data collection and
data analysis (triangulation) methods I used to conduct the study, and a unit conclusion.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 140

CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
The purpose of this research was to understand how the implicit and explicit messages
low SES African-American urban adolescent males’ received from their home, neighborhood,
and community environments influenced their value of school, how African-American urban
adolescents made meaning of those messages, and the ways in which those messages shaped the
ways in which they navigated their daily realities. Maxwell (2013) affirmed the importance of
choosing a topic that one is passionate about is vital in order to support that person’s efforts with
seeing the research through completion. He supported the claim that a researcher’s ability to set
practical (something that is able to be accomplished), scholarly (ultimately being able to learn or
gain understanding form), and personal (internal interest) goals along this journey for his or her
study will motivate and support whether or not the researcher believes the study is worth doing.
Realistic goals along with a strong motivational interest are key factors that both Maxwell (2013)
and Merriam (2009) credit to adding value to this process; however, developing a research
question is not a task for the faint hearted. These all proved to be true in my case as I was
passionate about this topic and my passion sustained me through the most challenging and trying
parts of this process.
My investigation explored the importance of the interfamilial- and community-based
relationships on African-Americans urban adolescents’ ability to navigate their daily lives when
faced with the multi-dimensional spaces of which their development and affiliations with others
occur. The uniqueness of this study extends the investigation and contributes to the literature of
African-American urban adolescent males’ perceptions from that of the school setting to their
home, neighborhood, and community environments. Thus, this research was conducted in
participants’ non-school (e.g., home, neighborhood, and community) spaces. A Glossary of
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Terms is added for understanding of the ways in which terms were used in this study (see
Appendix A). This study was framed by the conceptual framework presented in Chapter Two. It
answered the following research questions:
Research Questions
Research Question 1: How do the messages urban high school age African-American
adolescent males receive from their home, neighborhood, and community influence the
value they place on school?
Research Question 2: How do the messages urban high school age African-American
adolescent males receive from their home and community influence the way they
navigate their realities and the value they place on school?
Research Question 3: How do the messages urban high school age African-American
adolescent males receive from school influence the value they place on school?
Research Design
A qualitative case study design was used to conduct this research as the interest in this
study was one of investigating the messages African-American adolescent males heard and
observed from their home environment and how their view of implicit and explicit messages
received influenced their value of school (e.g., do the messages and the youths’ internalization of
what is heard impact the reasons for choice, opinion, and/or motivation toward school?).
Bloomberg and Volpe (2015) insisted a “case study research makes use of deep and complex
interpretation, and presents an in-depth picture of the case (or cases) using narratives and visual
representation (tables, charts, figures, etc.)” (p. 117). Maxwell (2013) asserted the qualitative
design provides the researcher insights into the problem.
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A qualitative case study approach was used to collect data from nine participants.
Qualitative researchers tend to be constructivist in that they aim to seek what Merriam (2009)
asserted that researchers are interested in knowing “how people interpret their experiences, how
they construct their worlds and what meaning they attribute to their experiences” (p. 23). The
interest in the ways in which the nine urban high school age African-American adolescent males
experienced their social cultural worlds aligns with this design. As suggested by Merriam
(2009), a case study approach “is valued for its ability to capture complex action, perception, and
interpretation” (p. 44). Using this design allowed me the ability to evaluate nine individuals
collecting detailed information by means of interviews, participant observation, and artifacts to
collect data (Creswell, 2014; Merriam, 2009). Thus, through observations and interviews the
researcher constructs meaning through an engagement process with human beings regarding how
they interpret the world—from their personal perspectives. The underlining purposes of
qualitative research per Merriam (2009) “is to understand how people make sense of their lives
and their experiences” (p. 23). This design further allowed me the chance to experience each of
my participants in their non-school environments and offered rich descriptive content from their
sociocultural settings that helped inform the study’s conceptual framework.
The scope of my research interest was to understand the ways in which African-
American adolescent males’ constructed their reality through interactions with communications
they received from their outside-of-school worlds as this related to their value of school. I drew
on literature situating Black adolescents’ identity with regard to how their self-concepts were
influenced by their self-perceptions, culture, interactions with peers, school, community, and
parent agents to gain insight of their perceptions of the utility of school. As illustrated in the four
conditions of my conceptual framework, when low SES urban Black adolescent males who
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experienced positive communications about the value of school from home, neighborhood,
community, and school both valued and were engaged in school. Also, when these young men
who perceived positive communications about the value of school from home, negative or
positive communication about the value of school from neighborhood and community, and
negative communication about the value of school from school, that they would either have
positive or negative value of school. Next, when these low SES African-American adolescent
males perceived communications about the value of school to be negative communications from
home, experienced positive and/ or negative communications about the value of school from
neighborhood and community, and negative communication about the value of school from
school that they would have either negative or positive value of school. Lastly, when these
students expressed receiving negative communication about the value of school from home,
neighborhood, community, and school that they would have negative value of school.
Table 1 provides a visual depiction of each participant’s status in regards to how their
descriptive narratives situated them in the study’s conceptual framework.
Table 1
Participant Perception of Conceptual Framework Conditions from Social Cultural Settings

Participants

Social Cultural Settings
Value of School
Home Neighborhood Community School
Condition # 1

Saul
+ Home +Neighborhood +Community + School + Value of School
(engaged)

Zamir
+ Home +Neighborhood +Community + School + Value of School
(engaged)

Benjamin
+ Home +Neighborhood +Community + School + Value of School
(engaged)
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 144

Table 1 (Cont’d.)

Sample and Population
Nine Black adolescent males between the ages of 14 and 17-years-old, in the 9th through
12th grades, who resided and attended urban high schools within the southern Los Angeles
County basin were selected to participate in this study. Two participants were 9th graders, three
were 10th graders, three were 11th graders, and one was a 12th grader. Two of the students
attended charter schools. Seven of the boys attended traditional urban high schools. Of the
seven students that attended traditional urban high schools two attended high schools in the
northern section of Los Angeles County. One participant attended an urban high school in the
southern section of Los Angele County. Six of the participants attended urban high schools
within the central areas of Los Angeles County. Six of the nine participants resided in dense
urban communities in central Los Angeles County, two resided in dense northern Los Angeles
County, and one resided in the dense southern section of Los Angeles County.

Participants

Social Cultural Settings
Value of School
Home Neighborhood Community School
Condition # 2

Daniel
+ Home
- Neighborhood
+Community + School + Value of School
(engaged)

Josiah
+ Home +Neighborhood - Community + School + Value of School
(engaged)

Adin
+ Home - Neighborhood +Community + School + Value of School
(engaged)

Amos
+ Home +Neighborhood - Community + School + Value of School
(engaged)
Condition # 3

Andrew
- Home +Neighborhood - Community + School + Value of School
(engaged)
Condition # 4

Javan
- Home - Neighborhood - Community - School - Value of School
(not engaged)
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 145

Participant Selection
The effort of selecting African-American adolescents who attended urban high school
was a deliberate call to provide particular relevant information to my research questions. The
students age, requirement of attending a secondary school within their demographic resident
zone, self-identification (e.g., African-American and male), free and/ or reduced lunch status,
and parent classification all aligned with the study being situated. Thus, purposeful selection
sampling was conducted (Maxwell, 2013). Purposeful sampling is a process based on the belief
the researcher is interested in understanding, discovering, or gaining insight into (Merriam,
2009) and must therefore, in this case, select a sample of African-American urban adolescents.
Guiding the purposeful sampling selection criteria must be established (Merriam, 2009).
Criteria for this study consisted of students who identified as African-Americans males
between the ages of 14 to 18 who were born in America and have African-American ancestry
(one or both parents were African-American born in USA), attended an urban K-12 high school
(e.g., traditional, private, charter, alternative, and/ or continuation), received free and/ or reduced
lunch, and agreed to be audio recorded (see Appendix B). All nine participants agreed to be
audio recorded. Upon completion of their two interviews they were provided a $20 gift card.
Perspective participants for this study were selected by means of flyer distribution on
social media (e.g., flyer on LinkedIn and Facebook), through e-mail distribution, and word of
mouth to any individual that was aware of a person fitting the criteria, fit the criteria and/ or who
sought interest in the purpose of the study. Social media (informing network of this study to gain
possible participants engagement) and network sampling (use of individuals from my personal
network) (Merriam, 2009) was used to locate a few key participants who easily met the criteria
established for participation in this study. It is important to point out there was no limit in
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 146

geographic zoning of the participant to apply for this study as long as they resided within the 50
states in the Unites States of America and met the specific requirements of the study and were
African-American adolescent males that showed interest in the study. The selection of low SES
urban African-American adolescent males offered this study information rich cases about
students from historically disadvantaged environments (Merriam, 2009).
After a week of flyer distribution (see Appendix C), responses to the study immediately
began as interested parties inquired about the study, e-mails were returned, and conversations
regarding student interest (versus parent interest) occurred. The adolescent meeting the study’s
requirements was established by the screener interview (see Appendix D). Each person of
interest participated in the screener interview to determine whether or not he met the criteria for
the study. After the criteria was established, if the student was under 18 (which all of the
participants selected for the study were under the age of 18 at the time of their respective
interviews were conducted), a conversation with a parent or guardian took place about the study
as well, as consent and assent was required. Information pertaining to assent and consent and the
details of the study were shared as much as the participant required in order to ensure each
interested person fully understood what was requested and required of him (see Appendix B, E,
and F). Next, once the male verbally agreed to partake in the study, interviews were set
up. Still, this information had to be cross-referenced at the time of the interview. Challenges
presented with parents and students honoring the specific criteria for the study: I set up a few
interviews and upon arrival at the student’s home, it was determined that he attended a middle
school even though he answered yes to all of the screener questions and met the other remaining
criteria. Although this young man appeared very interested in the study, at the interview he was
informed that he did not meet the specific requirements of the study because of the type of
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 147

school he attended. Upon the initial in-person meeting, assent and consent was confirmed. All
paperwork was signed and documented prior to the interview taking place. Two copies of all
documentation was presented and completed at the initial interview; one copy was for the parent
and/ or guardian’s record.
Ten African-American adolescent males were originally included as subjects of interest.
However, one voluntarily withdrew after the first interview. My interest in this specific
population was in relationship to these adolescents’ closeness to meeting high school graduation
expectations and venturing to the next phase of work and/ or higher education. For logistical
purposes, this study was limited to urban high schools that might include private, charter, and/ or
alternative educational settings (e.g., specific emphasis was with regard to student’s
socioeconomic status to maintain the urban perspective at a time when perspective participants
might attend other high school settings with variation in student family incomes). All nine
participants received free and/ or reduced lunch. The guideline for their family households was
determined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines (2015) as
shown in Table 2. The income focus was that of adolescents from low income family
households (e.g., parents do not have full time employment, earn low wage jobs, students receive
free or reduced lunch).
All nine students had both their mother and/ or father actively present in their lives, with
the exception of one student who was in a ward of the court. Their family structure consisted of
the following: five of the nine students’ parents were married; two of the nine students’ parents’
never married and were separated; one of the nine participants’ parents was divorced, and one
student’s parents were unknown. Thus, a total of 17 parents and/ or guardian were connected to
this study of which the students referenced. Of the 17 parents referenced, the following is their
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 148

Table 2

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines 2015

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines, (2015, Table entitled 2015
Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia)

educational status. Eleven of the parents attended and earned a high school diploma. One parent
attended a community college. Two parents had earned a 4-year college degree. Two parents
earned Master’s Degree. Two parents’ education was unknown.
Instrumentation and Data Collection Procedures
The importance of interviews allowed for understanding of the ways in which each
participant interpreted the world around them. The purpose of the interview was to allow this
researcher into the participant’s perspective (Patton, 2002).
Interview Protocol
Interview protocol is a form used by a qualitative researcher for recording and writing
down information obtained during an interview (Creswell, 2014). Creating the protocol was
framed around the study’s conceptual framework, research questions, and literature review. The
construction of the protocol for this study was established over a two-week period prior to IRB.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2015
Persons in Family/
Household

Poverty Guidelines
1 $11,170
2 $15,930
3 $20,090
4 $24,250
5 $28,410
6 $32,570
7 $36,730
8 $40,890
For families/households with more than 8 persons add $4,780 for each additional person
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 149

To ensure the integrity of this qualitative study, I created my research protocol in
alignment with Merriam’s (2009) guide to design and implementation practices and Patton’s
(2002) research and evaluation methods. Both of these bodies of literature offered essential
guidelines for interview guides (e.g., open-ended, semi-structured) and types of questions
specific to exploring various facets of research. More specialized for my study were questions
relating to my research questions and the conceptual framework for this study that looked at:
behaviors, experiences, opinions, values, feelings, knowledge, sensory data, and demographics
(Patton, 2002). Attention was given to the working of questions, and clarity of the questions
with the assistance of my Chair. Thus, this offered an in-depth protocol where the participants
were able to offer thick information that emerged from the rich data collected in this study.
Fifty-nine semi-structured strategically planned questions were created to allow for
flexibility in responses (Merriam, 2009). Thus, a thorough examination of the types of questions
in relationship to the aforementioned frame was cross referenced by all three of my committee
members as specific knowledge was requested from all respondents in efforts to provide rich
data regarding their home, neighborhood, community, school, peer, adults, self-perception, drive,
higher education, and future life plans. Questions of this nature all offered plentiful dialogue that
assisted in answering the study’s research questions. The specialized interview protocol was
used to probe as well as document participants’ responses (see Appendix G). Although the
interviews were the same for all participants, their respective responses differed based on their
connection and experience to the questions asked (e.g., some students were able to discuss a
sport affiliation if they played; others could not weigh-in if they did not).
To collect the data, I held six two-part and three single sitting, face-to-face, in-depth semi
structured open-ended interviews that lasted for approximately 60-75 minutes each. Prior to
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each interview the participant was reminded he could share an artifact for consideration of the
participant’s time. This also allowed him an opportunity to invest time in selecting a document
of preference to share. Each interviewee, as a mandate of their study, agreed to be audio-
recorded. Following each interview, all participants were debriefed to address possible concerns
regarding disclosure of sensitive content shared (Merriam, 2009)
Interviews
Each interview started with an introduction of self and purpose of the study. A reminder
of the compensation for participation, confidentiality, alternative to participate and right to
research parading or research in general was discussed as well. All interviews were audio-
recorded and transcribed. Each participant met face-to-face for interviews for an estimated (60-
75 minutes. An in-depth protocol was used to ask and guide topics discussed (see Appendix G).
In six cases, the interview process required two visits. The other three instances, the entire
protocol (three interviews) took place in one sitting. This decision was driven by the preference
of the participant. Following each interview, the researcher used reflective memo technique to
record impressions and ideas reported during the interview conversations (see Appendix H)
(Merriam, 2009).
The first interviews consisted of a semi-structured interview where the Black male
adolescent answered questions about the specific direct and indirect message he experienced. In
these open-ended interviews, structure allowed for a format where the African-American
adolescent males had the chance to talk about the various facets of their outside-of-school lives
in relation to the value they placed on school. The first portion of the interview addressed
specific questions that explored their thoughts about their inner-school relationships with
teachers, staff, peers, and outside-of-school peers. The next interview addressed the non-school
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NON-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 151

setting of home, community, neighborhood, and inner drive/desire. The last portion of the
interview offered the students an option to share an artifact and explain how that selected
document related to them and the ways in which they came to place value on school. Responses
to these questions were all intended to provide insight on how these urban low SES African-
American males perceived their self-agency, family, school, and community to influence the
value they placed on school.
The purpose of the structure of the interview protocol was intended for the investigator to
experience these students’ out- and inner-school spaces through their respective lens. For
example, the interview protocol was strategically arranged to answer the questions desired—
questions about participants’ family conditions; what they heard from specific persons or group
about school; if they were in trouble, who would help them and what would that look like. The
interest was in how questions of this nature shaped their values. Also, seeking to understand
what their future employment opportunities or interest within the community they affiliated with
were examples of questions discussed. Questions of this nature assisted with understating what
these African-American adolescent males perceived to be positive and/ or negative direct or
indirect messages from their home, neighborhood, and/ or environments. As well as those direct
and indirect messages that had been established within their school setting amongst various
individuals across both the non-school and inner-school settings as both worlds and those
interactions within those spaces influenced the ways in which these Black male adolescents
valued school (Bronfenbrenner, 2005; Phelan et al., 1996).

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Artifact Documents
Merriam (2009) suggested documents assist the researcher “uncover meaning, develop
understanding, and discover insights relevant to the research problem” (Merriam, 2009, p. 163).
The use of artifacts in this study was for the purpose of added data in the form of communication
of personal connection each participant related to experiences and associations to home,
neighborhood, community, and/ or school. The goal was to understand how these individuals
made sense of their lives and worlds (Merriam, 2009). Using these adolescent-provided artifacts
(e.g., trophies, awards, certificates, report cards, documents indicating their high school status
via credits, school projects, pictures of family/self, newspaper articles, yearbook, letters of
recommendation, letters from sports, volunteer and/ or work assignments) were examples of
forms of documents that could assist in determining how they perceived, made meaning, and
constructed association to things that they believed related to the value they placed on school.
Eight of the nine participants shared an artifact and discussed its relevance after the final
interview was conducted. The artifacts consisted of three report cards, four trophies, a letter, and
one phone case. One participant opted to not share an artifact. Of the three participants who
shared report cards, they all related past underperformance to current performance and stationed
their progress to collective will and endurance in relationship to meeting their respective value
associations of school. The four participants that shared their respective trophies did so with
regard to team effort, commitment, endurance, agency, collective effort, outside afflictions,
validation of efforts, power of mentorship, and served as reminders of their ultimate goal of
playing their respective sport at the college or professional level. All four participants who
shared trophies had earned them in pop-warner activities. Still, their trophies were reminders
that they still valued as high school students as those merits served as reminders of what was
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possible. One participant shared a letter he submitted for a scholarship and his color-guard
merits. His expressions of pride related to an area of weakness (e.g., he struggled with reading
and required others to type his thoughts and the other with regard to his commitment to military
discipline such was his rankings). The final participant that shared an artifact showcased his
phone cover and associated meaning to a popular celebrity from humble beginnings. This
participant was able to connect his lived reality in relationship to this person and determined if he
made it out of the neighborhood, worked for success, that he too could do it. Also, he tied the
symbol on the phone cover to his spirituality and mentioned it served as a guide in the ways in
which he made daily decisions that could impact his life.
Qualitative Observation
My position as an observer in this study was defined by Creswell’s (2014) definition of a
qualitative observer. He designated the qualitative observation through the posture of the
researcher taking “field notes on the behavior and activities of individuals at the research site and
record[ing] it” (Creswell, 2014, p. 190). A total of 15 observations were completed for this
study. During each observation, comments were made as the observation progressed from the
initial entry to the end. Likewise, the unstructured commentary that was written showcased what
I observed, heard, thoughts about participants, activities, position of participant and researcher,
and drew images of setting and artifacts if shared directly on the interview protocols. These
observations occurred simultaneously during conversations with each participant, which allowed
them to freely provide their views (Creswell, 2014). All of the data collected in this process
contributed to the ways in which I made sense and applied meaning to the excerpts shared by
each participant and their respective interviews.
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During the preliminary stages of data analysis and following each interview I wrote field
notes. Additionally, I used a reflective memo technique after each interview to begin in the
analysis process while still in the field (Maxwell, 2013). These reflections offered high
descriptions about each participant, their behaviors, their environments, my reaction to the
environment/to the participant, and the activities that I observed (Merriam, 2009). The reflective
memos captured my observer commentary that was logged in margins, which showed
interpretation, speculations, hunches, and overall thoughts about the people and places during
that window (Merriam, 2009). Often times, areas of questions to wrestle with regarding the
study’s conceptual framework and the research questions brewed. A substantial amount of time
was spent focusing on the depth of the information gained in each interview and with
opportunities during data collection sessions to review field notes and memos as I progressed
through the research that allowed me to plan for leads in the next data-collection session
(Merriam, 2009).
Data Analysis Procedures
Corbin and Strauss’ (2008) strategies for qualitative data analysis were used to guide the
analysis phase. Specifically, focus was given to the discussions of practice applying to the data
in the following areas: the use of questioning, making comparisons, thinking about the various
meanings of a word, using the flip-flop technique, drawing upon personal experience, waving the
red flag, looking at the language, looking at emotions that are expressed and the situations that
aroused them, looking for words that indicate time, thinking in terms of metaphors and similes,
looking for the negative case, “So what?” and “what if?,” and looking at the structure of the
narrative and how it is organized in terms of the time or some other variable. After eight weeks
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in the field collecting data, 16 total interviews were completed (only 15 were used in this study
as one participant voluntary ended his participation after the first interview).
Transcription
I transcribed some of interviews as well as had all of the interviews professionally
transcribed. On several occasions, I reviewed all transcripts thoroughly and in relationship to the
audio recording. Likewise, by linking my hand written notes to the transcripts I created a
comprehensive log of what was discussed and observed during each respective interview. The
revisit of the recording both infused the voices I heard and captured an integrative perspective of
all narrative shared by participants before and after the interviews. Also, it was important to
review the transcriptions several times in order to gain deep insight into the meanings behind the
participants’ words. By immersing myself in data analysis I was able to develop a keen
familiarity with all of the participants’ stories. This allowed me a holistic understanding of their
thoughts and enabled me to provide detailed description of the experiences shared during data
collection in my presentation of the findings. Similarly, having audio-recorded all of the
interviews offered means to reflect on the narratives and to ensure what each participant shared
was verbatim. Over 250 pages of transcriptions documented all of the dialogue from the nine
participants and contributed robust data for analysis.
Coding
Following the transcription of the interviews I coded the data. Being mindful of the
study’s conceptual framework, I established categories that aligned with my protocol that
provided insight to my research questions. Creating a case study database helped organize,
arrange, and guide analysis where I could examine the meaning of conditions established in my
conceptual framework.
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Merriam (2009) asserted the data collection and analysis processes is an ongoing effort.
Guiding this qualitative study was the study’s conceptual framework that was used to analyze
data from interviews, observations, and artifacts of African-American adolescent males within
their home and community settings. Thus, the nine participants sampled offered robust
narratives. From the stories shared, the large amount of information gathered required data
management in order to code. Merriam (2009) suggested coding is the process of assigning a
short hand designation (e.g., words, numbers, phrases, colors) to aspects of your data in order to
easily retrieve pieces of data as needed.
I hand coded the data because I believed it was the best way to deeply immerse myself in
the participants’ stories. By engaging in multiple cycles of coding (Creswell, 2014), I was able
to gain deep understanding of each young man’s experience (Creswell, 2014). The goal of
coding was to organize data to be able to make sense of the data collected to answer the research
questions in this study (Merriam, 2009). This required moving back and forward between
concrete and abstract concepts learned through interpreting, reducing, and consolidating
information obtained from participants. I conducted several phases of coding from the readings
of all nine participant transcripts from the interviews, comparing field notes, observations, and
abstracts for thorough triangulation of the material presented.
Coding was completed in phases. According to Creswell (2012) the first process of open
coding (generating categories of information) was completed during the initial phase of making
sense of the data. I was able to bracket the data corpus, review it thoroughly in efforts to search
for key relationships among the different forms of data. This helped with the goal of developing
initial empirical assertions. The next phase of coding, axial coding (selecting one of the
categories and positioning it within a theoretical model) was completed. Initial assertions were
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then organized for narrower perspective. Then, the phase of selective coding (explicating a story
from the interconnection of these categories) emerged as the meaning making of the data
continued. The goals were to identify the important and useful information gathered to develop
categories when interpreting and reflecting on the meaning of codes determined. The more the
data was reviewed, assertions were tested and evidence was either confirmed or disconfirmed.
The narrower the coding, major themes and subthemes were reconstructed and contextualized
according to my research questions and conceptual framework. Finally, along with triangulating
my data throughout data collection and analysis, I was able to employ member checking from
participants for clarity and my committee members for feedback on final themes identified with
my overarching findings for this study.
Figure 2 is an illustration of the data display created that assisted with making meaning
and/ organizing the data in relationship to the study’s conceptual framework. This chart located
codes and offered verbatim excerpts from the narrative of an individual participant. The excerpts
were discussions that were directly pulled from each participants transcribed interviews. The
method of locating communication that the participant discussed and making meaning of it being
either positive and/ or negative communication from the people and/ or spaces and places within
his social cultural worlds situated what type of message and the value of the message from each
participant’s perspective. Nine of these thorough data displays were created and collectively
bound for intense cross case analysis. The outcome of this effort allowed for organization and
position of dialogue in relationship to the weight of the communications being determined as
positive and/ or negative communication. This a deliberate and very important part of the
meaning making of the communications shared. This specific part of the process was the
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determinant that allowed for each of the nine participants to be situated in one of the four
conditions noted in the study’s conceptual framework.
Managing Data
In a similar effort, the creation of both electronic and physical organization was used to
manage the data for this study as hand coding was the primary method of making sense of the
data. Organizing the data with charts, various notebooks, and creating readers allowed for easy
access to the data as it was all done via hand management versus computer coding program. The
creation of tables and folders (e.g., specific to coding, analysis, field notes, reflective memos,
observations, transcriptions, visual displays) all allowed for easy access of data electronically.
Also, with regard to hand coding physical binders and readers that collectively offered visual
displays of the coding process, a station of the observations, concept maps, data displays, and
codebooks all provided ease with accessing and locating material for analysis. As such, each
participant’s transcriptions were organized in a three ring binder allowing for initial raw coding
and triangulation with reflective memos and observations. While simultaneously being
immersed in the data transcriptions and audio recording, I narrowed the coding. Thus, the
creation of data display documents was created to see the participant’s responses in relationship
to the positive and negative communications that they discussed.
This allowed for a weighted lens of all nine of the participants’ perspective in relationship
to the types of communications they heard. This type of organization of the data also identified
the messengers delivering the communications and how their interpersonal connections, whether
implicitly or explicitly shared, influenced how they expressed those communications, understood
the communications, and value these students placed on school.

CODES Positive Messages CODES Negative Messages
TAS; PAHS

Message
that school
is important
and that
one’s
interest or
inner assets
can lead to
careers and
other life
options.
Eleventh... [Prep Academy]. Three years. Well, my
mom, she moved out here to L.A. We used to stay out
there in [Victoria Hills]. [Victoria Hills] and [Chester]. I
stayed in [Jefferson County], by the way, too. I started
going to [Prep Academy]. I heard about the JROTC
cadet program. I heard that it was a good program. You
know, I wasn't really that smart in school, so I was
thinking that maybe I could have the Army on my side
too, so say if I want to do something else in my life, I
can always choose to go to some type of military branch.
I joined the JROTC program. Now I'm the battalion
executive officer, Cadet Major [Ward].
TAC-N
Message that
no matter your
involvement
that being a
Black teenager
in the hood
that you can
lose your life.

I really don't know. [John] told me, once again, because I
hang out with that kid a lot. No. No, he's always walked that
way after. He was always telling me not to walk the alleys. A
JROTC cadet. Yeah, he was a JROTC cadet. He was ... he
was the one right on my side, always working out with me.
Yes. He went to [Kep, San Diego], if I'm not mistaken. No,
he's a graduate.
TAS; TAC-
N
Message that
he moved a
lot. That
possibly he
didn’t fit in
I went to three middle schools. Not a bad thing. The first
middle school I was to was [Pope MS]. The second one
was ... what is it ...[Kennedy MS]. It's right behind
[Victoria Hills] High School. It was a brand-new school,
only 200 kids there. After that, my mom moved out here.
I went to [Bird Middle School]. Since I was the new kid
... which they call it the new booty on the block ... I
didn't really hang out like that. I went straight home
or whatever.
TAC-N
Message that
bad things
happen to
people in his
neigh. That
people come
and go. That
your life is not
valued. That
people like him
get killed on a
daily basis.
That life is a
hustle. That
people are
trying to
survive. That
just playing
outside you
can become a
victim of
crime. That
life is a war.
The environment. I'd say the neighborhood. It's more
deadly. Thoughts about his experience in Los Angeles Well,
I've seen a lot of stuff happen here. People come and go.
Like in a death way. Since I've lived here, I've seen about
three people come and go. Right here on this block, by
the way.

Close friends. As a kid right there, it was once upon a time
that we were out there playing basketball, and my mom had
called me in. She had told me to come in the house, you
know, "Daniel, get in the house," or whatever. I came in, got
on my phone, started counting my money. I wasn't like
selling or anything, I was just counting my money because
that's what I used to always do.

Next thing you know, I heard gunshots. I was used to
them so I was like, "Oh, it's no big deal." I just
remembered that he was still outside, which is [Joe]. I
came out here, he was like this. I remember I thought he
was checking himself, so I was like, "Where's [Ben]?"
That's his little brother, and he looked at me. He could barely
talk. He could barely speak. He was like, you know, "I got
shot."
I didn't know what to do at that point, so when he was
falling, I grabbed him and I carried him across the street
Figure 2. Example of Coding Document.
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PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 160

At the same time, a narrower approach to coding and meaning making of the data was evolving.
Next, the creation of narrative summaries was generated for analysis. The extensive narrative
memo summary provided individual high descriptive assessments of each student respective to
their responses. I wrote reflections of each participant for the continued mapping of the data
collected. The use of the narrative summaries also offered a picture of non-school-based
community experiences. It illuminated these young men’s feelings about their neighborhood,
personhood, their knowledge, thoughts about school, parents, and provided depictions of their
involvement, behaviors, and actions.
Following, while constantly probing the problem a comparison of the codebook, data
displays, charts, transcripts, observations, and artifacts were assessed in relation to the study’s
overarching research question and the study’s conceptual framework. The more refined
categories evolved as these unique categories (e.g., non-school setting: home, biological
kinships, etc.) presented patterns in the data. At this juncture decision to narrow the scope of the
data presented. Outlines for answering Research Question One was created. Following the same
depth of analysis means of constantly probing the problem and reflecting on my research
question my second research question evolved.
This inductive questioning allowed for the analysis of my findings to evolve from open
coding through axial coding that assisted with the original generation of five themes emerging in
Research Question One and four themes emerging in Research Question Two. However, after
more in-depth analysis of themes that presented, a shift in relationship to the study’s conceptual
framework occurred, excluding identity and positioning youth personhood in relationship to self-
perceptions and individual agency. This perspective colored the idea of how these urban
African-American males’ self-concept and perceptions about self and the ways in which they
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 161

consciously selected individuals to connect with that aligned with their pursuit of school.
Likewise, the way these youths saw themselves offered understanding of the value they
associated to school. With understanding the data more, it offered a clear understanding as to
what their assets presented as the majority of the participants were able to organize their efforts
and personhood in relation to school. Thus, a third research question evolved. Respondents
frequently discussed their relationship with their schools, either through their discussion of their
relationships with teachers, peers, or school staff. This might be unique to the type of students
who were sampled for this study. Five of the nine participants were athletes. As such their
athletic investment started in elementary school. Four of the five athletes were members of their
respective high school varsity sports teams as their athletic efforts were intentionally connected
to the school placement, opportunities for college and professional sports post high school. With
this being said, all five of these participants were connected in various ways to their inner-school
culture.
The analysis process was very inductive and from a constructivist perspective.
According to Creswell (2014), the constructivist view believes people:
1. construct meanings as they engage with the world they are interpreting;
2. engage with their world and make sense of it based on their meaning bestowed
upon us by our culture or setting of the participants through visiting the context and
gathering information personally;
3. The basic generation of meanings is always social, arising in and out of interactions
with a human community. (p. 9)
As a qualitative researcher with a constructivist world view, three perspectives unique to
this study presented: (1) the use of open-ended questions was used and allowed participants to
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 162

share their views. Additionally, as a qualitative researcher I (2) sought to understand the context
and the setting of each participant by conducting my research in their lived realities. This
allowed for observations and gathering of information personally in their non-school worlds
providing me the opportunity to interpret what I found and shaped the experience in relationship
to the students’ lived spaces. And, (3) as this research inquiry was inductive I was able to
generate meaning from all the data collected in the field (Creswell, 2014). Therefore, as
continued analysis emerged a third and final research question emerged from the data collected.
The study ended with three research questions with five themes emerging under Research
Question One; three themes emerging under Research Question Two; and one theme emerging
under Research Question Three.
Limitations
When conducting case study research, the design in itself presents possible limitations
(Merriam, 2009). Limitations regarding reliability, validity, and generalizability present as well.
With respect to selected adolescents for the study, a portal for response was used depending on
who connected first and met the requirements of the study. Creswell (2014) insisted
“participants can be selected who have certain characteristics that predispose them to have
certain outcomes (e.g., they are brighter)” (Creswell, 2014, p. 175). Challenges presented too if
students were selected from designated locations (e.g., church, community centers, and sports
affiliated teams). I was sure to diversify my sample to acquire as much variation as possible in
order to hear as many voices of people who fit the criteria of my study.
In addition, I cannot guarantee the honesty of my respondents. I trusted the information
given to me by my participants in the study. I cannot promise that my subjects were honest,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 163

trustworthy, or that they agreed to stay with the research to its completion (e.g., one student
voluntarily backed out after the first interview).
I did not consider the perspectives of students who attended other types of schools and I
did not attempt to include students who were known to be disconnected from school. For
example, no one from a private or alternative school was sampled. There was no way to predict
whether a student more disconnected from school would have been willing to participate in this
study to get his take on how he viewed school. Depending on the type of student selected for
this study the outcomes could have been different.
Likewise, I was sensitive to the time allotted for each interview and the participant’s
willingness to engage in answering the protocol questions. Also, it was important that I took into
consideration the ages of my participants. All of the participants were under the age of 18 and
required parent consent. As such, five of the nine participant interviews were conducted in the
proximity of the student’s parent and/ or guardian. Their responses could have been different if
their parents were not directly present.
There was no way to determine which location directly impacted student value or non-
value of school. Further research could situate the physical perspectives of investigation more
specific to home, community, and school for example.
Lastly, with regard to cultural bias and access, my presence alone as the primary
instrument during data gathering could have affected my participants’ responses. Being a Black
woman could have influenced the fact that I was allowed in some of these family’s intimate
spaces. For example, during one interview, the interview took place in the midst of a disabled
mother who had all of her medical and personal care items in a congested space. Never minding
the home environment or person’s physical state, the parent accommodated my request and
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 164

invited me into the home regardless as the family sought importance of the study. My access to
these narratives and being allowed into very personal spaces of some of the families could have
been in relationship to “I am as a Black woman familiar with the culture of the community.”
Delimitations
This study specifically focused on urban African-American adolescent males between the
ages of 14 to 18 years old and their perceptions about the implicit and explicit messages they
heard and observed within their home, neighborhood, community, and school environments.
The goal was to learn from the ways in which these communications influenced their value of
school. It was the intention of the researcher to sample individuals from various external
(outside of school) settings (e.g., community organizations, those attending public/charter/and
alternative educational settings, church, within the community) to maximize variation. Being a
Black woman studying Black adolescents my personal biases could influence this study.
Practicing empathic neutrality and other systematic scientific approaches directed for qualitative
research design lessened these chances. I did not study adult Black men as my interest was one
of understanding how African-American adolescents who were closest to meeting high school
graduation requirements with possible opportunities to pursue higher learning was the area of
focus. An area of interest was to understand what they knew in high school to bridge future life
success post high school. Interviewing urban based high school age Black adolescents provided
me that viewpoint as they were still school age. Likewise, interviewing participants in their non-
school setting allowed me to physically observe and experience their environment of inquiry.
The participants’ school-based performance or community dealings were not required to be
witnessed. Sample participants were asked to share artifacts that the researcher could assess and
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 165

use in collaboration with the enriched protocol that presented purposeful questions to ascertain
necessary dialogue to answer the research questions.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
The researcher is the primary instrument in qualitative research (Merriam, 2009). Thus,
as the sole instrument in this process it was imperative that I provide a heighten level of care and
sensitivity to the integrity of this process. Equally, I was conscious of my profession and ethnic
composition in relation to this study. I provided keen attention to the possible personal biases as
a Black woman studying African-American adolescent males. Second, my profession as a
school psychologist with over 18 years’ experience working with youth and families in the K-12
setting as a teacher and in various administrative capacities my comfort with establishing rapport
was seamless. Also, my experience and extensive training with providing effective services to
assist children and youth succeed academically, behaviorally, socially, and emotionally provided
a layered perspective of being able to consider the entire adolescent in a humanist frame.
Furthermore, my expertise in conducting effective decision making with use of foundation of
assessment and data collection through interviews, observations, and extensive analysis with
psychoeducational assessments supported my ease with unraveling and making sense of the data.
Being the primary instrument in the data collection process and analysis it was important
that I was aware of my personal biases for my personal prejudices can affect the results of my
research (Merriam, 2009). Thus, I engaged in certain practices that ensured the credibility and
trustworthiness of my findings. The strategies used for this study allowed triangulation from the
data collected via a variety of methods (e.g., interviews, qualitative observations, artifacts)
(Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2013). I made sure my research questions aligned with the in-
depth protocols (open-ended and semi-structured), asked the relevant questions that answered my
research questions, and addressed the four conditions within my conceptual framework.
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In efforts to ensure internal validity triangulation of the data within sources, cross-checking data
collected through observations at different times, in different places, from interview data
collected from Black male adolescent participants with different perspectives, being able to
follow-up with participants prior to exiting the field via a final interview with the same
individuals offered diverse methods to member check and seek data that offer alternative
explanations would all increase credibility (Merriam, 2009). I member checked with my Chair
and other committee member during all stages of data analysis. Also, the in-depth interviews
provided rich information that allowed for thick descriptions from the interviews to be written in
analytic memos. This allowed me to check my reactions, biases and assess my initial perspective
about the study. The narrative summaries also offered transparency as well as increased
transferability of the findings across all cases. Use of multiple theories: I collected rich,
descriptive data. I spent a substantial amount of time with each participant to ensure that I had
reached saturation of the data. The goal was to be clear that at that juncture sampling more data
did not lead to more information related to answering the research questions of this study. Once
I determined that no additional data was available that could lead to new categories and the
relationships between the categories were disentangled and echoed the four conditions of the
conceptual framework, then no new themes emerged.
The value in data collection via the interviews allowed the participant and the researcher
the opportunity to engage in focused conversation regarding the overarching research question
related to the study (Merriam, 2009). The study was not set up to thoroughly observe these
students within their daily experiences. In fact, interviews were deemed the most appropriate
and allowed me to elicit the participants’ intensive perspectives. However, documents were
evaluated and qualitative observations occurred. The documents’ and observations’ usefulness
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 167

will be explained in the later sections of data collection. All three techniques of interviews,
documents, and observations allowed triangulation of analysis as it was built into the data
collection process while I constantly referred to all of my data sources to confirm and disconfirm
my findings.
Ethics
The University of Southern California Institutional Review Board (IRB) guidelines
required potential researchers go through a process where methods, questions, and interviews
were examined when researching human subjects are involved. In compliance with the IRB
process, participants received protocols, material, or information about the purpose of this study
and were offered an informed consent that they signed; for participants under the age of 18 years
old, their parent or guardian received an informed consent to sign. Likewise, confidentiality was
a valued concept in this process. According to Creswell (2014), it is important for researchers to
protect the participants and guard against personal disclosure and other improprieties. With this
being established, confidentially was protected by using pseudonyms and abbreviations instead
of identifying participants by their name or actual place or school of attendance. Also, all
identifying information was only identifiable to the researcher during data collection, analysis,
and final reporting. All storage of data on my computer was password protected. The offer of a
gift of $20 gift card was an appreciation token not an incentive.
Conclusion
This chapter presented the research design and rationale for the study. In addition, the
purposeful recruitment of African-American adolescent males that met the sample criteria for the
study. Then an explanation of ethical practice in relation to IRB and this study as well as for the
instrumentation and data collection provided a step-by-step assessment of the process. Next,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 168

descriptive data analysis process was shared that offered strategies used to ensure credibility and
trustworthiness of the findings that merged was presented of this study. The finding from this
study is presented in Chapter Four. The recommendations for practice, policy, and further
research follow in Chapter Five.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 169

