compared to high-achieving Black females (Whiting, 2009). This is especially true for pressure to join gangs.
Black males with little education or skill are unsupported by the larger society’s political, economic, and educational institutions (Franklin, 1994b). It is important to note that White males transition out of gang life more quickly than Black youth, in large part because jobs, opportunity, and privilege are more available to Whites (Huey et al., 2014). The drug economy has a major influence on the ability of Black youth to transition out of the gang life:
Gang research showed that young males without fathers would join gangs, but eventually, they would grow out of gangs and secure a job and begin to develop a family. Life in gangs has now become indefinite because of drugs. Gangs have become almost like a pharmaceutical sales force. Young boys are recruited in gangs as early as six years of age and many of them remain gang members for the rest of their lives, or as long as they can continue to sell drugs. (Kunjufu, 2009, p. 78)
Gangs can provide Black males living in poverty with money. Employment is also a major factor influencing transition out of gangs and should be a key part of youth intervention programs. When young men gain access to employment they are less likely to be involved with gangs. According to Huey et al. (2014), most effective gang intervention programs involve suppression (consequences, selective punishment) and service (providing skills and opportunity).
A misconception about gangs is that they are all criminal organizations. In fact, Belgrave and Brevard (2015) distinguish between youth gangs, drug gangs, and prison gangs. The sale of illicit drugs is sometimes used by Black males to provide for close friends and family members (Spates, 2014). Only a few youth gangs are well-organized criminal institutions. Kontos, Brotherton, and Barrios (2012) conceptualize gangs as social movements, challenging the notion that they are all about criminality. Their research shows that many gangs have political goals, community advancement goals, spiritual values, and ideologies of challenging oppression.
Friendships Among Black Male Youth
African American youth choose friends based on ethnicity, in addition to values, attitudes, location, and behaviors (Belgrave & Brevard, 2015). Currarini, Jackson, and Pin (2010) used the Add Health national data set to investigate racial patterns in friendship networks in a set of American high schools. They discovered that Black youth valued friendships with non-Blacks less than Whites and Asians valued different-race friendships. However, Pica-Smith (2011) found that African American children report more positive perceptions of interracial friendships than White American children do. ←89 | 90→In comparing sexes, African American males are less likely to have different-race friends compared to African American females (Way & Chen, 2000). But why might Black males be hesitant to form interracial friendships? In interracial schools, Black males often experience racism from their White peers in the form of stereotypical questions about topics such as where to buy guns and drugs, and whether they’ve witnessed violent crimes or are in a gang (Owens, 2014). These experiences can be made worse by a power dynamic in interracial friendships that can mirror the larger social power dynamic (Owens, 2014).
Quality of Black Male Friendships
Black male friendships are characterized by high levels of support and intimacy compared to other male friendships. Female friendships are typically more intimate than male friendships across race. However, African American adolescent male friendships have been found to involve more sharing of personal thoughts and feelings compared to Mexican–American and European American adolescents (Jones, Costin, & Richard, 1994). According to Staples (1986), African American youth are also less homosocial, associating with opposite sex peers more than White youth. Generally, adolescents tend to socialize with same-gender peers until mid-to-late adolescence, after which they begin to interact with peers of the opposite sex (Belgrave & Brevard, 2014). However, Staples (1986) explains that gender segregation is less prominent among African American youth who are commonly less homosocial than other ethnic groups.
Neighborhoods are central to African American children’s friendship formation. For example, Dubois and Hirsch’s (1990) investigation of the school and neighborhood friendships of 292 Black and White children attending an integrated junior high school revealed African American children tended to spend more time with neighborhood peers.
Close adult friendships usually develop between people of the same sex; female friendships tend to be more intimate, and share emotions more (Franklin, 1992). Yet, Black men are usually more heterosocial, having more friendships with both males and females relative to White men. In general, male friends tend to be more centered on common activities and tasks, and lack emotional disclosure and social support (Franklin, 1992). Interestingly, both males and females are more likely to self-disclose feelings and emotions to females. Yet this may not necessarily be true for Black males. Franklin (1992) studied adult Black male friendships by interviewing males who were working-class and upwardly mobile. He found that working-class African American males often shared personal thoughts and feelings with their male friends. Working-class Black male friendships are based on shared experience, commonality in struggle and extended-family relationships. These friendships tend to be warmer and more personal and intimate than is commonly seen among men in Western society. This is even more so among upwardly mobile Black men, who also tend to have high expectations for their male friends to be loyal, altruistic, and close. These relationships can be intense when there is a violation of those expectations. More upwardly mobile Black men tend to be more competitive and less personal and intimate in their close male friendships, relative to their working-class Black male peers (C. W. Franklin, 1992).
It has also been discovered that marital status is related to Black male same-sex friendships. Married Black men tend to have fewer friends than single Black men (Nock, 2003). Some research suggests the reason for this is married men needing to spend more time and resources on their relatives, perhaps due to the expectations of husbands being mature and faithful providers for immediate and extended-family members (Nock, 2003). Additionally, through the lens of sexual orientation, the sociality or collectivism of Black male culture is apparent. For example, in comparison to White gay males, gay Black men have been found to spend less time by themselves and have more people they describe as good friends (Staples, 2006).
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Affirming Black Men Through Friendships
Social and cultural programs (i.e., counseling) seeking to improve African American male relationships must take advantage of the strengths of Black males’ peer networks to address challenges in culturally responsive ways (Caldwell & White, 2014). Moreover, it is critical to ensure Black males are a part of friendship networks that (1) promote behaviors and attitudes that do not perpetuate negative stereotypes but instead empower and enhance Black males and advance their consciousness; (2) involve people who do not place males at risk but do contribute to their growth and development, and; (3) include people who help Black males’ families and communities (Franklin, 2004).
African American marital relationships are stabilized by several unique cultural strengths such as mutuality, collectivism, and spirituality, and characterized by valuing collaboration (Orbuch, Veroff, & Hunter, 1998). Collectivism and social support provided by African American extended families are also critical to the functioning and understanding of African American relationships (Thomas, Barrie, & Tynes, 2009). African American married couples also commonly identify spirituality as a factor that helps them to maintain their marriages (Carolan & Allen, 1999).
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