Martell L. Teasley

Barack Obama and the politics of race: The myth of postracism in America

Many scholars across racial lines argue that the historic election of Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States marks the dawning of a “postracial era” in our country. Despite this claim and unprecedented enthusiasm that abounds within African American circles about the direction of race relations in this country, there seems to be a glaring ideological disconnect between the desire and reality of a race-free society. Focusing attention on this disconnect and the symbolic capital of “hope” that Obama’s presidency constitutes for the Black community, this article exposes the potential pitfalls of wholesale investment in postracial thinking, particularly for the most economically vulnerable African American populations. Chief among the questions that the authors ask is how African Americans can productively address the continuing challenges of race-centric oppression under an Obama administration that is itself an embodiment of this postrace thinking.

Autism and the African American Community

It is estimated that autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect 1 in 500 live births per year. However, due to varying techniques for diagnosis and treatment, the disability remains the subject of debate. African Americans tend to suffer disproportionate rates of disability and disease when compared to other racial and ethnic groups due to access to preventative and curative care. However, evidence demonstrates that although rates of diagnosis for autism occur at the same rates in all racial groups, diagnosis in African American children occurs later than in White children. As a result, African American children may require longer and more intensive intervention. This article examines the etiology of autism, diagnosis, and treatment strategies and its impact on African American families. A case method approach is utilized to describe the impact of autism on an African American family. Implications for future research and professional practice and policy are discussed. Understanding autism is important as it relates to the human genome.

Validation of a McKinney-Vento Act Implementation Scale

Objective: The McKinney-Vento Act (MVA) is the primary federal policy addressing homelessness in America with specific mandates designed to ameliorate the effects homelessness has on educational attainment for school-age children. The extent to which this policy is implemented may have far-reaching effects for homeless children. The MVA Implementation Scale (MVAIS) was developed for the purpose of providing a tool for assessing school-based social services personnel’s perceived knowledge and awareness of implementation of the MVA within their service areas. This study tests the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the 26-item instrument. Method: Data were collected from a purposive sample of school social workers (N = 201) attending a Mid-Western regional conference in order to examine the reliability and the validity of this measure. Results: The hypothesized factor structures were confirmed. Findings also indicated high levels of reliability among items, as well as initial evidence of instrument validity. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate that the MVAIS adequately measures participant’s perceived implementation of the MVA. Future implications for research and practice are discussed.

Social Work Research on Faith-Based Programs: A Movement Towards Evidence-Based Practice

Federal legislation now authorizes government funding for faith‐based initiatives to carry out social welfare service programs. The authors review recent trends in evaluation research on faith‐based programs by social workers. The authors discuss specific programmatic outcomes, limitations in faith‐based research, trends in faith‐based literature, and future research recommendation. We conclude that past research efforts by the social work profession are insufficient in the evaluation of faith‐based services. Our contention is that greater research efforts will promote the development of evidence‐based practice for faith‐based organizations and the social work profession.

Perceived Levels of Cultural Competence for School Social Workers: A Follow-Up Study

The purpose of this article is to report on findings from a follow-up study that examined the relationship among social work education programs, postgraduate professional development, and school social workers’ perceived levels of cultural competence in practice with urban minority youth. The initial study demonstrated that African Americans perceived a higher level of cultural competence than their Anglo American counterparts did. Findings highlight the need to understand the processes by which practitioners become culturally competent for urban school social work practice. Underscoring the importance of professional development, the authors determined that geographic location of practice may serve as a factor that influences how practitioners anticipate the need for culturally competent practice with diverse populations. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Understanding Leadership Development in African American Youth

Abstract This exploratory study assesses factors related to leadership development for African American adolescents participating in a community service program designed to develop young African American leaders (N = 345). Psychometric characteristics of self-reported levels of leadership are explored to determine similarities and differences between gender groups. A multivariate analysis of socioeconomic factors, levels of self-esteem, school grades, and social activities as predictors of leadership development produced mixed findings. The results suggest that higher levels of global and academic self-esteem are related to leadership characteristics in female respondents, but not males. On the other hand, the impact of program participation on leadership was only significant in the area of personal relationship skills as a form of leadership for males. Findings from this investigation point out the need for research on leadership development dynamics among African American children and adolescents.

The Effects of Risk and Protective Factors on Juvenile Delinquency in South Korea

This study focused on the influence of risk and protective factors on juvenile delinquency in South Korea. The study also investigated the relationship between risk and protective factors. The first wave of data in the Korea Youth Panel Survey included 3,449 adolescents. Data analysis included exploratory factor analysis, regression analysis, and analysis of variance. Analysis revealed that parental monitoring and teacher attachment as protective factors were both associated with lower levels of delinquency. Moreover, delinquent peers and poor parenting as risk factors were associated with high levels of delinquency. The relationships between parent attachment and delinquency and between academic performance and delinquency were found to be nonsignificant. Finally, protective factors mitigated risk factor effects on delinquency levels.

Acculturative Stress Among People of Mexican Descent: The Role of Acculturation, Social Capital, and Family Role Expectations

Stressful acculturative experiences alter familial relationships and mental health functioning among Hispanics. However, risk and protective factors for acculturative stress remain unclear. This study examines acculturation, social capital, marital, and parental role expectations, and acculturative stress among people of Mexican descent (N = 313). The hierarchical regression model explained 15% (R 2 = .15) of the variance in acculturative stress. The use of an interaction term revealed that marital reward value was positively related to acculturative stress for individuals reporting high linguistic acculturation while bonding social capital was negatively related. Therefore, relationships between acculturation and value oriented variables may evoke stressful experiences only under conditional circumstances.

Cyberbullying, Youth Behavior and Society

The old adage of “sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me” was never really true. Given the advent of the growing phenomenon of cyberbullying in our society, we are now more aware of the extent and impact to which name-calling and other slanderous practices can have on adolescents’ self-esteem and behavior. But the effects of name-call, tensing and forms of non-psychical abuse are not new to social and behavioral science researchers. Yet, cyberbullying has gained mass media appeal and coverage, which may be related to numerous horrific behavioral outcomes as demonstrated by a rash of youth suicides by victims of cyberbullying [1]. For sure, cyberbullying presents a new challenge for society and should garner specific attention as the digital age continues to unfold [2]. The goal of this commentary is to highlight the growing prevalence of cyberbullying and the need for greater social awareness of its incidence. In doing so, the author identifies some common behaviors associated with victims of cyberbullying as well as attributes associated with its perpetrators. Lastly, I echo the call by researchers cited in this text and others on the need for greater knowledge development and derived best practices aimed at reducing the spread of cyberbullying.

Using the Child Behavior Checklist With African American and Caucasian American Adopted Youth

The purpose of this study is to examine the cross-ethnic measurement equivalence of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for 6- to 18-year-olds (2001, parent version) using a sample of African American special needs adopted children, along with a comparison group of Caucasian American special needs adopted children. Reliability and multiple sources of postdictive criterion-related validity were analyzed, and a confirmatory factor analysis of the CBCL within and between participating groups was performed. The results indicate that for practical purposes, the CBCL items appear reliable but not valid in terms of assessing the mental health profiles of both African American and Caucasian youth. These findings are significant because they have important implications for the practical utility of the CBCL in the field for adopted youth.