Presented by:

Hillary Khan

University of

Delaware

EMPLOYMENT AND THE STREETS:

HOW STREET IDENTIFIED BLACK

YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS

UNDERSTAND NOTIONS OF WORK

National average for June was 7.6%

As of June, Black unemployment was 13.7%

Black men face 15.0% unemployment rates

Black women face 12.8% unemployment rates

( Jones, 2013; US Census Bureau, 2010)

NATIONAL DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

58.0% of Wilmington’s population are Black;

Unemployment rate for Wilmington, DE is 6.8%;

The unemployment rate among Blacks is 9.3%;

Black men experience 10.3%

Black women is= 8.5%

Eastside’s average unemployment rate is 49.9%;&

Southbridge’s unemployment rate is 49.2%

(U. S. Census Bureau, 2010; Garrison and Kervick, 2005)

LOCAL DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

How do street-identified Black youth and

young adults frame notions of employment as

a function of gender?

RESEARCH QUESTION

WHAT DOES STREET LIFE MEAN?

(PAYNE, 2011)

Street Ideology – centered on personal &

economic survival. (1) Passed on by older Black male generation; and (2) More connected to the code or the better a

person understands the ideology the more resilient a person is considered by men in the streets.

Set of Activities

(1) Bonding activities; and

(2) Illegal activities

SITES OF RESILIENCE THEORETICAL MODEL

(BROWN, PAYNE, GREEN & DRESSNER, 2010; PAYNE,

2001, 2005, 2008, 2011)

FUNDAMENTAL PRISM

CONCEPTUAL PRISM

INDIVIDUAL

CONDITIONS

SOCIAL

STRUCTRAL

CONDITIONS

Relational

Coping

Phenomenology History

Social

Injustice

Social

Structural

Systems

GENERAL

LOCAL

Street Life

PHYSICAL

S.O.R.

PSYCHOLOGICAL

S.O.R.

(I.) Participatory Action Research (PAR) projects includes on the research team, members of the population under study. Once such members are identified, they then are offered the opportunity to participate in all phases of the research project (e. g. theoretical framing, literature review, analysis, publication, presentation, monetary compensation, etc.); &

(II.) PAR projects require a social justice based response to be organized in response to the data collected by the study.

Research + Social Activism = PAR

WHAT IS PARTICIPATORY ACTION

RESEARCH?

WILMINGTON STREET PARTICIPATORY

ACTION RESEARCH FAMILY

SOUTHBRIDGE AND EASTSIDE

Total Blacks in The Eastside – 5, 003

Blacks between 18-34 in the Eastside – 1, 098

The Eastside, overall makes up about 7% of Wilm.

population

Total Blacks in Southbridge – 2,052

Blacks between 18-34 in Southbridge – 486

Southbridge, overall makes up about 2% of Wilm.

Population

(Por ter, 2010; U. S. Census Bureau, 2000)

BLACK POPULATIONS IN

THE EASTSIDE AND SOUTHBRIDGE

QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY

SAMPLE SIZE = 504

SAMPLE SIZE = 504

EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC WELL-BEING

EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC WELL-BEING

QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY

Age Range Individual

Interviews

Dual Interviews Group Interviews

18 – 26 13 1

(1 participant)

1

(3 participants)

27 – 33 7 2

(7 participants)

2

(6 participants)

34 – 40 4 2

(3 participants)

1

(5 participants)

Employment

Core Code Sub Codes

Attitudes towards employment (1) Positive Attitude

(2) Negative Attitude

Available employment opportunities (1) Competition with Immigrants

(2) Summer Youth Employment

(3) Education

Street motivation (1) Economic opportunity

(2) Peer Influence

(3) Home Environment

CODING SCHEME

Rennie (35) : “I mean, like, even at temp agencies

they'll tell you […] we got jobs but if we got 12 people

that pull from our agency you might only be eligible to

work for two of them, and we're full with them right

now. So I mean, that's everywhere I go. […] I clean

carpets. I bought a carpet machine from Home Depot.

The real little industrial thing. It fits in the backseat

of my car. I put my fliers up all across New Castle

County. Because I go in there real calm and real

humble, because I know that nobody else is gonna

give me a job, I make my own jobs.”

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Positive attitudes of women:

Speak from their personal experiences, inopportunity

causes unemployment, feel most men are less likely

to seek employment

Positive attitudes of men:

Includes the community in their perspective, lack of

resources and criminal backgrounds cause

unemployment, big motivators for others to work

AS A FUNCTION OF GENDER

Negative attitudes of women

Mostly refer to men’s unwillingness to work – men

seen as lazy, they argued that they would rather

engage in street life

Negative attitudes of men

Typically noted how others besides themselves or

immediate friends were engaging in street for trivial

reasons

AS A FUNCTION OF GENDER

Factors that influence opportunity or

inopportunity:

Competition with Immigration

Summer Youth Employment

Education

AVAILABLE JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Competition with immigration

Women: no responses

Men: reference the community’s lack of social

cohesion as a reason why there are no longer

Black-owned businesses; consistently note

that foreign business owners do not hire Black

residents

AS A FUNCTION OF GENDER

Summer youth employment

men and women view summer youth employment the same—that there are not enough job opportunities for youth.

Education

Women: education is the gateway to better jobs, generational and peer influence leads to drop outs

Men: strongly support vocational schools, parents and teachers are both to blame, as well as inequalities in public education funding

AS A FUNCTION OF GENDER

Contributing factors to the participation of

youth and young adults in the streets:

Economic survival

Peer influence

Home environment

GOING TO THE STREETS AS A FUNCTION

OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

Aaron (29): “It makes it harder to go to school

when people don't care in your household if you

go to school or not. It makes it harder to go to

school. It makes, it, it makes it, I mean, I was

fortunate because I had a mother to say to me

you goin' to […] school. I was fortunate enough

because I had a mother that cared.”

HOME ENVIRONMENT

Peer Influence:

Women: few positive role models, few positive

examples of upright residents, the need to fit in and

make friends

Men: few positive role models, seeking love from

peers because of poor family structure, low self -

esteem

Home Environment:

Women: singe-parent homes, absent fathers

Men: single-parent homes, absent fathers, addicted

mothers, no love and respect, pressure to provide

AS A FUNCTION OF GENDER

“Terrible schools, absent parents, racism, the

decline in blue collar jobs and a subculture

that glorifies swagger over work have all been

cited as causes of the deepening ruin of black

youths. Scholars — and the young men

themselves — agree that all of these issues

must be addressed.” Eric Eckholm (March 20, 2006). Plight Deepens for Black Men,

Study Warns. New York Times.

What kind of study needs to come next?

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Dr. Yasser Payne

Summer Scholars undergraduate research program

Steve Beighley, my group leader, and fellow group

members

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS