Main description:

In African American Girls and the Construction of Identity, Sheila Walker closely examines socioeconomic class and explores the way it shapes how African American girls experience race and gender in the process of their identity formation. While all the girls who participated in the two-year study are African American, their lives are racialized and gendered in significantly different ways, in both public and private spaces. Affluence is not a guaranteed protection against the identity-damaging effects of racism, and poverty is not necessarily a risk factor for an irresolute identity. By examining identity through the lens of class, Walker provides researchers, educators, and parents a more in-depth appreciation of what is a very complex, multi-layered phenomenon.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Race, Class, Gender, and Identity in Psychological Research
Chapter 2: Laying the Groundwork: Theoretical Foundations
Chapter 3: Methodology: Who We Are, What We Did, and Why
Chapter 4: The Private School Girls: Privilege and Pain, Pressure and Pride
Chapter 5: The Magnet School Girls: Courage and Conviction, Service and Savvy
Chapter 6: The Public School Girls: Resilience, Resistance, Responsibility