ISSN: 2161-0711

Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
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  • Research Article   
  • J Community Med Health Educ 7:573,
  • DOI: 10.4172/2161-0711.1000573

Psychosocial Wellbeing of Black Youth in the Age of Hip-Hop: From Theory to Practice

Owens JD1*, Hicks Harper PT2 and Reynolds SD3
1Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA
2School of Education, Howard University, USA
3School of Public Health, University of Michigan, USA
*Corresponding Author : Owens JD, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA, Tel: 703-624-3459, Email: julianowens@jhu.edu

Received Date: Dec 01, 2017 / Accepted Date: Dec 13, 2017 / Published Date: Dec 15, 2017

Abstract

Introduction: Throngs of young people are disengaging from public “schooling”, opting instead for an alternate reality depicted in popular youth culture (PYC) and popular youth music multimedia (PYMM), in particular. This alternative reality is disturbingly real with images, messages, and stereotypes that may be perceived as promoting highly risky, problem behaviors, while often failing to present the consequences of these behaviors. Adolescents most at risk for negative outcomes in public schools are also most at-risk for negative health and social outcomes, both in and out of school. Clinicians and practitioners concerned with improving health outcomes by promoting healthy lifestyles must address the psychosocial wellbeing of these vulnerable youth. Leveraging the ubiquitous appeal of PYMM for health-enhancing, prosocial learning offers key stakeholders culturally-relevant and culturallyresponsive options that require critical thinking about prevailing themes and messages in popular music.

Objective: Two research questions were explored: 1) What are students’ perceptions about the potential influences that PYMM may have on their self-image and identity development, values, communication norms, and coping skills? and 2) What are students’ perceptions about the potential influences that faith, hope, love, and optimism may have in facilitating self-awareness, personal responsibility, social awareness, and social responsibility?

Method: Students completed an onsite post-intervention survey that consisted of thirteen questions graded on a nominal scale (i.e., yes/no) indicating the degree of agreement with the statements.

Results: Findings suggest black youth in Baltimore are aware of the potential influences that PYMM has on their attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors and welcome the opportunity to have critical discussions about the role of PYMM in their lives.

Discussion: This study and its results offer additional evidence supporting use of PYMM for culturally-relevant and culturally-responsive teaching and learning to promote health, and specifically address the psychosocial wellbeing for urban youth.

Keywords: Black youth; Psychosocial wellbeing; Youth engagement; Youth development; Health education; Social emotional learning; Music media literacy; Health literacy; Culturally-relevant; Culturallyresponsive; Popular youth music multimedia; Urban youth

Citation: Owens JD, Harper PTH, Reynolds SD (2017) Psychosocial Wellbeing of Black Youth in the Age of Hip-Hop: From Theory to Practice. J Community Med Health Educ 7: 573. Doi: 10.4172/2161-0711.1000573

Copyright: ©2017 Owens JD, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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