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
You put a textbook in front of these kids, put a problem on the blackboard, teach them
every problem in some statewide test, it won’t matter. None of it. ‘Cause they’re not
learning for our world; they’re learning for theirs. They know exactly what it is they’re
training for and what it is everyone expects them to be. It’s not about you or us or the
test or the system. It’s what they expect of themselves. Every single one of them know
they’re headed back to the corners. Their brothers and sisters, shit, their parents. They
come through these same classrooms. We pretend to teach them, they present to learn
and where’d they end up? Same damn corners. They’re not fools, these kids. They
don’t know our world but they know their own. They see right through us. (Howard
“Bunny” Colvin, a fictional character; Simon, Burns, Johnson, & Van Patten, 2002-2008)
The purpose of this research study was to explore the views of nine low-income urban
high school age African-American males. The focus was on the value they placed on school and
the ways in which they navigated their daily realities as a result of influences of the implicit and
explicit messages communicated in their out-of-school environments. The first three chapters of
this dissertation situated the importance of this study. Chapter One provided an introduction of
historical discrimination and marginalization of African-Americans, their experiences with
academic attainment, and the problem, purpose, methods, and significance of the study. Chapter
Two offered a review of the literature encompassing Black identity in relationship to the Black
males’ self-concept/self-perception, and cultural values in relationship to school, resilience, the
role of the parent in African-American male school success, and the influence of home and
community on African-American school outcomes. Chapter Three offered the methodological
design used for this study.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 170

I begin by revisiting my conceptual framework. Next, the contextual setting for the case
will be presented in relation to the research question(s) and conceptual framework. Then, an
examination of these adolescents lived community spaces will be briefly described in efforts to
understand the unique urban environments that shape these adolescents’ thought processes,
behaviors, interactions between persons, the practices they employ to make decisions and direct
their actions to survive their realities, and their utility to pursue school. Then I turn my attention
to the findings for this study. All findings presented are supported from data collected and
evidenced through thorough analysis to answer the following three research questions for this
study:
Research Question 1: How do the messages urban high school age African-American
adolescent males receive from their home, neighborhood, and community influence the
value they place on school?
Research Question 2: How do the messages urban high school age African-American
adolescent males receive from their home and community influence the way they
navigate their realities and the value they place on school?
Research Question 3: How do the messages urban high school age African-American
adolescent males receive from school influence the value they place on school?
Revisiting the Conceptual Framework
Drawing from Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1986) bioecological systems theory and Bush and
Bush (2013) African American Male Theory, this inquiry was framed for the purpose of learning
how urban economically disadvantaged high school age Black adolescent males through their
interrelations between persons (e.g., family members, extended family, peer affiliates, school-
based staff, and others) in their social cultural spaces (e.g., their respective micro-, meso-, and
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 171

exosystems milieus) made meaning of the implicit and explicit messages communicated directly
or indirectly and how those meanings translated into the value they placed on school.
Bronfenbrenner (1979) established a multi-layered bioecological framework that postured
various forms of influences from external settings and the fluid nature of interactions between
humans in their social cultural worlds that contributed to the ways in which humans come to
grow, develop and experience the worlds in which they live. Thus, it is within the layers of the
micro, meso, and exosystem structures, that the complex social interstices of these Black
adolescents’ home, neighborhood, community, and school dwellings that these communications
were experienced in this study.
The cultural norms and codes experienced by these nine young men were communicated
through their homes, neighborhoods, communities, and schools. By investigating the cultural
norms and codes I was able to gain insight into the relationship between intentional and
unintentional messages and the value they each placed on school. In my conceptual framework,
I argued the meaning an urban low SES African-American high school age male internalized as a
result of the messages he experienced within both his in-school and out-of-school settings caused
him to become more aware of: a) his situation in relation to long term life outcomes (Allen,
2013; Land et al., 2014; Williams & Bryan, 2013), b) the role of school in accomplishing those
outcomes, c) the way he navigated his life on a daily basis (e.g., made choices and directed his
actions), and d) the value he placed on school (Allen, 2013; McGee, 2013). Here, I revisit the
four conditions of my conceptual framework as they are situated in four provisions that
determined how these participants recognized the intended meaning of the direct and/ or indirect
messages they heard and saw within their home, neighborhood, community, and school
environments to shape the value they placed on school. Condition 1: Student perceive positive
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 172

messages from home communication about school; plus positive neighborhood and community
messages about school; plus student perceive positive messages from school = positive value of
school. Condition 2: Student perceive positive messages from home communication about
school; plus positive or negative messages from neighborhood and community about school; plus
student perceive negative messages from school = positive or negative value of school.
Condition 3: Student perceive negative messages from home, plus negative and/ or positive
messages about school from neighborhood and community; Student perceive positive messages
from school = positive and/ or negative value of school. Condition 4: Student perceive negative
messages from home about school, plus student receives negative messages from neighborhood
and community about school; Student perceive negative messages from school = negative value
of school. Table 1 illustrated the pseudonyms, social cultural setting the conditions of all nine
young men, and their value of school.
Background of Participants
Nine African-American male adolescent students who identified as African-American,
male, were between the ages of 14 to 17 years old, received free and/ or reduced lunch, agreed to
be audio recorded, and attended and lived within the school zone of an urban high school were
recruited to participate in one to two semi-structured in-depth interviews within their non-school
environments. The goal of this method was to better understand how these urban Black school
age adolescents’ social cultural worlds, those environments they spent the majority of their time
in (Decker & Decker, 2000), shaped their perceptions of school and the ways they lived their
daily lives.
Hence, the participants in this study experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and/ or thoughts
about implicit messages heard and/ or overtly seen within their respective homes, neighborhood,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 173

and community were places and spaces that profoundly affected the way they came to place
value on school. Likewise, the ways in which the communications received influenced how they
made choices and directed their actions in their day-to-day lives in pursuit of education was
considered in relationship to the value they placed on school.
All nine participants resided in urban areas across Los Angeles County. More specific to
these adolescents’ community dwellings, six of the nine participants resided in the inner-city
urban area of the denser city limits of Los Angeles. Two of the nine participants resided in urban
areas located in northern Los Angeles County. One of the nine participants resided in the inner-
city urban area within the southern section of the county (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Dense Urban Living

Urban Inner-
City Los
Angeles
County (6)
Urban Dense
Northern Los
Angeles County (2)
Urban Dense
Southern Los
Angeles County (1)
Urban Community Living
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 174

Participants’ School Profiles
All nine participants attended public high schools. Four of the nine participants attended
traditional public high schools within the largest urban school district zone in the county. Two
of the nine participants attended public independent charter schools within that same geographic
area. Two of the nine participants attended traditional high schools within the northern end of
Los Angeles County. One of the nine participants attended a traditional public high school
within the southern end of Los Angeles County. Four of the nine participants had attended two
different high schools. One participant attended three different high schools. Four participants
had only attended one high school (see Figure 4). The ages of the participants ranged from 14 to
17 years old. One adolescent was a senior, three were 11th and 10th graders respectively, and
two were 9th graders (see Figure 5).

Figure 4. Urban Public School Attendance

0 2 4 6 8
Public Traditional HS
(3 Different School Districts)
Charter School District
Number of Participants
Different Districts
Urban Public School Attendance
District A
District B
Largest Urban School District
Tradtional
Charter School
Charter
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 175

Figure 5. Different High Schools Attended

Extracurricular Activities
Five of the nine participants participated in organized sports within school and in their
out-of-school settings. Two of the nine participants were involved in extra-curricular activities
(e.g., cheer, JROTC, Upward Bound, Young Black Men’s Group, Choir). Two had not joined
any organized school-based or community-centered extra-curricular activity. However, these
specific two participants were interested in computers and gaming (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Types of Student Activities

5 parcipants
involved in
organzied sports
in and out of
school
2 participants
involved in school
based extra
curricula r
activities
2 participants not
involved in any
school or out-of-
school activites.
Extra-Curricular Activities
1 HS (4)
2 HS (4)
3 HS (1)
Different High Schools Attended
1 HS (4 participants) 2 HS (4 participants) 3 HS (1 participant)
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 176

Spirituality
Six of the nine participants referenced God as a source of solace. Four of the six
participants’ that referenced God indicated they attended church frequently. Two of the
remaining six referenced a deity but did belong to a church nor did they frequent one
consistently. Three of the nine participants did not mention spirituality or deity (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. Students’ Spiritual Connection
Parent Education
Eleven of the 17 parents and guardian connected to the nine participants had high school
diplomas. One of the 17 parents attended a community college. Four of the 17 parents had
earned a four-year Bachelor degree. Two of the four just mentioned, parents of the 17 parents
had earned Master’s Degrees. One of the 17 parents’ educational levels was unknown (see
Figure 8).
Family Structure
Eight of the nine participants were members of family networks where both their mother
and father were actively involved in their sons lives. Of these eight, five participants lived in

Spiritual
Connection and
Attended
Church (4)
Spiritual
Connection did
not attend
Church (2)
Did not mention
Spirituality or
Deity (3)
Spiritual Connections
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 177

Figure 8. Parents’ Educational Status

homes where a nuclear family structure was experienced with both parents being married. The
other three of the nine participants resided in dual single-parent structures where parents shared
mutual custody. One of the three participants’ previously mentioned, family structure consisted
of two separate family home dwelling where custody was shared between his parents who were
divorced. The other two participants of the three previous mentioned, whose parents shared
similar parental custody were never married. The final student participant who did not live with
either of his parents was a ward of the court. He resided within a foster family agency home (see
Figure 9).

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 178

Figure 9. Family Structure Dynamics

Research Question 1: How do the Messages Urban High School Age African-American
Adolescent Males Receive from Their Home and Community Influence the Value They
Place on School?
In the following sections I explore how conditions mentioned within my conceptual
framework played themselves out across the nine adolescents in my study. The intricacy of the
interactions between multiple persons in the non-school spaces influenced the way these youths
connected to their social cultural settings. Consistent with Land et al.’s findings (2014), the
interconnections these African-American adolescents had with the various persons and places in
their non-school settings influenced the way they approached their lives. In fact, five themes
emerged from coding with respect to the ways in which explicit and implicit messages from
Home, Neighborhood, Community, and School influenced the way all nine young men placed
valued on school. The Home place and space directly relates to the microsystem setting
Bronfenbrenner’s (1986, 1989, 2005) ecological model outlines to be center for individual
5 of the 9
Participants
Parents were
Married
2 of the 9
Participants
Parents were
Never Married
1 of 9 participants
Parents were
divorced
1 of 9 participants
Parents were
unkown
Family Structure
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 179

development, and the environment that is positioned important for understanding the Black
young men in this study. Relative to participants’ Home experiences, five themes emerged (see
Appendix I).
The first theme to emerge was concerning the way that parents or guardian spoke about
and behaved towards school heavily influenced the way the adolescents spoke about and
behaved towards school. In all cases, including the one outlier who did not value school, the
ways in which the young men spoke about and behaved towards school aligned with the ways in
which their parents spoke about and behaved towards school. The second theme to emerge was
external kinship networks of biological ties through family that played an important role in
influencing the value these adolescents placed on school.
The third theme that emerged was with regard to participants’ external Neighborhood and
Community experiences. The experiences in this setting reflect Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979,
1986, 2005) bioecological model from the level of mesosystem and exosystem spaces, where a
person’s neighborhood and community networks live. Theme III attended to the messages that
adolescents received from neighborhood and community about the importance of interpersonal
relationships with people who were like family and how those messages cultivated these young
men’s perceptions about the value of school. The fourth theme to emerge was in relation to
courage under fire and the way each participant focused primarily on surviving his daily non-
school environments.
The fifth theme that emerged from communications in the non-school and inner-school
settings focused on the perpetuation of poverty through a reproduction of failure. The
experiences in theme five also lived in the mesosystem and exosystem layers of
Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) bioecological model. Here, the messages the young
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 180

men received from persons within their social cultural worlds that promoted a college going
culture was in regard to the way to improve their circumstances. The communications they
received about college did not provide them with the knowledge and/ or tools necessary to access
or succeed in college or to understand how college was a means to a better life. Next an
examination of each theme in research question one will be discussed.
Theme I: The Way That Parents or Guardian Spoke about and Behaved Towards School
Heavily Influenced the Way the Adolescents Spoke about and Behaved Towards School
Insights from interviews with nine low-income Black male students are offered in this
section. All nine of the adolescents expressed, in different ways, how the influence from home
through interactions between their parents or guardian impacted the value they placed on school.
In this section, I offer specifically the core similarities in the messages and some of the
differences that shaped these adolescents’ views about education. Of the nine adolescents, seven
had parents who consistently and explicitly communicated to their sons that school was a critical
role in their sons’ future success. Similarly, each of these young men expressed school was
essential to their future success. An eighth participant shared the same beliefs as his parents
about the importance of school. However, in his case, the beliefs communicated and patterned
by his parents and internalized by him were thoughts that school was optional for success. Thus,
the vast majority of the adolescents expressed perceptions of value of school. The views were
aligned with the messages they heard from their parents or guardian. These students’
perceptions aligned with Allen’s (2013) and Ream and Palardy (2008) research that indicated
when a Black male student’s parent’s social context and status and personal involvement offer
positive communications, these students connection to school, and future outcomes are
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 181

increased. A ninth participant, the outlier, did not share the beliefs expressed by the adult with
whom he lived.
With regards to communications heard and/ or observed from persons within the Home
setting that aligned with participants’ standards about the value they placed on school, I have
chosen to present excerpts from the experiences of Josiah, Benjamin, and Zamir, three
participants from the seven of this belief. Also, the two outliers in this study Andrew and
Javan’s experiences will be shared in this section to add to the relevance of different
demonstrations of responses to this particular theme. These voices represent the consistency
across as well as the nuances and difference in the stories I heard. The data collected in this
study revealed the way the young men thought about school predominantly aligned with the
ways in which their parents thought and acted towards school. For example, Josiah shared,
Most of my family members, they did not go to college. They try to help me out. My
mom and dad went to college. My mom and dad was the first to go to college and
graduate and most of my cousins, they didn’t get into a good college. They went to a
community college, so all that pressure is on me. I can’t be going to a community
college.
As expressed, Josiah perceived his parents as having set the bar for him with respect to
college. The fact that his parents were the first and only members of his immediate family to go
to and graduate from a 4-year college created “pressure” for him to follow in their footsteps. As
he stated, “I can’t be going to a community college.” Josiah believed attending anything other
than a 4-year college was not an option. Josiah’s beliefs about the type of college he should
attend aligned with his parents’ actions. Josiah’s parents’ expectations in relation to college
clearly influenced the way he spoke about the type of college he wanted to attend.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 182

Josiah further spoke about the significance of him attending a particular type of school
through his father’s verbal expressions. He shared the following comments from his father, “For
you to get into this college, you need to have good grades, and if you don’t attend a good college,
you’re going to be asking for money, and not getting where you want to be.” Josiah’s
understanding of his father’s discussion about what he considered to be important facets of his
son getting into a quality academic school was directly related to Josiah’s academic performance
in high school. Josiah’s father did not offer an alternative for college attendance. Instead, he
stressed the importance of him earning “good grades” as his father explicitly communicated the
direct link to Josiah’s future expectations to the type of college Josiah was expected to attend.
The ways in which Josiah’s shared how his father talked about the value of his current academic
performance in relationship to college entry demonstrates how he perceived his father’s care for
his education. Communication of this nature was clearly linked to possible future life outcomes
with the expectation that Josiah would financially be able to provide for himself as a result of his
current efforts toward school. The implication was that working hard in the present to earn
quality grades would offer Josiah options of getting into the college of his desire. Once
accepted, the long-term hope was that of attaining a college degree. Thus, the college degree
would foreseeably offer Josiah career and job opportunities that would help him be self-
sufficient. Josiah clearly expressed his beliefs about the value of school through the ways in
which he internalized the communications his father expressed to him. Likewise, the way Josiah
expressed through his actions, the effort he placed on his academic performance and the way he
talked about getting into a 4-year college aligned with the verbal explicit communications his
parents shared with him.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 183

In the following statement Josiah shared how he viewed finances, college, and being able
to provide for self with having a career post high school where options that would make his life
better in the following statements,
And then once you get into college, you can have everything. When you finish it and
have your degree. And then like yeah, it just never stops. You won’t have to worry
about being broke or nothing, once you be into business.
It is through adopted statements of this nature that Josiah expressed the significance he
placed on school. In his discussion, he demonstrated understanding and placed meaning on the
relationship school played with college entry, earning a degree, and securing a living. Josiah
shared having to, “Work hard… just work hard in the classroom” and maintain a “3.0” grade
point average as efforts that confirmed his actions through his school performance. Also, his
actions aligned with the actions and beliefs that his parents discussed with him.
Equally, Josiah demonstrated his commitment to his academic work ethics when he
shared with this researcher his report card as an artifact after our last interview. Josiah expressed
he had mixed feelings about a specific teacher’s desire for him to be successful. Although he
spoke very intimately about some of the teachers he liked, those teachers he felt added value to
his high school and future success; Josiah encountered a math teacher that he expressed
explicitly created academic barriers with teaching him and reaching him as a student. This
hurdle obstructed his learning and impacted his math grades during the semester. In spite of his
challenges with his math teacher, the report card that Josiah shared with me indicated he earned a
B in the class. Josiah expressed in his interviews what it took for him to manage his
interpersonal relationship with his math teacher and how that relationship impacted his grade.
Additionally, he spoke about the extra support (e.g., tutoring and his parents’ involvement with
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 184

his education). The added resources were valuable tools that aided in him earning the grade he
received. Josiah’s actions and effort toward school produced an acceptable grade and was
communicated in his discussion about how he ultimately passed the class. Likewise, through
Josiah’s excerpts detailed the importance of what he perceived that grade to mean to him in
relationship to the ways in which he consciously pursued school, how his thoughts and actions
toward his academic performance aligned with the expectations of his parents, and requirements
for college entry of his choice.
Josiah’s parents’ behaviors were also messages that communicated the value they placed
on school and aligned with the choices Josiah made with respect to school. Josiah expressed,
They’re coming to every parent conference and talk with the teachers about what I need
to do. And how’s my grades and everything. Like they care about the education of me.
Not everybody has their mom to come to school because they are working. It just makes
me feel really down to be at school!
Here Josiah described the ways he perceived his parents’ actions showed school was important.
His parents’ behaviors were consistent with the optimism Josiah had about school, Josiah’s belief
that school was a place he should be and that he was cared for were views that aligned to the way
his parents demonstrated they valued his participation in school.
Additionally, when it came to planning his high school completion and college readiness,
Josiah shared this explicit demonstration of communications received from his parents about the
value they placed on school,
They [his parents] look at the schedule that I have with all my classes and they go
through it and with the classes I took last year and the A through G requirement. If I ask
him [his dad] to be switched out of a class because I don’t think it’s required, then they’ll
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 185

just go up to the school and ask. Then just, get me into a different class. Then they will
fix it.
Josiah being able to ask for help from his parents about the type of classes he is required
to take demonstrated his parents’ involvement with his participation in school. Josiah’s parents
were intentional with the knowledge they had about the requirements for adequate school
attainment. As a result of his parents’ communication and concern about and with school,
Josiah’s comfort with his parents, his ability to advocate for self, and the ways in which he
viewed the importance of school aligned with his parents’ beliefs and actions about the
significance school played in his future life outcomes. As such, Josiah’s parents’ actions, them
being involved in the process of selecting the “right” type of classes, instilled in him an
awareness of the types of classes he needed to move forward. Also, this offered him the ability to
include them in the decision making at times when he could have been derailed from his college
path by being in classes that would move him away from reaching his expected high school
completion and college entrance. Likewise, Josiah being aware of the required courses that
would get him into the type of college he and his parents expected (a 4-year college), showed the
ways in which his parents behaviors toward school aligned with Josiah’s views about and
behaviors toward the pursuit of school.
Josiah further expressed interest in attending a specific college since elementary after his
family visited the area. Josiah mentioned he wanted to attend college at, “Florida University a 4-
year college. When I was like six, I always wanted to go there and I like the football team.”
Josiah’s parents’ engagement, them taking him to visit a college when he was in elementary
school were behaviors that showed him options in the type of college he could attend. Again, his
parents’ actions provided a hands on experience. Their actions then, aligned with his current
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 186

thinking about attending a particular college in the near future. The importance of higher
learning was introduced to Josiah at a very early age. Thus, the association of the value in high
school academic performance being a major factor that was directly linked to possible future
college acceptance was an implied belief that was engrained in him and demonstrated through
his parents’ actions. Ream and Palardy’s (2008) research confirmed how Black adolescents’
value of school was increased by positive messages they heard and observed from parents in
their home setting. Josiah’s parents impressed on him the importance of education. The ways in
which Josiah and his parents talked about and performed with regard to school influenced Josiah
in his pursuit of educational attainment by actively being engaged in school.
Nevertheless, Josiah’s actions and thoughts expressed about school showed he definitely
understood the effort to be involved in school. This revealed the importance he felt completing
high school would have on his future. He stated, “You need a high school diploma to get into
college and to get a job.” When presented with the questions from the interview that pertained to
that one thing that Josiah felt he could have right now that would change his life. He responded
accordingly,
Play for the Gators. Then get my college degree, and then get a job. Go to the NFL and
have a backup plan and own a business. I would have money and I won’t have to work
as hard as somebody who doesn’t have a college degree.
All of Josiah’s future expectations were aligned with the views his parents modeled and
expressed to him about the value of school. His parents’ communication impacted his thoughts
about school, the way he engaged in the utility of school, and the ways in which he drew
meaning from those interactions to influence his life outcomes through the messages his parents
passed on to him. These messages within his home setting reinforced expectations about school
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 187

that were established during Josiah’s childhood exposure to travel and post high school
experiences of importance. As a result of discussions (e.g., Josiah’s parents were not
interviewed yet they were present during the interview and often added comments and engaged
in conversation where their comments were noted in reflective memos) during the interview
from Josiah’s parents, Josiah’s parents’ personal post-secondary educational attainment guided
his parents’ beliefs about school and the value of education as they communicated those same
values to Josiah when referring to the significance of school and school being considered a
vessel to inspire his future life outcomes.
Josiah’s views echoed the attitude his parents had about the importance of school. He
shared the following statement about his parents’ views, “They really want you to go to college
and do good in the education. They always say that education comes first with everything.” The
contextual statements specific to education being important was unmistakably explicit
communications Josiah adopted from his parents’ talks about school and through the actions they
modeled for him regarding the utility of school. The input Josiah received from his parents
shaped the meanings he applied, Josiah’s understanding of, the way he connected to school, and
the value he viewed school to have in his future plans of attending college, securing employment
from a desired profession and/ or his athletic abilities. Josiah’s parents’ thoughts about school,
their actions (e.g., attending his games, parent conferences, exposing him to extra-curricular and
encouraging continued in-school enrichment participation) showed the ways they supported his
school efforts, indicated they care about him as a person, scholar, and his future happenings.
A second participant, Benjamin was another voice from the data collected who
influenced the findings from this study. Benjamin expressed messages he received aligned in the
ways in which his parents delivered communications of the importance of educational attainment
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 188

