The Relationship Among Community Violence & Racial Socialization Messages and Their Influence on the Masculine Ideology of Black Men
Abstract
Both media and scholarly portrayals of contemporary Black life often highlight cultures of violence, drugs, anti-authoritarianism, and other social deficiencies (Monroe, 2005). This study aimed to challenge the negative depiction of Black men’s masculinity due to factors such as witnessing community violence and/or being victimized due to community violence. The study also examined whether given racial socialization messages could be used as a protective factor in the healthy identity development of masculinity among Black men. This study conducted five simple regression analyses and one multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship of the five predictor variables (witnessing violence, victimization, proactive messages, reactive message, and contrast messages) on the masculinity of Black men. Data was gathered from 79 Black men who self-identified as Black or African American and male. These individuals completed the Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form, Survey for Exposure to Community Violence, and the Racial Bias Preparation Scale, and demographics survey. Findings from this study suggest that there is no linear relationship between masculinity and violence, and no linear relationship when looking at the combined factors of violence, racial socialization messages, and masculinity. The examination of violence, racial socialization messages, and masculinity may provide society with a better understanding and a more accurate portrayal of Black men and how they develop their masculinity.
Subject Area
Personality psychology
Recommended Citation
Christopher D Brooks,
"The Relationship Among Community Violence & Racial Socialization Messages and Their Influence on the Masculine Ideology of Black Men"
(2019).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI13857543.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI13857543