This document is for reference & educational purposes only.
Reproduction or/and copying are not authorized.
Any anti-plagiarism software will flag this document or its sections as unoriginal.
Coping and Resiliency Skills in African American Urban Youths
Introduction
Growing up with a limited understanding of how to regulate emotions and cope in the face of ubiquitous urban blight, severe socio-economic hardship, and systemic racism is difficult for many urban youths. Resiliency is a term that is frequently associated with urban youths, especially if we consider the fact that according to the U.S. Census data in today’s America approximately one third of this population group lives in urban areas (Census, 2000). Given a steady increase in the numbers of low-income children living in urban areas, efforts to understand this particular phenomenon are critical. In this context, it is important not only to examine the negative (e.g.: drug abuse, violence, etc.) but also the positive self-regulatory skills
(e.g.: athletics, education, creativity, dance, poetry, etc.), which urban youths employ as coping mechanisms. Another concomitant question that needs to be explored is how urban youth exercise positive self-regulatory skills under different circumstances and in specific contexts.
This study specifically examined the phenomenon of coping and resiliency skills in
African American urban youths growing up in the developmental contexts of various environmental stressors (e.g.: pollution, gang violence, drug abuse, urban blight, racial and ethnic discrimination, etc.). The study attempted to determine the prevalent types of coping and resiliency skills that are implicit to a youth's nature. This research highlights and, thus fosters retention of these adaptive tools so that they do not disappear but encourage positive thoughts and actionable dreams around