through discussions and behaviors demonstrated from his home spaces regarding the value he
placed on school. He expressed,
Every day my dad asks me, how was school? What did you do today? How did you do
on that test for Dr. Jay? things like that. They want that for me, to go to college. My
dad, he wants me to go to Stanford. That’s what he always tells me. I really don’t know
what school I want to go to. When I finish high school, I definitely want to go to college.
What college? I’m not too sure. I definitely want to go to college, 4-year university. I
definitely know I want to be able to support my family for sure, no matter what. I think
my parents expect me to be able to support myself. Whether I’m away from them, closer
to them, I’ll be able to support myself.
Benjamin’s father’s specific and detailed questions about his daily school activities, the
content of material and matters learned in school demonstrated the level of communication that
takes place in his home concerning the academic information being shared in his son’s school
environment. This form of inquiry also showed his father listened and was interested in the
discussions and the substance of the material his son was learning at school. Benjamin’s father’s
level of involvement with him reflected his value of school. Additionally, Benjamin’s father
being specific about the type of college he desired his son to attend showed an expectation about
education that extended past high school. Thus, Benjamin’s beliefs about attending college
aligned with his parents’ views about school and was expressed when he shared, “I definitely
want to go to college, what college? I am not sure. I definitely want to go to a 4-year
university.”
Benjamin valued talking with his parents about school. He enjoyed being able to connect
with them about school being a worthy effort and an onus to invest in. These type of
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communications influenced his value of school. These types of conversations were ones that
linked higher education to increased opportunities for better life outcomes. This communication
delivered messages that mattered in how he came to view school’s importance. These ideas that
evolved here aligned with scholars Hines and Holcomb-McCoy’s (2013) research that argued
when Black adolescents received and perceived direct communication from their parents’
involvement and concern with their sons’ education that the Black male valued school.
During Benjamin’s response to an interview question that inquired about that one thing
Benjamin thought would change his life right now. Benjamin reported, “Being able to graduate
from high school, graduate from college, [and] set an example for my little sister.” The ways in
which Benjamin’s parents modeled the importance of school, were behaviors that he
incorporated in the way he spoke about the value of school and future college aspirations. The
communications from Benjamin’s parents clearly aligned with ideas he had about college. He
expressed value in the college pursuit as conveyed in the ways he talked about and connected his
educational strides to his current position as a student. The significance of the value he placed
on school was also shown through the ways he modeled school being an effort of worth to his
younger sister. The implication was that she too would come to value school as Benjamin’s
engagement in his academics and the way he talked about his daily school experiences with his
parents all colored school being a place of interest. Benjamin’s thoughts about school and the
responsibility he conveyed through his actions were efforts his sister observed to align with the
expectation his parents had for him about the value of school. Benjamin continued to share how
he perceived his parents’ awareness of the value school shaped his thoughts about school. He
expressed the following statement about conversations of this nature,
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It showed me that if I keep doing what I’m doing in school now, getting into college or
what college I’m going to go to will be a lot easier. They always tell me to do better than
they did. It builds stability within my character. Makes me feel comfortable coming
home to both of my parents, my baby sister. Being able to do my homework. Ask their
help if I need help with anything. Being able to talk to them about anything.
Benjamin received constant affirming implicit and explicit messages from his parents of
encouraging substance about the importance of maintaining stellar high school accomplishments
both academically and athletic wise in efforts to better his chances of getting into a college of his
choice. As such, the verbal declarations Benjamin received from in his home, from his parents,
were consistent with the hopes and dreams he had for self and his pursuit of his education.
Benjamin’s actions and thoughts both showed a conscious effort in the utility of school.
A third participant, Zamir, shared the ways he perceived messages from his parents to
demonstrate the value of educational attainment in the following example. He stated,
They hope that I just follow my dreams. They hope that whatever is for me and it’s not
negative, if it’s positive thing and it’s achievable, that they want whatever I want. I was
talking about them with what college I wanted to go to and it was like, Hey, My dad’s a
big USC fan. A huge one. We have posters in our room of USC and all that, but I
wanted to go to UCLA to get my law. He’s like, ‘Hey, I’m down with you as long as you
just [do your thing].’
Here, Zamir emphasized how his father’s value of a certain college situated thoughts for
him about the type of college he planned to attend. Zamir’s college preference was intentional
and one that aligned with his father’s thoughts about the importance of him getting an education
as his father said “as long as you just” get your education. Zamir’s dads view about the
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importance of attaining higher learning aligned with the way Zamir selected the college he felt
was appropriate for him based on his future interest.
Zamir further related the following communication from his father about expected school
performance. He reported,
My dad expects for me to get Cs. He doesn’t like that. He knows that our [his siblings]
minds are so much greater than average. He’s more hard on the grades, but not a
negative hard. He’s a positive hard. He pushes us. He gives us stuff. He keeps us
driving to want to get good grades just to pay him back like, Thank you. Thank you.
The verbal communication about the standard of achievement expected of Zamir and his
siblings was shown here. Zamir’s father’s behaviors through rewards of some nature “he give us
stuff” supports the approaches his parent took in showing the value he placed on education. In
the same regard, Zamir’s mother’s thoughts about his educational pursuits were examined as
well. Zamir shared,
Then my mom, she’s the same way but she’s not as aggressive as he is. When it comes
to it, she’s not as aggressive like, ‘Do your homework.’ She’s still like, ‘You got to get it
done. If you want to make…’ She says it all the time. She says, ‘Right now, your
paycheck is your grades. You going to work and that paycheck is showing your grades,
whether you been working good or working bad.’ That what she says.
Zamir’s mother identified the usefulness of him being engaged in school. She also
emphasized the value in the quality of his academic performance through conversations she had
with him about the likelihood of his future educational undertakings coming to fruition as a
result of his effort toward school. This communication between Zamir’s mother and him directly
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demonstrated her thoughts about his participation and responsibility toward task that would
afford him school success. Her beliefs aligned with the value Zamir placed on school.
Zamir elaborated on the ways in which he felt his parents discussed the value of school.
He expressed how their views affected his attitude, involvement, and interest in school in the
following statement. Zamir shared,
It makes me feel that I know I got support and that they’re not selfish. They don’t try and
live their lives through us [his siblings], but they let us live our lives and they guide us
through how we’re supposed to live it.
Zamir’s interactions with his parents influenced his thoughts about the value of school
and provided him the autonomy to follow the desires of his family about the importance of
education for the betterment of his life. Equally, his parents demonstrated through their actions
and views the importance school played in opportunities for Zamir’s future educational
attainment.
While the majority of the young men in this study received messages from their parent
and/ or guardian that reaffirmed the value they placed on school, two of the nine participants,
Javan and Andrew respectively, did not experience communication from individuals within their
home setting that suggested school was a critical tool for future life success. In Javan’s case, the
implicit and explicit verbal exchanges from his parents regarding school were perspectives that
communicated school, although necessary, was not a critical endeavor. In this case, Javan’s
perceptions of the value of school aligned with his parents’ views. In the other case, Andrew’s
view of the value of school stood in stark contrast to the messages he received from persons
within his home. Andrew discussed the limited communication he had with his foster mother at
home about school. Still, the encouraging messages he received from other persons within his
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school, neighborhood, and community environments allowed him to selectively pair his thoughts
with the ways in which he felt school connected to his career aspirations. Andrew’s conscious
efforts toward the utility of school allowed him to place positive value on school and engage in
school accordingly.
First pertaining to Javan, this was the second high school he attended during his high
school experience. Javan was identified as a gifted 10th grader who was behind in the number of
credits required to earn his high school diploma. During the 9th grade Javan struggled with
passing his courses as a result of not completing assignments. His failure to complete the
assignments affected his grades, passing his classes, and overall credit recovery. Both of his
parents had high school diplomas. One parent, the primary parent with whom he lived, had
earned her high school diploma from an alternative educational home school setting and worked
for a homeless shelter. Javan’s other parent was an educational aide. Javan mistakenly believed
that his parent who was an educational aide was a teacher. Javan referenced his father’s
profession as a teacher during the interviews. This misunderstanding seemed to come from the
fact that his father worked in a K-12 school setting. Regardless of Javan’s awareness of his
father’s education, he had not connected the professional title of teacher to a 4-year college
degree. Accordingly, Javan’s not knowing what it took to enter certain professions situated him
not knowing what society expected of him in regard to school and job readiness or what kind of
academic achievement was necessary for success in college or possibly other career pathways to
enter in the greater global economy. Javan’s surface level of understanding and meaning making
of the value of school was directly influenced by the communications and behaviors of his
parents about and toward school.
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Javan’s position in the world and the relationship he connected school to have with career
options or being able to work or have a career that would in turn provide him the means to
provide for self were relatable connections for him with the worth of school. He shared
awareness of his parents having to work to provide and stated the following, “I need to get
money to do what I gotta do.” Levin et al.’s (2007) and Nettles’ (1991) research aligned with the
ways in which Javan’s parents’ financial resources and work ethics stationed work being related
to money making to survive. The type of employment his parents had and their income weighed
on his quality of life. Javan understood he had to work and could not depend on his parents for
his survival. Javan being able to articulate money being a tool to allow him the freedom to as he
said, “do what I gotta do” demonstrated the communication he received from his parents’ actions
toward work influenced his thoughts.
In a similar manner with the relevance of school, Javan expounded on an encounter with
his parents as they modeled mediocrity in his efforts to complete traditional school and opt for
the contentment in getting a job, even with their efforts as parents being strained financially. He
described a day in his life to be as such, “We don’t usually talk about school or nothing.” Javan
still felt that his parents, “Want me to go to college” and he referenced they specifically told him
that as an option to higher learning or getting a job that, “If you’re not going to college you better
get a job.” Javan being presented with loose options of college or work is the acceptable
standard in his family. He was passionate about his understanding of his parents wanting him to
provide for himself. He said, “they want me to do what I gotta do to have what I need.”
Nevertheless, Javan was of the mindset that “school has to be done.” He expressed countless
times during his two interviews his dislike of the facility of school. Javan added that his mother
“said that she would be sad if I didn’t get into, get out of high school that’s about it.” Javan’s
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mother’s perceived “sadness” did not translate in to a narrative about the importance of getting
an education and being in a place and space where he could connect with others to develop the
skills required to participate at the next level of job and/ or higher learning. The importance of
school did not resonate with Javan as a purposeful opportunity that could improve his chances of
success within the greater network of society. Yet, Javan stood firm on the thought he did not
like school and said, “There is no motivation for it, I know my parents want me to get it done.”
His response to this interview question affirmed his dislike and non-engagement of the utility of
school. School to Javan was something one merely did not engaged in.
Javan’s parents required him to attend school daily and were “hopeful” he would finish
high school. It was his parents’ verbal desire that Javan would attend college. However, his
parents were not involved in showing him how to navigate his school or how to engage in it.
The thought of school as something important was expressed in words only, not as a planned
anticipated effort where college was an attainable reality for Javan. Thus, Javan’s parents did
not model educational awareness or school as being important. Their limited input and personal
behaviors toward the utility of school influenced his value of school in the same regard. Javan
was disengaged from school and his attitude toward school aligned with that of his parents’
views. He expressed, “Its school, I have to do it to get where I want to go. I’ll do it if I have to.
I didn’t like school for a very long time. I still don’t.” Here Javan communicated his dislike of
school. To him school was an effort that was optional for him. If he had to choose, school
would not be an interest that was at the top of his list of ‘to do.’ To Javan, school was a space
and place that was required, it was not a voluntary effort he would take up independently. He
indicated he described himself as, “lazy, sleepy” and shared he “usually sle[pt]” in class. Javan’s
actions and behaviors toward school show he was physically absent in the process of schooling.
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The attitude and behaviors Javan received from his home environment were beliefs that
had been embraced by multiple family members. Javan shared that he would be one of a few of
his same-age cousins to earn a high school diploma. He stated he is the, “Third youngest out of
five cousins who up to now ha[d] not graduated high school.” The actions of persons around
him, coupled with the ways in which his parents valued school aligned with the effort and
approach Javan had toward school. When asked about the pressure to graduate knowing these
statistics from his other family members Javan replied, “Sorta.” Javan very nonchalantly stated
he was more or less concerned about the burden of possibly traveling the same path as his
extended family and/ or parents with not completing high school or completing it in a non-
traditional home setting. It was clear Javan did not like school as he stated this over 10 times
throughout his interviews. The effort of attaining an education was not a fixed perspective for
him either. Graduating from high school is not of high priority for Javan even with knowing his
families’ legacy and current living and financial position.
Both of Javan’s parents had high school diplomas and worked entry level positions.
Likewise, his parents shared dual custody where his time was split weekly between two single
family homes. Javan had embraced the opportunity to follow in his mother’s footsteps and
attend an alternative high school that would allow him to be home-schooled. His interest in
completing high school through a home-schooled setting was aligned with what his mother
modeled.
The actions Javan’s farther supported regarding his desire to be home schooled was
expressed by Javan in the following statement, “He [his father] said if I get a B average in all
class he said I can go to the school I wanted to. I want to go to home school.” By providing
Javan with the option to be home schooled, his parents appeased him and possibly used this
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option to motivate him to improve his academic performance. Since Javan wanted to be home-
schooled and this option was being offered by his parents, his parents’ offer aligned with the
educational experience Javan desired—non-engagement in the value of school. Javan continued
to expand his disposition about his thoughts about school when he stated, “School is easy, I just
don’t like it. My thoughts about school don’t really change. I don’t like it. I know it has to be
done, so I do it.” Javan was persistent in the ways he thought about school and the value he
placed on school.
Javan also did not believe his academic work was challenging. Rather he presented to be
very much aware of his lack of interest in school and his academic ability to master it. Javan’s
mindset aligned with what Tyler et al. (2010) recommended with regard to the ways in which
African-American male high school students perceived their home values to influence their
attitude toward schooling. Although Javan communicated he was capable of completing his
school work, the attitude, thoughts, and behaviors shown from his parents regarding how he
connected and pursued school was consistent with his beliefs.
When asked if he thought anything would stop him from getting a high school education,
Javan replied, “Probably just me being lazy, that’s about it.” Javan referenced what he called
“lazy” to mean enjoying being able to sleep long hours, him being a night owl and enjoying
playing live stream video games, and/ or him selectively choosing to read novels of his interest.
The process of getting up every morning at a designated time, the onus of procedural mandates
toward school, going to a place where he mentioned did not support learning or his future career
interest (the inner-school setting), did not align with the ways Javan wanted to engage in school.
Thus, this misalignment did align with the ways in which Javan had chosen to pursue
school. Javan’s nontraditional route of desiring to be home schooled was very much associated
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with the path his mother took to complete high school. This option for Javan was a way out of
his current situation and a means of meeting his parents’ desires that he complete high school.
Still, the lack of personal knowledge about school being a valuable tool that was connected to
future career pathways that could result in different life outcomes for Javan was not a perspective
he linked to future opportunities for better life. Nevertheless, he surfacely expressed awareness
that earning good grades would lead to high school completion. However, Javan insisted with
his dislike of school comments of the following nature, “School has to be done, I have to
graduate. Gotta get those good grades to get a good job. There is no motivation I have for it. I
know my parents want me to get it done.” Javan was able to relate as he said “good grades”
connecting with getting “a good job.” However, knowing when he chose to put the effort into
school he was able to master what was expected offered him a cushion of success.
Javan’s understanding of the type of job as well as the level of education of his parents
situated his thoughts about what it took for his parents’ to provide for his family. The meaning
he made of this might had watered down the value Javan placed on education. His parents
struggled financially to support for his family. The limited opportunities with having a high
school education offered Javan a certain type of urban living. His parents’ actions, in the way
they pursued school and what they expected of him as he was in the process of schooling
modeled an approved disengagement of school. Also, Javan’s parents’ perspectives about school
contributed to the value he placed on school and the way he approached school.
Javan adopted a habitual point of view about school. The idea that his intelligence alone
was enough to get by in school resulted in him applying minimal effort toward the utility of
school. Thus, often in last minute, nick of time efforts, he would complete just enough school
work to satisfy the requirement to pass or participate in the desired activity. Javan shared the
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following attitude about school during crunch time seasons of performance, as he said, “get
school done.” Next, Javan demonstrated the only times he put forth an active effort toward
school was in efforts to graduate middle school. He expressed,
In middle school I didn’t want to be held back. So, I think it was about last month, last
two, I had, I think like a lot of F’s so I just brought them back up. Getting extra credit
work. Started doing extra stuff in class. I graduated.
Javan was very confident in his intellectual ability as the academic comeback kid. He
was a gifted student and self-promoted reader of various novels of interest on his own. He had
no doubt in his ability to master the academic content of school. For his artifact, Javan shared a
report card that displayed poor grades he had recently brought up to prove to his parents that he
could earn minimum passing grades to meet their requirement to be home schooled. He shared,
I was not doing good at this time in school I had Fs and Ds as it shows probably because I
wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t like the school. I didn’t want to be there. I just didn’t
care and soon father gave me motivation to do that and get out of there. I am still not
connected to the school and I still don’t like the teachers. I just gotta do what I gotta do
to get out.
For Javan knowing he was intelligent enough to master school when the time he felt it
mattered most, he performed. The ease in the effort, as Javan described school to be, were
thoughts he expressed and validated his wits. Likewise, showed Javan’s level of disconnect to
the utility of school that aligned with his parent’s thoughts and actions about school. Javan’s
sharing of his progress presented an inner ability to perform in school and little regard for the
process of school. He shared, “My experiences with report cards were not good. Where I did
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not want to bring them home or want them seen. I usually know I wasn’t doing good.” Javan
elaborated saying,
School annoys me. I don’t like it. I’ve said this a lot; I do not like it. Education is
needed that’s about it. I get the concept of education, education. I said it a lot now, I
need it so I do what I got to do to get it.
School was a necessary evil in Javan’s eyes. Javan took the posture that educational
attainment was a pursuit that he could control when he decided to. The importance of school
was not modeled for him in his home. Neither did he connect a viable interest in the utility of
school that considered a greater involvement from him in the next phase of college or even
working in the global workforce.
Javan’s parents’ beliefs about school negatively affected the ways in which he decided to
participate in the utility of school. The communication Javan received from his home settings
revealed subtractive determinants from his parents’ value of school that influenced the ways in
which he determined school to be of use. Javan’s interest in school was purely a minimal effort
that was considered satisfactory from his parents. The tolerableness of how Javan approached
school paralleled with Javan’s parents and extended family’s attempts at school.
In the matter of Andrew, the other participant whose home environment did not warrant
positive alignment of messages about the value of school, for one possible contention, he was a
ward of the court. Andrew had been adopted as an infant and raised within an adoptive family
until the age of 13. As such, his perception about the value of school was influenced primarily
from the values expressed in his adoptive home which were situated in an environment that was
abusive and resulted in him returning to the foster care system a few years ago. The message of
not being cared for by his foster father triggered Andrew opting to assert autonomy. Being an
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independent thinker resonated with Andrew. He expressed the following statements about his
past,
Growing up in a place where no one cared and where my foster dad actually
discriminated against me and my sister because we weren’t dark enough. We were
mixed, so, he like, he would just like, the other kids were foster kids also, but they were
pure African-American and we’re like, yeah Black. But he introduced them as their kids
and we were the foster kids.
These communications fostered messages that caused Andrew to question his worth. As
well, these messages suggested he was not good enough. That he differed because he did not
fully fit into the schema of his family system since his external appearance was perceived by his
foster father as Andrew implied he was not considered Black enough. Andrew communicated
the overt messages from his foster father constructed feelings of him not being important,
uncared for, and discounted in his family construction because of his lack of Black purity
according to his foster father’s standard. The messages Andrew heard and observed in his home
setting presented challenges about his identity and his sense of belonging for him growing up.
Still, he identified as being an African-American male, connected to Black culture and was
confident about his station as a Black man. Notwithstanding, Andrew felt his past treatment
from his foster father was “just because we weren’t Black enough.” He felt “it was super hard
trying to fit in…growing up.” The circumstances of Andrew’s childrearing and the
communication that took place positioned Andrew’s perspective in his current home about his
ability to connect with the adult in his current foster placement.
Andrew’s interaction with his current guardian was selective and detached. He described
himself as a person that is, “Always coming and going.” Andrew had not responsively
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connected with the adult in his home about his intimate educational thoughts. Likewise, he did
not receive in return communication of an invested interest in helping him set clear goals and
expectations of preparation for high school, college, or future life success from the adult in his
home. Andrew spoke this awareness by saying, “no one has really, no one in this house has been
to college ever” and that is “definitely what I’m pushing for.” Although Andrew did not receive
the desired or necessary communication from the limited conversations or modeling from the
adult in his home about the value attaining an education could have on the trajectory of his life
outcomes, he was not hindered in his decision to pursue education.
Andrew actively wanted to discredit the low expectations others had of him. He
continued to express this perspective when he mentioned the ways he had, “Already broken
things that has never been done within [his] family and [his] foster family, like getting a job as
young as [he did] and doing the things [that he had] already done” with school. Andrew’s
present foster parents’ work was inconsistent. The only consistent financial support earned in his
home was from the benefits the foster parent received for the children cared for. Andrew having
secured employment for a short period of time and to had considered himself on a college track
with his academics, were two ways he demonstrated his actions toward school and being able to
care for himself that differed from what was modeled within his home.
The implicit and explicit communications from Andrew’s home shaped the way he
viewed the magnitude of school to play on his life outcomes. Andrew expressed, “The fact that
[his] real family [was] not really expected to prosper, to have any good seeds to come out of
what [he had] come out of…inspired [him] day by day.” He received the communication that
persons who come from a troubled family background where the magnitude of the family
dysfunction resulted in the family members being separated and required permanent
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disconnection (the siblings being placed in foster care and adopted) as a consequence of the
parent(s) negligence (them not adequately being able to care for their children); developed a
mindset in Andrew that even if a person from family’s or environments like his, who were
viewed and expected by others to not thrive, that he would choose to prove the narrative wrong
and be the opposite of a bad seed. Andrew actively chose to demonstrate he could be a “good
seed” in spite of. This impact from the message that nothing good comes out of a bad situation
inspired Andrew to prove the narrative wrong. He expressed by means of his lived efforts that
he was active in his pursuit of schooling (both in high school and with higher learning interest) in
his current foster placement.
Another inspiring voice that extended from Andrew’s home came from his therapist.
Andrew’s therapist communicated the odds were slim for him to not become a causality of his
circumstances. Andrew refused to embrace the therapist announcement as his ultimate truth.
Andrew expressed,
when they told me that this was it, there’s like an 85% chance that I’m going to be
exactly like him (his foster dad) and the chances are real low that I’m (going to be) like
everybody else down the path (who) has done the exact before them, changed me to like,
NO! You’re not going to tell me my future! So, rather than watch people and listen to
people tell me my future, I wanted to change, to react, and to be my future, rather than
watch people put things and shape mine.
The meaning Andrew took from this communication was that other people did not have
the capacity to affect another person’s actions. He owned the understanding that he played an
active part in determining his future outcome. Andrew expressed, “When [he] realized [he
could] do anything that anybody else [could] do [was] when [he] realized [he is] human.”
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Understanding his humanism was a pivotal point in his life that gave him the autonomy to
actively take charge of those things that he controls; matters that he felt he could say what he
would or would not do. Through the communication Andrew had with his therapist he
developed a belief that he could “accomplish just anything.” He came to recognize that those
persons that were “doers” could change versus those persons that choose to be “watchers” they
were stuck. Andrew refused to be stuck in his condition.
Communication from adults in his home sustained the thoughts that Andrew was not
good enough and reinforced his desires to be better than what was expected. Andrew actively
chose to not relegate to the low expectations of him from others, but to vigorously be a part of
the change he wanted to see. Encouraged, Andrew set different expectations for him that
centered on his future success, high school, and college completion. The communications
Andrew received from his home setting did not directly relate to school being of value yet the
negative quality of worth or him being directed on a career pathway that intentionally connected
him to future opportunities within the greater society, post his high school completion was not
evident in Andrew’s home. Thus, he was influenced from this message of what not to do. Also,
for Andrew to have made meaning and to have acquired a need and desire to attain an education,
if not only for not wanting to be a part of the status quo, yet to be better than what was expected
of him demonstrated his interest in the value of school.
In conclusion the evidence in this section supports several findings of how the ways
parents’ spoke and behaved regarding school heavily influenced the way all eight of these
participants placed value on school. First, the findings from research question one, Theme I in
this study revealed these low-income Black adolescent males received various communication
from parents that school was an interest that could and was likely their only constructive effort
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that would possibly result in life changing outcomes for future success. Eight of the nine
participants in this study communicated with their parents and observed parent actions in their
life, influenced their understanding of the ways to make sense of the importance of school. Each
adult from their home spoke about school to the best of their ability and placed value
accordingly. The interactions with parents or adult in their home offered these adolescents
thoughts about what acquiring educational attainment could offer them as citizens in the greater
society.
However, these parents did not purposefully nurture career pathways with intentional
community-based supports regarding resources, opportunity, and purpose of how their sons’
current school efforts directly connected to their ability to get in and survive in the next level of
job, career, or higher educational experiences. As suggested in the scholarly work of Butler-
Barnes et al. (2013), in order for the Black male adolescents to positively regard the utility of
school they required structured supports to equal educational opportunities. The conversations
about the value of school clearly took place with eight of nine boys at home. The ultimate
message from the parents in this study was one that they supported school being a valuable
interest for future life success of their Black male adolescent. With regard to the two outliers in
this theme, an examination of the data revealed that when it came to Andrew and Javan, where
one did not have a direct parent to influence and the other had two parents that postured school
not being of value as was demonstrated through the ways they modeled and behaved, both
scenario’s impacted and influenced how these young men placed value and pursued school. For
Andrew, internalizing implicit messages from his home of what not to do, coupled with other
factors of his unique circumstance of being a foster youth, situated a value of school for him.
Contrary to Andrew, Javan’s parents’ limited interactions with him about the value of school
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sent messages to Javan that reinforced his perceptions of school not being a worthy effort to
pursue. Their posture toward school resulted in him being disengaged with the participation
and/or in the project of schooling as his pursuits aligned with the pathology his parents modeled.
Next, the findings from this study also revealed parent communication regarding the
importance of school alone was not enough to firmly ground these students’ effort for school
other than the school effort being a clear opportunity for a different option (e.g., dropping out,
landing a mediocre job). The utility of school was not a perspective that was provided to the
parents of being one that required a planned effort, or it being career-pathway oriented, and/ or
intentional with supported resources or a sense of purpose with them being situated in a mindset
of a greater good and civic involvement connected to the community. Yet, the ways in which the
eight sets of parents interacted with their sons, revealed they had a narrative to offer their sons
about the value of school either through questioning what their sons were learning, to assisting
them with ways to focus on school work, or the ways to engage in the utility of school, and to
supporting how their sons negotiated conflicts with their teachers or peers.
Third, other communications parents delivered to their sons were ones of them being
accountable for school work and their actions in-school, to how they carried themselves in their
external settings and them understanding the rules of engagement that were unique for their
survival as Black men in their unique social cultural worlds (e.g., lessening opportunities to get it
wrong by getting distracted by life circumstances, hood contentions, gangs). All of the afore
communications weighed on the intensity and magnitude of how these young men internalized
the messages to personally associate their parents’ perspectives in their day-to-day choices about
how they would be active participants in the utility of school. It was the parents’ actions and
how they spoke to their sons about the ways school was important that influenced the way their
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sons related to school. As a result, the majority of the young men in this study aligned with their
parents’ beliefs about school regardless if the narrative they received was surface in merely
placing these students’ on an unintentional pathway or cycle of perpetuated poverty.
With respect to Theme I, eight of the nine participants reported they observed and/ or
heard messages about the value of school from their parents. The setting these students are
raised in, the characteristics, behaviors and thought processes from the individuals in their home
all impact how these students choose to connect and think about school. These students home
talks and the significance of behaviors observed in the home setting from their parents influenced
the way they thought about school. Also through the discussions with their parents’ words and
actions reflected their own beliefs about the value of school. There was alignment in the
thinking of eight participants who actively completed assignments, earned good grades, took the
appropriate classes for college entry and connected these practices to ones that they thought
would grant opportunities to have a college degree and future careers of employment. All eight
of these participants were clear about the type of careers they wanted to pursue and their
conversations with their parents reflected that. In fact, in relationship to my conceptual
framework Benjamin’s and Zamir’s excerpts reflect their position of Condition 1, having
positive home, neighborhood, community and school communications to influence the value
they placed on school. Josiah’s excerpts reflect his position of Condition 2, having expressed
receiving positive communication from his home, positive messages from his neighborhood,
negative messages from his community, positive communications from school about the value of
school, and overall positive messages from school about the importance school plays in his life.
The outlier’s, Andrew, excerpts regarding communications he experienced positioned him in
Condition 3. He received negative messages about the value of school from home, selected
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positive messages from his neighborhood about school. Received negative messages about
school from his community, and positive communication from school about the value of school.
Overall, positive messages from his school setting. All four young men presented in this section
provided detailed excerpts that expressed positive engagement with school. Javan the last outlier
in this section was positioned in Condition 4 based off the information he shared in this study.
He expressed receiving negative communications about school from home, neighborhood,
community, and school. He was not engaged in school.
What accounts for variations within this theme also is related to the environment, their
physical and social setting, and these students’ experience within their home setting. These
micro/meso-ecological conditions from their homes, how their family functioned, family
expectations about school, and parent-child interactions all impacted and shaped the way these
students viewed the world and their position in it. The research of Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979,
1989, 2005) supports the bi-directional inter-relations within the family processes from parent
employment (or the lack thereof). Likewise, the depth of parent discussion with their student
about what he learned in school setting, to parent modeling expectations from visits to school or
their personal educational capital and use of education to attain and sustain daily living all were
factors that influenced the conversations or ways they communicated about the value of school.
The parents’ ability or lack of ability to financially, emotionally, and/ or academically
demonstrate through modeling or behaviors in their parenting styles the importance of school as
their dependent adolescent teenage males were direct recipients of that communication, all
contributed to the ways they placed value on school. The work of Ream and Palardy (2008)
affirmed that social differences in the availability and educational utility of parental social capital
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afforded rewards and consequences to disadvantaged youth having access to network potential
and perceived resources that could promote life style change was limited.
The majority of the parent involvement with students in this study aligned with Watkins-
Lewis and Hamre’s (2012) research on Black parenting and child rearing. This research aligned
with the station of the low socioeconomically status of participants in this study and indicated
students from marginalized backgrounds benefited from the ways parents were involved in their
child’s life. The value of education was key to those participants whose parents’ were actively
involved as shown in the ways the messages they conveyed to their sons about the necessity of
gaining knowledge, how to carry themselves, and the expectations their sons might experience as
Black men finding their way within their perspective social places. Parent educational utility
beliefs were critical in the shaping of these young men’s ethics. Those interconnections between
these teenagers’ inner microsystem station (the elements of their inner personal agency) along
with their parent station of the outer microsystem layered perspectives as Bush and Bush (2013)
suggested within their AAMT to be important when developing the African-American male. It
was within these participant’s home places and spaces that the parent provided the moral and
status parameters that aligned with their accepted values. These were values that some of the
African-American males in this study observed through parent investment of time, the dialogue
they engaged in with their sons, their exchange and involvement with student performance or
activities in the school setting, and most importantly the daily learning experiences from the
parents modeling across use of personal and cultural assets with regard to the multi-dimensional
realities. These realities existed in parallel spaces of the types of jobs, their personal living
spaces and/ or conditions, the neighborhood, community dwellings, the impact of life of
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extended and kinship families’ realities, to their unique cultural norms within their lived worlds
to the cultural hegemony norms of their outer worlds.
The findings from this study revealed eight of the nine young men parents expressed their
desire for their sons to thrive and rise above their current conditions. However, the ways in
which the messages were delivered, communicated, and demonstrated were multifaceted and
depended on a number of factors (e.g., nuclear family structure, parent educational attainment,
work ethics, expectations, and involvement with and in participants’ educational endeavors).
Thus, the ways the parents in this study placed value on education whether the messages were
ones that were received by their sons to be positive or negative, affected the way these young
men came to understand and/ or make meaning of their effort in, or their participation in the
utility of school to personalize their future outcomes. Seven of the nine young men in this study
indicated messages received from their parents with regard to their parents’ value of school
framed and influenced their perceptions of the value of school. The narrative their parents
shared about the importance of school influenced the young men in this studies’ perceptions that
school was an additive measure to improve their overall lives.
The question as to how their lives would be improved, solely rested in the act or
perpetuation of acts (e.g., getting up daily attending school, getting the grade, playing the sport)
of school. Yet having or being exposed to resources and/or a serious assessment of their college
options in relation to career pathways that should have been brewed in their home and high
school settings is missing from these findings. The need for a possible targeted effort for school
(e.g., contact with community internships or successful adults/mentors that could bridge network
and enhance these collective efforts) was not noticed to be capital in this study’s findings.
School was viewed as an effort to be invested in through these young men’s participation in the
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project of schooling whether it be from an athletic investment that facilitated and guided the need
for good academic performance for overall opportunities for college attainment, or it be purely
getting satisfactory marks as a means to college. However, messages of family limited
resources, and/ or ability to model, that drove, influenced, and shaped these Black adolescents
value of school; to negative messages being received by Andrew and internalized for good, and
being communications that allowed him to make meaning by contextualizing how school created
opportunities for future positive life trajectories all live in the complexity of what these young
man had to wrestle with when deciding to choose school. The majority of the young men were
seriously dedicated to the process of school and this legitimized their active effort to pursue
school.
The preparation for college does not exist in my findings as efforts that were established
for an academic career-based effort in earlier years of their life. This was an interesting
discovery, that if an established preparation, ill respective of mere exposure (e.g., Josiah’s
elementary college experience), had taken place in elementary between these students’ parents
within their home setting, then by their current high school experience being the very last phase
of K-12 experience or that last step in the school process, that place that would next lead to jobs
and careers in the American global economy—that an educational plan would have been
discussion noted in this research, yet was missing at this stage of their high school experience.
The parents did not present high school as a career pathway toward or college being a pathway
that massaged an educational plan they had set in place other than intentional sports related
efforts or a chanced academic merit. Instead higher learning was considered a blurred next step
for these young people in isolation of the athletic effort being an early investment for five of the
nine participants.
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The absence of intentional discussion in this study about early career pathway planning
during the formative time where children are expected to experience the development from basic
skills to higher order thinking or skill development that are fundamental for these young people
during their transition from adolescent to forming plans for their adult lives that require such
abilities to reason, express, understand scientific processes, and/ or for them to have civic
leadership to survive life, the higher education experience, and the global economy was not
dialogue expressed. The lack of career readiness and/ or civic responsibility for the next steps of
life when compared to what the end of a high school K-12 experience should offer these
adolescents, opportunities to earn and sustain themselves in a job sense, preparedness for the
college higher education experience, or being a contributing member to the greater society by
means of participating in their local community was mute. The incomplete narrative, their tunnel
vision about the ways to pursue their goals, and the young men in this study embracing it,
weakened their ability to be all-inclusive in the greater scheme of the broader societal
infrastructure. Thus reduces their chances of entering into the expected phase of life happenings
with higher learning, career readiness and/ or participation in the global workforce post
immediate high school. The oblivious nature of these youth and their families to the narratives
they habitually accepted increased their place in the cycle of poverty; while continuing them
being Black individuals that perpetuate the narrative of low-income students not being prepared
for life after high school or entry into the grander scheme of our global societal infrastructure.
Next, Theme II, focuses on the ways in which these nine young men in this study
connected to the external biological-kindred networks was examined for the purpose of assessing
how all persons in that they discussed throughout their experts played a role in determining how
they came to place meaning and value on school.
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Theme II: External Home Biological-Kindred Networks
The data revealed that in addition to the irrefutable allegiance from parents and guardian
in the ways in which they interacted with these young Black men in this study, through
conversations and their actions about the benefit of educational attainment in relationship to set
expectations from parents toward their sons, alignment from eight of the nine students indicated
parental communications was critical in the ways these participants placed value on school.
Likewise, parents held their adolescent accountable and backed them throughout the process of
educational attainment. All these interactions were essential efforts which offered these
teenagers a conscious choice in matters of interpersonal relationships that were relevant in the
ways they placed value on school by way of extended alliances with persons outside of their
direct home structures. External biological kindred support from extended family presented to
be profound relationships to these adolescents’ charge toward educational attainment. The data
collected in this study emerged Theme II, which situated the external biological kinship networks
from the Home setting that provided these Black adolescents an enlarged set of supports in the
way they came to place value on school. Next, I present excerpts from three of the seven
participants: Amos, Josiah, and Javan’s interviews who experienced biological kin ties outside of
the support they received from within their respective homes. These voices were chosen as they
specifically represent the consistency across as well as the nuances and difference in the stories I
heard. These voices offer insight into the way the theme played itself out in relations to the
excerpts shared by these young men.
Germane to seven of the nine participants’ in this study, seven Black low SES young men
attending urban high schools communicated having extended kindred interpersonal relationships
that impacted how they made sense of the communications whether implicit or explicit from
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extended family to shape the value they placed on school. The findings from this study revealed
the consensus that seven of the adolescents in this study experienced interpersonal relationships
with extended family members that demonstrated and widened their beliefs about school through
connections with familial individuals outside of their immediate home structures that aided in the
ways these students placed value on school. Three of the seven participants’ perspectives are
shared next.
The first participant Amos expressed the support he got from his extended family
tremendously influenced the way he made meaning of the things he heard and observed from
membership and interactions within his family. He shared,
They’re the most supportive family you could ever have to me. We stay intact. There
are some families that don’t even see each other, but this family stays intact. You can see
how they stuck. It’s going to be a good day on Thursday. Other people bring this up.
It’s just that we have a loving environment and the village we have, they really put the
time into raising us. They craft us into young men and I really like that because this
family, I love it! Let’s say you don’t want to go to church on Sunday. Every child has
that I don’t want to go. ‘No…get up and let’s go! You need God. Come on now!’ It’s
just those [type of communication that guide you]. When I was little, I used to not want
to go and now I look forward to it. It’s just, you love them so much and you don’t want
to hurt them. The only way not to hurt them is to do the right things. I just love being
around them like Thursday, man, it’s going to be going on and I really love it! I look
forward to all our gatherings because it’s never like, I know a few friends that had told
me they used to have those [gatherings], but then only five people show up. No, man, I
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feel bad because our family has over 100 people show up even if you aren’t family, they
still welcome you. We have a cool system.
It is obvious Amos had close ties with his extended family. He was the only child to his
mother and the last of four brothers on his paternal side. He was mainly connected to his
maternal side of the family. Amos’ extended family was supportive and provided a setting that
to him was like a “village.” Amos valued the quality of time his extended family invested in him
as he said, “raising” he and his cousins was an act ‘they’ put time in. He valued the ways in
which his family helped build him as a man and instilled values regarding spirituality to guide
his daily decisions. The respect and love Amos had for his family extended in the ways he chose
to be cautious about representing them or himself in a negative light. He relished on not ever
wanting to “hurt them” by doing what he said “the right things.” Amos was proud of the love his
family members had for each other and the ways they operated as a collective unit and extended
family. When expounding on the ways Amos understood his extended family influenced his
value of school; he described how interactions between his first cousins and being in close
proximity of conversations with them about their educational attainment shaped how he thought
about the value of school in his pursuit. Amos shared,
My cousin John, he didn’t go straight into college. I was younger and I heard it. He just
now finished. He was over and talking about how long it was and how [his cousin said],
‘Man, I’m happy to be out. Man, I hated it.’ He’s just happy he’s done and stuff like
that. That really made me think like, ‘Dang, is it that bad?’ He also talks about how
good it is, I mean, freedom. College is a whole different ball game than high school.
Man, it should be fun for me. It makes me want to finish college. It makes me want to
do good. It makes me want to be like Amber (his cousin), you know finish. She went
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straight in. She got an offer. She had a lot of scholarships and a lot of choices. I want to
have that too. You’ll love having that. You can have options piled up to here; you’re
going to love it. You’re going to be able to go through each one. You’re going to be able
to decide. If you don’t, it’s just like regular college.
The family ties Amos had with his cousins offered him: (1) insight on the ways his family
supported one another, (2) their efforts toward college, and (3) ways for him to understand how
managing his daily stressors with school could afford him future college entry and success.
Amos’ relations with college bound cousins offered him models of real world experiences and
expectations of college rigor and a means to pay for college. The conversation with his cousin
caused him to reflect on the college experience and question the rigor in the process in
relationship to expectation and Amos questioned whether he thought he was capable of being
successful in college. He had a few older cousins who had very different college experiences
and support to complete and get into college.
Also, Amos’ link to his familial network with regard to his neighborhood activities
offered him extended consideration of safety. His mother worked long hours and Amos was
often home alone. He stated, “My auntie lives right across the street, not across the street but in
this neighborhood. It really helps me feel more comfortable.” Having the reliance of a
protective factor from his family member that resided in close proximity to his mother’s home
while she worked “long hours” to provide a living for his family was an added benefit.
Likewise, it served as an example of the collective effort Amos’ village support presented to his
overall wellness.
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Josiah expressed the ways his extended family shaped his views about school. He shared
his loyalty to his extended family when he expressed the following, “Because they respect me
and I respect them.” He continued saying he liked,
The way they carry themselves. Like they don’t sag or have a lot of tattoos. They’ll
probably just have one, you couldn’t really see it. Most of my family members, they
didn’t go to college. They try to help me out because they have the same goals as me.
They want to see all of us get better in what we do.
Clear conversations about character, respect, limited education, and being able to know
the things and observe how life had treated his family members were all communications that his
future life trajectories, if he too modeled their path to educational attainment, could be. Still,
Josiah was able to relate the goal orientation of this extended family desiring the best of him in
all he did to better his circumstances.
In the credit to Josiah’s extended family desiring for him to be better, his peer-age cousin
was instrumental in directing him to extra-curricular activities as well. Josiah shared,
My cousin, went through it [Upward bound, the West L.A. College] and then she said
that it’s good and it helps you get into college better. They go on field trips every week,
once a month, to a college. Then you just go there, spend time in the dorm room, and
then they feed you, and go around, it’s like a tour.
For Josiah these kindred networks broadened his scope of college possibilities. His familial ties
were unique in that he attended school with several of his extended family members. Also, he
spent a substantial amount of time with other family members outside of school too. Josiah’s
layer of familial accountability widened expectations and exposed him to other aspects of
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educational attainment as well as offered him personal perspective on the opportunities school
could offer him in his personal educational pursuit.
The complexity of how seven of the nine participants’ in this study interpersonal
relationships with extended family differed in each of their respective lives and was multifaceted.
Thus, the quality of the communications received by each of these seven participants extended
family members varied in substance. Still, these interpersonal relationships were instrumental in
establishing a moral compass, understanding how to be accountable, goal focused, and school
resources in efforts to maximize opportunities to survive their school endeavors. These seven
participants demonstrated throughout their perspective interviews the value of having biological-
extended family networks. The two of the nine participants who did not experience positive
biological-extended networks did not report having extended family ties. They did not have
narrative to contribute in this section. With respect to Andrew, his external networks extend to
peer interactions that are discussed in Theme III. With regard to the other outlier Javan, he
reported his paternal grandmother who often picked him up from school inquired about his lack
of homework and suggested that he would not be successful in school if the expectations from
school were ones that did not promote academic excellence. Javan shared,
Every day after school when my grandmother comes to pick me up she ask me do I have
homework. And I am like, no cause school doesn’t assign that much homework. And
she’s usually saying, ‘Well, your gonna fail.’ And I’m like grandma this school is
different. She’s like, ‘Well when I went to school I had homework.’
Javan’s extended family ties communicated interest in the value of his academic work
and efforts in that pursuit. It charged him to request extra work from his teacher to accommodate
his grandmother’s inquiry. He shared, “I’m just, I guess sometimes I have to get extra work to
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 219

show her that I’m doing work.” Nevertheless, Javan was disconnected from the utility of
schooling even with extended family interest in his schooling. The primary impact Javan
received from his parents about school aligned with his thoughts about school. Still, the
collective communications he heard explicitly from his grandmother and implicitly from his
cousins’ actions that did not complete high school were constant communications of the impact
school had on an individual’s life. His grandmother connected the importance of academic
performance and the lack of what Javan modeled to her supported his disengagement of school
and dominant alignment of thoughts about school as his parents.
Javan consistently indicated throughout his interviews the following, “like I said before,
nothing really changes my thoughts or my opinion about school.” He mentioned several times
and described himself as a quiet individual who attended school only for the sake that it is
mandated by his parents not because he is interested in what the school had to offer. He added
knowing he had, “To graduate… There is no motivation I have for it [school], I know my parents
want me to get it done.” The dearth of value Javan placed on school was a pervasive mindset
within Javan’s family network regardless of how his extended family spoke about the ways
school could benefit him. In this case Javan valued his grandmother’s interest in his school
efforts. Still, his parents and other family members’ behaviors toward school trumped other
messages of school being valuable. Javan made up his mind by way of his behaviors toward
school as his thoughts aligned with the thoughts and behaviors of his parents about school to be
non-influential to this effort in the utility of school. He reported,
What can I say, I don’t know my family, so far, [he being the] third youngest out of five
cousins who up to now had not graduated from high school, so my mom, grandma,
everyone be on me about my work.
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Still, the universal, less than mediocre disposition that Javan embodied regarding the value of
school reinforces habits that have been modeled from his parents and extended family ties that
school was a marginal attempt.
In conclusion of Theme II, the importance of external biological kindred networks were
essential interrelationships that offered extended support to these young men in the ways in
which the majority of them came to make meaning of the messages from individuals within their
perspective Home networks through extended family ties. These interpersonal connections
affected the value these participants placed on school. As the findings revealed, variations in
participants’ opinions regarding this theme, limited and pervasive disengagement contributed to
one of the outlier’s active choice in his consciousness about the importance of school. Javan
observed several people from within his intimate family network model minimal interest in the
agency of school or it being important to improve his life conditions. Watkins-Lewis and
Hamre’s (2012) and Shears et al.’s (2008) research on parenting styles and family characteristics
aligned with the ways the family network was considered to enhance the developmental
outcomes and academic readiness among low-income Black children. These scholars’ views
aligned with Javan’s presentation of what he took from his parent’s communication about the
value of school. In spite of the mild-mannered approach from his parents and extended family
about school potentially being the positive tool to leverage better future success, Javan opted to
have limited engagement with school by means of exhibiting constrained efforts toward the
enterprise of school. Appropriate to Javan’s parents’ educational levels, entry level occupations,
and the type of communication he received from individuals within his home spaces, as well as
what he contributed back with his actions toward the utility of school, was consistent to the value
he placed on school.
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The complexity of the impact of communications received from various people within
their unique urban hubs, those happenings within their social cultural external worlds, those
places within these low-income neighborhoods and communities where extensions of implicit
and explicit messages whether seen and/ or heard that offered broader authentications about how
their meager living conditions affected the ways in which they dealt with their marginalized
external realities and how those experiences within these unique urban places weighed on their
ability to successfully survive their daily living experiences. With respect to my conceptual
framework, the Amos’ dialogue positioned him in Condition 2. He received positive
communication from home, positive communication from persons in his neighborhood, more
specifically his extended family whose relationships lived in Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979,
1986, 2005) mesosystem layer. Also Amos received negative communication from his
community about the value of school and positive message from school about the value of
school. Overall, he expressed having positive value of school and was engaged in the utility of
school. Both Josiah and Javan’s position in regard to the conditions noted in my conceptual
framework was expressed in the prior summary of RQ 1, Theme I. The interpersonal
relationships these Black male adolescents established through non-related kinship networks
were critical in shaping the value they placed on school. Consequently, the data collected in this
study revealed findings that emerged in Theme III as the non-related kinship networks were also
of value in the ways these young men established interpersonal relationships and came to place
value on school.
Theme III: External (Neighborhood and Community) Non-Related Kinship Networks
The data revealed six of the nine participants expressed they had non-related kinship
relationships or outside people that they viewed were like family to influence them. The way
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that outside individuals, persons not of immediate biological family ties, offered communications
to these Black adolescent males about the value they placed on school showed up in the way that
each of the six young men interpreted the value of school as a result of these contacts. For
example, six of the nine boys had non-kinship ties who they expressed consistently, overtly, and
indirectly influenced their awareness of school as an essential factor in their future success. Here
I have chosen three examples from the six participant voices. Andrew, Adin, and Zamir’s
excerpts were specifically chosen as their voices offered different demonstrations of the
importance of their non-kinship networks on the meanings and value they placed on school.
These young men offered insight into the way the theme played itself out consistently across the
majority of the young men whose dialogue weighed in on this perspective.
One example of views from this theme can be seen in the words of Andrew. He shared
alignment of the ways he perceived his neighborhood and community non-kinship networks to
influence the value he placed on school as he demonstrated in this statement, “My outside-of-
school friends usually, they’re grown. They go to college and they have their life pretty much
set and it’s just a couple of more moves and they’re out.” Being able to surround himself with
older young adults who were in college and shared the same college or life aspirations
encouraged Andrew and offered him opportunities, expectations, and possibilities after high
school. Here, Andrew described the way his adult friends approached post high school
experiences. He described how his similar interest and advice from his non-kinship networks
influenced his thoughts about the value of school. He said the following about the
communication he received from these individuals about perceptions of thoughts about college
life.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 223

It’s kind of the same as, I’m in the same environment. It’s definitely more freedom, I
don’t feel as caged in because once again, they did choose to go to college and this is,
that was your path and you either earned it or you struggling to make ends meet to get
into college but either way it goes, it was still a path that you chose so I don’t really hear
complaints about school [from his college friends]. I just hear like how much they
learned or struggles about the things that you should be struggling on like how hard an
assignment was, not how hard the teacher was on you. It’s the basic things that you
should expect to come out of somebody’s mouth going to school [college].
Andrew clearly received communication that college was a focused effort. He spoke of
an understanding that it was a “path that you choose.” More importantly for Andrew, like a few
of the other participants’ in this study, he had other hood contentions (e.g., drugs, gangs) that
could have derailed his course. His conscious choice to opt-in to the utility of school showed up
throughout his interview in various aspects of his decision making in his daily dealings (e.g.,
with relationships and communications with staff in his school, his inner-school peer choices, his
community-based peer affiliations) to mention a few. As he referenced, “I just hear like how
much they learned or struggle[d].” For Andrew being able to connect with individuals that
walked the path he was traveling, this modeled expectations and demonstrated a means to
educational attainment that was not linear or without challenges. Still, it was a pursuit Andrew
viewed best aligned with his goals for educational attainment and future career success. With
regard to the ways in which Andrew felt his non-kinship interactions shaped his thoughts and
behaviors from discussions he had with them about plans after high school, Andrew shared of his
non-kinship interactions with the following statements,
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They definitely are sitting there like, don’t, don’t mess it up. Once you mess it up,
there’s no going back. Stop playing games. This is serious. This is not a game once you
hit that point of everybody expecting you to be grown, you better be way past that.
You’ve got to be ready before it’s time to be ready. And everybody you know, all my
friends, they expect me to go somewhere and they’re always speaking into my life,
talking about, ‘Here come Mr. Famous’ or whatever. Just speaking into my life and
positive things that brings me up and helps me think that my future is accomplishable.
Andrew being a ward of the court with limited biological family ties, seems to place high
value on the input he received from the adults in his external world that shared similar interest as
he perceived them to actively model the ways in which one should engage in those experiences
of attending college and/ or other life pursuits. These specific interpersonal relationships aligned
with Andrew’s efforts toward educational attainment.
Similarly, another example of this theme can be seen in the words of Adin. Here Adin
shared,
I really don’t interact with anybody in this community cause I try to avoid it because
some stuff happens here that sometimes I do not want to tap into because sometimes you
hear things that sound like gunshots but you don’t know. Sometimes stuff would happen
where the police are down here for something that happened so I try to not interact with
the community here if possible except for the neighbor up there in #10, cause he’s really
a nice guy.
The level of crime and violence in Adin’s neighborhood greatly influenced the
relationships he formed. Adin seldom roamed freely in his neighborhood because of the fear of
harm that could come to him. He intentionally stayed within the confinement of his bounded
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multi-unit apartment and related to a specific neighbor, who he called a mentor, in this setting.
Adin continued as he further described why he perceived this specific neighbor to be a mentor he
shared,
Cause he gives me lots of life advice and for what could happen and for what’s the best
thing for me to do to get through life and have a happy one. I think of him as a really
nice friend and possibly like another parent to me that can help me get more advice into
what life can and what life is. We talk outside on the steps right here about it.
As an only child, his mother having a Bachelor’s degree as well as being physically
disabled, and his father often away with his job as a truck driver, opportunities for Adin to hear
communications from others within his neighborhood and in close proximity as he said provided
him understanding of “what life can and what life is” helped Adin process how he approached
daily decisions about self, school, and future college efforts.
The messages Adin heard about staying focused and doing the best he could may have
reinforced his beliefs about the importance of school and his desire to be educated. Adin added
he felt his neighbor influenced him as a person when he shared,
He influences me that showing what I can do, what potential I do have, don’t let it be
hidden away and not let people see it. Let people be proven right that I have no potential.
He influences me so that I’m not…don’t let people think of me wrong. Show them that I
can be successful person. That we’re not all the negative people that other races, the
White race see us as. Not all of us are the same. We all have potentials and things, but
some of us don’t show it but I intend to.
The non-kinship interpersonal relationship that Adin established with his neighbor
afforded him communication about the importance of life pursuits and the value of attaining an
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education. The power of this specific relationship was critical in being a constant voice that
aligned with the values and expectations from Adin’s home.
Zamir also provided a perspective on this theme. Throughout his excerpt, he shared on
the ways he felt communications from non-kinship ties between individuals from within his
neighborhood and community served as positive influential indicators of value added unions that
promoted increased rationale regarding the importance of conquering his educational aspirations.
In this example, Zamir discussed his perceptions of the value he received through
communications from an outside-of-school male mentor. Here Zamir shared,
He played for Boise State and he had a rough background. He came from being in jail a
lot and things like that. Him coming from that, going to JC and then still going to Boise
State it shows…He tells me, ‘Just don’t give up.’ He tells me, ‘Do extra credit. As much
extra credit as you can to keep your grade up,’ everything like that and I’ve been taking
in. If I’m around someone that’s very wise, I like to suck in all their information.
Being able to understand the struggles and pathways of others afforded Zamir lived
examples of persons that had challenges and overcame. Communications of this nature
reinforced the effort in the pursuit of educational attainment and the importance of academic
performance in high school. The communications Zamir and the other young men in this study
received from their respective non-kinship interpersonal relationship from their neighborhood,
community places and spaces influenced and were powerful messages that guided and reminded
these young men of their future possibilities regardless of their lived realities being ones that
required them overcoming multiple structural barriers. Regardless of the intensity of the barriers
they experienced, they were ones that must be endured and prevailed over in order for them to
realize the life they desired to have.
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In conclusion, the magnitude of established external non-kinship relationships were
extremely important for the survival and pursuit of educational attainment for these young men.
Likewise, the depth of the external non-kinship networks differed in the viewpoints they
provided each participant. Although seven of the nine participants previously shared they had
extended family relationships that supported their efforts and shaped the value they placed on
school; six of the nine expressed they also had non-related kinship relationships from their
neighborhood and community hubs that added to their social culture capital to influence the ways
in which they placed value on school and how they came to consciously understand their
respective social positions within their external worlds. For one student, Andrew, his external
non-kinship relationships were his primary social cultural connections. He did not have
biological kinship ties as a ward of the court. Thus, his non-kinship interpersonal relationships
were significant interactions because these experiences modeled perceived doable expectations
for Andrew. His experiences with selected persons were demonstrations of the ways in which he
could manage self and his efforts toward school. These specific interactions allowed Andrew to
counterbalance the lived conditions he experienced in his foster home, neighborhood and
community that served to influence the value he placed on school. The external relationships
also impacted the measures Andrew took to procure his education within the inner-school setting.
Nonetheless, much like Andrew, the other eight young men’s perceptions about how messages from
their non-school environments influenced the ways in which they came to understand and own a
regard for acquiring an education being the only way out for them, regardless of them choosing
to act on the pursuit or if they choose not to act, they were conscious of the importance of having
an education in contrast to not having one, and how the privilege of an education directly
connected to more opportunities and better living.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 228

