African-Centered Frameworks of Youth Development: Nuanced Implications for Guiding Social Work Practice with Black Youth
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African‑Centered Frameworks of Youth Development: Nuanced Implications for Guiding Social Work Practice with Black Youth Husain Lateef1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Literature within social work on African-centered frameworks that can be used to inform research and social work practice has remained limited. Often discussion of African centered frameworks relies solely on broad, generalized models of the African centered worldview. Such limited discussion of African-centered approaches is problematic as it discounts both the diversity of African perspectives of human development, and limits the exploration of models from an African perspective, which may be a more appropriate and effective approach to working with Black youth populations. To assist in addressing this gap within social work literature, the current article critically compares the human developmental schemes of three indigenous African worldviews, and identifies potential implications for positive youth development. The process of assessing and comparing each respective worldview through the perspective of youth development yields insights that are important for both theory and practice. The paper also provides implications for African-centered program development, particularly in considering the need to acknowledge the intersectionality of Black youth identities. Keywords African-centered frameworks · Black youth · Social work theory · Youth development A consequence of racialized slavery and 19th-century colonialism of the African continent has been the reinforcement of a biased paradigm that has undermined African knowledge. Particularly within social work, there is an ongoing effort to move away from merely adapting and modifying Eurocentric theories to fit the context of communities of color toward generating knowledge and practicing models drawing on their own communities’ intellectual heritage, values, beliefs, and customs (Gray & Coates, 2010). As a social work scholar of African descent, this paper aims to assist the corrective work needed to honor the agency of African epistemologies and demonstrate the equal viability such philosophies may have at addressing contemporary issues pertaining to adolescents and youth. This paper begins with a discussion of the African Centered Framework derived from the 20th-century Black studies movement in the U.S., how it has progressed in social work, and additional ways of considering African-derived philosophies
* Husain Lateef [email protected] 1
Brown School, Washington University, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
with implications on youth development models for Black American youth.
Background The African-centered framework is a positioning of African derived concepts of being (i.e., ontology), knowing (i.e., epistemology), and cultures, informing analysis and practice with peoples of African descent. In terms of the African diaspora, the African-centered approach presumes that cultures of the diaspora stem from
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