The Relationship Between Racial Identity and PsychoSocial Outcomes Essay

The Relationship Between Racial Identity and PsychoSocial Outcomes Among African American Males - Essay Example This is when the youth experiment with all their hearts and show these outcomes to the world, of course with the world either accepting them or rejecting them in the process (Oyserman and Gant, 1996). The youth embarking on establishing who they are synthesize what they already know from their childhood, with their accumulated skills and abilities, and use these to construct their adult selves that do seems to justify who they really are. This adult self provides meaning and order to its thoughts, experiences, feelings and actions. Aside from these interior functions, it sought to motivate actions to the ones around it through providing incentives, standards, plans, strategies and rules of conduct. Thus, the adult self is a social construct, relying heavily on the support of the society, as it could be the one dictated by the inherent norms or it could be the one setting the norms. The social environment is also the background for which the youth can source the resources it needs i.e. education, economic resources to enable them to obtain the skills and characteristics to be the adult deemed worthy of their sociocultural position. This paper would posit racial identity as the dependent variable and the independent variables are the future achievements of the black male, in or outside of school, the black youth's self-esteem and image and the level of psychological distress he suffers. Adole Adolescents deciding on their future adult selves are open to seems-like limitless alternatives for them to choose from, varying only on their personal attainments and available resources. Nevertheless, adolescence has a funny way of imposing a limit on these alternatives. This limit is the belief that they cannot or do not have the capabalities to succeed in school, leading to a general decline in the interest as well as involvement in learning, in school or otherwise, increase in risky deliquent behaviors and suscpetibility to depression (Osyerman and Gant, 1996). This simply describes the plight of many youth black males. Though it is the same that they are open to experiment in their adolescence in order to determine who they are, society seems to be harder on them that the restriction adolescence impose on their supposed-to-be limitless pallet of identities to choose from is much more existent than their white peers. Therefore, there are evident claims of youth black males in more increased risk for school failure and dropout, arrest and incarceration, as one can see in various studies. It is important to note that this manifests more in blacks residing in America, or African-Americans adolescents. Whatever a white youth has to face as a challenge to prove itself to the world, the African-American has to take on double (Osyerman and Gant, 1996). For example, it is natural for youth in the cities to seek out for itself employment opportunities that would sustain them and lead them to satisfying career paths amidst the tapering of these labor possibilities. However, there had already been imposed a job ceiling on African-Americans that often times, advancing from entry-level positions became quite impossible. Moreover, the blacks living in poverty is actually dismaying as it increases rapidly, and jails swamped with these youth rather than the schools. The African-American are mostly in unstable, low-paying jobs or unemployed that most of them gave up on even seeking one. Thus, the

Autobiography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Autobiography - Essay Example Besides, I hope that my autobiography will be helpful for those who are ready to follow their dreams and to make use of each and every opportunity in life. Introduction Some people say that life is full of happiness and one must be enthusiastic towards life. But some others say that life is not that much easy and one must be cautious about the unexpected problems in life. When I was a child, I got confused because some were optimistic and some others were pessimistic towards life. Once, I discussed this problem with my mother. She pointed out that this difference was due to one’s outlook on life because pessimistic people provide importance to the darker side of life and the optimistic people provide importance to the brighter side of life. Then, I came to realize the fact that one need not grumble on one’s personal problems. Instead, one must try to find out an apt solution to overcome one’s personal problems. This is the most important lesson taught by my mothe r and it deeply influenced the course of my life. About my family and me Do you consider 1987 as an important year in the calendar? I guess 1987 may be an unimportant year for you. But for me, 1987 is the most important year in my life. To be specific, I my parents heard my first cry in 1987, the exact date, April, 21. My ancestry is deeply rooted in Dominican Republic, where I spent my childhood years. I need to provide a clearer picture of my native place. The City of Santiago is my exact birthplace. My city belongs to the northern part of my motherland. Brown (1999) states that, â€Å"Santiago de los Treinta Caballeros (â€Å"The Town of Thirty Gentlemen†), commonly referred to simply as Santiago, was initially founded in 1498 by Columbus who built a fort on a hill bordering the Yaque River† (p.10). I feel so proud of my native place (city) because it is generally considered as a cultural hub in Dominican Republic. Besides, this city provides ample importance for in dustrial development. If you happen to visit my city, you can see a number of industries based upon leather goods, especially, shoes and other type of apparels. Another importance of my city is that it is surrounded by a number of mountains which act the role of a natural barrier against natural calamities. Besides, my city is rich in natural resources, especially dense forests. Coming back to the point, my parents are blessed by three children, Jairon Fortuna (my older brother), Victor Fortuna Jr. (my younger brother), and me. My father’s name is Victor Fortuna, and my mother’s name is Elida Pacheco. So, my childhood with my parents and my brothers is most memorable because I can recollect each and every incident happened during my childhood. My life in Dominican Republic My life in City of Santiago, Dominican Republic, was enriched by pre-school memories. One can see that pre-school (Kindergarten) life is so special for a child who is so enthusiastic towards learning new things. I considered learning as a natural phenomenon in human life and this attitude helped me a lot to be a successful student. For instance, my school life at the Luz Y Vida School in the City of Santiago proved to be successful and memorable. Besides, I did not consider the process of studying as a burden and tiresome effort. This attitude towards school education helped me to gain acceptance from my teachers and friends. The end result was two awards, one for perfect attendance and another for good behavior at school. Later in 1997, my family moved to