Here the relevance of the three participants chosen provided experiences that
demonstrated the ways their non-related kinship networks brought value to their meanings they
made about the value of school. Andrew, Adin, and Zamir’s dialogue during their individual
interviews positioned them in the following Conditions 3, 2 and 1 respectively. Both Andrew
and Zamir’s position in relation to my conceptual framework has been established in prior
themes in RQ 1. The discourse from Adin’s interviews suggest he failed to receive positive
communications from home about school. From the negative messages from neighborhood
about school, positive messages from his community about school, and positive communications
from school, overall, he expressed school engagement and positive value of school.
The complexity of the interactions these young men experienced with persons in their
community and within the spaces of their social cultural words, they come to manage their daily
conditions. Thus, the conscious effort it took for them to regulate who they interacted with and
the places they transversed was critical in them surviving their realities that were unique to their
historically marginalized communities. Next, Theme IV, Courage Under Fire, will be examined
in relationship to the intentional focus each participant in this study took with efforts to survive
their daily experiences in their non-school setting.
Theme IV: Courage Under Fire
Each participant focused primarily on surviving his daily non-school environments. The
young men in this study spent their emotional and cognitive effort surviving their circumstances.
Their community dwellings were very constrained, context specific. They did not see beyond
what they were experiencing. Their vision of the world was very confined to what they had and
this very general notion of what was possible, the material resources that they could aspire to, a
nicer, safer community. It was all about surviving the experience, not about self-actualization
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 229

and future career pathways associated with their academic and self-development (not simply
academic success but life achievement). Their urban community interfered with their ability to
fully access college. They spent their emotional and cognitive effort surviving their
environments. In this section, I chose Adin’s and Daniel’s excerpts from their respective
interviews as they offered different demonstrations of this particular theme.
One example of this theme was communicated through the expressions from Adin’s
interviews. Adin indicated that if he could have any one wish that would change his life it would
be, “To have a better neighborhood, less violence.” The dynamics of Adin’s home life were
intricate. Having a disabled, college-educated mother and a father who was often away from
home due to the commands of his work, situated Adin to be very responsible for managing his
self with getting to and from school. Sights of run down streets, with various apartments nestled
in between scattered homes, with high traffic of police patrol cars, sirens, graffiti show casing the
local gangs and crews, and sights of persons affiliated in such groups were explicit visuals Adin
observed in his neighborhood. Spectacles of this nature greatly influenced his disconnect from
his community. Furthermore, Adin spoke about his discomfort with the level of violence in his
community. He stated,
All the stuff that I've run in is not really good. You hear fight between a husband and
wife, you will sometime hear about some other things that would happen in the
community. The police would be here. No. I try to avoid that at all times.
Adin’s disdain with his community also warranted the following comments about future
prospects of residing in his community post high school. He stated,
I am not going to raise a family in this community. This community doesn't seem [to
have] many rights because only people are talking to each other that have some type of
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gang affiliation or they're just smoking together or drinking. In a way that because it'll
show, if I have a family here, they, my children may have a ... will get a bad influence
from what the other people are doing and they may start doing it when they're in school.
Adin was conscious about his thought process and the implications that his children could
be influenced by the social dynamics within his community even though he had selected
different for self. In fact, all nine of the participants shared this view, of not being able to freely
transverse their communities due to fear of how the violence in their community could cause
them harm. Their personal safety was a major concern as Black men in their respective urban
community hubs. The awareness of the things they observed and heard in their neighborhoods
and communities and how those messages influence their ability to make it out was a critical lens
to document as a major contention that affected whether or not they made it out of their
situations.
The second example of this theme was seen through the words of Daniel. Here, Daniel
shared thoughts about how he and the other eight young men felt about their cognitive and
emotional strides to deal with the daily challenges associated with living in their historically
marginalized neighborhoods. He conveyed the following about the people in his neighborhood
and how he perceived his station in relationship to the context of where he lived in his ability to
emotionally deal with matters of his community on a daily basis. He expressed,
People come and go. Because, oh gosh, there’s a lot of stuff happening in the alley
around my neighborhood. Like shootings, people getting jumped, fights all the time—
not all the time, but like most of the time I would say. Sometimes they’ll just be like,
‘what’s up,’ or whatever, like ‘where you from?’ I’ll just keep walking, but there’s
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 231

always sometimes where it’s like a group of them and you can’t always, you know, walk
away from that.
Understanding at any moment he could fall prey to someone inquiring about whether or
not he was in a gang, and then determining at their will that they would attempt to initiate him
into the gang or attack him physically for their recreation was a daily stressor for Daniel to deal
with. His dealing with matters like this was not unique to him. The other nine boys in this study
talked about their awareness and/ or experiences of similar dealing with persons within their
community. These types of communications made them fearful and opting to stay away from
encounters of this nature that they could avoid. During encounters as Daniel expressed above, he
had to deal with the issues from gang members pressuring him about where he is from. He
shared the following statement,
How do I deal with that? It’s kind of weird, but it’s like when somebody’s approaching
you and asking you questions and stuff, you kind of look at them like, ‘What are you
doing?’ because you don’t know what they have on you (referencing gun). You kind of
just be quiet for a minute and like just look at what’s around you, look at all of your
surroundings, like okay, who’s out here? Who’s out there? There were times
where…oh, my gosh, it was times, you know, when gang members approached me and
they would do stuff, but I’ve always got to look past that, and thank God I’m not dead or
stabbed. There was multiple times where I had to protect myself.
In efforts to survive his reality and neighborhood contentions, Daniel had to fight at times
to stay alive. It did not matter whether or not he was of the none fighting mentality. In order to
not be a victim of circumstance he at times was forced to protect himself not knowing whether or
not he would survive the experience. Daniel was living what he stated about “people coming
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 232

and going.” His experiences like this demonstrated how at any moment he could be gone too.
Daniel having to contend with the gang pressures made him fearful of walking through his
neighborhood. He shared,
That’s why it’s best for me to stay in the house because me being like the new kids,
moving to L.A., as tall as I am and the way I walk, so to speak, people are going to
approach me. ‘Well, okay, who is their guy walking on my block?’ That’s some of the
stuff that they would say, so they would approach me.
Even though Daniel did not fit the profile of a gang member, this did not protect him
from being a target to the social ills that penetrated his community. He had to endure making
choices that directed his actions in his neighborhood with a hope that he would make it to his
destination and a safe return home. When asked how this made him feel as a Black man he
indicated,
It makes me feel like….I don’t know, it’s just…sometimes I feel like, Man, it doesn’t
even have to be that way, you know?... but half of the stuff I’ve been through, half of the
stuff I’ve seen, you know, I always say that God is on my side.
The emotional tension that was expressed through Daniel’s discussion of how he dealt
with battling the gang contentions of his neighborhood deeply concerned him. At 16 years old,
Daniel had to contend with a wealth of violent encounters, in addition to family financial
struggles and with efforts to stay focused on his education as means to make it through and out
of his circumstances.
As this interview took place during December, Daniel expressed a desire to simply be
able to purchase Christmas decorations for his family. His humbleness and spiritual connections
were two inner traits that grounded him and assisted him with being able to find the good in his
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 233

meager circumstances. Thus even with contending with the woes of living in a poor Los
Angeles community, he expressed the above encounters had not been his worst experiences.
Here he described a run in with police when he his family resided in the Northern area of
Los Angeles County. He shared,
One of the worst things I’ve seen, oh man, where do I begin? One of the worst things
I’ve seen was not out here in LA, by the way. It was out there in [Northern area], …the
police kicked down my door, you know. I was scared, so I ran in the backyard, tried to
hop the fence. The police was like, ‘freeze.’ I threw my hands up. I have really bad
asthma, so when I did that, it kind of startled me. My asthma started acting up. They
didn’t care. They grabbed me, put me in the front of the, what do you call it, my front
house, everybody and my mom and stuff.
Being exposed to these types of urban hardships greatly influenced the way Daniel thought about
the neighborhoods he lived in and the people in them. His awareness of the happenings within
his neighborhoods were not positive to say the least. He continued to share,
It’s just like the environment I grew up in, and like my brothers and sisters. They didn’t
trust them, so it was like for me, as the youngest one in my family, you know, I didn’t
trust them. You know, I believed what they believed, and I didn’t really look outside the
box or whatever at the time. I know that was cold. I know, you know, the cops didn’t
have to do what they did to my brother, but at the same time, you know, he could have
just stopped and listened. That would have never happened.
Daniel’s experiences clearly affected the ways he managed himself in his community.
He was very conscious and alert of the situations that might place him in harm. As such, Daniel
was constantly seeking ways to secure his safety. Although, Daniel selected to only spend time
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with his parents because of the level of violence he endured. Incidents where he witnessed
friends being shot and him retrieving them off the street. To hearing about his young friend
being murdered a few days prior. Along with the perilous run-ins his family experienced with
the law enforcement all colored the ways he connected with individuals and managed self to
survive to live to see another day. In addition, to being aware of how to manage challenges in
his neighborhood, he pursued school with intent.
Daniel was well connected to peers in school. His involvement with the school JROTC
programs affords him a lot of discipline and respect for self, laws, and customs. He did not
describe himself self as a very smart young man. However, he was managing a GPA at the
slightly below the 3.0 range. He expressed he struggled with reading yet had learned how to use
his accommodations (e.g., getting parents to write his words, or his sister to type what he has to
express) in order to get what he needed educationally. Furthermore, the structured support as a
key officer in JROTC, his involvement with Church and use of Church mentor, Upward bound,
and other clubs on campus, along with his parents encouragement, Daniel planned to attend
college and expressed interest in seeking different living conditions for self and family. Not in
isolation of his pursuits to having to first survive his neighborhood and community prior to
making it to school or thoughts about college and future life success, the other eight participants
in this study expressed the same concerns about the mental and emotional effort required for
them to manage their daily realities.
Both Adin’s and Daniel’s position in relation to my conceptual framework landed them
in Conditions 2 respectively. Adin’s station has been established in Theme III. The results from
Daniel’s interviews indicated he received positive communications from home about school,
negative communication from his neighborhood, and positive communications from his
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 235

community. Also, Daniel received positive communications from school. Overall, he expressed
positive value of school and was engaged in the utility of schooling.
Although, like the two voices shared in this theme about the ways in which all nine
young men in this study consciously managed the social ills that presented in their respective
communities, they pursued school in spite of. All nine participants had experiences that showed
them that it was possible to have better living conditions, living conditions that differed from
theirs, with less violence, and more affluence. Six of the nine participants shared their affiliation
with football, basketball, Upward Bound, Church, school-based extracurricular engagements,
and/ or family interest exposed them to the quality of life outside of their narrow social cultural
worlds. For example, the fact that Saul, Zamir, and Josiah, three voices that weighed in on this
lens, spent time with peers socializing in other parts of the city demonstrated the ways in which
other members of their larger worlds experienced life. Their experiences expressed in their
interviews shed light on the differences in the living conditions in communities of more affluent
statuses. The comparisons they shared of the differences in living illuminated the ways in which
the structural barriers they endured in their communities influenced how they connected to their
external environments. Thus, the dynamics of their social cultural urban hubs afforded each
participant in this study a grounded perspective about the conscious effort that was required for
them to survive their daily realities.
The complexity of communications from the things they heard and/ or observed
influenced the value they placed on school, as well as the decisions they made and directed their
actions in relation to school. As the messages they received were multifaceted from various
persons within their social cultural words, the type of communications that they received
influenced how they pursued school. Next, Theme V, focuses on the incomplete
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 236

communications these young men received from persons within their social cultural worlds
which did not equip them with the necessary tools to access or succeed in the college culture
even though college was a loosely anticipated space to land after high school.
Theme V: Perpetuation of Poverty through a Reproduction of Failure
While the messages the Boys received were that going to college was the way to improve
their circumstance, they did not provide the boys with the knowledge and/ or tools necessary to
access or succeed in college or to understand how college was a means to a better life. This
section examined the findings from the non-school and inner-school places and spaces where
messages lived that fostered the perpetuation of poverty. The adolescent males in this study
internalized communication as the sole narrative that shaped the way they approached school.
Thus, these communications were experienced in different capacities, from various persons and
spaces, and at various levels of Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) bioecological model
as situated in this research. In spite of this, the counsel these Black young men followed was not
grounded in career pathways that were tied to community-based or school opportunities to foster
transitions to the workforce or higher learning opportunities. Though the communication given
to them supported their effort to pursue education and influenced their perceptions about the
value of school, they were not provided the knowledge and/ or the tools necessary to access or
succeed in college or to understand how college was a means to a better life. The narrative they
received was not complete. Likewise, the expected effort in actualizing their goals to attend
college was not as linear (e.g., just getting the grades will not get you in, or being on a sports
team is not the only path way in) as it was presented to them.
The messages the nine young men received from others with whom they interacted
regarding how to access college were limited. They were not provided with information related
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 237

to resources or insights that would have enabled them to understand what they needed to do to be
successful once they enrolled in a college. They did not understand that they needed to build on
skills they already had or to be intentional about career options. These messages were
incomplete and did not provide the young men with more of the initial idea that getting to
college was important and was a way out. While these nine young men were, in different
degrees, organized towards getting to college, they did not have any sense of how they would
afford or be able to successfully manage the culture of college. It was as though the thought of
attending college was an end in and of itself and was considered the only constructive way out of
their circumstances. They did not see college as a planned effort or necessary means to
developing their current abilities and interest to future employment and/ or careers. Similarly,
they did not see college as a way to develop deeper knowledge or make contributions to their
community and society.
Consequently, the incomplete narrative they heard from individuals did not position them
to actualize their dreams. What they heard played on their desires of making it out of their
community as their effort to get out were blinded by an unrealistic detached narrative. Hence,
this echoed the roots of failure for these young men. These adolescent males in this study had
internalized the messages from the communication that they received that school was a doable
effort and they were actively pursuing those goals. They were intentional about pursuing the
narrative they had been given. These Black men were not passive in their pursuit of college.
They were misinformed and inadequately informed. Still, not being aware they could not see
what was in front of them. They made active choices related to who they associated with, the
activities they took on, the way they spent their time, and the way they directed themselves.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 238

It was possible to see that they marshaled the messages in support of what they were
pursuing. So, it is not that there were not competing messages (because there were) yet they did
not allow all messages to have equal weight. They made decisions about what messages to
attend to, how to choose people who would reinforce the messages (teachers, other school
personnel, outside-of-school peers, coaches) that were aligned with what they were trying to
accomplish or that they saw as their goals. They sought out messages (teachers, other school
personnel, outside-of-school peers, coaches) that reinforced or aligned with what they were
geared towards and they rebuffed messages (racism from school personnel, teachers who did not
think they were capable, people who engage in illegal or dangerous behavior in the communities)
that would interfere with or debilitate them in relation to reaching their goals (college). Six
excerpts from Zamir, Amos, Josiah, Benjamin, Saul, and Daniel were chosen as their unique
experiences offer different demonstrations of this particular theme. Thus, their insights
regarding this theme were important demonstrations that consistently played itself out across all
the young men in this study.
Zamir’s voice was one example of how through his words this theme is expressed. As
such Zamir was one of seven of the nine other participants who communicated that education
was at the root of their life outcomes being actualized. He expounded on this when he shared,
It is a big deal when it comes to education and stuff because it shows, are you really a
student athlete? Are you going to be lazy and go to sleep and not do your homework?
Or [are] you going to actually do homework? It’s a big deal.
Even with knowing the weight of the pursuit of school, the time invested, the mental
attitude to attune, eight of the nine participants in this study fiercely connected the quality of
their academic performances to school with similar drive and commitment to the process of
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 239

school. However, the narratives that these young men embraced from the messages of key
persons within their social cultural worlds were ones deeply rooted in the rhetorical confinement
of the importance of the pursuit of education, and not in the tangible practicality of their
educational goals being fulfilled. They were willing to invest the time and energy with a hoped
understanding of their efforts being actualized.
All nine of the young men also received communications from their social cultural spaces
and places that perpetuated the culture of poverty in their daily realities. An example of the
perspective was shown in the ways Amos made meaning of the importance of school as shared
through experiences of peer treatment in his inner-school setting and communications with one
of his teachers. Amos disclosed at his prior school attention was given to student athletics first.
Amos shared his view about his future being connected to sports was shifted after his teacher
uncovered the truth about the possibility of a student athlete actually making it as a professional
athlete. This message was significant to Amos as he stated he did not perceive the general
culture of his prior school to be an environment that cared about the students being academically
challenged first. He indicated,
They don’t care, like I said, if you play sports—they care about your education because
that can take you further. [He shared his coach], ‘Told me that statistic of a person or
people playing a sport. I looked at it like, ‘Wow,’ and that changed it. It’s like over
650,000 people in California playing basketball and football and over a million are
playing together. It’s just you got to think about the statistics and only about 1% go to
college and another 1% of that 1% is going to the NFL. Of course, you’ve got to still
look at the positive and don’t ever take on the negative and leave. I look at it and be like,
‘I’m different.’ If it doesn’t work out, what am I going to have to fall back on? That’s it!
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Amos had a history with sports from pop warner inclusion during elementary. His parent
was strategic in efforts to connect him to schools and athletic networks that would foster
opportunities for him to gain skills that could offer him scholarship and structure in his academic
pursuits. The investment of time and money for pop warner sports could be a strain on the
limited resources for families of marginal incomes (Ream & Palardy, 2008). Thus, being made
aware of the fact of the slim possibility, as a high school student, that the chances of him not
making it to the professional level of football and possibly not being the next athletic star caused
him to consciously situate other means of attaining his educational and life goals. He reflected
and wanted to position himself to have a fall-forward plan in the event his athletic dreams did not
come to fruition.
Amos’ perspective was consistent with what five of the nine participants in this study
who shared his views regarding the insufficiency in the realness of sports being the primary
vehicle to reach college and/or be the only promise that would afford them different life
outcomes. These five boys believed that their invested effort in sports was a direct path to
structured means of academic achievement and college entry.
Similarly, another example was presented by Josiah in alignment with this theme. Josiah
stated, “If I don’t listen in class, if I get bad grades, then I won’t go to college. Then I would be
hard to get into college, because they see you went to jail.” This message aligned with the
limited ways pursuing school could be realized with the exception of corrective and maintained
rote efforts of merely doing school, instead of engaging in school. The narrow view of the
importance of grades and that connection to college lived in the ways Josiah made meaning of
what it took for him to make it to college. His immediate alternative of not attending and being
successful in school was him being incarcerated. Although, the example here is one of many
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communications Josiah received from persons in his social cultural setting, this message was the
selected narrative he chose to express regarding the one thing he felt would stop him from
reaching his goals. Hence, discussion about other means to improve his grades or other options
within the community that would offer him hopeful alternatives to the ways he could approach
college, or life after high school, was limited in all of the dialogue with the young men in this
study.
Equally, conversations with these young men around the investment in sports were
shared by Benjamin in his statement, “I grew up playing football since I was little…it was kind
of expected of me from my family, to play football. Everybody plays football.” The value of
sports being a direct connection to the possibility and may be the only chance and skills that
these youths have to get into college, have it paid for, and pursue career efforts as a means for
their dreams to be actualized lived in six of the nine participants in this study’s realities. For
example, Benjamin, his father, extended family members, and everyone he connected with
played sports. He in fact switched schools as was discussed in research question one, Theme I,
in efforts to have better chances of leveraging his athletic skills for the hopes that he would earn
an athletic scholarship to get into college. Consequently, the families’ commitment to sports
offered them focus, means to avoid negative community-based encounters, and a narrow lens to
attain an education and better their life outcomes. In addition to the restricted narrative they had
embraced in the messages from key persons within their social cultural worlds, limited
investment in the art of schooling (e.g., academic tutoring promoting weakness in academic
achievement, modeling from career pathways with doable means of engaging in career minded
pathways, and/ or community-based job- and career-oriented options/exposure) was missing
from their realities. In spite of everything, all nine of these young men demonstrated an active
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pursuit in their education based off the incomplete communications they received from persons
advising them. The overwhelming limitations of resources within their community and relegated
school programs (e.g., all efforts were college motivated, A-G track, no opportunities for
vocational training or interest) provided a narrative but not the complete description of the
comprehensive effort it takes to ensure these students methodically are situated participants in
the life after high school, to respond to the demands and expenses of the higher learning culture.
Seven of the nine young men had parents or guardian who were employed. Two parents
in this pool were educators working in a local school district (one of the two worked part time
due to illness). Likewise, 13 of the 17 parents referenced in this study worked entry-level jobs.
This was the majority of the parents’ employment conditions in this study. Four of the parents
who were not employed at all (one of these four was disabled, two did not work, and one
received monies from foster care to care for participant). Of the 13 parents who did work, seven
of the nine participants expressed witnessing their parents work extended hours to provide.
Sights of their parents being physically tired from their labors paralleled with what it required for
them to sustain a workable functioning family structure; where these students’ basic needs could
be met were constant reminders of what it required for them to successfully survive their day-to-
day circumstances, be self-sufficient, and capable of managing their future lives. Being able to
survive the experience, were discomforts that inspired a comprehensive consideration from these
participants of the courage it would take for these young men to also eventually be in a position
to survive their realities. Their parents’ limited financial resources influenced the quality of life
of these participants’ perceptions (Ream & Palardy, 2008). In this study, the participants’ family
incomes varied allowing for students to meet the free and/ or reduced lunch status. Thus, the
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social cultural worlds were met with high occurrences of violence and structural barriers that are
traditions of persons living in improvised communities.
The data revealed that these participants’ parents’ educational attainment was connected
to better pay and family opportunities and involvements. For example, Saul expressed, “First
they say to college. Job…they say the job is going to just get you stuck in LA and you really
won’t be able to see anything.” Saul was presented with a surface pursuit of college yet the
posture that college was the most important effort was expressed by his parents. Still, the actual
means of paying of college or being able to survive that experience void from the academic
expectation was not a message he heard.
Similarly, Josiah when presented with what he would do if college was not an option?
Josiah’s facial expression shifted as if he had never thought about the thought of college not
being a choice. He replied, “It’s not a thought! Go to college!” In Josiah’s world, college was
the only choice. It was imperative for Josiah much like the other seven participants in this study
to reach their educational goals in hopes for a better future. Josiah further shared while although
he had a specific college he wanted to attend his mother’s expectation was for him to get into a
4-year college. He indicated she expressed,
It doesn’t really matter what college you go to, as long as it’s not a junior college…[the
goal is] to be successful…on top, at the top of everything. To be in a mansion kind of,
and then maybe four cars. And like we won’t have to be tired when I get home, it would
be just stress free.
It was clear Josiah connected the value of school to higher education attainment. His
drive and his parents’ desires pertaining to the value of school were aligned. The means to
support or finance that dream was not clear. He added, “I feel like they want me to get into a
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good college cause they don’t want me to be in the same situation as them.” This was a very
powerful statement from Josiah to mention as both of his parents are first generation Historically
Black College and University (HBCU) graduate degree holders. Thus, the messages he received
from them and the meaning he made regarding school were communications that even with his
parents perceived success that the struggle to succeed and make life happen for him was real and
an effort that was hard lived. As he said, “to not end up like them” supports this communication
that even with them having Master’s Degrees and careers that were professional, he realized his
family struggled to make ends meet. Even though, Josiah was of better financial standing in
comparison to the other eight participants in this study, options were still limited because of his
parents’ financial situation. His reality was similar to the other low-income students in this study
granted his mother was partially disabled. Her physical condition affected their family. Yet, his
circumstances mirrored his peers in this study as they too were in family situations where their
parents’ jobs and/ or employment could change quickly by an unexpected unemployment or
because the family struggled to have enough to provide for the comprehensive needs of the
family.
These Black young men had been conditioned to know that they differed as human
beings from the perspective of how the world viewed them. The extreme measures or bounded
performances they had to show to avoid being pegged as negative, violent, and/ or the next
victim of crime which were external perceptions that stood to hinder their opportunities to fully
live and accomplish their goals. Still, these young men were able to filter the messages they
received about their position within their Black culture and the global world workings the same.
One example of this is from Josiah when he stated, “You need your education to get out into the
world. If you don’t have your education, you won’t know what to do in life.” Another example
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is from Daniel when he shared one message he got from school was that school is a reprieve.
School for him was a place that he perceived could make things happen to better his future. To
him it was a place he could learn, get involved, and have a chance to make a difference by
getting his high school education and by attending college. He reported,
I’m in a lot of clubs at that school, so during lunchtime I really don’t have time to really
hang out. If I’m not in a club, I’m making up homework that it missed from a different
teacher. When I think about it, I think it’s a good school for me to graduate and go to
college from, although it’s not the best school, but it is a good school.
For Daniel, like seven of the other participants in this study, they were all able to manage
the importance of classroom, necessary involvement (e.g., earning the grades, commitment to
sports) versus desired involvement for fun. If their engagement hindered or presented to be an
obstacle for their school work completion and could impact their ability to earn the grades they
would refrain from involvement. These students were able to reflect, prioritize, and shift with
minimal adult reminders of why said tasks were important over others. This demonstrated a
direct connection to them reaching and attaining their school goals. They had very general
notions about career pathways that would provide them opportunity to reach their potential.
All of the participant excerpts shared in this theme situated them in relations to my
conceptual framework as their thoughts about school had been discussed in previous Themes
within RQ 1, with the exception of Saul. Saul’s dialogue positioned him in Condition 1. He
received positive communications from home, neighborhood, community, and school about the
value of school. Thus, Saul was engaged and demonstrated value of school. Even so, like Saul,
all the other eight participants in this study received incomplete narratives about the ways in
which high school and their higher learning pursuits could be maximized had they been provided
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a complete narrative of the necessary tools required for them to understand the rules of
engagement so they could engage intently in a college-going culture. Instead, a perpetuation of
poverty through a reproduction of failure from the systemic ills that filter the mindsets of their
parents, teachers/staff, mentors, and extended family networks all offered them incomplete
narratives.
Summary of Research Question 1
The nine urban Black low-income high school adolescent males received messages from
individuals within their respective homes, neighborhoods, community, and school to influence
the value they placed on school in many ways. First, they valued having intimate conversations
parallel with active involvement from their parents about the importance of school and how the
implications of stellar academic performance could lead to future higher learning opportunities.
Second, these young men valued extended family and non-kinship community-based interactions
as reinforcing communication about them focusing with intention on their academic pursuits in
spite of the high-risk communities and hood contentions they dealt with on a daily basis.
Concerning Theme III, External (Neighborhood and Community) Non-related Kinship
Networks, the focus was on the interpersonal relationships these Black young men established
with their non-related kinship networks that were critical in shaping the value they placed on
school. For two of the participants, these encounters were especially critical because they did
not report having biological-kinship networks to depend on. Thus, having these added
established layers of support, even with those five participants that had both biological and non-
related kinship ties, were beneficial relationships enriched the ways in which they conceptualized
perspectives that aligned with the ways they approached school.
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With regard to theme IV, Courage under Fire, all nine of the participants in this study
understood and were aware of the potential dangers of traversing urban dense communities as
Black males. Accordingly, one participant in this study did not have to deal with these specific
neighborhood challenges as his parents’ current neighborhood was not of that element. Thus, the
emotional and cognitive efforts required for all of these youth to survive their daily communities
were all deemed necessary goods that stood as protective factors for preserving their lives. The
reality of each of these youth in this study, whose circumstances required them to cope with
neighborhood and community challenges postured a heightened level of consciousness and
courage to survive the streets they traveled daily. For these youth, being conscious of the
contentions within their respective urban hubs as the structural societal barriers of their networks
were evident yet common experiences for persons whose disenfranchised circumstances. Still,
they were required to cope with dense neighborhood challenges as they had no choice in where
or how they lived. Having to deal with the level of substandard living and the harsh reality of the
quality or nonexistence of resources within their respective urban communities each of these
participants were mindful of their living situations. Each of them possessed the ability to tap into
various impressive realizations (that their peers from more affluent backgrounds do not have to
contend with) as their peers’ home, neighborhood, community, and school places and spaces
were not environments that come with this layer of deprivation and/ or the conscious effort to
have the courage to soar in spite of their conditions. Still, the participants in this study having no
choice in their parents’ social statuses which landed them in their present conditions made a
concerted effort to tap into their inner-assets that offered them a protective layer to move forward
in spite of their conditions and limited resources. Their active attitude lent them a veil that
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promoted resiliency and a personal and collective village network that supported their efforts to
earn their education without clear passports to do so.
Concerning Theme V, Perpetuation of Poverty Through a Reproduction of Failure, these
nine participants in this study were not dormant. They were not simply passing through their
lived realities blind or stumbling on ways and means to succeed. They embraced the narrative
they heard with regard to pursuing education as presented to them. Then again, the lack of
knowing the rules of engagement coupled with the incomplete messages they received from
persons in their community with regard to viable means of ensuring college entry from a
financial or scholarly perspective was heavily contingent on their inner-school connections (that
will be discussed in research question three). Their inner-school, was a very important space in
their biosphere that informed-ness from staff that may or may not have been thoroughly
established or massaged with each participant intently. Having a home base parent or guardian
who advocated (not simply being present) for the perspective participants was an added layer of
accountability for example to get the correct courses per se, or challenge the level of classroom
rigor within their inner-school pedagogical realm; coupled with the correct community-based
supports provided the necessary non-school communications required to ensure parallel (from
non-school and inner-school settings) responsibility of what these students were entitled to and
could level out the playing flied for future higher educational pursuits and reality shifts.
Research Question 2: How do the Messages Urban High School Age African-American
Adolescent Males Receive from Their Home, Neighborhood, and Community Influence the
Ways in Which They Make Choices and Direct Their Actions in Relation to School?
The social cultural worlds of the nine low SES participants in this study were fluid
multidimensional spaces and places where implicit and explicit communications lived. These
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messages came from both their non-school and inner-school urban environments. It was in those
spaces that these young men wrestled with the ways they made sense of the communications that
impacted their goal-orientation, decision making, interpersonal relationships, and the way they
performed regarding school. When examining the ways these nine participants’ non-school
settings and the conditions within those spaces shaped the ways they moved through their
everyday lives, the context of their lived realities guided their personhood in relationship to their
bio-ecological spheres, the way they viewed self as Black men, the complexities of their Black
culture, and the way they made decisions and survived their communities. Many scholars have
examined the Black identity and identity in relationship to school. The focus of identity in this
study is in relation to self-construct through self-perception, agency, and personhood in
relationship to school. The goal is to learn how these youths viewed self in relationship to their
unique urban hubs and how, if any, does this awareness of self affect these Black youths’
academic attainment. This perspective is supported by that unique subsystem space that Bush
and Bush (2013) presented in their African American Male Theory. They specifically talked
about this space of collective will offering Black males an added layer of protective factors that
influenced the way they managed the world. Fordham (2010) posited that social and biological
constructs defined by the dominant culture influenced the racial identities of African-American
students and their ability to negotiate school. Warikoo and Carter (2009) argued that Black
identity was formed as the result of cultural context and assimilation. D. J. Carter’s (2007, 2008)
research asserted that fictive kinship relationships assisted Black adolescents as they navigated in
school counter spaces and affirmed their self-perception. Likewise, her research insisted that
Black adolescents’ awareness of historical oppressive undertones influenced their awareness of
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societal inequalities toward members of their race and served as positive protective barriers
toward their attitude and beliefs about the importance of attaining an education.
Nagel (1994) argued a person’s cultural identification and one’s specific ethnic
boundaries, whether it was an internal or external declaration, could influence an individual’s
economic and political condition and facilitate the ways in which and to whom opportunity was
offered. Still, with the wealth of perspectives about the ways Black adolescent males connect to
the value of school, the gap in the literature has been that none of these scholars have explored
how Black adolescent males made sense of the messages they saw and heard within their
outside-of-school social cultural worlds. It is in conjunction with these messages their talents,
intelligence, agency, drive, autonomy, awareness, consciousness, and/ or spirituality as a means
of self-actualization connect.
Maslow (1943) asserted that there is a hierarchy of need, that the basic needs (e.g., food,
sense of inclusion, shelter, security) of humans must be met in order for them to come full circle
as people through (e.g., self-exploration, self-reflection, self-discovery, and/ or self-realization).
He argued that it is only then that human beings were stimulated to reach their goals and fully
feel included in the grander scheme of society. For these young men in this study, their urban
communities were culturally bounded places and spaces that differed in structural setup and
required specific behaviors from them to survive. In their urban communities, which were
socially isolated from the larger societal infrastructures whereby the culture of poverty and
historical disparities for members of their race were grounded in their urban structural barriers
that informed the limited assets or resources available to or controlled by members of their social
cultural worlds (e.g., school settings and/ or community places).
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These nine participants lived in dense urban environments that shaped their experiences
by the conditions in their environment. The cultural norms (e.g., cultural traits, habits, styles,
behaviors, orientations) unique to members of their race offered these young men shared means
of in-group meaning made from similar views of how the communications they got from their
social cultural worlds allowed them to relate to the global world they lived in (Nagel, 1994).
Their cultural frames also influenced the ways they made sense of how the world worked,
influenced the ways they came to make decisions, and how they survived their daily realities
(e.g., having street smarts, knowing which peers or groups to stay away from, etc.). Their Black
culture and specific communications about value and those tangible resources they had (e.g.,
their athletic ability, academic performance, soft skills, personality, intelligence) provided a way
for these young men in this study to understand, leverage, and access in their worlds (Ogbu,
1991). Their urban cultural dynamics were fluid and loosely intertwined with the social
interactions that showcased the actual skills these students adopted and the physical constraints
(e.g., burdens or obstacles beyond their control that were part of the context of their environment
and group membership) exposed through the messages they received that restricted their
behaviors, affected their outlook on life, how they participated in, how they identified, came to
selectively choice and/ or engage in the art of schooling (Allen, 2013; Bush & Bush, 2013;
Nagel, 1994).
In this section, I examined the ways in which these nine young men made sense of the
implicit and explicit messages they received from their urban social spheres. Both their non-
school and inner-school environments are assessed in relationship to school value. Here I turn
my attention to the following key factors: cultural values, economic capital, political and/ or
educational forces, and identity assets (strengths) that influence the ways they navigated and
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negotiated their personal and social spaces, those spaces and places where they served as actors
possibly performing in their everyday attempts that informed all of the occurrences that go on, on
the streets they live, communities they travel, and within their school walls, that shaped their
attitudes, actions, and beliefs in regards to how they identified as Black men in relationship to
their personhood within their social cultural words. This section is organized first from the
frame of the three themes that emerged from the data collected with regard to research question
two. Second, with regard to analysis of the findings that answer research question two. Third,
with respect to the four conditions of my conceptual framework. Lastly, with a summary of
essential findings and themes from research question two.
Regarding participants’ voices in this study, the three themes that emerged from the
stories shared with respect to research question two are: Active Pursuit, Inner Assets in
Relationship to Intellect, Drive, Spirituality, Athletic Prowess, and External Neighborhood and
Community Reinforced the Message that Adolescents Received from Neighborhood about Lived
Conditions Influenced Their Perception of School as a Way Out. These three themes are
discussed in relationship to the data collected (see Appendix J).
Concerning Theme I, Active Pursuit, focused on the ways each of these nine young men
intentionally sought out people who reinforced the communications that aligned to their goals
and distanced themselves from individuals that conflicted with their goals.
Involving Theme II, the focus is on the inner-assets these students employed that assisted
in the progress they made towards their goals. The focus was on how the inner assets (e.g.,
intellect, drive, spirituality, and/ or athletic prowess) influenced their ability to identify how their
self-perceptions situated them being conscious in their efforts to engage in the utility of school
(Bush & Bush, 2013).
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Relating to the last theme in research question two, Theme III focused on the messages
the adolescents received from neighborhood and community about conditions within their
community (e.g., what it meant to live there, the dangers and limited resources of living there)
and how those explicit and implicit messages influenced the adolescents’ perceptions of school
as a way to a better set of conditions. The findings revealed resiliency (e.g., being able to win
their self-perceptions), agency (e.g., being able to organize self) through these young men
leveraging their inner-assets (e.g., talents, gifts, wits), in conjunction with their cultural values,
limited economic capital, and political/educational forces all contributed to the ways these young
men negotiated, navigated, and understood their self-hood in relationship to the meanings they
took from the messages in their social cultural worlds that influenced the value the placed on
school.
Theme I: Active Pursuit
All Nine Adolescent Males privileged messages that aligned with their goals over other messages
they received. They also sought out people who reinforced those messages that aligned with their goals
and distanced themselves from individuals who conflicted with their goals. These adolescent males
internalized communication that aligned with their perceptions about the value of school from
the non-school and inner-school settings. This section examined the findings from the non-
school and inner-school places and spaces. Eight of the nine participants in this study were
fearlessly pursuing school based from the narrative they were given by the persons they
associated, and connection and value to in their social cultural worlds.
Inner-school Environment. The data clearly demonstrated that the messages eight of
the nine participants received from individuals within their social cultural worlds were ones that
undoubtedly promoted academic achievements as being the primary means for them to focus and
survive their daily urban realities. Education was seen as a way out of their lived realities of
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meager living. These youths were not dormant in their pursuit of college. For example, all nine
participants shared how they felt the importance of their collective agents verbalizing the
importance of school to weigh on the betterment of their life outcomes. I chose on excerpt from
the inner-school environment that demonstrated this perspective of the theme next through the
story of Adin as his voice reflected the dominant perspective from the other participants in this
study even though one student’s behavior toward school in this study did not align with his
actual words of how he said school played a role in his life. Regarding Adin, statements of the
following was shared through his words, “Graduate from college and get one of the jobs they
don’t expect us to. It makes me see myself as a person that can obtain that.” Daring to beat the
odds and using the investment in school as the way out was evident in the ways these young men
pursued their education. With regards to being a Black man Adin shared,
That a(s) Black man, it influenced me that just because I’m Black does not mean I don’t
have any potential to go to college or anything. It makes me think that I can and I have
the potential to go to college ‘cause I’m a really smart Black person and that I can ignore
all of what other people say that are negative towards me saying I can’t go to college and
go through to it and get to college to make sure I have the job and career I want.
Adin was conscious of how he was perceived by the world as a Black man and did not
allow that perception to affect his chances of attending college. He was eager to continue in his
educational attainment for better job and career opportunities post high school. Like Adin, the
other eight young men in this study made active choices about school based on the information
they received from the people they selectively chose to interact with, to better themselves.
Non-school Environment. In addition to seeking out the people who had similar goals
as their own, the young Black men in this study also sought out associations with people they felt
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could enhance skills that they knew would be linked to career and future interest and that could
offer them a means to financial opportunities as related to school. Two of the nine participants in
this study expressed they worked and connected their work ethics to being able to survive and
have skills that would help them with school and future college pursuits. I have chosen to
present excerpts from the experiences of Daniel and Saul as they offered different demonstrates
of this theme in relationship to the non-school environment. They offered insight into the way
the theme played itself out consistently across the majority of the young men as well as ways the
theme played out in slightly different ways for the young men. One example of this theme can
be seen in Daniel’s following words. Here, Daniel discussed how this theme related to this
concept of how what he learned in the interest of gardening offered him acquired skills. He
shadowed his brother and adopted tools that provided Daniel income while in school. These
skills cultivated future employment and career interest. Daniel shared, “After I spend my four
years in the service, I want to do landscape, landscape design. Sometimes I cut grass around the
neighborhood. Well, not around this neighborhood, for the ladies in my church, I cut grass for
them.”
Being resourceful with managing and deciding to connect with others who could improve
their lives while they were actively in pursuit of mastering their school experience to transition to
higher learning was an intentional effort. Thus, Daniel chose to be in tune with legal ways to
financially provide for himself. He was clearly aware of alternative means to hustle as the
presence of gangs and their activity was heavily visible in his community. Still, he opted to
perform lawful ethical means to supplement where his family financially could not. He added,
“My brother used to do it. He had a boss and I’d just see him bring in the tractor all the time.”
Daniel’s brother modeled and exposed him to the gardening business. This introduced a path
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that Daniel was able to connect with and actively apply himself in efforts to link his skill interest,
to school efforts and career interests that could be entertained and further massaged at the higher
education level through his interest of landscape architect. Again, Daniel used his connections
and applied the learned trade to sustain himself (and a means to meet his current needs) and
possible future career options. Daniel was active in efforts to use his assets to connect with
people who influenced the ways he related his work ethics to the value of school to be a tool to
better his life outcomes.
Even with a heightened sense of hope Daniel was aware his experiences in his low
income urban neighborhood gravely differed from his peers that did not live in his community.
He stated, “So many kids wouldn’t have to experience half of the things I experienced.” This
comment was stated in the context of intensified level of violence he endured daily with frequent
random shootings, losing peers to neighborhood gang violence, to the intensity of him being
approached by gang members regarding his affiliation and those examples as stated in research
question one, that hindered him being able to freely and without the fear of losing his life, him
being able to simply walk through his neighborhood; as such, he is confined to his home.
Nevertheless, the level of conscious awareness, his ability to use agency when making daily
decisions regarding how he interfaced with people when problems arose helped him manage
himself and controlled whether or not he would live to see another day. As mentioned in
research question one, Daniel often had to fight his way to school or other places he traveled
while trying to navigate his community. It did not matter to others in his neighborhood that he
did not fit the profile of a gang memeber. He was still approached and often had to decide how
he would respond. Often his response was contingent on the extent of the conflict that could
continue. Daniel had limited control over these things. In fact, he indicated that he often chose
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 257

