The Adjustment and Development of African American Males: Conceptual Frameworks and Emerging Research Opportunities

Abstract

Scholarly interest in the adjustment and development of African American males has engendered the development of several theoretical frameworks. In many previous studies, however, these frameworks have been employed in an attempt to understand the adjustment of African American males from a deficit perspective. More recent frameworks nevertheless emphasize the need to shift attention to resilience and to a better understanding of the conditions under which black males succeed. This chapter underscores the significance of one such framework—that developed by Murry, Block, and Liu (chapter “Adjustment and Developmental Patterns of African American Males: The Roles of Families, Communities, and Other Contexts”), which views the development of African American males as a product of interlocking contexts that operate within a well-ordered system of influences. As Murry and colleagues suggest, the systems perspective has its benefits. Nevertheless, future research should give more attention to the changing configuration of African American families, the emerging role of black immigrant families, and the ways in which the systems perspective can be leveraged for developing policy interventions.