2015 Association for Women in Psychology Conference

Research indicates that less than two percent of K-12 educators are African American males (National Center for Education Statistic, 2010). In order to recruit African American men into teaching, the project, “Black Men Teaching” targets African American youth, especially from low-income neighborhoods, in hopes of inspiring them to become educators. This facilitated discussion is designed to bring together advocates of underserved, minority populations in hope of formulating new ideas to resolve this dilemma. The lack of Black men in education is problematic. One of the main reasons for the dismally low number of African-American male teachers is that African-American males hold negative views toward teaching as a career. Teaching is often viewed as a woman's profession and as a low-paying field (Smith, 2004). Black youth have had little exposure to positive role models in the educational setting. Without these role models, African American children lack the guidance needed to pursue a career in education. In addition, White children are disadvantaged. Stereotypes exists about Black men; Caucasian children would benefit from exposure to positive Black male role models in order to debunk these beliefs and create a society with less prejudice. Black youth from low-income communities are faced with the realities of oppression every day, causing them to make choices that may lead them to incarceration or even worse, death. By targeting these communities with an advocacy program such as “Black Men Teaching”, I believe we can help these children create promising futures. My goal for this facilitated discussion is to bring together professionals who are working in a similar area or have an interest in advocating for underserved, minority groups. I hope to create a space where we can discuss and develop new ways to recruit Black youth into education. In addition, this space can be used to discuss forms of oppression and barriers Black youth face, and ways to combat these problems.

Media coverage of Michael Brown’s murder and Ferguson protests have brought into the national spotlight issues that have affected communities of color, particularly black communities, for decades. Although various activist organizations have joined in solidarity with this movement (Bosman, 2014), mainstream media attention is waning and the U.S. government has taken a passive approach (Horwitz & Kindy, 2014; Trott, 2014). As students in counseling psychology, we have found ourselves wondering what the role of psychologists (and future psychologists) can and should be in this movement. Within our own graduate program, a discussion group has evolved out of these events, but deciding how to take action beyond discussion has proven more difficult to accomplish. Racial justice is long overdue--over 150 years since the abolition of slavery, and we are still waiting. Considering the conference theme, we seek to explore what restorative justice might look like in in the case of communities like Ferguson. In areas with a long history of institutional power being used to exploit and oppress, where might the community even begin to restore justice? How can psychologists be most helpful to the social movements already in progress to combat these injustices? What about graduate students? Certainly, research on white privilege and racial prejudice has been one major contribution of the field and should not be discounted. For example, Eberhardt, Goff, Purdie and Davies (2004) found that white males processed weapon imagery faster when primed with black male faces compared to the no-prime control and processed these same images slower when primed with white faces compared to the no-prime control. Although published in 2004, the research remains pertinent today and has clear implications for legislation surrounding events like Michael Brown’s murder. But what is our responsibility to more immediate action when innocent people are dying?

Current Research highlights the discrepancy of treatment programs offered for incarcerated domestic violence and sexually exploited victims. New data on traumatic brain injury has highlighted the commonalities between victims and perpetrators in trauma history and social and emotional functioning. Social Justice measures of treatment propose the importance of treating and healing both the victim and the perpetrator through honesty and investigation of the ways in which society fails victims of intimate partner violence and sexual assault. This societal systemic failure leads the researcher advocate to the importance of early intervention and the inability to reach victims within the multilayered systems of education, legal, and foster care. The facilitators of this structured discussion will present case studies from the Margaret J. Kemp Girls Camp in San Mateo, CA, offering gender responsive programs to encourage rehabilitation for incarcerated adolescent girls and girls who are on probation. Young girls in this program hold current and historical dual roles of both perpetrator and victim. Current research shows young girls who suffer from traumatic histories find themselves vulnerable to becoming further victimized or becoming perpetrators in an effort to gain control and manage the environments they find themselves in. This experience ultimately increases the possibilities for violence, increasing the chances of extreme injury and acquired disability. The presenters will discuss how working with this culturally diverse and socially and economically disadvantaged population informs more appropriate treatment guidelines and intervention strategies. The discussion will open a space for dialogue around the provision of ethical client centered, feminist treatment interventions. Strategies for increasing educational programs in multilayered systems will also be explored.