to stay in the house in order to avoid run-ins like these. Here, he discussed his self-perception in
relationship to his agency. Daniel added,
I know that I’m not perfect and I know that everyone’s not perfect, but everyone has
some type of gift in them. I feel like deep down inside, live your life trying to like
succeed. My gift…I talk to people and I’m always preaching to people…The things I
have control over in my life is…my ability…me, like my actions and the things that I
choose to do and I choose to grow up on. The goals that I set for myself every day.
Daniel was aware of how limited his choice was given his circumstances. Yet, this did
not prevent him from taking every opportunity to exercise control and/ or be active in those
things he could control. He reflected what Bush and Bush (2013) affirmed as traits of the
African-American male in their efforts to survive their daily realities. With all that Daniel
endured in his community with gang violence and fear of any moment being the next victim of
crime in his community, he found hope in his strides toward getting out of his community and
doing better for himself. His ability to be introspective about the things he had control over and
to constantly strive to be a better man impacted the ways he made daily decisions and supported
his efforts toward school attainment. As such, he was selective in the people he socialized with
in his community and how he spent his time (mostly in his home with his family to avoid having
to be faced with harm). The young men in this study made decisions about what messages to
attend to, to choose people who would reinforce the messages that were aligned with what they
were trying to accomplish, or what they saw as their goals.
Another ambition that supported these participants’ efforts to pursue school in spite of the
neighborhood challenges or economic pitfalls from their parents’ stations was with regard to
hope in mobility. Mobility was considered from the perspective of moving out of their current
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conditions into something else, as well as being in motion daily to access resources or tools that
would guide efforts to achieve school for opportunities of having more and better living, to them
actually being able to navigate or move through their daily lives.
Saul was another voice chosen to represent this theme. Saul observed how people within
his community had the agency to make it in spite of the conditions they faced. He shared,
Earlier this week I see this woman and her kids, I guess she was trying to take them to
school or they were running after the bus and the bus stopped, he could have easily kept
going but he decided to stop and let them get on the bus.
This communication related to the realness in the struggle to and the effort for people in
his community to simply get to school without having personal transportation. Here the literal
means of getting from place to place was present and translated into the effort it took for people
within his community on a daily basis to access school. The implication of not having
transportation to conveniently get from one place to another was critical in this pursuit, as Saul
mentioned he thought this family might have been on their way to school. If this family did not
make the bus and the children where possibly late that could affect student attendance, or the
parent making it to work. The small privileges of being able to afford a car to enhance access to
daily living reflected the financial and structural barriers that impeded access for members in
Saul’s community. The messages he received from his community were that people in his
community were actively moving and were trying to access something better. Likewise, the
meaning he made and took from the effort of the bus driver, stopping to assist this family,
demonstrated how the bus driver too served as a support to other members of the community to
make better their conditions.
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In the same lens Saul also shared his thoughts about seeing persons homeless or down
and out people, those people in his community who he noticed were not working. Saul stated,
I know people who went to high school you know, but they’re, they’re older than me, you
know he was able to get a job, a pretty good job, but who knows, they could have
[referring to the homeless people he saw] been laid off and they just couldn’t afford, they
just couldn’t bounce back.
Saul’s thoughts about how the homeless person became homeless provided a level of
awareness about the events or happenings in this person’s life that impeded his life and resulted
in this person being homeless. Saul questioned the homeless person’s agency in relationship to
self. Saul wondered about whether or not this person could bounce back after his set back of
losing his job. Seeing this man’s station reinforced the message that aligned with what he was
trying to accomplish which was attending college and attaining a career. Saul was processing
how this homeless person’s behavior could have undermined him and how his condition
interfered with or debilitated him in relationship to reaching his life goals. The reflective nature
of Saul’s assessment gave him insight into the possibility that he could have the same experience
in the future. The participants’ urban social cultural worlds and the experiences they had with
key people within those settings demanded all of the emotional and cognitive energy they had
and they directed that energy towards surviving their environments.
Next, Theme II, Inner Assets, will examine how the nine participants’ in this study
awareness of their self-concept in relationship to their self-perceptions and personhood supported
the ways they identified personal assets to contribute to their ability to consciously manage their
actions and decisions on a daily basis.

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Theme II: Inner Assets
In addition to the non-school and within-school messages each young man received, they
also drew on their inner assets (strength) to make progress towards their goals. A component of
my conceptual framework linked Bush and Bush’s (2013) African American Male Theory
(AAMT) to my overarching theoretical framework of bioecological systems theory. These
scholars argued six tenets, as addressed in the conceptual framework of this study. Using
Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1989, 2005) ecological systems approach these scholars
contributed insight into the ways in which African-American men and their “collective
experiences, behaviors, outcomes, events, phenomena, and trajectory” of their lives are best
analyzed (Bush & Bush, 2013, p. 7). The AAMT integrates five of Bronfenbrenner’s interrelated
environmental systems (Bush & Bush, 2013). Unique to the AAMT is a divide in the
microsystem phase where two categories of the inner microsystem (which captures components
of a person’s perceptions, beliefs, and personality) and the outer microsystem (captures the space
to analyze the influence of family, peers, neighborhood, and school environments on the person)
lend an internal space for Black males to take a self-assessment and act on their right to choose
by embodying their self-agency regarding their will. The ability for these young men to decide
those things that he will or will not do, or connect with certain persons over others’ lives as Bush
and Bush’s (2013) subsystem of the microsystem in their AAMT. The AAMT also looks at the
mesosystem level that connects the links between a person’s environment on the inner
microsystem, outer microsystem, and what Bush and Bush (2013) presented as a sixth system
called the subsystem. It is within this subsystem space that they consider the influence of the
collective will that stands to support how the African-American males navigate their daily social
cultural worlds.
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The young men in this study were able to tap into their collective will through use of
those things they could leverage as forms of inner strength to mentally manage the ways they
dealt with the implicit and explicit communications within their social cultural worlds. It was
through the richness of their voices and the responses to the interview questions that these nine
Black adolescent males described how they self-identified and self-organized and used their
inner strength, their inner agency to make sense of the meaning from the communications they
received. Based on the meanings they applied to the communication they received they were
able to situate themselves in relationship to their respective social cultural milieus. Their self-
perceptions were constrained to what they already had (e.g., social skills, intellect) but not to
their potential to accomplish more. Whether it be their personalities (inner-microsystem of Bush
and Bush’s, 2013, AAMT) or that they were athletes, musicians, intellectuals, or actors their
ability to consider their inner strengths and to self-organize in ways of understanding how they
perceived themselves as Black adolescents bounded to the internal spaces and places within
themselves, allowed them to leverage their inner-assets (e.g., talents, gifts, intellect) to control
their behaviors and the choices they made from the post of agency, drive, autonomy,
consciousness, and/ or spiritual maturity.
For the sake of the length of this dissertation I chose one excerpt from Daniel’s
experience to support this theme. As he and the majority of the other participants in this study
provided clear demonstrations in various ways of the importance their self-perceptions and how
owning their inner-assets reinforced their resiliency and overall collective will to manage their
daily realities. Daniel’s experiences offered a clear way this theme played itself out for the
young men. He shared how he was balanced in his awareness of his inner strengths and
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weaknesses in efforts to manage how he made decisions. He further elaborated saying he took
charge of his life by
Recognizing the things, I have control over in my life…you know, my ability, like
my…me. Me, like my actions and the things that I choose to do and I choose to grow up
on. The goals that I set for myself every day, that’s what I think I have control over, for
me.
Being aware of those things he felt he could control, those things he thought he could
have managed afforded him say in the things he would or would not get involved in. Daniel
positioned his agency by sharing,
It takes discipline, a lot of discipline, and encouragement, because it takes time, should I
say, sometimes time you don’t have. You can always make time, make time and effort,
put it in to do, like what you have the ambition to do or whatever. Because I like to drill
and I like to lead others. I like to teach other how to drill.
He was very committed to opportunities to improve. Daniel was conscious of the time
and effort that was needed and required as an investment to master his goals. This too translated
into the effort he put into school (Bush & Bush, 2013).
All nine participants demonstrated an inner agency or their inner world (self-hood) as a
self-organizing system. The inner world as a self-organizing system was a self-implied internal
logic that these students owned that allowed them centralized tools to organize their thoughts and
own the decisions they made from a reflective and introspective intrinsic space. Within this
sphere of deep-seated consciousness or self-hood realm, these participants took inventory of their
inner assets or their gifts (e.g., giftedness or intellect, outgoing personality, leadership skills,
talents or strengths such as singing, football, basketball qualities, etc.). They actively leveraged
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these skill-sets as essential subjective protective factors allowing them to choose the ways in
which they would or would not respond to daily stressors that stood to alter their life courses
while managing the non-school and inner-school places and spaces.
In this section I present the ways in which these nine participants perceived self and how
these thoughts shaped how they navigated their social cultural worlds both in and out-of-school
spheres. The ways they saw themselves enabled them to select people who they believed could
support them (e.g., mentors, teachers or staff, peers). Their perceptiveness enabled them to take
advantage of the guidance offered to them by these individuals to understand the rules of
engagement, those rules that were imposed on them, and the ones they were expected to conform
to in relation to the dominant cultures cultural norms. Thus, they had individuals who could, as
Delpit (1998) would say, introduce them to the culture of power so that they could navigate it
more effectively.
The basis of these carefully formed interpersonal relationships within the inner-school
setting were critical relationships that influenced each of these young men with respect to their
growth, understanding, meaning making, and authentication of their conscious efforts in their
ability to own their agency of deciding who they would relate to (or not) and how they came to
traverse (or not) their neighborhoods, communities, and school settings based on those
interactions that might or might not have been established from seminal interest. Thus, whether
messages, either positive or negative, influenced these nine participants’ engagement or non-
engagement in school was determined by the ways they exerted control over themselves and
their actions and their encounters in their non-school environments and how they responded to
these encounters.
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The data revealed that the nine young men’s in this study self-perceptions were molded
from a consideration of their perspective inner assets. This served to reinforce the value they
placed on school through the ways they identified their personal strengths, used their inner
collective will as a benefit. Also, these young men’s self-perceptions allowed them to reflect on
the ways in which the messenger delivered the communications from their non-school and inner-
school places. Similarly, a look into how those atmospheric factors in their urban environmental
hubs that stood to either inhibit and/ or indorsed the significance they placed on school as they
negotiated day-to-day situations to fulfill their educational declarations was a consideration in
relation to these youth’s personhood. The way that these nine adolescent Black males valued
school showed up in a number of ways. It played out (1) in the way they each described how
they approached school and reasons education was necessary; (2) how their actions aligned with
their self-descriptions; (3) how their peers characterized their views of them; and (4) from the
ways they discerned secure places to assemble in their perspective urban neighborhoods,
communities, and school places to increase changes to survive their daily adolescent and urban
experiences (Carter, D. J., 2008).
Having gained this knowledge from this study situates where these students landed in
relationship to the conceptual framework of this study. For example, three of the nine young
men’s (Saul, Zamir, and Benjamin’s) dispositions situated them in Condition 1 where positive
communications from their home, neighborhood, community and school settings affirmed they
placed positive value on educational attainment. With regard to Condition 2 of my conceptual
framework, four of the nine young men’s (Daniel, Josiah, Adin, and Amos) dispositions offered
variations in the ways communication was received from their non-school and inner-school
settings that situated them under this condition. All four of these students received positive
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communications from home, either positive and/ or negative communications from
neighborhood, community, and school with all positive value and engagement in school. One of
the nine young men (Andrew) was positioned in Condition 3 of my conceptual framework where
the he received negative communications from his home, a variation of negative and positive
communications from his neighborhood and community. However, positive communications
from school and selected positive peer interactions resulted in him having a positive value of
school and being engaged in the utility of school. Lastly, one of the nine young men (Javan)
landed in Condition 4 as he received negative communications from home, neighborhood,
community, and school. As such, he did not value school and was not engaged in school.
As a result of the rich data collected in this study, seven of the nine participants expressed
receiving positive messages from home about the nature of school and they all provided evidence
through their actions and behaviors that they valued school. Findings suggest that of the two
participants (Javan and Andrew) who experienced negative communications from home that
only one (Javan) had a negative value of school. The other participant’s (Andrew) expressed
positive value of school could have been contributed to him receiving mixed messages of
positive and negative communications from his neighborhood, community as well as receiving
positive message from school. This in conjunction with Andrew’s agency, his collective will to
select those persons who aligned with his interest in school could have impacted his choices and
position in relationship to where he landed in the conceptual framework for this study. Next, a
presentation of a cross examination of participants in each perspective condition will be
examined with respect to their inner-assets (self-perceptions and collective will) as Bush and
Bush (2013) insisted provided a focused lens to assess the ways in which African-American men
are able to navigate their social cultural worlds. Following demonstrations of ways in which the
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young men in this study evidenced the four conditions within my conceptual framework through
their words is explored.
With regard to participants’ self-perception in relationship to their inner-assets to
influence their collective will (e.g., agency, drive, autonomy, awareness or consciousness, and/or
spirituality) in Condition 1, Saul, Zamir, and Benjamin were three of the nine participants in this
section and their backgrounds were similar: Saul, a 12th grader in a LA based charter school;
Benjamin, an 11th grader who had attended another high school prior to attending a school in the
largest urban school district; Zamir, a 9th grader attended school in District B; and Amos was a
9th grader in a Los Angeles based charter school and had attended two high schools this year
term (one private in and the other a public charter in LA).
Three of the young men lived in nuclear family home structures with both of their
biological parents who were married. One young man’s parents co-parented, were never
married, and lived in separate houses. All four of the young men’s parents graduated from high
school. Zamir’s father attended a community college. Likewise, Amos’ mother had a 4-year
college degree. All four young men’s parents were employed. Amos’ father was not working
due to an injury. All four young men expressed having had parents and extended family that
supported their interest and value in school. All four of the students expressed athletic interest in
football and/ or basketball that started during their primary years. As such, all four young men
expressed their athletic efforts were deemed a financial and time investment that stood to focus
them, develop their athletic skills, and advanced their social cultural network and capital for
college entry from either scholarly or athletic means. Three of the four indicated they would
raise their children in their respective neighborhoods as a result of the valued family ties within
them. Three of these young men expressed through their excerpts that they witnessed positive
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neighborhood and community happenings. As such, the positive aspects of their community
warranted them expressing a desire to return to their respective communities after high school
(but in areas of more affluent status). Amos, on the other hand, witnessed unpleasant
interactions within his two respective living quarters. It was his goal to move away from his
neighborhoods and community. He did not desire to raise a family in his current external
environments. All four shared artifacts that related to the ways in which they came to place
value on attaining their future goals. Three shared trophies and one shared his phone cover.
Additionally, each one of these participants possessed an introspective nature that gave them
ownership and awareness of how to leverage their inner assets (e.g., their football/basketball
skills, intellect, personality) to posture personal choice and inner connectedness with peers and
staff in both their inner-school and non-school settings.
I chose Saul to be the voice of this perspective as his words reflected the views of all
young men in Condition 1. Here, Saul provides an example of how these four participants
collectively expressed this inner drive. Saul’s voice mirrored the consensus of expressions
shared regarding these participants’ inner drive, the demonstrated traits will follow. Saul
indicated having a close friend who he grew up with who lost his mother at an early age.
Witnessing the ways his friend struggled with the lack of parental support allowed him to reflect
on the privileges he had with both of his parents being involved in his schooling, having
extended family in his neighborhood, personal out-of-school kinship networks and a solid inner-
school support system to support the value he placed on school. Saul described himself in the
following manner,
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As a student I am very outgoing. I’m very, I participate a lot. I do find myself being a
little lazy at times in school. I need to change that but I’m pretty good, decent student. I
would say moral substance determine what I want to attain in life.
Saul indicated his friends would describe him in the following manner,
They would describe me as being very funny and existing and ready-to-have a blast,
focused. I’m very competitive, whether it’s in school answering a question, the person
who raised their hand, just anything, my inner drive is always driven on my competitive
nature.
When elaborating on what drives him, Saul shared, “I know how to look at the bigger
picture. And try, sometimes I try to look at the consequences of what may happen. I always take
that into my perspective.” He also indicated sports motivated him to be better. Similarly, he
shared what his friends and he expected from each another. He shared, “Comfort like if we see
somebody down we gone ask them like what’s up man. You know how you doing? Everything
alright.” Saul also expressed within his peer and family networks self-awareness about personal
actions and involvements were communications that he had little room for failure was clear.
Thus, Saul did not allow either academic or personally-centered diversions to impact his
educational attainment. He stated his friends, “They influence me by keeping me out of
trouble…man you don’t want to do that, let’s go, do this instead dawg. Something else is going
on over here; let’s go there that will probably last longer, something like that.”
Saul stated he affiliated with “people who know can decide good, like right from wrong.”
As such even with Saul being aware of the violent things that happened in his community (e.g.,
robberies, SWAT coming into his community, homelessness, being in his community looking
like they struggle from their stressed lives) the positive things of his community outweighed the
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overt negative things that occurred. When asked what would be the one thing to change his life
trajectory he stated,
I would say having more resources at my high school. I mean my high school is very,
very small so it’s like two buildings with a huge middle outside area but that’s about it,
and so I just feel like if my school was a little bigger with its own gym, weights and stuff
like that. We rent out different high school for us to practice and there’s not bus. The
school provides transportation to take us there. Just schooling resources as books, better
books, and a greater environment where a teacher feels comfortable all the times. I feel
some of them don’t feel comfortable at some moments. They don’t like, they don’t like
to stay after school late and stuff like that. I know a teacher who, Mr. John, who teachers
Business and the Personal finance classes it was like the third week of school I guess and
someone told me like this phone coming up missing. I just find it very strange how you
can steal from a guy who withholds your grade.
Saul was most concerned about not having the essential tools required to maximize his
educational experience. The confined space within his school did not afford his school a
recreational area. Likewise, he discussed not having adequate academic material like text books
with relevant information. Lastly, he hoped for better security for his teachers so that they would
want to stay extended hours to support the students in his school academically after school hours.
The concern of his teachers experiencing theft contributed to his teachers not feeling safe and
opting to not remain in his school area after hours. The matters of one of Saul’s peers taking
things that did not belong to them was not reflective of who Saul was. However, those actions in
school did align with incidents of theft that Saul experienced right outside his school corridors.
The behaviors people possibly not being able to afford and desiring what others had was not
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unique to members of Saul’s community yet they were contentions that were present, warranted
concern, and resulted in an insecure depiction of frequent pilfering happenings in his community.
During the sharing of his artifact Saul shared his phone case. He indicated his phone case
represented the singer Drake and the area he came from and was a constant reminder that if
Drake made it he could make it too. He especially talked about the praying hands when he said,
“It just means thank you dear God. It’s important to me because I believe in everything happens
for a reason. It just helps me make the right decisions.” When asked about what he thought he
had control over in his life Saul replied,
My own actions. Whether I choose to do something or chose not to do something,
determining what’s right and what’s wrong. I know how to look at the bigger picture.
And try, sometimes I try to look at the consequences of what may happened. I always
take that into my perspective and decision [I make] in school.
Saul had established an inner agency in his school setting that aligned with what he was
taught in his home. He was able to translate those views and associate them to understandings of
how he was responsible for the choices he made on a daily basis. Saul demonstrated he was able
to consciously connect the ways in which he associated the good of others and provide himself
reminders through the selected image of Drake on his pone case to signify the importance of his
active choice. He was conscious of selecting associations that related to his same efforts to
overcome his status as he mentioned if Drake could do it, make it out, so could he.
Regarding student self-perceptions in relationship to their inner assets to influence their
collective will (e.g., agency, drive, autonomy, awareness and/ or consciousness, and spirituality)
with regard to Condition 2 of my conceptual framework all four participants’ backgrounds
varied. Four of the nine young men (Adin, Daniel, Josiah, and Amos) fell under Condition 2 of
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my conceptual frame. Adin was a 10th grader in District A, Daniel an 11th grader in largest
urban school district, and Josiah a 10th grader in largest urban school district and had attended
another high school prior to the school he was in, and Amos was a 9th grader and had attended
two high schools this school term (one private and the other charter) as mentioned prior.
Three of the four young men (Daniel, Josiah, and Adin) lived in nuclear family home
structures with both their biological parents who were married. The fourth young man’s (Amos)
parents shared custody and his residence was equally split between two households.
Daniel’s parents graduated from high school. Josiah’s parents had Master’s degrees.
Both Adin and Amos had one parent who earned a 4-year college degree (both of their mothers)
and their fathers both respectively earned their high school diplomas. Even though the parents
with college degrees (being Bachelor and Master’s holders) respective disabling physical
conditions hindered two of the mother’s ability to work without interruptions. More specifically,
Daniel’s parents graduated from high school but were not employed. Josiah’s parents both had
Master’s Degrees but one parent partially worked due to a physical disability. Adin’s father
worked and his mother had a college degree as well as and was physically disabled. Although
their parents had experienced higher education and one or both parents had college degrees their
ability to provide and support their family was strained by their physical conditions. Both of
Amos’ parents were employed. His father however was off on a work related disability.
All four young men expressed having had parents and extended family of either
biological or non-kinship relation that supported their interest and value in school. Two of the
students expressed athletic interest in football and basketball that started during their primary
years. These two young men expressed their athletic efforts were deemed a financial and time
investment that stood to focus them, develop their athletic skills, and advanced their social
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 272

