Work

Freedom dreaming in carceral spaces: Youth care workers' imagined alternatives to anti‐Black racism in residential facilities

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Although youth-adult partnerships (Y-APs) have been linked to a wide range of positive youth and community outcomes, the possibility of Y-AP occurrence in spaces of racialized social control such as youth residential facilities remains unknown. Rooted in a social justice and rights-based ethos, Y-APs represent an innovative conceptual and practice model of youth engagement that challenges longstanding patterns of control that characterize adult-youth relationships in these settings. This study uses narrative thematic inquiry and counter storytelling to examine frontline youth care workers' narratives (N = 21) of Y-AP enactment against the backdrop of anti-Black racism in youth residential facilities. Workers' narratives include instances of both enhanced and diminished forms of partnership, and explanations for Y-AP diminishment depict an interplay of racist (anti-Black) ideologies and organizational processes, including selective racial cognizance in hiring practices, color-evasive and elitist training, and racialized blame-shifting. Importantly, workers' narratives suggest that although flourishing Y-APs remain elusive, it is not a foregone conclusion that Y-APs cannot occur to realize youth development and social change in these extreme contexts.

Source: American Journal of Community Psychology

DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12762

Author: Andrew Nalani

Institution: Vanderbilt University

Language: English

Topic: Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,450