Journal of Black Psychology

In spite of the recent popularity of “going natural” among Black Caribbean women of African descent, the wearing of natural hair by these women continues to be a contentious issue in the English-speaking Caribbean. As such, social networking sites (SNS) may provide supportive environments within which some Black Caribbean female emerging adults can explore their hair identity narratives as they embark on their “natural hair journey.” By employing a qualitative case study research design, we found that among the 12 participants of the study, SNS provide an informative and supportive environment for exploration of Black-hair identity for these women. Findings revealed a number of themes that emerged from the narratives of the participants. Most important, that hair provided a means for hair identity self-expression and individual self-classification for Black Caribbean women. SNS also facilitated an online sisterhood, opportunities for personal exploration, and exposure to online models who embraced their natural hair. Study implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Scholars have long asserted the importance of studying cultural socialization processes predicting prosocial behaviors, but studies on this topic among Black young adults are rare. The current study examined the mediating roles of ethnic-racial identity and religious identity in associations between ethnic-racial socialization and prosocial behaviors among Black young adults. Participants consisted of 208 Black young adults (M_age = 19.90 years, SD_age = 1.62, 73.6% women) from universities across the United States, who reported on their ethnic-racial socialization, ethnic-racial identity, religious identity, and prosocial behaviors. Mediation analyses showed that ethnic-racial identity and religious identity mediated the relation between ethnic-racial socialization and prosocial behavior. Our findings highlight the ways in which cultural socialization and identity processes may foster prosocial behaviors among Black young adults. Discussion focuses on a culturally grounded and strengths-based understanding of prosocial development among Black young adults.

We explored mothers’ beliefs, expectations, and behaviors as these relate to early academic success, their roles as parents to young children, and the influence of other ecological factors. Eleven African American mothers of children in kindergarten through third grades were interviewed twice with daily journaling for 2 weeks. Utilizing both Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Spencer’s phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory as our primary theoretical underpinnings, results were interpreted emphasizing contextual, cultural, and personal characteristics that may serve as protective or risk contributors during children’s education. As mothers defined their contributions to the early academic success of their children, related themes emerged from the data including the significance of parent involvement, family routine and cohesiveness, the availability of resources, and racial issues. Findings provide a contextualized cultural understanding of African American mothers’ beliefs and their potential influence on their children’s early school experiences and how these beliefs are enacted in structured and intentional ways.