cultural network and capital for college entry from either scholarly or athletic means. Two used
their intellect and school-based extra-curricular activities to connect them to the inner-school
culture and direct their focus on school. All four indicated they would not raise their children in
their respective neighborhoods as a result of the violence and community dysfunction they
expressed they received from communications through the things they observed and saw within
their respective neighborhoods and communities. Also, all four of these young men expressed
through their excerpts that they witnessed positive and negative neighborhood and community
happenings. As such, the negative aspects of their community warranted them expressing a
desire to leave their respective communities after high school. All four shared artifacts that
related to the ways in which they came to place value on attaining their future goals. Two shared
report cards, one shared a letter, and the other shared a sports trophy. Additionally, each one of
these students possessed an introspective nature that gave them ownership and awareness of how
to leverage their inner assets (e.g., their football/basketball skills, intellect, personality) to
posture personal choice and inner connectedness with peers and staff in both their inner-school
and non-school settings.
All four of these student’s fell under Condition 2 expressed receiving positive
communications from home about the value of school. Variations of negative and positive
neighborhood, community, and school communications were received by all four and all four of
these young men placed positive value on school and demonstrated engagement in school as
well.
I chose Adin and Josiah as an example of voices regarding the frame of Condition 2 from
my conceptual framework. Their collective experiences reflect the various ways this condition
played out across the four students who landed under this condition. As this was a semi-
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structured interview, all participants responded according to how they each felt a sense of control
from their perspective sense of agency. Adin expressed feelings where he had control over
matters in his life with him perceiving he was able to self-govern, “A choice of me going to
college and me have trying to have the good grades or not try to have good grades.” Adin’s
response clearly showed he felt he was the person in charge of the grades he earned (e.g.,
managing his time, going to his teaches asking for assistance, studying). The ways he expressed
himself during the interviews, his awareness and understanding of his personal limitations, also
meant that he consciously gauged and leveraged his skills based on what he was able to do
versus what he could not do according to his skillsets. He stated,
I like look at the negatives about myself. There are some things I may not have, some
things I am good at, but I ignore [the bad things]. Ignore myself being a negative person
and have my negative traits be a downside to myself and just keep going through.
Sometime I think about my ADHD is a negative trait…when I don’t take my medication
it will get me distracted because you know, I’ll start talking when the teacher talking, just
doing things, other things that I’m not usually doing and at time I don’t do my work.
Adin being aware of his inner assets as well as his weaknesses assisted him with being
able to manage the ways in which he made decisions and took ownership of what he did in
contrast to what he did not do. He was fully conscious of his measure that would impeded him
and his standard seemed to be himself.
In the same manner, Josiah shared about the ways in which he felt his daily dealings from
a hegemonic view impeded the decisions he makes as a Black man. When asked about how the
conversations he and his friends had with one another and how those conversations, if at all,
affected him as a Black man or possibly weighed on the ways in which he saw himself as a
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person, he shared thoughts about how he felt the dominant culture world perceived him (such
was his use of the term “they”). He stated, “They want Black people to be unsuccessful, so they
make it hard on us.” Josiah clearly expressed the ways he felt being a Black male versus not
being one and possibly getting into trouble would favor harsher consequences for his actions
versus another non-Black male. He continued expressing his understanding of how his perceived
failures could impact him more when he stated,
Say if you get in trouble, they will flip the whole world around, they’ll take you out of
leadership, you won’t be able to play no more. If somebody gets into a fight, but they’re
not Black, they’re just like, okay, it’s whatever, take a day off, then come back tomorrow.
But for him as a Black man, “They’ll take everything away, if you’re doing good.”
Josiah expressed he thought these kinds of thoughts a lot. Still, the expectation is for him to
overcome his daily circumstances and get out of college. The ways Josiah chose to navigate his
world is more internally based. Knowing his wrongs would land him in certain, possibly harsher
consequences. His ability to self-identify in relationship to his position in the world, and
understand his inner-assets, being able to manage and leverage them in his daily dealings assist
in him owning his choices and being accountable to self for his actions.
All four of these young men were able to take the value from communications delivered
within their homes, from persons and places of their perspective neighborhoods, community, and
school to influence the value they place on school, how they self-identity in relationships to
making decisions that impact them on a daily basis, and the ways they navigated their urban
hubs.
All of the young men in this study expressed not feeling safe to walk through their
perspective neighborhoods and community for the fear of possibly being the next victim of
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crime. Hence, having this consciousness they were all very aware of the social dangers that
impacted their daily survival. Even to the degree that all of these young men, that hang out with
their perspective peers during their free time choose to do so in environments or communities
that they deemed safe (e.g., Culver City, the South Bay Galleria etc.) but not their own
community.
More specifically to this section, the findings suggest these four young men’s depictions
of the value they take from messages that influence the ways they coped and dealt with people
they interact with in their perspective microsystems varied. The constant equalizers between
these specific subjects was their positive message delivered from home and overall value they
placed on school which were all affirming. Thus, the power of the messenger who delivered the
communications from those non-school and inner-school zones shaped the way they placed value
on school. The predispositions of the importance of school appeared to be reinforced by those
direct, explicit messages key people within their neighborhood and school shared. The things
that these students saw in their community appeared to be nestled in hardship and struggle for the
residents. Their greater community did not offer these students resources or reprieve to off-set
how they approached school. In fact, all four of these young men expressed in their perspective
interviews opting to stay at home for fear of traversing their greater community or being so
directed tied to school or family that they were protected and chose to avoid possible community
based dangers. Other times if choosing to spend time with peers, those efforts took place in
other communities (e.g., West LA, South Bay Galleria, Culver City). Them owning a sense of
personal control being able to identify their respective strengths and weakness in the bigger
scheme of how they were effectively mastering the utility of school and/ or the ways in which
they interacted and embraced the positive messages broadcast to them from persons, or through
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what they had seen in their neighborhoods and community had shaped how they responded and
acted toward those messages. For these young men, no matter the intent or magnitude of the
negative message they had selected to push through the negative circumstances by navigating
and controlling their inner beings to be in the best position to conquer both their lived realities
and their future dreams that were still within reach based on the narrative they had been
provided.
With respect to self-perception in relationship to their inner assets to influence their
collective will (e.g., agency, drive, autonomy, awareness and consciousness and/ or spirituality),
one of the nine young men (Andrew) in this study fell under Condition 3 of conceptual
framework. Andrew respectively reported varied messages from his external worlds regarding
the value they placed on school. He expressed receiving negative messages from home, positive
and negative messages from community and school to result in positive from school.
Andrew was a ward of the court and had attended three different high schools (all three
public high schools) within the Northern Los Angeles County area since 9th grade. At the time
of the study he was an 11th grader. He affirmed that his connection to God or his spirituality
grounded him in his daily decisions. Andrew resided in a foster family home. He was adopted
at birth and adoptive parent family hardships resulted in him returning to the foster care system.
Andrew’s biological parents’ educational information was not reported. Andrew connected to
his perspective high school by primarily means of academics even though Andrew was a singer
and was often included in school events that provided him opportunities to show case his skills.
With regard to home messages, Andrew’s foster family was not directly involved in his
schooling other than his attendance being compulsory in nature. With regard to neighborhood
and community, he received both negative and positive messages about the value of school. A
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lot of the negative communications (e.g., of drug and gang exposure) were prevalent in his non-
school setting. However, influences from his non-school peers where they were already of the
college and working culture were perspectives that aligned with Andrew and the ones that
influenced his connection to school. Also, his inner-school interpersonal relationship that will be
discussed in research question three also influenced the value he placed on school. Still, Andrew
had managed to have an overall positive regard and placed a positive value on school.
Here Andrew expressed in his words felt a sense of disconnect from his family that
stemmed from his adoptive family home. The messages he received from home were not
affirming messages about the value of school. He indicated,
Well like my past…growing up in a place where no one cared and where...my foster dad
actually discriminated against me and my sister because we weren't dark enough. We
were mixed, so, he like, he would just like, the other kids were foster kids, also, but they
were…were, pure African-American and we’re like, yeah Black, but he introduced them
as their kids and we were the foster kids. Just because we weren't Black enough and it
was hard too, definitely growing up.
Andrew’s race and skin color both impacted the way he was made to feel and excluded
him within his family structure. Feelings of not being “provided” for or being considered “come
and go” type people were consistent in the ways Andrew expressed his connection to school and
thoughts about his home setting. For this matter, Andrew expressed challenges being able to fit
in. Thus, the messages he received from his parents’ peers were negative with regard to people
who look like him. Andrew shared the following,
It was super hard, trying to fit in, because I’ve tried it with the Mexicans, the White
people, the Black people and I mean, I seem to fit in perfectly with either all of them, I
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just wasn't enough ...(he stressed enough) to be totally for them, just enough White or
enough Mexican or enough Black, because Black people did this and Mexican people did
that. I have a Black culture…I mean I've grown up in that, so naturally I’d fit in there,
but people...even now, I have a friend, who’s, her Mexican, she’s Mexican, her mom's
always talking about like, these niggers this, these niggers that. I'm sitting
there…(pause)… like do you know what I am? Are you confused? I told her several
occasions, ‘oh, you're not like them niggers.’ I'm like, ‘We're whole. There's no pick and
choose. Like, like, no! We're not racists. You don't pick which ones you like. We’re a
whole. You either like us all. You don't just disrespect one calling us niggers and all that
and not the next.’ That’s exactly the whole gesture, when she says that, I'm like okay.
When she be driving or something and Black person probably crosses in front of the car
or runs over there, try to catch up with his friend, ‘Oh, stupid nigger,’ and then a Mexican
will do the same thing and don't say nothing. I'm like, ‘What are you doing?’ She's a
beautiful lady. She has no rude intentions or nothing, has all the right intentions in the
world, just racist. (he stressed racist)
The negative communications Andrew received from his community about his self-worth
impacted and reinforced the messages he received at home about himself. These messages were
clearly shown and expressed in other facets of his community as well. Andrew shared this about
his neighborhood,
The neighborhood…You got the basic everything in there, the constant weed smell, gang
bangers here and there. Like, it’s just, I mean, it's normal, but to the average person, it’s
kind of, what's the word? (Pause) Like if I wasn’t me, I think I’d be scared to walk
through here, hearing nigger that and F your home girls and I killed this person and
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smelling weed and seeing people selling weed, like that would scare me if I wasn’t me.
It’s just, everybody doesn’t have their mind in the right place in this little community.
Andrew was surrounded by negative messages, people in his community who engaged in
illegal behaviors, and activities he could have become involved with within his community, such
as gangs and drugs. Yet, this young man had decided that even with being aware and having had
to cope and experience these explicit messages about his community disparities and his self-
worth he had chosen to connect with the affirming messages he received from college friends,
his teachers in school who shared similar interest, and from the inner-assets that he had. Being
smart, able to self-advocate (e.g., he fought the gang members in school to get to class), and
being able to manage himself regardless of not having positive family structure or a direct adult
to manage his decisions or support his future life trajectory. Andrew learned to believe in and
trust himself. It appeared that the gifts he had, his personality, his ability to self-reflect and push
past the negative things in his life served to support his internal goals to make it out of his
circumstances by any means necessary. Likewise, the conditions of Andrews’ lived daily reality
lived in his response to the question of whether he would raise his future family in his
neighborhood. He responded in the following manner,
I don’t plan to raise my family here, (laughter) because one, the low opportunity and um,
and I wouldn’t… To a certain extent, I would want my kids to go through the same thing
I did, because how much it helped me grow, but naturally, I don't want my kids to even
(pause) know of what I've been through.
Even with understanding his life struggle, Andrew would not want his children to endure
the things he had to endure. The substance that seems to support the way Andrew made
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decisions came from a space of him desiring to be a doer and not be static in his process of
agency. He made this statement,
Well, like, I mean like that connection, that stayed with me where you don't have to be
the basic laborer or the basic stereotype to live the basic you. You've got to be a part of
and you got to be doing what everybody else is doing in order to be anybody or in order
to stand out, like I don't think I have to amount to anything by selling drugs and gang
banging out there and getting low grades to impress a friend, where I can be out here
helping somebody because…well, I believe if you help somebody throughout, at the end
of the day, you're not the one that’s, that's pleased. You just helped another person get
through another day in their life. You don't know what they just been through.
Andrew had a desire to be better and to do better by others regardless of how he felt he
had been treated. It appears he attributed his core to his spirituality and his internal will and
drive. He indicated, “Well God. Yeah, I think like, that's the overall source of change, source of
power, source of life. If I can’t do it, no one else can do it.” Still with all that Andrew had going
on with him, he strived to reach is goals. When asked if there was anything he could have right
now to change his life, he responded in the following manner,
Dang. I don’t know…if I could have anything? I don’t know. Well, (pause) the natural
answer would be money, but I don't know. (pause) I think the more money you have, the
more problems you have but if I had a way, yeah, okay. Well, if anything, if I could have
a person that knew everything about me, everything there is to know and he just wanted
to teach me, just because I’m me, I think that I could, would be set. If I had a mentor of
some sort or something that could just show me the way. I’ve been through this, this is
how we do it.
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Andrew wanted only one thing, to have a mentor or a parent, someone who would be
there to assist him, to love him, to care for him and nurture him, and provide him with guidance.
For Andrew, the positive encounters with his teachers and the peer group he selected were his
only hope and direction of what was expected and these things he could obtain. Thus, his
internal drive his determination to make it regardless of the challenges he faced, grounded him
and positioned him to reach his dreams by whatever means were afforded him. For Andrew, it
was important that he be regarded as a human being, to be included, and seen. He stated the
following about this perspective,
I’m human. I can accomplish just anything. We all are just human. It’s crazy how we
naturally set ourselves below, because you know celebrities and all that, they need those
people, but the fact that people just sit there and like I’m not going. (he said this with
excitement) I can’t get up there. There’s no way, so they sit there. They’re a fan,
they’re watching whatever I'm doing. I think those are the two different types of people
in the world. I’ve been inspired to be a doer. Once I was a watcher, but once realizing
that we're both able to do and we both have working limbs and the same organs...
Andrew relished on opportunities to participant in his overall wellness. With this
mindset, he had managed to be able to resolve undesired situations with teaches and peers to
make sure his needs were met. Nevertheless, Andrew was still a minor and required a wealth of
resources to support his future endeavors.
The communications Andrew received from his home, neighborhood, community, and
school all influenced the ways in which he was able to access his inner-assets to influence his
collective will (e.g., agency, drive, autonomy, awareness and consciousness, and spiritualty) to
connect to self-managing systems that allowed him to make healthy decisions under abnormal
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circumstance. Taking accountability and inventory of his skills allowed him to be able to
leverage personal assets in the ways in which they were able to connect him to and with
individuals in his social cultural world. Being able to own his agency allowed Andrew to
successfully connect to the utility of school. Andrew regardless of having negative home and
mixed neighborhood and community messages about the value of school, managed to place
positive value on school.
Regarding self-perception in relationship to his inner assets to influence his collective
will (e.g., agency, drive, autonomy, awareness/consciousness, and/ or spiritualty), Javan’s
experiences positioned him within Condition 4 of my conceptual framework. The messages he
received from his home, neighborhood, community, and school were all negative in relation to
the value of school. The combination of negative messages resulted overall in him having placed
a negative value on school and not being engaged in school.
Javan was a 15-year-old 10th grader attending a high school in Los Angeles, CA who
identified as a Black male. He attended a predominately Black urban charter high school during
his 9th grade year that had since been closed down. He resided with both of his parents, who
were in the midst of a custody battle. His parents were never married. He had two younger
brothers. One by his mother and another from his father. Javan was identified gifted. He is not
involved in any community or school activities.
Javan expressed multiple implicit and explicit messages he heard and saw from his out-
of-school and from his in-school settings in relationship to his interpersonal interactions,
relationships, and observations from peers, adults, and environmental communications that
shaped his value of school. Javan had observed mixed messages from both his outside-of-school
(with peers and adults in his home and community) and in-school (with peers and staff) settings
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which posture both affirming and disconfirming messages that guided the degree of his personal
investment and participation in the project of schooling. Javan’s interpretation of the messages
he heard and saw seemed to weigh negatively on the ways in which he chose to connect with
persons in his microsystem and the ways in which he negotiated his environments to manage his
opportunities to learn and conquer school.
Javan’s lack of motivation towards school seemed to be rooted in his confidence in his
educational skills as he was identified gifted. He indicated,
School has to be done I have to graduate. What leads up to it? Gotta get those good
grades get a good job…get a good job. There is no motivation I have for it. I know my
parents want me to get it done.
His confidence in his academic skills was communicated when he said,
You can ask my father I wasn’t raised with a can’t. I had to keep doing what I had to do
to get what I needed and wanted. Me in middle school. I didn’t want to be held back so I
think I was about last month last two I had I think like a lot of F’s so I just brought them
back up. Getting extra credit work. Started doing extra stuff in the class…I graduated.
The thought of being a comeback kid with his grades seemed to send messages that the
art of attending and being actively involved in school was not purposeful to Javan. He
mentioned in his prior statement about his current grades,
I was not doing good at this time in school I had F’s and D’s as it shows probably
because I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t like the school. I just didn’t care and soon
father gave me motivation to do that and get out of there huh…yeah some classes I really
didn’t feel like doing. I slept through a lot of them. I slept a lot in class. Way more than
someone should. I am still not connected to the school and I still don’t like the teachers.
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I just gotta do what I gotta do to get out. He said if I get a B average in all class he said I
can go to the school I wanted to; I wanted to go to home school. I want to just get out of
there.
Communications such as these supported and reinforced Javan’s lack of engagement and
the pursuit of school. He had created habits of not participating in school, to being able to in the
last effort apply his knowledge and accomplish the ultimate goal of achieving school and
participating in the highest honor, graduating. Having endured experiences where his last-
minute efforts still afforded him a similar resolve, education; his friends supported the meaning
he placed on school: not being worth an effort to pursue. His thoughts, what he was able to
achieve through his behaviors, and the meaning he placed on school aligned with his parents and
the limited importance he placed on the value of school.
Javan’s personal station as a student was reinforced by the lack of involvement from
others within his home and school regarding the importance of school with any varied tangible
consequences at this station of his life. His independence as an individual did not appear to be
supported in a healthy way that would increase him being able to actively decide to be involved
in his perception of the project of schooling, the ways in which he valued school, and
implications for his future trajectory. Javan had heard and seen multiple messages within his
home, community, and school that influenced how he positioned school as a part of his present
and future. The messages Javan experienced appeared to have no effect on the ways he chose to
engage with school. However, he did demonstrate the ability to engage when he perceived the
effort would help him get what he wanted.
The context of research question two lived in the parameters of the four conditions of my
conceptual framework and the very distinctive criteria required for inclusion of the nine
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participants in these conditions. All nine participants had to meet the criteria of the study by
identifying as African-American from American descent with one or both parents being African-
American born in the United States of America. Additional identifiers to qualify for this study
was the student had to identity as male, live and attend an urban K-12 high school (e.g.,
traditional high school, alternative educational center, private, and/or charter school within their
urban community); receive free or reduced lunch, be between the ages of 14 through 17 years
old, and agreed to be audio-taped.
All nine of these low-income Black young men fell under the exclusionary classification
that located them as unique individuals for this study. The essence of this study was grounded in
the non-school environments where complexity of how these young men perceived their outside-
of-school setting to influence the value they placed on school. It was in these urban
disadvantaged communities that they provided this researcher entrance into their social cultural
worlds to better understand how they perceived and the way they made sense of the implicit and
explicit messages heard and/ or observed in that space. As such, it was there that several facets
of their micro, meso, and exosystems interrelated to: (1) influence the value they placed on
school, (2) how they self-perceived self to leverage their inner-assets to self-organize, and
(3) navigate the worlds they reside in. Such as discussed in my literature review various,
scholars weighed in on identity not being static. Yet, it being a fluid concept that is multi-
dimensional and takes on many forms depending on the capacity of which it is used.
The participants in this study all individually leveraged their assets reflecting the ways in
which their self-perceptions assisted in their collective will. They all had unique skills and ways
of owning their place within the spaces they transverse. This influenced who they chose to
engage with and the extent to which they leveraged their personal attributes to successfully
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navigate their daily course as well as the people they interacted with. Thus, their self-
perceptions allowed them reflective moments to make meaning of their own behavior that
supported the inferences about their attitude and preferences toward matters in their daily
dealing.
In my conceptual framework, I argued there were four conditions which adolescents
might fall based on the communications they received from a combination of their outside- and
inside-of-school contexts that influenced how they came to place value on school. Consistent
with this expectation, all nine of the participants in this study did fall into one of the four
conditions. More specifically, three of the nine participants could be characterized as members
of Condition 1. They received positive messages from home, community, and school and they
were engaged in and believed in the value of school. They also had positive value of self,
school, and were engaged. Another four of the nine young men in this study were characterized
as members of Condition 2. They received positive messages from home regarding the value of
school, mixed communications of positive or negative messages from their neighborhoods,
communities, and school. As such, they were all engaged in school, held positive self-
perceptions and, believed in the value of school. They also had positive self-regard. One of the
nine young men was a member of Condition 3. He received a combination of positive and
negative messages about school from home, neighborhood, community, and school. As such, he
valued school, had a positive self-perception, and was engaged in the value of school. Finally,
one of the nine young men was located in Condition 4. He received negative messages from
home, neighborhood, community, and school regarding the value of school. He was disengaged
from and did not believe in the value of school. He also had meager self-regard.
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Next, Theme III will examine the complexity of communications the messengers
delivered to these nine participants from their neighborhood and community environment as their
lived conditions influenced the perception of school being a way out and a means to catapult
them into something better. Theme III in research question two focused on the messages the
adolescents received from neighborhood and community about conditions within their
community (e.g., what it meant to live there, the dangers and limited resources of living there)
and how those explicit and implicit messages influenced the adolescents’ perceptions of school
as a way to a better set of conditions.
Theme III: External Neighborhood and Community Reinforced the Message that
Adolescents Received from Their Neighborhood about Lived Conditions Influenced Their
Perception of School as a Way Out.
External neighborhood and community reinforced the message that adolescents received
from neighborhood about lived conditions influenced their perception of school as a way out.
The data revealed the non-school places and spaces these adolescents traversed for the
majority of their waking hours were vital gateways that could, at any given moment, end the
lives of these urban Black young men and permanently halt any possibility to fruitful life
outcomes. The findings that emerged from Theme III, grounded the communication that these
nine participants received from their neighborhoods and community from the lens of their lived
conditions to influence their perceptions of school as a way out.
The findings from this study revealed eight of the nine participants in this study reported
living in neighborhoods and communities that exposed them to a plethora of neighborhood and
community dangers that impeded their ability to freely and safely pass through various areas
within their community without fearing being harmed or losing their lives. The findings from
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this data also revealed the living conditions as associated to their parents’ social statues surged a
consciousness regarding the matters that relegated their families to daily vices whether self-
inflicted or institutionally engineered which presented challenges in their efforts to make ends
meet and provide quality living conditions for their family. The realization of these urban
adolescent males was that their family was either one paycheck away from experiencing meager
living conditions, or that they were indeed living below a required standard or quality existence.
This awareness shaped an approach of a need to pursue something better. For these young men
to have options for self and family, if not for any other reason than them having the chance to
experience different life styles. It was very clear in the interviews eight of the nine participants
unequivocally were tied to educational attainment to improve financial means and ultimately
better living. First, this section will discuss those areas of unsafe neighborhood and community
retreating. Second, a discussion on the familiar enterprises that both reduced and increased these
adolescents’ chances of safely surviving their daily experiences will be explored.
Hood contentions should not have been common experiences these youths had to contend
with daily in order to survive their adolescent experience, yet the consensus of these nine
participants was a conscious awareness that certain pockets of their neighborhoods had violent
and dangerous occurrences that made this their reality. For example, of the nine boys, eight of
the nine shared they did not feel safe walking in their perspective neighborhoods. The ninth
student indicated he was okay walking in his Westside community and still he stressed
awareness of the hood contentions that happened within certain urban densely low-income
populated areas, as he once lived in those neighborhoods as well. Three participants’ perceptions
of their non-school neighborhood and community experiences were shared for the understanding
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of the magnitude of their bounded environments and how those encounters within their urban
hubs weighed on the value they placed on educational attainment.
Daniel, Josiah, and Amos offered distinct ways this theme played itself out across all the
young men. Selected excerpts from these three young men offer insight in different ways. First
example shared is that of Daniel. Daniel was interviewed in my car as his mother refused to
allow the interview to take place within their living quarters. For whatever her rationale was, she
was okay with her son being interviewed in a car, on a violent street, exposed to the well-known
dangers within their community. However, for the safety of both of our lives, the interview took
place in my car, in an open driveway that nestled us in a partially safe position (right next to his
home in view of his family), yet more secure than the suggested street station of the vividly
disturbed street that was in full motion by way of the overt gang affiliates and other patrons in
sight that roamed by. Trying to secure both of our safety was particularly important since Daniel
shared he had just lost a close teenage peer to a drive-by shooting the night before. The shooting
took place in a nearby alley. In sharing his thoughts about his neighborhood, Daniel expressed
concerns about difference within his current and previous environments where he once lived in
another part of Los Angeles. Here Daniel described his current environment, “I’d say the
neighborhood, it’s more deadly.” The level of street violence and the number of killings Daniel
had heard about and observed shaped his reality about the things that went on in his
neighborhood. He elaborated on the ways in which he felt people form his community came and
went. Daniel shared,
As a kid right there (as he pointed a few feet in front of us), it was once upon a time that
we were out there playing basketball, and my mom had called me in. She had told me to
come in the house, you know, ‘Daniel, get in the house!’ or whatever. I came in, got on
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my phone, started counting my money. It wasn’t like selling or anything, I was just
counting my money because that’s what I used to always do. Next thing you know, I
heard gunshots. I was used to them so I was like, ‘Oh, it’s no big deal.’ I just
remembered that he was still outside, which is Tre. I came out here, he was like this
(Daniel positioned his body to demonstrate how his friends’ body hung as if in a state of
shock). I remember I thought he was checking himself, so I was like, ‘Where’s Joshua?’
That’s his brother, and he looked at me. He could barely talk. He could barely speak.
He was like, you know, ‘I got shot.’ I didn’t know what to do at that point, so he was
falling, I grabbed him and I carried him across the street to right here, because he was
over there when it happened. When I did that, the bullet traveled in his leg and it split all
of his stomach, through his leg, and it split open.
Street violence of this nature was a common condition Daniel dealt with on a daily basis.
These same conditions were obvious urban community experiences as they were events this
researcher endured while interviewing him as I saw the depth of traffic, danger, gang members,
and heard the commentary from young kids idling about during the interview about hood
happening and by way of them physically acting out the ways things occurred and how they dealt
with them in that instant.
Daniel continued to describe incidents of this combat quality were common in his daily
experiences in his neighborhood. He stated,
That was all the time, all the time. It’s always random shootings. You think its
fireworks, because sometimes they’ll pop a firework and then they will start shooting, but
most of the time that happens. For a young African-American kid like myself to grow up
here and try to be the difference in this environment, you know, it’s kind of hard it’s a
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struggle. You’ve always go to learn to look past that. You’ve just got to learn to see
better, do better things.
Daniel was interviewed in December, winter season. Not a season that is traditionally
representative of fireworks fired off for enjoyment in the community. The fact that he reported
often thinking he heard fireworks or gunshots as common echoes in his community stressed the
frequency and level of actual sounds being gunshots. Still, he found a way to manage the
negative familiarities and desired to see positive when he said “you’ve got to learn to see better.”
Not only was it important for Daniel to understand there was something better to experience than
what he had been exposed to, he desired to be better. Daniel stressed the desire to “do better” in
his interview. He was not okay with the ways in which people in his community interacted with
one another and he was conscious that his behavior could be nobler. This was what he strived to
model. Nevertheless, Daniel presented to be gravely concerned about the lack of control he had
in his ability to preserve his life as the unpredictability of people in his urban neighborhood
being able to, at any moment, confront him with violence worried him. Daniel expressed a
heartfelt fear about the sustainability of people, people the same age as him, possibility not
making it out. He stated, “I’ve seen a lot of stuff happen here. People come and go.” To him,
people did not survive his neighborhood because of the violence as Daniel continued to discuss
his views about his neighborhood. He shared thoughts about his friend that was murdered the
night before. Daniel stated, “He’s always walked that way after (as he pointed northbound)…he
was always telling me not to walk the alleys.” The alleys were dangerous places where fights
and other undisclosed vents happened, where harm lived. Similarly, Daniel extended his
thoughts about the information he got from his neighborhood when he shared,
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If you were walking in my neighborhood, you would see a lot of cars on the streets, a lot
of apartments, a lot of kids, a lot of Latinos and African-Americans. A lot of things on
the corners, trash, stores everywhere, liquor stores. You’d see churches everywhere, cars
and trucks. In the daytime, you’ll see a lot of gang members, although that’s weird
because you know, they really come out at night.
Daniel described his neighborhood to be an urban ghetto that housed multiple low-
income residents that lived in crowded polluted pockets. Discouraging visions of the social ills
in Daniel’s community were communications that showcased issues of poverty. Visions of gang
members’ presence during all times of the day were reminders of the possibility of violent hood
contentions that stood to threaten any chance of a tranquil community feel. Equally Daniel
shared,
If you were standing in my shoes, oh, man, you would see a lot of homeless people.
You’ll see a lot of gang bangers. You’ll hear a lot of things, gunshots. You’ll smell a lot
of weed. From here to my high school, you’ll see a lot of trash. Since you’re in my
shoes, you also see some type of goodness in that. You know, you also see how you can
help. To be honest, there’s not really much you can do. It’s like you can’t actually force
anybody to do anything. You know, you can only help them out. You can only probably
change their train of thought. Like for example, if you have a friend on drugs and you’re
telling that person that, you know, it’s not for them. You know, even though it feels like
that, they might not think the same way, but it’s always worth the try.
The level of poverty Daniel saw with some people not having housing or other persons
being involved in gangs. The level of violence with sounds of guns and intimate connections of
the level of violence caused his peer-age group members to lose their lives. Witnessing talks
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about people being on drugs or unclean living conditions were all vivid conditions that shaped
the quality of life for Daniel. Notwithstanding, the realness of these conditions Daniel found
“goodness in that.” He was interested in the ways he could help make better. For Daniel he was
conscious of his ability to influence the thoughts of others. He was open to talk with his friends
about healthy life choices and he was willing to try in spite of all that was presented to him.
Daniel exemplified being a rose in concrete guardian (Duncan-Andrade, 2007). All of the things
Daniel heard and witnessed shaped his views about his community, the people in it and his
thoughts about ways of getting out. In the same way, when Daniel talked about his community
he expanded on the importance of getting an education. He said, “It’s like if I don’t get my
education, I might just end up on the streets too, if I don’t get this education. It’s always about
education. Education is knowledge.” Attaining an education was the only means out of this
dreadful reality for Daniel. Daniel was banking all of his school experiences and other extended
community networks as leverages to position him to a different reality—if he could survive his
urban violent street contentions.
A second participant voice was that of Josiah. Here Josiah offered his views about his
neighborhood and community living conditions. Both of Josiah’s parents were educators with
Master’s degrees. Although divorced and with his mother being partially disabled, his parents
co-parented in distant quarters of his dense urban community. Josiah’s perspective of various
living conditions was shaped by previous living conditions where Josiah was not in so
challenged a neighborhood and/ or community. He once lived in a surrounding community. As
well, he experienced attending a high school on the Westside of greater Los Angeles prior to his
inner-city school attendance at the time this study was completed. Here Josiah shared his
perspective about how others lived and how he was living in relationship to the value he placed
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on getting out of his present community. Josiah shared his views on the importance of getting an
education in relationship to others. He shared,
They [were people who] also live in a good neighborhood and a good community and
then sometimes we [Blacks] would see gang-banging and stuff, but we go the opposite
way if we see that. We don’t want no trouble or nothing. Sometimes it would be
congested [in his community], because they [city officials] are trying to build a train right
here, so it’s traffic. It feels like we are in a box.
Josiah’s thoughts about what he observed and the meaning he took from what he
experienced in his neighborhood influenced the complexity of urban living for persons of low-
income statues. Similarly, when Josiah expressed how what he saw in his neighborhood
influenced him, Josiah described what some of the people looked like to him, he shared,
They are like sagged and wear a white tee shirt with a whole bunch of tattoos. Then the
tattoos on their face and neck and arms, they been through a lot and they just get in
trouble a lot. It’s just not a good scene. That they don’t care about themselves. They’re
just trouble. You can get killed from being around them. I don’t want to be that when I
grow up.
Josiah’s description of the actions and behaviors of gang members shaped what not to do
for him. He connected the sense that the presence of said individuals to violence and possible
contentions that could end his life if he were to be a part of their acts. The following were his
thoughts about those persons he felt were of violent tendencies. With regard to how he felt about
other people in his community he expressed,
I feel like they are tired too, of being around there and they are trying to leave too. You
can see it in they eyes, they just tired. They just have like bags under they eyes. They
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just working hard and just tired of this community. They just want to be in a better
environment. That they just want to get out of here. There’s some people that want you
to suffer like they did. They don’t have no car, no house, no job, so they want you to be
the same as them. By the bus stop, and next to McDonalds asking for change and stuff.
Cause they probably didn’t go to school like they were suppose too… had bad grades. I
just don’t like the way it is. In Culver City, you don’t see no bums walking around,
everybody’s in a car. You’ll probably see like, two or three people walking around, but
they have jobs. It’s just clean, and they won’t litter, like how this place is. They spray
paint graffiti on the wall and stuff. Then, in a good community, they won’t do that
because they like their place, they want it to be good. They have a better understanding
of the resources. [My community] It’s just not the way it should be. The Black people, I
think they just don’t care about; they don’t want to go to college. They don’t have a idea
of what they want to do.
Josiah saw the consequences of poverty, even with parents with Master’s Degrees. He
had been exposed to an academic effort and an endurance of which mastering the utility of
school required. Still, Josiah’s vivid experiences of living in restricted quarters as a result of
hardships his parents experienced in their efforts to stay afloat financially and support a family
were experienced communications by Josiah from his parents. He translated understanding of
the structural and physical hardships from the everyday calamities from his family in regard to
the people he saw in his community too. He described both his mother and members of his
family to physically look “tired” and said specifically pertaining to members of his community
that they looked like they wanted a better environment or wanted “to get out of there
[community].” Possibly aspiring to be somewhere more decent than what he or they were
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experiencing. Josiah having had experienced other living, and communing in safer communities
with less visible signs of limited resources, crowdedness offered him a comparable way of life.
This communication allowed him to consciously evaluate those things he considered to be
“good” in contrast to those things he thought were “bad” with regard to neighborhoods or
persons in them. With regard to the way he viewed Black people in his community, Josiah
expressed he thought they were clueless in knowing how to physically remove themselves from
their current conditions. In fact, he related the thought that persons from the more affluent areas
that he mentioned were of a better knowledge of the resources they had to do better as a people.
To Josiah this lack of knowledge translated to him believing that Black people in his community
did not want to attend college. The vision of what Josiah saw in his community as compared to
his active effort to engage in school resulted in him assessing school being a want versus
consistent process toward success.
The last and final voice that contributed to this theme was that of Amos. Amos expressed
his views about his neighborhood and how he took and made meaning of the communications he
heard and/ or saw to weigh on the value he placed on school. Here he shared the following,
I hear too much about it, shootings, I hear a helicopter every night, a LAPD helicopter or
a sheriff, and I hear sirens. It’s just I don’t like that. When I was younger I would water
grass for money, try to make a little money. Now, I don’t do anything. I don’t want to
go outside. I done seen police cars just zooming down my street when I’m outside and I
don’t like that.
The visual presentation of required security through police presence verified the level of
lawful oversight needed in his community to legitimize a sense of safety in his community in
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efforts to manage the crime that goes on their often. Amos continued with his description of
what he heard and observed in his neighborhood. He shared,
In my area, if I drive in my area, I’ve seen drug houses. Not the street I live on, right
here behind it (he pointed), the street behind us is a drug house. It’s obvious. They got
cameras, people outside, high plants, all of that. It’s just how you manage your time over
there also. I can’t be going out at [night], I also feel like my dad is too comfortable with
this area. Things that I wouldn’t usually do, he’ll tell me to do. Walking. I could be 11
o’clock at night, he want me to walk to the store. I don’t really feel like that’s…well,
walk, to go by myself? I think he feels since he grew up there, I think he feels it’s not the
old days. It’s not how comfortable it use to be. Now it’s different. I think he still wants
it to be the old days.
Amos experienced how the violence in his neighborhood impacted his thoughts of safety.
He also discussed his view about safety was a misalignment with his father’s perceived view of
safety in their neighborhood as his father often encouraged him to walk places in his
neighborhood even with knowing the possible encounters with individuals or accidental
happenings that he could face more often than not as a Black man roaming freely in his
community. Amos’s father was a police officer who still resided within his urban community.
Although he was an officer off from work as a result of a physical disability, it was possible his
father’s protection from his badge as well as parallel with is familiarity with the community
offered him as an adult a known individual certain security. However, the communication Amos
took from the things he witnessed in his community stood true regardless of who he knew his
father to be professionally. Amos was of the understanding that his community was not a safe
place to roam freely. He was conscious about preserving his welfare as a result of the dangers
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within his community. Amos was able to reflect on the possible differences time has offered
matters to shift realities in his community. Amos had a clear understanding of why the
misalignment between he and his father existed. Amos elaborated saying he felt his father was
of this thought since he grew up in the community, “Since I’m growing up in the house for 20
years, it could be gangs all around; I’m going to still feel comfortable at my house that I used to
live in.” He continued with the comment, “It’s just how you feel, but I just don’t feel
comfortable doing the things that he tell me to do.” In any case, Amos was conscious and
intentional with avoiding his father’s suggestions of the ways he felt he should connect with his
neighborhood. Amos’s agency was to preserve his life and not risk any personal harm to self.
All nine of Black adolescents in this study expressed a consciousness about the dual
dangers from their respective urban communities; for some the intensity of poverty and gang
violence was a profounder realism than for others. The messages they directly and indirectly
received strongly influenced their sense of safety and offered a direct relationship that in order to
consider school they first had to survive their community. Though, Saul and Benjamin both
reported desiring living in their community post high school (yet in different safer areas), Zamir
was the outlier in this situation. He expressed consistently feeling safe to walk on his block or
greater community. However, the other eight participants in this study, expressed impressions of
not feeling safe either on their block or greater community as a result of the awareness of the
implied dangers from gangs and other possible encounters that were unique experiences for these
adolescents’ while being Black young men residing in their urban social cultural low-income
environments.
Nevertheless, six of the nine participants in this study indicated they would move out of
the community for better living elsewhere once they attained their education. Three of the nine
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participants reported they would continue living on their respective blocks or other specified
sections within what they considered to be traditional Black communities within the Los Angeles
basin yet neighborhoods and communities of more affluent residents without the hood
contentions and dangers experienced within their respective social cultural realities.
In conclusion with respect to Theme III, an examination of the messages that these nine
adolescents received from their neighborhoods and communities about their lived conditions to
influence their perception of attaining an education as a means out of their current urban external
worlds as they had experienced from a low-income lens, impacted these Black adolescents’
consciousness of their social cultural status. This awareness affirmed Rutter’s (1987) research
on the importance of reducing the risk or impact of negative chain reactions when Black students
are exposed to delinquent community-based behaviors that often times serve to decrease their
future and similarly affects their behaviors. Whether the consequence was a positive attitude
toward school or negative disposition toward the importance of attaining an education, all nine of
the subjects in this study were aware and had actively chosen the ways in which they would get
involved in and to what extent and with whom they decided to form interpersonal relationships
with. Being aware of the social dangers within their respective neighborhoods impeded and/ or
catapulted their future outcomes as aligned with Nettles’ (1991) research that illuminated the
importance of Black children being aware of the protective factors that serve to enhance their
chances of responding to living conditions that threaten their ability to survive their experiences.
Aside from theses nine young men having no choice in the matter as to where they lived
or how they lived as that was determined by their parents’ social and financial statuses, their
extended kinship interpersonal relationships and networks were selective exchanges that served
as an extended level of care that encouraged their growth. Likewise, their ability to understand
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 300

the depth of violence that presented barriers for them being able to fully traverse their
communities, which limited all of these young men in their mobility and gave them a unique
consciousness that they could at any moment of their daily dealing be the next victim of crime.
Theme III gives attention to the non-school settings, neighborhood and community places and
stations where various understanding about their lived conditions influenced the perception of
school and education as being the way out and a forward to something better. These youths’
communities played a major role on the things they observed and experienced on a day-to-day
basis in their ultimate efforts to pursue school as the only viable means out of their realities. The
complexity of tangible networks and situations that bi-directionally influenced these Black
young men’s stations as individuals with their social cultural worlds, was multifaceted. Still,
their conscious ability to survive their urbanized communities was a doable effort with varying
layers of support and mixed messages about what it takes to make their dreams of making it out a
reality.
Summary of Research Question 2
In conclusion, the data collected for this study regarding research question two that
emerged from Theme I, Active Pursuit, revealed the introspective reflective nature of these
students to be active participants’ in their pursuit of educational attainment. Being able to have a
say in matters they could control with regard to the decisions they selectively made regarding
their individual utility of schooling that was unique to their conscious effort and not motivated
by external stimuli that other scholars fostered to be primary in the ways Black adolescent youth
connect to school. Concerning Theme II, Inner Assets (strength) to Make Progress Towards their
Goals, revealed these students possess inner assets that they leverage to posture their agency,
drive, autonomy, awareness and consciousness, and perspective spiritual morals that guide how
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they negotiate and self-perception to survive their day-to-day lived non-school and inner-school
interpersonal relationships and atmospheric places and spaces that produce the messages
internalized for the shaping of the value they placed on school.
Lastly, concerning Theme III, External Neighborhood and Community reinforced the
message that adolescents received from neighborhood about lived conditions influenced their
perception of school as a way out. The awareness of the structural barriers that are unique for
these low-income Black boys as their neighborhoods have heighten violence awakens these
young men’s internal protective factors to use their inner-assets to leverage their personal skills
which serve as an internal identification and strength building that assist in the ways in which
they own their decisions and selectively chose those individuals or places and spaces to interact
with or how they chose to avoid those circumstances that could be self-destructive.
Next, research question three is situated to examine the ways in which these young men’s
perceptions about their inner-school culture and setting fostered interrelationships that critically
influenced their self-worth, agency, and peer networks. Theme I, in research question three,
examined the inner-school interpersonal relationships through the messages these adolescents in
this study took from the school setting as school was deemed as an important culture, for most of
these youth, if not the only hegemonic culture environment that offered the dominant perspective
of what is expected for them to learn in regards to established values, social customs, and other
practices that are often the norm for the society as a whole. The participants in this study being
able to bridge home, neighborhood, and community values with the inner-school expectations
offered these youths a direct path to actively participating in their selective school-based
interpersonal relationships with peers, coaches, and other support staff. In the following section
the data from this study will address research question three as stated below.
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Research Question 3: How do the Messages Urban High School Age African-American
Adolescent Males Receive from School Influence the Value They Place on School?
With respect to the data collected for this study, the findings that emerged from Theme I
in research question three is situated here. Research from scholars Decker and Decker’s (2000)
assisted with understanding how important the inner-school setting is when assessing student
academic outcomes. In fact, their research suggested that only 9% of American students’ time
being spent in the inner-school space and with the inner-school space being the sole setting
where their opportunities for educational attainment could be realized (Duncan-Andrade, 2007).
The seriousness of how these nine low-income Black young men made sense of the messages
from their external non-school environments was critical in the way they connect to school. The
findings from this study suggest the inner-school setting was a valuable space that served to
shape (e.g., either confirm or disconfirm) communications and experiences that these young men
brought from non-school spaces and how those experiences influenced their inner-school worlds
(Tyler et al, 2010). The experiences within the inner-school space also shaped what theses youth
learned from that setting. As well, the inner-school exposure was critical in their quest for
understanding the differences in their respective spaces they lived in and the type of
communications delivered within those spaces and places (Tyler et al, 2010). All experiences
from both their inner and non-school setting influenced their realities (Bronfenbrenner, 1977,
1979, 1989, 2005; Blurton-Jones, 1972; Bush & Bush, 2013, Carter, D.J., 2007; Tyler et al.,
2010). Next, Theme I in research question three will be discussed as this theme demonstrates
how these youth inner-school experiences influenced the value the placed on school (see
Appendix K).
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Theme I: These African-American Adolescents Privileged Certain Messages within Their
In-school Setting, Whether Heard or Through Actions, that Guided What They Choose to
Listen to and/ or Individuals They Sought Out that Matched the Messages They Were
Getting from Their Non-school Environments about the Value of School
The school setting provided the young men in this study with relationships that they
found valuable in relation to their pursuit of education. At times their experiences offered them
insights that were different from those they gained through their non-school setting. While the
school setting was also a place that sometimes created dissonance for them, they developed
meaningful relationships (e.g., relationships with selected teaches, coaches, and staff) that may
have influenced their sense of self-worth, their peer networks, and their personal agency. This
section discusses the following three sub areas that emerged from the findings in Theme I. First,
the data collected revealed the ways the participant expressed how they received messages
(either communications they heard and/ or saw). Also, the data revealed how their inner-school
experiences influenced the interpersonal relations that reinforced how the participants
internalized messages from their non-school spaces. The relationships influenced the ways they
place value on school. Next, the finding from the data present a complex picture of the way
these young men interacted with their schools and the people within them. Examples also
provide insight into the ways in which their non-school interactions and networks collided with
their inner-school experiences. Last, the findings from this study revealed eight of the nine
participants demonstrated by their actions and behaviors that they were engaged in school and
valued school regardless of circumstances that could have impeded their school attainment in
their outer-school spaces. The core of whom these eight young men strived to be allowed them
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to manage and pursue school in spite of the possibility that their lived conditions could be their
ultimate conclusions.
Here, I offer Zamir’s and Benjamin’s experiences as they both clearly represented the
way this theme played itself out in relation to the other six young men who shared this
perspective. Zamir is the first of two examples of this alignment as he talked about his
perspective of the role he perceived high school to play in accomplishing his career goals. He
said,
It plays a big role. It plays a big role because everything I want to achieve in life I have
to get through high school and I have to be very successful in high school in order to do
it. Like I said, everything I want to do requires me to go to college and have to do four
years, probably more. It plays a big role. It's a very important role.
Zamir’s awareness of high school being a prerequisite for future college entry was
displayed here. He was intentional in his plan for the type of college he wanted to attend and
conscious of the implied investment it would require to reach his ultimate goals. Next, Zamir
communicated the ways in which he felt connected to his school personnel. He talked about how
he was supported by the human connections with his teachers. Here Zamir expressed,
On campus, I would go to my ... Sometimes I choose to go, it depends on how the
problem is. All my teachers have different personalities. It depends on if it’s bullying,
even though I don't get bullied, but if it’s bullying, I’ll probably go to my choir teacher.
If it’s work ethic, I'll go to my football coach because he’s my PE coach also. If it’s
trying to solve something, I’ll go to my algebra teacher. If it’s just talking about
something like, hey what is your intake on this, then it will be my biology teacher.
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Zamir constructed the ways he thought his teachers added value to the ways he related to
school based off their individual skills as established through their relationships. Zamir had
learned and became familiar with the unique contributions that each of his teachers could offer
him. As such, Zamir was able to determine which one of his teachers in certain situations would
be the best advocates for him. One specific interaction he had with his PE teacher stood out in
Zamir certifying a mentorship title. Here Zamir indicated the following,
He’s a really cool guy. He’s just not like all football oriented. He’s a well-leveled guy,
so you can crack jokes with him and things like that. In a way of being encouraging and
things like that and being a leader, yeah, I consider him a mentor in that way, in that
aspect of it. He encourages us to keep our names clean and stuff because he told us, he
said, “It takes 100 years to gain a person's respect and it takes 1000 years to gain it back
when you lose it.” That’s one of the things that he says that really encourages us to keep
our names clean and stay out of trouble and stuff like that. It makes me feel like it’s the
right thing to do. Sometimes you hear people talking about it, but it's like, ‘You don’t
even do it.’ You know sometimes like that, but he’s one of the persons you can actually
look at and he does it himself. How I feel about it is like, ‘Yeah, I should do that. That’s
the right way to go.’
Zamir also added how experiences on other occasions with his PE teacher shaped his
value of school. As mentioned, Zamir perceived his teacher to be a human being who cared
about his well-being regardless of his race. The power in the messages Zamir received from his
PE teacher, promoted value in educational attainment, character building, and future career
possibilities. Zamir’s teacher not only explained the importance of learning and how essential an
education was in the quality of life he could have through high school, the teacher-student
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bonding offered a healthy learning environment, a commitment to the ethics of learning, the
value in team building through sportsmanship, and an opportunity for the student and teacher to
experience each other’s respective worlds through their opinions voiced. Zamir’s positive and
supportive relationship with his teacher offered implications for this academic and social growth.
He shared,
I’m with him every day because of the fact that I have football practice and then we have
film. Then I’m with them at school because he’s my PE teacher. We do weightlifting
and all that. That’s why I mainly am around him more than most other teachers. Since
he’s White, it just shows that it’s not too much racism around the world. It’s not too
much of ...I'm looking for the word. I can’t think of it. It's not too much bias around. I
can talk to him, and even though he’s a White man and I’m an African-American kid, I
can still look at him as a role model. He doesn’t look at me any other way.
The quality of time invested in sports exposed Zamir more to his coach. The proximity
and invested time fostered a trusted and valued relationship that offered Zamir advice and
guidance about his station in the global world. This relationship with his White teacher offered
him a sense of diversity and an opportunity to collectively benefit from members in his school
network regardless of their ethnicity.
Benjamin was the second voice that offered insight to the ways in which this theme lived
in his experiences. Here he shared his belief that his relationships with his teachers were
beneficial to him. Benjamin attended two high schools during his high school experience. He
attended a high school on the Westside of Los Angeles for 9th and 10th grades. Benjamin
moved to his current high school for his 11th grade year as he stated the reason for his move was,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 307

To participate in the football activities [as] [Cougar High] really wasn’t fitting what I was
trying to do, move on, stuff like that. I knew [this school] would be a better fit for me
athletic wise. I knew that I would still do great at school. I knew it would be a good idea
for me.
The difference Benjamin noticed from his teachers within the two school settings relate
to the ways in which he perceived the school cultures and his teachers’ ability to demonstrate the
facility to identify with persons from his world, his circumstance, to the cares that impacted him
in his community that could hinder or promote his desire to purse school. Benjamin’s teachers’
aptitude to relate or understand the intricacies of his non-school social cultural spaces and places
was of noticeable importance in the ways Benjamin expressed his viewpoints about his teachers’
capacity to relate to him as a person and to better reach him as a student. Benjamin’s teachers
were viewed as instruments that bridged his outer and inner-school experiences. The ways that
he connected with them are shared in his opinions about his interpersonal relations as established
personally or observed by others from within his inner-school spaces and places. Being able to
connect with his teachers in a humanistic manner was significant for Benjamin as he was taking
three AP classes and playing varsity football. Benjamin expressed the following sentiments
about his current teachers,
A lot of the teachers at . . . [Cougar High] are very understanding. Some of the staff
members, they can try to be very controlling. That’s only because there’s some of the
other students that are there that change your attitude toward other students like myself.
Stuff like that. They understand where we come from. Neighborhood we live in.
Neighborhoods we come from. She understands that the work is hard, the work that she
gives us is hard. She pushes us a lot. Let’s see, how can I give you an example? She
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gave us two essays. Our classes are about one hour and 45 minutes. She gave us two
essays to complete before the class was over. If we hadn’t finished, I think we would get
a zero for the day or something like that. It motivated us to, you know…it made us better
writers. My respect for her, how well I do in her class, things like that. She’s a young
black woman. She got her doctorate. She wants to help younger kids get to where she is.
Benjamin really connected with his teachers in his current school setting. He felt the
teachers at [Cougar High] related to him as a person and understood the struggles of members
from his race. The level of connectedness and scholarly distinguished accomplishments of his
current teacher intertwined with a high regard for educational performance she postured for him,
offered Benjamin an elevated level of respect and esteem for his educational attainment.
Benjamin continued to convey the differences of his teachers in this current setting versus the
school he previously attended. Benjamin continued to express his feelings about the differences
in the two schools. Here, he demonstrated how the differences in the ways he expressed being in
the one environment caused him to feel “small,” unimportant, or insignificant. Here Benjamin
described his thoughts of not being valued when he attended school on the Westside of town. He
mentioned,
I felt smaller. At . . . [Cougar High], I feel like myself. I definitely feel like myself being
around my people. Let's see [Westside High School] most of my teachers expecting me
to be like, not necessarily the White students, but students of other races and ethnicities.
Expecting us to be like them. Understand where they’re coming from, but they don’t
understand where we come from. There was one time in my chemistry class where we
had to do community service. Our teacher wanted us to do community service. My
friend, I won’t tell you his name, he couldn’t make it because his mother doesn’t have a
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car. He didn’t have any money to get on the bus. The next day in class, my friend tried
to explain to him that he didn’t have the funds or a way to get there. There was another
student in the class. He was a Korean student. I think he had rode his bike to come do
the community service or whatever. My friend . . . lives all the way by the DMV, from
here, in [this city]. The kid, I’m sure he didn’t live too far away from [Westside High
School]. He tried to use that as an example. Things like that, they don’t click. You
know what I’m saying? Right. My friend wasn’t going to ride a bike all the way from
over there all the way to [Westside High school].
Benjamin’s statement that he felt “smaller” than the others in his prior school setting
implied he was made to feel inadequate, that he was not good enough because he was not like the
others. Likewise, this example showed the disparity in not only how Benjamin’s experiences
were shaped but those of a close peer as well. The messages that were sent through the inter-
peer dealings about the ways they were managing and trying to navigate their inner-school
setting lives in this example. What Benjamin expressed about his peer’s experience with a
teacher at a Westside school was an incident that was communicated to him. Through that
discussion Benjamin believed that the teacher did not understand his friends his circumstances.
Benjamin discussed his feeling about what his friend endured was influenced by the
communication about his teacher’s views regarding his situation. The communication delivered
from Benjamin’s friend about his personal Westside inner-school perceptions aligned with
Benjamin’s thoughts of how he was made to feel “small” in that setting. My findings are
consistent with what Carter, D.J. (2007) research revealed about the importance of how African-
American adolescents attending schools outside of their respective communities connect with
one another in their inner-school spaces to make meaning and survive their daily school
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experiences. Here even though Benjamin did not experience that encounter himself his
processing of the communication during his interview demonstrated how these young men
privilege certain message over others. Like the young men in other studies (Carter, D.J, 2007:
Land et al., 2014), it also showed how he were able to consciously connect to the cultural
messages within his social cultural worlds. As was demonstrated through Benjamin’s shared
belief about his friend’s experience that mirrored thoughts he about self in that setting. Benjamin
expressed his belief that the school failed to understand the challenges he and his peers faced and
how those challenges negatively impacted their ability to meet the expectations set forth by the
school. Benjamin was aware that he and his friend’s opportunities were affected as a result of
their limited financial support and/ or mobility. The lack of resources impeded this student’s
ability to reach or meet the academic expectation set by his teacher. Benjamin perceived the
inner-school expectations to be different for different students. Thus, various factors contributed
to the differences in how they pursued their education.
The contrast between the two experiences, the Westside and urban school settings, clearly
showed the difference in perspectives in these teachers’ abilities to be relevant and/ or connect to
students from low-income external realities. According to Myers (1996) the importance of
shared interpersonal connections allows for each individual to exchange his whole experience
(those they come to school with) and those who shape the world they live in (teachers).
Depending on the teacher’s openness about internal expectations and an awareness of the
disparities that are more pronounced for students who come from the low-income circumstances,
which traditionally is reflective of students from urban communities, the varied dynamics within
their surrounding could influence what the student brings with him to class (Harris et al., 2014).
Benjamin interpreted his friend’s experience as one in which his friend had been scolded by his
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teacher for choosing to not reach his academic goals when Benjamin believed the reality was that
his friend’s circumstances had been what hindered his progress. Scholars Brown-Wright and
Tyler’s (2010) research addressed the issues urban African-American adolescent males
experience when their home and school values and resources do not align with teacher or school
culture expectations. As was the case through Benjamin’s eyes about his friend. The way the
messages were received by Benjamin about the various experiences from the different school
settings he was exposed to were communication that colored the value he placed on school. My
findings are consistent with the work of Tyler et al. (2010) that suggest the disconnect Benjamin
experienced offered, a clear lens as to the ways in which the dissonance from these students’
homes and what was expected in their school differed (Brown-Wright & Tyler, 2010; Tyler et
al., 2010). Nevertheless, the findings from my study align with Brown-Wright and Tyler (2010)
and Tyler et al. (2010) where the expectations between these youths’ homes and school values
differed.
The two voices above mirrored perspectives from the other six participants who
expressed value in school from the lens of education being viewed as the way out of their current
circumstances. Although the situations that these eight participants endured within their inner-
school settings varied, as each person’s experiences were of either positive or negative effects,
the-interpersonal relationships established were: (1) selective and ones that all nine participants
preferred and/ or esteemed as partnerships or oppositions that sustained their fluid or static
preconceived thoughts about the value in educational attainment, (2) reinforced their efforts for
academic integrity or positioned rational as to school-based contexts that obstruct learning and
student teacher connections, and (3) returned similar outcomes related these eight young men
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opting to maintain focus on school endeavors that would warrant academic success and future
educational opportunities at the higher educational level.
Regarding the one outlier participant, Javan, he too referenced the importance of attaining
an education. However, his lack of motivation and determination was demonstrated through his
behaviors, paired with what was modeled and expected of him from his non-school settings
aligned with the alliances he had chosen within his inner-school setting (Dotter et al., 2013;
Hines & Holcomb-McCoy, 2013). Scholar’s Dotter et al. (2013) and Hines and Holcomb-McCoy
(2013) research support the ways in which Javan choose to relate the communications he
received from individuals within his social cultural world. These scholars’ research specifically
talked about whether relationships from a Black adolescent males home were of positive or
negative influence impacted the ways in which these youths internalized those messages and
their academic adjustment (Dotter et al., 2013). Javan attended two high schools as well. His
9th grade year was in a charter school. In that setting, Javan demonstrated social and academic
behaviors that were suggested he was interested in his academics. In that setting, his efforts
toward school was most aligned with a student whose behaviors echoed efforts of a student who
value school. His current 10th grade high school experience was in a non-school of choice. His
compulsory attendance was only for the purpose of satisfying his parents’ desires that he simply
attend and earn average grades for a semester with anticipations of him being able to leave the
traditional schooling and enroll in a home school, alternative high school program to meet his
high school attendance and completion requirement. As a result, Javan’s lack of engagement in
the utility of school aligned with his core parents’ and extended family norms’ around the pursuit
of school. The data collected that emerged from Theme I also revealed these nine low-income
Black adolescent males’ inner-school peer interpersonal relations contributed to the value they
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placed on school. The extent of peer interpersonal relationship on the value these participants
placed on school will be examined next.
Value of inner-school peer interpersonal-relationships. Referring to inner-school peer
interpersonal relationships, the following finding from this study emerged from Theme I
revealed these nine participants peer relationships and interpersonal connections were either
established from previous sport’s connections made in elementary school, during attendance at
other high schools, from connections with peers solely from their inner-school dealings, and/ or
from within their respective neighborhoods. Two of the nine participants reported having
outside-of-school peer relationships that differed from their inner-school peer interpersonal
relationships. One participant indicated his out-of-school peer relationships were established
from his prior high school attendance and between a relationship with his girlfriend, that too was
started from non-school affiliation. For this participant, these encounters were his sole social
peer connection. Nine of the nine participants indicated they had established inner-school peer
interpersonal relationships either at their current or previous high schools that contributed to the
ways in which they connected to their respective inner-school environments. Differences in the
places and spaces these peer relationships exist follow. Four of the nine participants reported
having dual peer social networks that live within both their out-of-school and inner-school
settings. The peer relationships established in their external world were directly related to prior
athletic interest as they were all affiliated with pop-warner football pastimes during elementary.
Two of the nine participants indicated there inner-school peer relationships were the same as
their out-of-school peer relationships. Two of the participants indicated they created peer
relationships that were solely based on their external bonding. One participant recounted not
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having peer affiliations in school and his outer-school peer relationships were ones established
from his previous high school associations and from within his neighborhood.
I have chosen to present excerpts from the experiences of Andrew as his experiences
offer variations of demonstrations of this perspective of the cross participants in this study. Here
I will provide an example of these conditions through the lens of Andrew.
Concerning inner-school peer interpersonal relationships that influence the value these
nine young men in this study placed on school are situated in the experiences from Andrew.
Andrew shared the following about his inner-school peer interpersonal relationships,
I have those friends that are just crazy and how some people might describe as ratchet or
something. I mean, some of their ways aren't the best ways but they're great people
despite their ways. They’re just great people to be around because they have their ups
and downs…some of my friends, they got hard bodies too. You give them a look and it’s
over. Stay on sight…because some of them have a horrible background and it’s
influenced them throughout their life and that’s just how they are and not how they
reflect how they feel toward another person.
The variations in the messages delivered within the peer social networks were many for
Andrew. He came across a variety of personality types. As well, he associated with individuals
that shared beliefs that were both similar and different from his own. Yet, he respected their
views without allowing their views, whether or not they aligned with his, to not alter his personal
perspectives. He was able to listen to them and understand their struggles. However, he refused
to embrace their complaints in isolation without seeking resolve to make better of what he felt
they could do to get out of their situations. With this description in mind, what Andrew took
from the implicit messages rooted in the disposition of his peers permitted him the ability to
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 315

compartmentalize his friends and the ways he interacts with them; yet understood that they all
served a purpose even though he was able to objectively choose. Andrew’s awareness of his
peer differences seemed to have allowed him to selectively choose how he interacted with them
and to what extent he chose to relate to them intently. Andrew continued his beliefs when he
shared,
I definitely surround my everyday life with people who do strive to conquer the same
things I do and share the same obstacles that I have so I can hopefully get help or I can
help that person accomplish what they need to accomplish [instead of those peers who
were] disturbed a lot of the time…every time they’re stepping in the classroom, they’re
not looking forward to stepping in the classroom. If anything, they’re stepping in the
classroom because they have to. Not because they strive to do anything in life.
Andrew was intentional with the kind of persons he allowed to influence the ways he
approached life and with reaching his ultimate educational goals. He was conscious of the ways
his peers approached school and connected their lack of school engagement to be aligned with
disengagement for life. Andrew was able to identify with the reasons he believed his peers
behaved the way they chose. He also shared the ways in which he felt their realities were similar
(e.g., sharing their problems). With his acknowledgement, an awareness of the active choice,
having the ability to decide to stay or be stuck or move and be a doer, to be active in the process
of being different radiates in the ways in which Andrew chose to participate with certain peer
individuals. The message received allowed him the means to manage his circumstance versus
actively surviving and learning from the experiences all seemed to influence his thoughts about
the depth of the difference between he and his school peers as well as offered him a means to
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take control of his choice in relating to the individuals he wanted to have substantive
interpersonal relationships with as compared to those relationships he felt were surface.
Andrew’s beliefs aligned with seven of the other nine participants with regard to their
goals of making it out of their circumstance through use of the appropriate set of supports and
immediate capital that they had. For these youth, their network capital stemmed from their
interpersonal relationships within their inner-school and their external worlds. In addition, the
connections provided extended resources and/ or connections to opportunities that would allow
them adaptation concessions to effectively survive the dominant cultural expectations as these
philosophies learned aligned what P. L. Carter’s (2004) research of Black low-income students.
Her research suggested said students had the awareness or demonstrated the ability to culturally
straddle their inner-school worlds based off of the mindsets they brought with them, that was
shaped by their outer-world experiences. Andrew shared the importance of his inner-school peer
relationship being ones that have mutual expectations to overcome. This mindset is one of great
importance in him setting clear parameters of how he would reach his goals. Deciding to deal or
face problems with limited perseveration allowed him and his peers to move forward with their
day-to-day stressors. Acknowledging the challenges yet not allowing themselves to be
consumed by them. He communicated this need to not be trapped by the things they have to
contend with in their daily lives when he expressed,
If anything, I expect to when we talk about a problem, we don’t have to talk about these
same problems again, and again, and again and again. If I’ve already shared with you a
solution or a way to get out of this problem and you’re still stuck in that problem because
you want to be stuck in the past and you want to continue doing the same things, I just
expect to hear something better in how you accomplish your struggles that you have been
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 317

through and um if they got to cry then don’t shed the same tears over the same problem.
Next time, I want to see you get better than this and if you’re struggling through the same
thing, I don’t want to see you cry again. I just want to see you grow, ‘okay?’ We’ve
already been through this, this is how we get out of this.
Andrew communicated a sense of urgency in the ways he perceived his friends chose to
deal with issues. Being able to move on, for the sake of being able to survive the experience,
lives in Andrew’s communication. Andrew understood the social cultural external rules of
engagement as demonstrated from the complexity of his thoughts about the importance of his
friends and he being able to reflect on their conditions of their daily realities and not feel
consumed by their circumstance, yet empower influence the importance of the inner dynamics
that take place in their interpersonal connections. It also showed how having a space, the inner-
school setting, a place whereby they had the freedom to deal or discuss matters yet being able to
take matters at face value and for better words, live to see better days, live to fight a more
important battle, the battle of accomplishing their goals, accomplishing school, attaining an
education to better their future life outcomes.
In addition, Andrew refused to be a victim of circumstance. Andrew withstood being
bullied by in-school gang members who desired to deny him access to his classes. Andrew was
willing to fight for the right to get to class. He was unwilling to allow someone within the school
walls to deny him access to his educational pursuits. He had a victor mentality and being
victorious was written all over his self-perception and daily dealings with peers. He was actively
involved in the process of managing his daily reality and interacting with other players, his peers
and teachers who both chose to be active and/ or static actors in the messages delivered to him;
and he too decided how to respond whether his actions were in the ways in which he opted to
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 318

internalize those messages for his good or self-impairment. The nine participants in this study
being able to actively control how matters unfolded in their daily dealings without reacting to
matters as if they controlled them, and/ or coming from the perspective that they were trapped
with limited choice, aided in these students’ recognizing their decision making and intently
creating quality interpersonal relationships that promoted relationships of substance. Like
Andrew’s beliefs, the other eight participants in this study also embraced the position to
participate with others by deciding how those relationships related to their respective interest,
and how those relations aligned with the things they felt they could change, those things they
could control versus those things that were out of their personal control.
Having to contend with the perplexity of issues within his interpersonal relationships,
Andrew’s perceptions and the ways of dealing with his issues had not always resulted in hopeful
resolve about school. He shared,
I used to consider hopping out of school and just getting started with a career but I
learned that if you do that, you’ll have nothing to spring back to once you ...what if
nobody likes your music and you just spent all your life doing that? What are you going
to do on the side? McDonalds and stuff is even requiring a diploma or something from
where you're at least being in college to hire you. They're not just going, ‘Okay, you
graduated from high school, we’re going to let you in.’ Now you have to be some type of
involved with college or already have graduated college and just get the basic job that
everybody have now.
The implicit communication that dropping out of school signified failure to Andrew and
ultimately being on a course that would serve to be unfavorable for him in the long haul
influenced his desire to continue in his pursuit of attaining an education. It is possible that being
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 319

a ward of the court, Andrew was dependent on self to succeed. He did not have the extended
support system to lean on for an added layer of security from parents or extended family. He
was his only hope. If Andrew could not depend on himself, he had no one else. Andrew was of
the mindset that he would not be defeated. His external environment and inner-school
experiences had bridged a mindset of “making” by educational means, which in his world were
very necessary for his future success. Still, the effort to get an education for Andrew even within
his inner-school space was not a charge that was easily achieved. Andrew shared the struggles
he endured on campus between his school’s peers who were gang affiliated with ties. These
peers they were claiming a certain territory on school grounds, more specifically a designated
hallway. The message was if persons crossed this zone, harm would come to the student if they
attempted to walk through said established color lines within the school setting. The proclaimed
inner-school gang-established-rules interfered with Andrew getting to class during his daily
school routine. Here Andrew showed how he had to fight these individuals in efforts to attain his
education. Here he stated,
I fought a couple of gang members [in school], but I just think it’s disrespectful for
anybody to go against anybody and start banging in something that you know nothing
about and it sickens me where they banging a street that they've never even seen before
like and I fought last year because it was…they tried to own a hallway. I have to get to
class! What are you talking about? Why, who, who said it was okay for you and all your
little [friends], and they didn’t even know what they was doing. They're sitting there like
shooting down Crips and they didn’t even know. They just throwing out whatever. I
went to class and everybody's telling me, ‘Bro you're going to get it right after class.’ I’m
like, ‘What are you talking about?’ They was talking about, ‘homie with the Nike lasers.
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I’m telling you because we cool or whatever.’ I'm like, ‘You a part of them? What are
you talking about?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ Apparently, anybody that ain’t a Crip not
supposed to walk down this block. I’m like, ‘Okay. My class [is] right here. Like who
the hell?’ I'm like, First off, if anything, they should have at least a 3.0 or higher to own
the damn property in the school! How do you own something in the school, when I’m
doing better than you in it? That’s sick! You’re retarded, and I came out of class and
they sit there banging on me and I’m sitting there like, this is my class. This is school.
How dare you even try to own anything in it. You got a 0.0 average. You have no words
to speak to me. Then they get all pissed. I’m like, ‘Okay, well, if anybody has to, if I
have to fight right now,’ because they were sitting there like, ‘You ain't going nowhere
unless you run with our hands.’ I’m like, ‘Okay. Well, who? If I need to get to my next
class and I have to fight one of you all to do it…who's, who’s first?’
Andrew needed to defend himself and stand against those ideas from his peers that
differed from his with regard to the importance and value of school from within his inner-school
spaces, no matter the consequences of him possibly being harmed demonstrated the seriousness
of the challenges he endured in his urban school setting between his non-likeminded peers that
created educational barriers which sent messages and reinforced all the ways in his life that he
had to stand against those things that could interfere with him reaching his educational goals. In
the above example Andrew had to make a choice, while still persevering in his peers’ status,
either to inform staff or deal with the situation himself considering the risk. His decision was to
get his education by the only means he knew. His rules, may have been the rules of his social
cultural environment resulted in a physical altercation that resulted in him being respected by his
peers for the measures he took to successfully be able to attend class. His actions toward his
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 321

pursuit, him demonstrating ownership in the process of attaining his education, not desiring to be
a part of the problem, yet a part of the solution, reveals the outer-school perspectives that also
lived within the peer social worlds of his inner-school experiences within his urban school.
Thus, even with having to contend with this subculture of peer experiences from the inner-school
culture that is rooted under the veil of a dominant educational perspective, Andrew like other
participants in this study straddle various levels or types of awareness during their daily
experience that caused them to wrestle with hood contentions that live in his external world yet
flow into his school world. Therefore, these youths in this study made conscious efforts to
pursue and attain education is a constant awareness of the determination that they must be
strong-minded and intentional with the interest of school. For these students, they are not
allowed or they have no room for failure in their actions toward surviving school and/ or in the
ways they deal with either their community as their realization of their lived realities where for
them the choice to fight for their education (e.g., if not for the measures Andrew took, but the
others through opting to not indulge in hood contentions, staying focused on academics,
connecting to extra-curricular actives in school) is a necessary evil for them. For these students
who decide education will be the equalizer, getting an education is critical for the betterment of
their future life outcomes. Much like, individual choice, positive peer connections, parent
involvement, extended family networks, non-kinship ties; so were the interpersonal relationships
between student and teacher in the development, growth, and connect to the value these
participants’ in this study placed on school and attributed to the humanistic exchange of those
specific bonds.
Value of inner-school staff interpersonal-relationships. The data collected from this
study and emerged findings from Theme I revealed inner-school staff interpersonal relationships
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also contributed to the ways in which these nine young men in this study placed value on school.
The way that teacher and staff members valued school through their actions and words clearly
showed the way that each of these young men described the value of school. Five of the nine
participants in this study shared how having key interpersonal relationships with their respective
coaches resulted in them being more connected to the utility of school, gave them options of how
their college education could be paid for, and exposed them to a care network that groomed their
perspectives, characters, work ethics, commitment to learning, and quest for future success.
Three of the nine participants reported having key school personnel (e.g., teachers or faculty)
that supported their interest in educational procurement. One participant deliberately elected to
not establish adult-based interpersonal relationship as his efforts aligned with his desire to be
home schooled as home school had limited direction instruction and fixed teacher student
interactions. In this section, these nine participant’s interactions with their coach, teachers, and
other support staff will be examined with respect to research question three Theme I.
Coach as key person. Previously stated, several of the young men in this study
indicated their interpersonal relationships with their respective team coaches greatly influenced
the way they placed value on school, self-identified, and connected to their respective school
cultures. For example, of the nine boys, five had coaches who consistently and openly sent
messages to these young men about the ways they carried themselves and efforts toward school.
Conversations of this nature faired important to the character building and expected academic
conduct in school. Discussions of this nature were key factors that shaped these young men in
their character to play college sports and/or their college entry.
Here three examples that represent these thoughts are shared by the words of Benjamin,
Josiah, and Saul as their viewpoints offer variations in the ways the other young men who
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 323

connected with their coaches in relationship to the value they placed on school. One example of
this alignment is demonstrated in the following statement made by Benjamin. Here Benjamin
described the way his coach talked about future opportunities. He said,
We talk about football most of the time. One day before practice, he had called me into
his office. Because I’m one of the better students on my team, he called into his office.
He had got a e-mail from [Columbus] University. He read it to me. It read, “Any
students on your team who have 3.5 or higher GPA, could you send us their transcripts
and stuff like that?” It just showed me that he does care about how well we do in school.
The communication Benjamin took from this experience was his coach was aware of his
scholastic aptitude and efforts toward school. This awareness influenced Benjamin by
reinforcing his academic and college interest. When Benjamin was asked who from his
community he considered to be mentor, he reported giving that merit to his high school coach,
whereby this relationship was built within his inner-school setting. The connection Benjamin
formed with his coach was one of respect, trust, and admiration. Benjamin stated,
He’s been coaching at . . . forever. He’s even coached my uncle. My uncle is about 40,
42, something like that. He knows my family. He knows where I come from. He knows
what I’m capable, the things that I can do. He always pushes me and make sure I’m
doing what’s right. I get an influence. He always tells me, “Don’t let the . . . crowd get
to you.”
When Benjamin was asked about who he was particularly loyal to, he referenced this
same coach. Benjamin stated,
Before I went to [Westside High], I wanted to go to . . .. I ended up at . . . .. That can
judge my loyalty. He’s [his Coach] really hard on us. He gives it to us raw and uncut.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 324

He lets us know that the world doesn’t love us. They’re not going to be as nice as him.
He’s a little, you know, over the edge. He lets us know that the world is no better. Him
being a Black man and being able to live for so long, coach all the Black teams that he’s
had. He shows us that nothing has changed. Stuff is still the same. That success is
definitely in our reach.
For Benjamin, his coach being able to relate to who he identified as, a Black adolescent
attending an urban inner-city school facing a number of teenage- and urban-based obstacles, that
those situations could deter his course. Messages of perseverance appear to guide and reinforce
Benjamin’s strides for college and athletic success.
The second voice of this perspective was from the words of Josiah. Josiah shared these
following sentiments regarding the value he received from the messages his varsity football
coach delivered in attempt to salvage or detour some youth from unfavorable hood contentions.
Josiah shared his coach tried to keep urban young men at his school from gang involvement by
allowing them to be a part of the football team for the purpose of giving them a different
perspective and other opportunities to structure their time. Josiah shared,
When coach . . . ., he said that he doesn’t want us doing that [becoming gang member].
That’s why he doesn’t…kick you off the team because he thinks you’re being a gang
banger, or you’ll get killed or something like that. So, then he just lets you keep on the
team.
The coach’s ability to see the community woes from the high-risk neighborhoods
possibly derailed these youths from certain happenings within these youth communities by
keeping them connected to organized sports offers a safe place for these youth to commune and
connect to the school culture that is centered on character shaping and academic achievement.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 325

In the manner of a third perspective of this thought, Saul offered his experiences
regarding his view on how his coach shaped his attitude and the value he placed on school. Saul
shared the following about his coach,
We’ve had a relationship when things have happened at . . . ; he’s always been there. In
basketball you have to be eligible at all times. You cannot slack at all so he’s always in
my ear ‘Saul, you gotta stay on it, you gotta get it done, gotta stay on it and so’.
Along with the messages that grounded the mental reminders, as well as the physical
requirement to compete from Saul’s coach, messages about expected habits for academic
achievement were expressed too. Saul reported his teammates and he were expected to use
designated team time to study. He said, “let’s say our practice is at 6 from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
we are, where the whole team is just doing our work and studying together.” As a Black man,
Saul shared how he viewed his coach was a mentor through the following statements, “I always
see him being respectable. He’s always respectable to everyone; no matter if they’re given him
attitude he’s always being respectable. He’s never been the one to you know just change and be
something different.” The ways in which Saul’s coach modeled what was expected of him as a
student athlete was similar to the efforts and messages delivered to the other young men in this
study whether or not their coach was over sports or not.
The power in the communications from all of the coaches was the invested, structured
time that centered on character-building, improving skills, attitude, and these youth gaining
confidence by maximizing the positive value of sports through educational attainment. Being
able to push psychological, physical, and emotional limits by having these young men believe in
themselves, the coaches being able to teach and model expectations about life and humanism,
teaching these youth the importance of understanding their individual difference and their
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owning their inner assets, or assisting them with being able to see the person inside of the athlete,
the art of communicating, and the time investment all were ways these students’ coaches
influenced them to be better and to pursue their education with drive.
School staff as key person. In the manner these young men in this study perceived other
school staff to be key persons contributing to the ways in which they come to place value on
school, three of the nine participants expressed such individuals influenced their educational
attainment. These three participants specifically had no sports affiliation in or out of school.
Two student participants’ perspectives will be discussed in this section as to how they thought
either positive or negative messages from school faculty shaped the value they came to place on
school.
I chose Andrew as the voice to present his experiences through excerpts as he offers
different demonstrations of how his interpersonal relationships with staff, especially he being a
foster youth, influenced the value he placed on school. The interesting dynamics of Andrew is
that he had both positive and negative communications about school from school. However, he
chose to select and connect with those persons whose beliefs and values aligned with his about
school.
In a positive regard, Andrew expressed how having had similar singing interest with one
of his teachers that their common interested afforded him understanding of ways to successfully
reach his singing goal. He stated,
She’s a singer and she’s been in that field for a while and she knows the ins and outs and
she’s gotten played before by artists and they’ve taken her music and that’s definitely a
teacher that I can relate with on many levels. She’s helped me out. [Likewise, his] cheer
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 327

coach, she’s helped me out too where, attitude wise and what to say and what not to say
and what to do and what not to do in situations like that.
The capital in Andrew’s relationship with his teacher directly related to their common
interest–music. His teacher having had the ability to inform him about the music business and
her willingness to share that insight showed an investment and interest in helping him actualize
his dreams. Andrew’s teacher demonstrated the ways she valued his talents and the importance
she placed for him earning his education regardless of his skills. Andrew perceived and
embraced the messages from his teacher to be beneficial even though he had experienced
negative message from other staff about the lack of interpersonal regard for the students at his
school. He added in a positive regard for the following affirming messages,
Well, the positive ones of course, they’ve swayed my mind to everybody not being there
to just to give a student a difficult time and there’s still people that actually care rather
than the teachers who have students that just come-and-go.
The positive message reinforced a sense of care rather than teachers not being connected
and viewing the students as “come-and-go” people. For Andrew, being exposed to both
extremes of his teachers caring and those that did not care affected his inner agency. It
influenced his ability to choose the more affirming messages as the voices he selected to
embrace to reinforce his goal–orientation toward school which appeared to be the substantive
measure that continued to connect him to the utility of school. Thus, the inclusive nature of
Andrew’s teachers, them taking notice of the skills he had, allowed Andrew to leverage his skills
for good. These messages allowed Andrew to be a member of a positive effort, perhaps an
insider.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 328

With regard to negative messages, Andrew expressed having teachers he felt did not
provide the students in the best manner to afford them opportunities to soar. For Andrew, his
teacher mentioned, in this example, how involvement with him offered a counter narrative to
some of the negative experiences he experienced with other staff in his school setting. He
specifically stated,
Well, when you’re seeking help and then, they don’t really pay you any mind and they
don’t really share interests for, for you know all the kids because they have so many that
come-and-go so I feel that they view them somehow as come-and-go people. I’m going
to treat you like a come-and-go person instead of try to help you out.
Unfortunately, for Andrew, there were various incidents within his school setting that
also provided him messages from the staff that were not pleasant or affirming toward the value
he placed on school. As such, Andrew was able to discern those times when teachers provided
care and times when they did not. He shared the following perspective regarding his thoughts
about school,
It’s a wonderful campus. It’s just ...you know the students here and there it’s the staff.
Some of the staff is not the best they don’t provide, I feel, in the best way they can,
opportunities for everybody that’s going to this school, especially if they already came
from a bad background or already coming into school with a negative attitude. They
don’t really try to influence the student to, to stay in the classroom and be involved with
them. Rather than persuading them to stay, they persuade them to leave.
Andrew desired to have interpersonal relationships with his teachers that were of
substance and relationships that were more than him being a “come-and-go student.” Yet for him
having a relationship that was authentic or possibly genuine in the area of care seemed to ground
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 329

him feeling he was “provided for” or that he had a sense of “security or belonging.” His
thoughts about the required mental effort of he and his peers to have had to endure their daily
stressors was a necessary precondition for them and showed up through the following statement.
Andrew said, “Or already coming into school with a negative attitude” were thoughts that
aligned with his non-school lived experiences that filtered into his school culture. Andrew being
of the mindset that some of his school staff did not recognize the external issues the students
from his high-risk neighborhood, community, and home had to deal with; those contentions
youth from “bad backgrounds” such as his, who had to cope with on a daily basis, the challenges
of being underprivileged, seemed to stifle his thoughts about school staff and their inability to
“provide.” Andrew connected thoughts of being provided for by his teachers to an
understanding or belief that they should be interested in the person inside the student, possibly
the teachers having a more human and intimate caring interaction, as a way of connecting to the
students’ internal needs and ultimate concern and/ or value that they came to place on school.
The reality that school served a bigger purpose allowed Andrew to make meaningful
connections with people, his faculty. These communications offered him a sense of value in
high school being a primary setting that shaped the way he saw the world and value he placed on
school. This setting aligned with the non-school environment, the importance of him possessing
the ability to survive that experience. Andrew understood the importance of getting along with
others and being active in his involvement. His understanding of this type of message was
supported by the conscious effort he puts in what was required of him to fully engage in life
outside of school. More specifically when dealing with his teachers, Andrew shared he was able
to,
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Set aside differences with teachers that I feel discriminates me for other than realistic
problems. I don’t really know what her problem is toward me but I’ve gone out of my
way to apologize toward her and try to work with her and just ask for help and I’ve gone
to her several times and on a professional standpoint, regardless of her reply but just to
get better within. One, having to be sitting in a room and having to work with you all
year, is just a problem that I have. If you dislike me and I have to sit there and I’m forced
to work with you and we have no other choice, then I think it’s rather ignorant for you to
be a grown woman and to have childish ways. I just think I did a great job on not
really...I’ve never gone off on her or spoke to her in any disrespectful way but I’ve been
straightforward and hard on studying and stuff. That’s one of the most difficult subjects I
have too, math. It’s gotten better recently. Like, she got to the point where she was like,
threw my papers on the table and ignoring my questions and just didn't care what I had to
say but it’s gotten better since I came to her. When I first apologized to her, the next day,
it was like, she still gave me sort of looks and then slowly eased out.
Andrew was deliberate in his attempts to make right where he felt there was wrong in
efforts to be better. Still, he endured challenges with staff members that he had to overcome in
order to stay focused on mastering school. Andrew was able to be introspective, reflect, self-
advocate, and deal with matters head on. His ability to make attempts, to build interpersonal
relationships, even during challenging times with his teacher, shaped the way he approached
school and life. In an adult like way, Andrew was able to reflect on ways to make better his
situation with a teacher he described as difficult. He put himself in another’s shoes in efforts to
rationalize thought and treatment for a better outcome. Although Andrew experienced negative
communications from adults in school, he heard them and did not embrace those messages. This
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was a conscious effort that grounded him in a humanistic way. Andrew’s ability to deal with
others reminded me of his prior statement about the importance of school and his ability to select
those communications he felt aligned with his goals toward school. In this example Andrew
provided an example of a lived experience that forced him to work in a challenging situation.
In conclusion of Theme I in research question three as situated from various views of all
nine participants in this study, the findings revealed interpersonal relationships with peers,
coaches, and other school staff were very important in the ways these students chose to place
value on school. As Andrew’s experiences varied from those of positive and negative contacts
within the school setting, so was this the case for five of the nine participants in this study whose
value of school related to Conditions 2 and 3 of the conceptual framework. Three of the nine
participants’ value of school rested within Condition 1 of the conceptual framework and one of
the nine participants’ views was positioned under Condition 4 of the conceptual frame work.
Nevertheless, all nine of the students in this study were impressionable and vulnerable to the
weight of the messages delivered through peers, their coaches, and other staff members (e.g.,
teachers, security) that they inter acted with daily during their inner-school human connections.
Summary of Research Question 3
From the data collected, Theme I emerged from messages that the adolescents received
from school that suggested that school was critical to their success. Likewise, the in-school
culture was a critical post that provided a place and space to establish inter-relationships, an
arena to gain understanding, and make sense of the world in which they live. The encounters
established in the inner-school setting reinforced these adolescents’ self-worth, peer networks,
and inner agency. In spite of the challenges several of these participants from this study faced,
they were able to place selected focus on key individuals that aligned with their internal goals
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and pursuit of educational attainment, goals they and their family set that aligned with the ways
in which they felt would land them closer to reaching their goal for school and higher
educational endeavors. Like Andrew and the other participants in this study, being able to
realize that school and the process of schooling related or connected to future opportunities,
centered the school pedagogy to be vital community (whether traditional or alternative in nature)
and a necessary gateway to college and their future life successes.

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CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS/IMPLICATIONS
A brief summary of the dissertation, discussion of key findings relating to the research
questions, recommendations for policy, practice and future research, and final summary of the
study will be shared in this chapter. A gang related drive-by shooting in 1989 that took the life
of my adolescent brother was the motivation for this research. Street violence in urban dense
historically disenfranchised communities has impacted low-income African-American young
men’s life outcomes. In efforts to learn about the ways African-American adolescent school-age
males perceive their non-school environments to influence their social cultural worlds, this
research was conducted. Systemic patterns of racial injustices have marginalized African-
Americans since the inception of this great nation (Franklin & Moss, 2011). Considerable
research exists on the ways in which disproportionate educational opportunities have highlighted
Black males’ academic underperformance, which has impacted their future trajectories toward
attaining higher learning and/ or employment (Alexander, 2010; Wells & Oakes, 1996).
Scattered research exists that focused on the communications urban Black males received from
their non-school environments and how those messages influenced the value they placed on
school and the ways they navigated their respective non-school environments. My research
offers an in-depth qualitative inquiry that provides insight into their experiences.
This study makes an important contribution to the growing literature on how non-school
environments influence the value urban African-American male adolescents place on school.
Likewise, this study is important because it responds to the current political position mentioned
in the December 10, 2015 law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed by President
Obama. My research offers information–rich perspectives from nine low-income adolescent
male voices about the importance of the communications they saw and heard within their
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respective outer-school and inner-school spaces and places that influenced the value they place
on school. Still, as this study was positioned in the non-school setting, the overwhelming
discussions from all nine young men in this study about the value of school from the
interpersonal connections established within their inner-school setting could not be ignored. Yet,
with the goal of the local level (states, school districts, and communities) being to improve and
pay it forward on an educational promise that they offered by getting all students ready for
school success with making sure every student is prepared to thrive in the 21st Century economy,
this research is of value. It was imperative that parallel to the local level action, the non-school
setting, the neighborhood, community (e.g., the locale, people in it, and resources accessible) and
parent involvement must be fused in the process as Marsh (2007) suggested in her research on
improving community (non-school) and educator (inner-school setting) collaboration efforts.
The three research questions that guided this inquiry are:
1. How do the messages urban high school age African-American adolescent males receive
from their home, neighborhood, and community influence the value they place on
school?
2. How do the messages urban high school age African-American adolescent males receive
from their home and community influence the way they navigate their realities and the
value they place on school?
3. How do the messages urban high school age African-American adolescent males receive
from school influence the value they place on school?
This qualitative case study explored the way nine socially and economically
disadvantaged Black adolescent high school age (14-17 years old) males’ placed value on school.
Drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s (1977, 1979, 1986, 2005) bioecological frame suggested the
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multiple environments (e.g., home, neighborhood, community, school) and the people within
those spaces influence the educational experience of students. Likewise, Bush and Bush’s (2013)
African American Male Theory, offered a multidimensional bidirectional approach that analyzes
the interconnected environmental systems that affects African-American males’ beliefs and
perceptions. Through the lens of Decker and Decker’s (2000) research that offered a contextual
frame of the amount of time an American student spends in school (only 9% of their time) over
their K-12 experience, an examination of how the implicit and explicit messages communicated
to these young men by family, peers, and other individuals within their social cultural world,
allowed this researcher to understand the ways in which the messages influenced the value they
placed on school. Through purposeful sampling, I conducted 15 open-ended interviews,
whereby six participants were interviewed twice, and three young men were interviewed once
using semi-structured interview protocols, qualitative observations, and artifacts were conducted
and assessed that revealed their values (Merriam, 2009). An analysis of their thought processes,
behaviors, interactions, and the ways they navigated their community through awareness of their
self-perceptions assisted in their abilities to survive their realities as well, their pursuit of school
was studied.
Key Findings
My research approach was to gain insight into the experiences of low-income Black
adolescent males attending urban high school through the lens of their non-school environments.
My overarching findings suggest:
1. Home ethics and social cultural networks shaped how these young men thought about
school, navigated, and related to the world around them.
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2. Students’ connection to selected persons from within their home, neighborhood,
community, and inner-school settings all supplemented their skillsets and interest in
school-based programs.
3. The depth of their interpersonal key school and community agents who were involved
with these students supported their education endeavors.
4. Equally, messages seen and heard within their respective ecological settings played a role
in reinforcing the thought processes, inner agency, and shaped their school values.
From the data collected through the evidence examined the following themes emerged with
respect to RQ 1, RQ 2, and RQ 3 respectively.
With regard to Research Question 1: How do the messages urban high school age
African-American adolescent males receive from their home, neighborhood, and community
influence the value they place on school?
 Theme I: The way that parents or guardian spoke about and behaved towards school
heavily influenced the way the adolescents spoke about and behaved towards school
 Theme II: External Home Biological-Kindred Networks
 Theme III: External (Neighborhood and Community) Non-related Kinship Networks
 Theme IV: Courage under Fire. Each participant focused primarily on surviving his daily
non-school environments
 Theme V: Perpetuation of Poverty through a Reproduction of Failure. While the
messages the boys were receiving were that going to college was the way to improve
their circumstance, they did not provide the boys with the knowledge and tools necessary
to access or succeed in college or to understand how college was a means to a better life

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 337

Discussion Research Question 1
The nine young men in this study received, to varying degrees, communications either
their parents verbalized and/ or modeled through their thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors that
school was a valuable effort. The findings in this study are consistent with the works of Allen
(2013), Dotterer et al. (2013), Harris et al. (2014), Hines and Holcomb-McCoy (2013), and
Nettles (1991). These scholars research suggests Black school age adolescent males’ parental
involvement contributed to improving their sons school success. Eight of the nine young men in
this study had both parents contributing to their sons’ educational experience. This finding aligns
with Hines and Holcomb-McCoy (2013) research that suggested African-American male
adolescents school performance was increased with both parents being involved in the
educational experience. The majority of the parents connected to the young men (seven of the
nine) in this study were involved with their son (e.g., talked with them about content,
requirements they understood about college, supported them with doing their school work). The
one student whose parents were not involved was a ward of the court and his foster parent did
not discuss school with him. The other student’s parents were involved, however, they did not
stress the need for him to be involved in school. Instead had minimal influence on convincing
their gifted student to participate in school and offered him other means to limit his effort for the
sake that he would “just finish high school” by some means of school.
Next, the young men in this study valued the extended community-based supports both
biological and kindred set of connections. The importance of the extended family networks from
these young men’s mesosystem spaces interrelated with their microsystem spheres. In the works
of Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979, 1989, 2005) and Land et al. (2014) they acknowledge the
experiences youths have with persons in their social cultural spaces influence their thoughts,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 338

beliefs, and the value they placed on school. The influence of these connections reinforced the
communications the young men in this study received from home, neighborhood, and
community about the value of school. These extended family supports reinforced the messages
the young men in this study received from their home about the value of school. In fact, these
findings are consistent with the research from Williams and Bryan (2013) that suggested
extended family networks had a positive effect on the academic performance of low-income
African-American students attending urban high schools. Eight of the nine young men had this
extended support. However, one of the eight young men selected to align his disconfirming
value of school with his parents and other examples of persons in his biological kinship
relationships, although his grandmother’s voice offered affirming communications about school.
The other young man was a ward of the court and did not have biological extended network ties.
With regard to those non-related kinship connections, eight of the nine young men expressed
having these supports. The one student who seemed to be influenced more with this regard was
the young man in foster care. These networks served to be overarching communications that
aligned with his values of school. Thus, he was able to selectively choose those relationships
over the equally negative communications that encouraged drug use, dropping out of school,
and/ or gang ties. As such, these young men measured communications from extended family
and non-kinship community-based interactions, non-mattering if the exchange was from implicit
or explicit interpretation, to be reinforcing viewpoints that fostered an approach to their academic
pursuits in spite of the high-risk communities and neighborhood challenges they dealt with on a
daily basis.
Another discussion regarding the young men having courage under fire follows. All nine
of the young men in this study reported being aware of the dangers as Black men walking
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 339

through certain types of communities. These findings relate to the research of Levin et al. (2007)
that provided insight on the depth of the community barriers African-American adolescents
experience in their urban hubs. As such, eight of the nine young men in this study had to
contend with life threatening encounters regularly which influenced the way they carried
themselves and connected to their neighborhoods and community. They were very selective as
to where and with whom they would interact with. Other times, they could not avoid negative
run-ins with persons who jeopardized their safety. Accordingly, these young men were forced to
risk protecting themselves with a hope that they would survive the experience and live to see
another day. The findings in this study align with McGee’s (2013) research that suggested Black
adolescents attending urban schools were able to mitigate risk factors of their community by
being aware of how they presented self through dress and as well as their behaviors. These
techniques employed by the young men in McGee’s (2013) study were protective factors that
enhanced their personal safety and offered them skills to use to pursue school. The awareness of
the structural barriers that were unique for these low-income Black adolescents as their
neighborhoods had heighten violence, stimulated these Black adolescents’ internal protective
factors. Thus, the findings in this study align with the works of Noguera (1996) that suggested
African-American male youths cope with many hood contentions within their communities that
influence the value the place and how they pursue school.
Lastly, the fifth perspective for discussion addressed the value in the type of message
these students received. The majority of the young men in this study strongly believed that
getting an education was the answer to their educational promise. However, none of them
verbalized how they could actually afford to pay for college. So, all of their efforts were based
on a hoped dream versus an actualized reality as Duncan-Andrade (2009) eluded to in his essay
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when referencing that hope alone cannot erode or resolve persons from historically
disadvantaged backgrounds inner-school educational experiences. The perpetuation of poverty
through the transferring of incomplete narratives by means of communications heard by the
Black adolescent males in this study, from persons in their social culture worlds is that of the
value of educational attainment being worth the effort to have it. The findings from this study
supports education was a tool of value and is consistent with the research from Darling-
Hammond (2004), Levin et al. (2007), Noguera (1996), and Wood (1998) that suggested Blacks
have historically valued education as a viable means to bettering their life outcomes. However,
for these low-income students, the context of education is not a culture that offered them an
experience that empowered them to be all they could be. This finding relates to Bush and Bush
(2013) research that suggest the AAMT required a complex set of interactions with persons
within the social cultural spaces that provided a holistic approach to Black males’ academic
success. Yet, the findings from this study suggested their pursuit of school is a concentrated
effort that pools these young men in a funnel of non-actualized dreams (e.g., futures tied to
sports, and/ or earning “good” grades alone). The findings from this research relate to the works
of Darling-Hammond (2004), Meier (1991), and Mintz and Price (1992) that suggested African-
American youths attending urban public schools and living in socially economically
disenfranchised urban hubs experienced separate and unequal learning and community
experiences (e.g., poor quality instruction, disproportionate class sizes, qualified teachers, under-
sourced community resources) that affected their future trajectories. Still, prior research
suggested education has always been the effort revered by African-Americans as the defining
undertaking to shift their life outcomes (Delpit & Dowdy, 2002). Equally, consistent with
Decker and Decker’s (2000) findings, the school setting was the space these participants spent
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 341

the least amount time. Likewise, in this same inner-school space, it was the arena where their
efforts would be linked to possible outcomes. The findings in this study relate to Butler-Barnes
et al. (2013) research that explored the ways in which African-American adolescents used
strength-based assets to persevere in school in spite of the challenges they experienced in their
inner-school setting. Relevant to how the division of the young men time was spent in this study
during their high school experience, it is clear they were of the belief that educational attainment
was the required tool and investment for long-term college, career, and societal inclusion in the
global work place. Still, the type of “education” these young men were exposed to did not afford
them the experiences or opportunities that they required to tangibly access and practice career
interest/skills for a more planned effort and use of time in their non-school spaces.
Nevertheless, all of these young men were in pursuit of school even if the pursuit was not
as purposeful as others. The findings align with Noguera (2003) research that suggested the
ominous mixture of social and economic adversities affect African-American males’ academic
performance when compared to their White and Asian peers (Noguera, 2003; Noguera, 1996).
Eight of the nine young men expressed interest confidently attending college. Yet, to varying
degrees all of their parents, neighborhood, community, and school agents provided them
conversations and directed them to curriculum and school-based efforts regarding college.
However, none of the young men in this study indicated that any parent or agent quantified how
they could pay for college outside of hopefully getting a scholarship or be it the effort sports
offered. Not all will get into college solely based off their academic and/ or athletic abilities.
This provided an incomplete narrative about how to fully access school. Likewise, limited
communication was shared from these young men about what was expected at the higher
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education level other than the academic achievement perspective. Additionally, none of the
young men in this study mentioned having a counselor support their academic efforts.
The intricacy of the various ways these young men perceived the message that school
was the only way out, was distorted by the quality of the narrative they were given based off
persons’ knowledge within their social cultural words and from the environment they lived in.
The young men in this study demonstrated the ability to bridge home, neighborhood, and
community values with the inner-school effort that linked their values of school. These finding
connect to the work of Carter (2006) that suggested these young men identified as “cultural
straddlers” in their ability to balance both academic and social cultural experiences in order to
survive their daily realities and the value they placed on school. Although actively participating
in their selective school-based interpersonal relationships with peers, coaches, and other support
staff they blindly embraced the narrative that getting good grades, or investing in athletic
prowess was the pathway to overcome their circumstances. These young men expressed value in
the non-school based communiqués that they perceived either linked or detached from the
meanings they determined to be worthy. Thus, the perpetuation of poverty through a
reproduction of incomplete narratives about those things required to make their dreams
actualized was hindered by their lack of resources, opportunity, and purpose being tied to career
pathways with intentional efforts to strengthen their inner agency toward a cycle of promise.
From the data collected through the evidence examined the following themes emerged
with respect to Research Question 2: How do the messages urban high school age African-
American adolescent males receive from their home and community influence the way they
navigate their realities and the value they place on school?
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 343

 Theme I: Active Pursuit. All nine adolescent males privileged messages that aligned with
their goals over other messages they received. They also sought out people who
reinforced those messages that aligned with their goals and distanced themselves from
individuals who conflicted with their goals.
 Theme II: Inner Assets (Strengths). In addition to the non-school and within-school
messages each young man received, they also drew on their inner assets (strength) to
make progress towards their goals. The focus is on Inner Assets (e.g., gifted, drive,
spirituality, athletic prowess).
 Theme III: External Neighborhood and Community Reinforced the message that
adolescents received from their neighborhood about lived conditions influenced their
perception of school as a way out.
Discussion Research Question 2

The data collected for this study regarding research question two revealed these students
were actively pursuing school. The messages they endorsed from the communications they
received through selected persons of which they formed esteemed relationships within their
social cultural worlds provided them interest in their shallow goal orientations. All of the nine
young men in this study connected with people they perceived would reinforce the ways they
had learned to accomplish their goals whether the narrative was affirming or negative. Their
deliberate determination to avoid those things they were consciously aware could cause harm
and/ or derail them from the course, they opted to stay away from the best they could. Still, their
pursuit of educational attainment was pursued with a chanced hope that did not offer planned
systemic means to rationalize their goals of college entry, career attainment, and/ or opportunity
for better living. The majority of the young men in this study were active in their pursuit of
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education. They had internalized narratives from their home, neighborhoods, and communities
that all provided implicit and explicit communications that reinforced the value they placed on
school to varying degrees. As these youths were not dormant in the way they pursued school,
they were one directional in that they knew graduating from high school and getting into college
could offer them opportunities that could improve their life.
Second, as Bush and Bush (2013) argued the subsystem of their inner-microsystem space
in their AAMT, being it was in that space that they felt these students used their agency and self-
perceptions to leverage their collective will through use of their inner-assets. All of the young
men in this study to varying degrees were able to verbalize those things they would and would
not do and as well as those persons and spaces that they would not associate with to manage their
daily lives. McGee (2013) research aligns with the findings from this study. The findings from
her study suggests the African-American high school males’ patterned their behaviors conducive
of their social cultural urban hubs to maintain acceptance and to avoid experiencing negative
encounters that could cause them harm. As well, the young men in this study were too able to
tap into their inner-assets to leverage their personal skills which served as an internal
identification and strength building that assisted in the ways in which they came to own their
decisions and selectively choose individuals or places and spaces to interact. This finding is
consistent with the work of Phelan et al. (1996) as these scholars’ research suggested youths
competence with transitioning between varies settings within their social cultural worlds had
immense effects on their quality of life and educational outcomes. Relating to the findings of
this study the young men were selective of the type of people they interrelated with. The
majority of the young men in this study (eight of nine) were influenced by the people they chose
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 345

to hand around and selected individuals’ that they shared common positive interest with to avoid
those circumstances that could be self-destructive.
Lastly, the ability of each of these students to survive the harsh realities of the violence
that they contend with in their communities situates frequent opportunities for them to become
victims of crime. Still, all of the young men in this study were aware of those specific “hood”
contentions and selectively chose the persons and spaces they would go to avoid losing their life.
This finding relates to Land et al. (2014) research on African-American adolescent low-income
males who had to contend with negative peer and community elements (e.g., gang members,
pimps, and drug dealers) that could influence the Black adolescents’ pursuit of school. However,
like the findings in this study, the young men were conscious of the environmental barriers that
could impede their success yet they persevered despite the visible hardships. The findings
revealed the youth do not freely engage in their non-school worlds because of fear of safety.
Consequently, it is in the non-school spaces that most of their K-12 time is spent and it should be
in those spaces and places that they have access to resources, or opportunities to get their
conditions. Decker and Decker’s (2000) research stated 91% of America’s K-12 students’
experiences are spent in their non-school environment. Yet, a dominant finding in this study was
that these disadvantaged students feared for their lives in their urban marginalized communities
as those spaces were places that warrant unsafe means for them to transverse their community.
Which further emphasized the importance of the value in the interactions and experiences within
the inner-school spaces with school attainment.
From the data collected through the evidence examined, the following theme emerged
with respect to Research Question 3: How do the messages urban high school age African-
American adolescent males receive from school influence the value they place on school?
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 346

 Theme I: These African-American adolescents privileged certain messages within their
in-school setting, whether heard or through actions, that guided what they chose to
listen to and/ or individuals they sought out that matched the messages they were
getting from their non-school environments about the value of school.
Discussion Research Question 3
Although this was the last research question to emerge after extensive analysis, the
weight of the majority of the young men’s responses in this study regarding their connection to
the inner-school culture was critical. This finding is consistent with the research of Land et al.
(2014) suggested that close interpersonal relationships with school based personnel offer positive
connections with adults in the inner-school space that influences the value African-American
adolescent males place on school. A vast amount of the young men in this study expressed the
importance of their inner-school experiences influencing the value the placed on school. The
inner-school setting clearly was a place that marshaled value, knowledge, behaviors, and actions
toward school that could not be disregarded in their respective narrative about the value of
school. The school setting, although it is the place where the least amount of time is spent as
suggested by Decker and Decker (2000) in relation to the total amount of time a K-12 student
spends over their life time, was still an essential place that offered them interpersonal
relationships that aligned and reinforced the values of school from the messages whether
intentional or unintentionally received in their non-school settings.
A holistic concern for these youth and them being able to have a future as their non-
school urban environments were places charged with dangers that cautioned their lives. Their
resiliency was illuminated through the way they demonstrated courage under fire in their efforts
to survive their day-to-day stressors while coping with the emotional and cognitive load of their
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 347

environmental circumstances. Rutter (1987) research aligns with this finding as their research
described similar protective factors that served to shield the participants in their study from
situations that could place them at risk. The limited exposure to narrative linked to career
pathways, evade opportunities to cultivate and nourish intentional promising pathways that lead
to career and higher education success for the young men in this study. Beyond instruction and
extra-curricular athletic base pursuits, educational interest connected to a more practical
attainment of skills (e.g., vocational training or internship based opportunities linked to high
school proficiencies learned) versus the narrative being offered in the current educational
infrastructure (e.g., earn good grades or be an athlete and you will attend college) where the
educational promise is inoperative as well as an incomplete narrative. Thus, consequentially
offering more and more youth and families of disadvantaged backgrounds disillusioned hope by
perpetuated notions of negligence in educating our Black teenage males by not suitably
preparing them with the necessary tools to survive in spite of their financial or social conditions
that stand in between their academic achievement and athletic abilities. This finding clearly
connects to the research of Ream and Palardy (2008) that focused on the ways in which African-
American males’ parent’s social capital influenced their academic and future outcomes.
Regardless of the structural educational and community barriers, the evidence from this
study shows that in addition to the non-school and inner-school communications these young
men received they were able to draw on their inner assets, the strength, to endeavor toward their
goals as Bush and Bush (2013) and McGee (2013) research indicated was a means for Black
adolescent males to succeed in school. The financial resources from their parents was a
contributing factor the majority of the young men expressed awareness of and appeared to be a
reason why they strived for better. However, having assessable facilities to attending within
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their community as outlets were not options mentioned in the interviews of any of the young men
in this research. As well excerpts from the nine young men in this study suggested they were not
aware of any organization or places to become a part of in their non-school space that supported
their academic efforts. Thus, understanding the significance of their short time spent in the inner-
school setting as Decker and Decker (2000) mentioned was only 9% of their K-12 experience
over their life span suggests what happened in their inner-school setting is critical with shaping
the value they placed on school. As it is within he formal school environment that these young
men (even though they all attended different urban high school) that they were able to share most
about their respective active pursuits with their future goals. Equally, it is within the inner-
school space that the majority of the young men in this study were able to connect their
performance through sports and/ or academics to a purposeful and narrow endeavors of getting
into college and surviving that experience.
Still, all of these young men from this study at varying degrees possessed inner assets that
allowed them to leverage their agency of drive, autonomy, awareness, and consciousness and
having respective spiritual morals that guide how they negotiate and self-identity to survive their
day-to-day lived non-school and inner-school places, spaces and the individuals within. These
young men’s stations, support Bush and Bush’s (2013) theory that suggest these adolescents
were able to navigate their non-school spaces as a result of them being able to consider the
influence from the inner microsystem space. That space where these students’ perceptions,
beliefs, personality, intellect, gifts, spiritual connections all lived and offered them a station of
resiliency to manage the decisions they made in relationship to the people in their microsystem,
mesosystem, and exosystems (family and extended family, home, peer groups, neighborhood,
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 349

church, and school) that they dealt with in their conscious effort to learn the rules of engagement
to survive the game of life and have better outcomes.
The nine participants’ in this study were not simply passing through their lived realities.
They were nonresponsive to what was in front of them. They did not know how to engage
adequately in order to prevent or inadvertently continuing the cycle of poverty. They were not
aware of how not to be tolerate of the perpetuation of failure. Nevertheless, having a home-
based parent or guardian who advocated and cultivated career pathways for their respective
students to use as an added layer of responsibility from the non-school space. This layer of
support for six of the nine participants in this study offered them a more realistic planned and
intentional educational experience. As well as promoted a perceivable career orientation or
college entry option that could better their future trajectories if their academics and/ or supports
affiliations fared for them.
The young men in this study were all influenced by the implicit and explicit messages
communicated to them in the inner-school and non-school environments. These communications
affected the value they placed on school, their self-perceptions, and the ways in which they were
mobile (physically and figuratively) concerning educational attainment. Fundamentally this
charge to answer the educational promise regarding this population of low-income Black
students requires a collective effort from home, neighborhood, community, and school (Levin et
al., 2007; Marsh, 2007; Nettles, 1991). These agents must be the bridge to the cycle of promise I
position (see Figure 13). In an ideal world, being able to promote these youth inner-school
pedagogical realm coupled with the adequate community-based supports will provide the
necessary non-school messages required (Marsh, 2007; Noguera, 1996). As well as deliver the
importance that education is a valuable charge that if, the messages are of the right narrative, can
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 350

ensure parallel accountability of what these young men are entitled to, level out the playing field
for future higher educational pursuits, and really shift their life trajectories. These efforts are all
deemed necessary goods that stand to obstruct the structural societal barriers that are unique for
persons like the marginalized young men in this study. Black urban African-American
adolescents whose circumstances have forced them to blindly cope with neighborhood
challenges and survive anxieties within non-school spaces that are not realizations their peers
from more affluent backgrounds have to contend with as their home, neighborhood, community,
and school places and spaces are not environments that require this layer of effort. Still, the
participants in this study having no choice in their parents’ social statuses which landed them in
their present conditions make a concerted effort to tap into their inner-assets that offer them a
protective layer to move forward in spite of their conditions and limited resources. Their active
attitude lends them a veil that promotes resiliency and a personal and collective village decree to
earn their education without clear passports to do so.
Implications and Recommendations
Recommendations for Practice
This study focused on the perceptions disadvantaged Black adolescent males made
regarding the implicit and explicit communications they heard and observed through behaviors
of others toward them within their social cultural settings that shaped the way they placed value
on school, how they navigated their daily lives, and self-prescribed. The goals of this study were
to learn from their experiences and add to the literature about the factors that contribute to these
youths not meeting their educational attainment.

Figure 13. Cycle of Promise
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 351
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 352

Implication 1. School is viable place and station where these youths are positioned to
maximize their learning. The school environment should foster individualized educational plans
that are unique to students’ aspirations and planned career pathways that offer them a more
practical and objective educational experience. This implication is tied to findings 2, 3, and 4.
With regards to the importance of home ethics, social cultural networks, these young men
selected interpersonal relationships with key persons in their school and community; all nine of
these young men in this study were influenced by persons in their home, neighborhood,
community, and school settings. Thus, these interactions reinforced their respective agencies to
selectively connect with those persons who they thought would add an additional perspective to
their lives. The relationships that stood out the most in the school setting where those
relationships established through sports or talented-related affiliations between the students and
staff. For many of these Black adolescent males, these interactions, although limited with
respect to the amount of time they formally spend in school over the duration of their life, the
bonds from school carried a lot of weight in the ways in which these young men saw the world
from the dominant perspective. Opportunities for increased interactions of this nature having
more time in the inner-school space would offer these students better chances to learn and
cultivate their inner assets to leverage for future career, job, and college entry efforts (see Figure
13). Understanding the majority of an American’s student time is spent in their non-school
spaces community-based and alternative means to connect with mentors, adult supports and
leverage academic resources in the community is required.
Furthermore, the inner-school settings as they currently exist have not been ones that
have afforded students from these disadvantaged communities this type of consistent or
continued academic support required to maximize their urban school experiences. Community-
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 353

based programs like The Door or the Harlem School Zone offers these services (LaVant,
Anderson, & Tiggs, 1997; Moore-Thomas & Day-Vines, 2010). Being able to create a
community-based learning center that offers 24-hour wrap around services to families and
students would be the start of this reform. These students require an educational experience that
transcends all gametes of the educational paradigm, from early education through high school.
In addition, a community center could afford a safe place to be within their community, where
recreation, tutoring, shelter if needed, nutrition, career and job training, parenting support, and
legal support could all be at one station. Thus, in this setting the concept of school does not end
at 3pm or when the summer starts. This community-based effort would be a location where the
community becomes the school and vice versa. A place of safe passages with viable
opportunities to commune, grow and learn.
Implication 2. We need to shift the way we do business and overhaul education. A
reform in the overall educational system needs to happen. There is a need for the educational
platform to reflect the needs of the population and community they are embedded in. The
change should be with curriculum, job training (work ethics), career guidance, and facilities.
The curriculum should be vocational and career oriented not just academic test centered and
college directed. Community learning centers such as Tiger Woods Learning Center, Harlem
School Zone, and The Bridge are concept models that provide a school, community, and
university connect through partnerships that both encourage and foster local educational agents
to collaborate and corroborate on community-based initiatives to best evaluate these youths
(LaVant et al., 1997; Moore-Thomas & Day-Vines, 2010; Noguera, 1996). These alternative
placements or forms of school, spaces where educational achievement are more aligned with the
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 354

community-based needs of sustainable environments that model collaborate partnership of
improved student outcomes.
This implication in tied to findings 1, 2, 3, and 4. Parent involvement and community-
center structures should be a collaborative effort (Marsh, 2007). Having opportunities to have
spaces of learning that are essentially learning environments that intentionally cultivate the
career pathways for students’ in these communities is required (Noguera, 1996). Reflecting on
when I was a first year teacher, I am reminded of how as a novice teacher I was given the most
challenging students as I had the least amount of experience. However, the more senior teachers
inherited the best students (e.g., academic and behavior wise) in the school and they as seasoned
teachers had the most experience to handle the hard-to-reach students. Then once I became an
administrator, I recalled having to maintain and work with the most challenging seasoned
teachers by way of delivery of instruction, yet being forced to sustain them on payroll for the
sake of contracts even if they were not the better fit for the job (e.g., in comparison to a new
teacher who was the best fit). Thus in turn forcing an ill equipped educator that required
remediation, to remediate your students. This barrier further added to the challenges experienced
within public school systems as the current practice is constrained by the systemic bureaucracy
that perpetuates the cycle of failed educational systems that are nestled in the urban hubs that our
most deserving marginalized students are subjected to. These school structural ills, tied to their
community and home challenges is the substance that continues the perpetuation of poverty for
these students. An educational overhaul is needed to even out the playing field and offer these
youth better opportunities to actualize their goals in community-based learning centers that will
provide them a comprehensive educational experience (LaVant et al., 1997).
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 355

Implication 3. The inner-school space is a critical place to support youth dreams coming
to fruition. The power in the relationship of the bonds formed between the student and agents
filter into their non-school worlds and shapes how these youths connect to self and the world
around them. Having more opportunities like the encounters with the coaches (for those that
played sports) where experiences were opportunities to cultivate and get to know students as
people first to promote learning is argued here. In cases where students do not have play sports
the need for school based mentorship programs is essential to the overall development of these
young men as was suggested in the research of Moore-Thomas and Day-Vines (2010) research
that indicated the need for school counselors to be more involved with the human condition of
these marginalized students. Yet, the school counselor experience was not narrative that any of
the nine student in this study reported being a contributing factor to the value they placed on
school and was missing in this study.
This implication is connected to findings 3 and 4. The data revealed all nine of the young
men in this study had somebody, a person whether a parent or school agent (e.g., teacher, coach,
administrator) who they felt influenced their thoughts and perceptions about self, life, and/or
school. However, each respective participant’s home ethics varied as did parenting style, their
respective school experiences and interactions the same. Thus, the common denominator was
that all nine of the young men in this study that placed value on school was in relationship to the
message they heard and embraced from key persons that they valued. For the one young man in
this study that was not engaged in school, his home culture supported that and his beliefs aligned
in the same regard. Still, the power of the messages from these young men non-school settings
affected the way they approached school. Yet, the messenger did not often offer the appropriate
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 356

information about how to make their efforts a reality as the narrative was incomplete from the
person delivering it.
Likewise, the findings indicate, it is very important for these low SES urban Black youth
to connect and be involved with those persons that could influence their life. Thus, knowing
how to reach out and access, or who to connect with, presented to be a challenge that was not
revealed from the community perspective in this study. One participant in the study was directed
connected to a community space, his church, as his father was the pastor of the church. His
church affiliation was interwoven in his natural daily dealings. Still, the majority of the young
men in this study chose to not transverse their communities of fear for their safety. With this
being said, another component of the community-based learning center could offer the elders a
chance to impart their wisdom to bridge the gaps of ancestry and community as a form of
mentorship. As, it was, in the case of Andrew, the ward of the court in this study who did not
have that familial connection from an elder and could have benefited from that type of
interpersonal relationship with having seasoned community based individuals to influence his
future aspirations. In order to shift these young men realities, a village effort as suggested in the
research of Moore-Thomas and Day-Vines (2010) is required and parents and students have to be
informed and feed the right narrative.
Recommendations for Policy
The purpose of this study was to learn from African-American low-income adolescent
males regarding how the things they see and hear in their social cultural settings influence how
they move through their environments, self-identify, and place value on school.
Implication 1. A few themes that emerged from RQ 1, more specifically Themes 1 and
4, as well as research question 2 with regard to Themes II, bind this implication which suggests
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 357

these youths are not civically oriented nor posited to actively at 18, with any sense of
practicality, (if required to vote) to have an objective voice and/ or opinion to take a stance about
how through a diplomatic process, their voice opens and/or acts (by voting). None of the young
man in this study indicated having anything to offer at present in efforts for change that could be
supported through civil rights initiatives. None of the young men in this study offered direct
understanding of ways to advocate for self or their greater community that would better their
living conditions other than pursuing school as a way out. Comments through creation of rules
with conditions that are logical grouping of logical operations applied to systems as these laws
could be supported from early educational setting to the K-12 phase were not discussed in this
study from these nine young men perspectives. Instead of taking what’s being offered and
experienced by the youth in this study they were not aware of the diplomacy of how to better
their lived situation. All nine of the young men in this study would benefit from understanding
ways to shift funding that could change the atmosphere of their non-school and inner-school
conditions. This could catapult the change in schools and school districts. Polices such as the
ones suggested could promote school privatization (ownership, enterprise, agency, public
service, or public properly form public sector).
With regard to community, promoting policy that would improve school privatized
funding in order to create these community-based alternative educational centers being able to
generate policy in this regard would be beneficial as well. However, the need to do grassroots
work of informing and getting buy-in from parents would most definitely give them a say in the
judicial process of declaring where their monies can go and/ or determining new legislature to
create funding sources that would support community centers of this nature.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 358

Recommendation for Future Research
As this research is robust with the data collected from nine students, it would be great to
perform this study on a grander scale. Possibly being able to separate out family, home,
neighborhood to zone in on the depth of those experiences to impact the values the adolescents
placed on school. Likewise, having opportunities to interview key community agents to see what
their alignment is too the Black male adolescent beliefs, as they could possibly juxtapose they
youths’ interviews with policy implemented programs that could suggest community efforts are
there. If the community efforts are there inquiry into how these youths can be better connected to
those services to link their changes of having better future outcomes is an area of interest as well.
Lastly, having an opportunity to do a longitudinal study five years out to assess where the young
men in this study landed in relationship to if what they shared for their goals of getting into
college were actualized and by what means would further inform the research about their station;
see the impact of the messages, and possibly determine if their agency and/ or self-perceptions
had aligned based on their adult lived realities and conditions. This would offer a chance to see
whether or not they perpetuated the cycle of poverty or whether a cycle of promise ensued in
spirt of their non-school experiences. The longitudinal study could possibly shed light on
whether or not the grit they endured in spite of the limited tangible resources and challenges they
had to overcome within their respective communities influenced their life outcomes as suggested
the initial research.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 359

Conclusion
The awareness in what people hear and see shapes the way they understand and connect
to the world (Myers, 1996). This dissertation was developed with the intent to address the ways
in which intentional and unintentional communications African-American male adolescents
received in their home, neighborhoods, and community influenced their thinking and decisions in
relationship to school. The findings highlight how although the young men in this study were
conscious of their lived realities the majority of these urban young men were all focused on
completing high school and reaching college. They had not been provided with the right tools
and did not understand the rules of engagement to be successful while actively pursuing their
educational goals. The incomplete communications they received about school perpetuated the
cycle of poverty and they were fearlessly pursuing a promise with an underdeveloped narrative.
Studies of non-school culture from the adolescent perspective often reflect the students
inner-school experience; however, this study also highlights how the non-school spaces and
places inform how African-American male adolescents come to understand, navigate, and make
choices about the value of school. It is imperative for low SES Black adolescents to first get the
complete narrative and next master the rules of engagement so they can successfully engage in
their inner-school and community cultural places and spaces with fruitful achievements. We
need our youth to holistically be informed including them being civic minded individuals in
order to have sustainability in a cycle of promise.
The current study contributes to the research by strongly sharing the voices and daily
lived non-school and inner-school experiences from nine low-SES urban African-American male
adolescents. All of these young men were conscious of their educational pursuit and appeared to
be doing the best they could, given the communications they got. Still, their academic goals
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 360

were dreams waiting to be deferred depending on the messenger, resources, opportunity and
quality of education they received. Years of educational, psychological, and some ecological
research continued to show the educational experiences of urban African-American males of
low-income environments is linked to various contextual factors. Research on the non-school
low-SES adolescent males provide analysis of how these youths perceived and placed value on
the communications they heard and/ or observed from their social cultural worlds. For the young
men in this study, their personhood, neighborhoods, community, and inner-school spaces all
were interwoven interactions that influenced the way they chose to connect to school as scholars
Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979, 1989, 2005), Dotterer et al. (2014) and Myers (1996) work
suggests multidirectional ecological inter relationships shape the ways in which people connect
to the world around them. The importance of the messages and the messengers also contribute to
how each participant in this study aligned value to school. The conversation about the needs of
our children cannot continue in the same manner. The ways we provide educational
opportunities for these youth should be overhauled. We should restructure those systems that we
know are not working regardless of the cost factor. As it is, these are the most disadvantaged
students (e.g., capital, quality teachers, facilities, safe communities) in our system and they
should be afforded the finest resources, opportunities, and education to reach their educational
promise.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 361

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PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 376

Appendix A: Glossary of Terms
Glossary of Terms
Agency
as a sense of control or self-awareness that one is initiating, executing, and
controlling one’s decisions, choices, desires or actions in the world.
Community
is used to refer to the people living in a certain place, it is bound by the larger city
where particular characteristics are commonalities (e.g., same interest, religion,
and race); it encompasses different sub neighborhoods within and of the broader
area.
Culture is used as a fluid, growing, and progressive process.
Engaged Students behaviors and thoughts align with positive value of school
Explicit Communications
Direct communications received by the nine participants whether heard and/or
observed were assessed and made into meaningful messages by the researcher to
answer the overarching research question as framed by the conceptual framework
and protocol used for this study.
External Messages
refer to messages received from participants from places of home, neighborhood,
and community.
Hood Contentions
is derived from the word neighborhood and it refers to an area with distinctive
characteristics during situations that present disagreement
Implicit Communications
Non-direct communications received by the nine participants whether heard
and/or observed were assessed and made into meaningful messages by the
researcher to answer the overarching research question as framed by the
conceptual framework and protocol used for this study.
Influence
is used to mean the capacity to have an effect on the opinions, character,
development, or behavior of someone or something, or the affect itself.
Internal Messages
refer to explicit and implicit message received by participants while they were in
school setting.
Message(s)
is used as a verbal, written, heard form of communication sent to or observed by
or for recipient; or a source of consumption by some recipient or group of
recipients.
Neighborhood
is used to define the area of narrow immediate vicinity of one’s house, or a sub
section of town or city where the people who live near each other (e.g., frequent
stores, theaters, restaurants, church school, or other establishments) as residents.
Non-engaged
Students behaviors and thoughts do not align with positive value of school
Reinforce is used to signify, to strengthen or support, supplement or increase.
Self-perception
is defined as an awareness of self-hood or self-identity in relation to the inferences
people make about their own actions and behaviors under the circumstances which
it occurs.
Value
It is used with regard to a person’s principles or standards of behavior. One’s
judgment of what is important in life; or to consider (someone or something) to be
important or beneficial, have a high opinion of, the importance, worth, or
usefulness of something.
Urban
is used in conjunction with the U. S. Census Bureau’s (2010) definition that
posited an urbanized area is one where 50,000 or more people reside. This same
reference suggested an urban cluster was considered areas where at least 2,500 to
less than 50,000 people reside. For the sake of this research, when urban is
referenced it is in relationship to the urbanized areas in Los Angeles County. All
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 377

of the participants in this study resided in densely populated communities with
more than 50,000 residents. As well, some participants lived in urban inner-city
hubs with a higher concentration of people residing in smaller tight sections of
neighborhoods than other participants in this study.
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 378

Appendix B: Recruitment Information Sheet

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education

INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

A Study of Urban African-American Male Adolescent Perceptions of Messages from Non-
School Environments

You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Victoria Ruffin under the
supervision of Julie Slayton, J.D., Ph.D. at the University of Southern California.

As part of the research project I am recruiting five to seven male high school students who identify
as African-American, are between the ages of 14 and 18, receive free or reduced lunch, attend and
live within the school zone of an urban high school (the school within your demographic
designated school zone) to participate in three interviews. The interviews will be audio-recorded.
If you don’t want to be recorded, you cannot participate. If you are between the ages of 14 and 17,
I will need permission from your parent for you to participate in the study.

Research studies include only people who voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains
information about this study. You should ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The goal 0f this study is to better understand how your experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and/or
thoughts about messages you hear and/or see within your home and neighborhood influences how
you value school and how you see yourself as an African-American man.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete a screening interview which
is anticipated to take about 5 minutes. You do not have to answer any questions you don’t want to.
This interview will determine if you are eligible to participate in the research study.

If you are found to be eligible and are interested in participating in the study, you will be asked to
participate in three audio-taped interviews that will take place at location(s) of your convenience.
Two of the interviews will last about approximately 1-½ to 2 hours each. In each interview you
will be asked to talk about your experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and thoughts about implicit and
explicit messages (seen or heard) within your home or community that influence the way you value
school. The final interview may be shorter. This interview will require you to bring an artifact
(e.g., yearbook, trophy, pictures, assignment, paraphernalia from club, sport etc.) of your liking
that you would like to share and discuss.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 379

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
At the end of the study, you will receive a $20 gift card for your time. You must complete all three
interviews to receive the gift card, though you don’t have to answer any question you don’t feel
comfortable answering.
ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate. Your relationship with your school will not be affected
whether or not you participate in this study.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential. Your
responses will be coded with a false name (pseudonym) and maintained separately. The audio-
tapes will be destroyed once they have been transcribed.

The data will be stored on a password protected computer for three years after the study has been
completed and then destroyed.

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies
to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about this research, you can contact Victoria Ruffin via email at
vruffin@usc.edu or Faculty Advisor Dr. Julie Slayton at jslayton@rossier.usc.edu.

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 380

Appendix C: Recruitment Email and Flyer

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 381

Appendix D: Information Sheet for Screener

A Study of Urban African-American Male Adolescent Perceptions of
Messages from Non-School Environments
Screening Interview
Subject Name _________________________________
Date of Birth __________________________________
High School Attending __________________________
Parent Phone Number __________________________
Parent Email __________________________________
Your Email ___________________________________

1. Do you identify as being African-American? (born of African-American heritage—Non
Jamaican, African, etc. descent; both of your parents were born in America, and one or both
of your parents associate as being African-American).
Yes
No
2. Do you live in proximity to your school?
Yes
No
3. Do you ascribe to being a male?
Yes
No
4. Are you willing to be audio-recorded if selected for this study?
Yes
No
5. Are you between the ages of 14-18?
Yes
No

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 382

Appendix E: Recruitment Information Sheet 18-Year Old

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education

INFORMED CONSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

A Study of Urban African-American Male Adolescent Perceptions of Messages from Non-
School Environments

You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Victoria Ruffin under the
supervision of Julie Slayton, J.D., Ph.D. at the University of Southern California.

You are eligible to participate if you are an 18-year-old male high school student who identifies as
African-American, receives free or reduced lunch, and attend and live within the school zone of
an urban high school (the school within your demographic designated school zone).

Your participation is voluntary. You should read the information below, and ask questions about
anything you do not understand, before deciding whether to participate. Please take as much time
as you need to read the consent form. You may also decide to discuss participation with your
family or friends. If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sign this form. You will be
given a copy of this form.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The goal if this study is to better understand how your experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and/ or
thoughts about messages you hear and/ or see within your home and neighborhood influences how
you value school and how you see yourself as an African-American man.

STUDY PROCEDURES
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete a screening interview which
is anticipated to take about 5 minutes. You do not have to answer any questions you don’t want to.
This interview will determine if you are eligible to participate in the research study.

If you are found to be eligible and are interested in participating in the study, you will be asked to
participate in three audio-taped interviews that will take place at location(s) of your convenience.
If you don’t want to be audio recorded, you can’t participate.

Two of the interviews will last about approximately 1-½ to 2 hours each. In each interview you
will be asked to talk about your experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and thoughts about implicit and
explicit messages (seen or heard) within your home or community that influence the way you value
school. The final interview may be shorter. This interview will require you to bring an artifact
(e.g., yearbook, trophy, pictures, assignment, paraphernalia from club, sport etc.) of your liking
that you would like to share and discuss.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 383

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
At the end of the study, you will receive a $20 gift card for your time. You must complete all three
interviews to receive the gift card, though you don’t have to answer any question you don’t feel
comfortable answering.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential. Your
responses will be coded with a false name (pseudonym) and maintained separately. The audio-
tapes will be destroyed once they have been transcribed.

The data will be stored on a password protected computer for three years after the study has been
completed and then destroyed.

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies
to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate. Your relationship with your school will not be affected
whether or not you participate in this study.

INVESTIGATOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about this research, you can contact Victoria Ruffin via email at
vruffin@usc.edu or Faculty Advisor Dr. Julie Slayton at jslayton@rossier.usc.edu.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT – IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 384

SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT

I have read the information provided above. I have been given a chance to ask questions. My
questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I have
been given a copy of this form.

Name of Participant

Signature of Participant Date

SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR

I have explained the research to the participant and answered all of his/her questions. I believe
that he/she understands the information described in this document and freely consents to
participate.

Name of Person Obtaining Consent

Signature of Person Obtaining Consent Date

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 385

Appendix F: Parental Permission/Youth Assent for Participants 14-17

University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education

YOUTH ASSENT-PARENTAL PERMISSION FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

A Study of Urban African-American Male Adolescent Perceptions of Messages from Non-
School Environments

Your child is invited to participate in a research study conducted by Victoria Ruffin under the
supervision of Julie Slayton, J.D., Ph.D. at the University of Southern California.

Your child is eligible to participate if he is a male high school student between the ages of 14 and
17 who identifies as African-American, receives free or reduced lunch, and attends and lives within
the school zone of an urban high school (the school within your demographic designated school
zone).

Your child’s participation is voluntary. You should read the information below, and ask questions
about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether to allow your child to participate.
Your child will also be asked his permission. Your child can decline to participate, even if you
agree to allow participation. You and/or your child may also decide to discuss it with your family
or friends. If you and/or your child decide to participate, you will both be asked to sign this form.
You will be given a copy of this form.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The goal if this study is to better understand how your child’s experiences, perceptions, beliefs,
and/ or thoughts about messages he hears and/ or sees within your home and neighborhood
influence how he values school and how he sees himself as an African-American man.

STUDY PROCEDURES
If you agree to allow your child to participate in this study, he will be asked to complete three
audio-taped interviews that will take place at location(s) of your convenience. If your child doesn’t
want to be audio recorded, he can’t participate.

Two of the interviews will last about approximately 1-½ to 2 hours each. In each interview your
child will be asked to talk about his experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and thoughts about implicit
and explicit messages (seen or heard) within your home or community that influence the way he
values school. The final interview may be shorter. This interview will require your child to bring
an artifact (e.g., yearbook, trophy, pictures, assignment, paraphernalia from club, sport etc.) of his
liking that he would like to share and discuss.

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 386

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
At the end of the study, your child will receive a $20 gift card for his time. He must complete all
three interviews to receive the gift card, though he doesn’t have to answer any question he doesn’t
feel comfortable answering.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential. Your
child’s responses will be coded with a false name (pseudonym) and maintained separately. The
audio-tapes will be destroyed once they have been transcribed.

The data will be stored on a password protected computer for three years after the study has been
completed and then destroyed.

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies
to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your child’s alternative is to not participate. His relationship with his school will not be affected
whether or not he participates in this study.

INVESTIGATOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about this research, you can contact Victoria Ruffin via email at
vruffin@usc.edu or Faculty Advisor Dr. Julie Slayton at jslayton@rossier.usc.edu.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT – IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your child’s rights as a research participant
or the research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to
someone independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review
Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272
or upirb@usc.edu

SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT (CHILD)

I have read the information provided above. I have been given a chance to ask questions. My
questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I have
been given a copy of this form.

Name of Participant

Signature of Participant Date
PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 387

SIGNATURE OF PARENT/LEGALLY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE

I have read the information provided above. I have been given a chance to ask questions. My
questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to allow my child to participate in
this study. I have been given a copy of this form.

Name of Parent/Legally Authorized Representative

Signature of Parent/Legally Authorized Representative Date

SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR

I have explained the research to the participant and his/her parent(s)/Legally Authorized
Representative, and answered all of their questions. I believe that the parent(s) understand the
information described in this document and freely consents to participate.

Name of Person Obtaining Consent

Signature of Person Obtaining Consent Date

PERCEPTIONS OF MESSAGES FROM NONSCHOOL ENVIRONMENT 388

Appendix G: Interview Protocol

A Study of Urban African-American Male Adolescent Perceptions of
Messages from Non-School Environments
Interview Protocol
Participant: _________________________
Date: ______________________________
Interview #: 1

Introduction:
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. My name is Victoria. I am a graduate student
at USC. During our interview today, I hope to gain a better understanding of how the messages you
experience in your home, neighborhood, community, and school shape the value you place on school.
Likewise, I am interested in learning how these messages shape your identity.

Your participation in this interview is completely voluntary. You may choose to not answer any questions
I ask today. Likewise, there are no right or wrong response