African American Children and Mental Health

With this two-volume set, Hill, a developmental psychologist who teaches at Harvard U., et al. compile 16 articles that investigate the forces affecting the psychological development and achievement motivation of African American children within the broad political, global, economic, and social contexts of the US and with consideration of issues such as social stratification, environment, race, genetics, and academic potential. Articles address the structural and cultural factors that limit and promote the realization of the potential of these youth, with a focus on societal and structural forces in the first volume. Volume one covers racial profiling; differential treatment within schools and by the justice system; the effects of peer-related processes and the ways peers provide support and validation in the face of oppression; religion as a buffer against discrimination and as a catalyst for social justice; and parenting practices that support and develop goals for children. The second volume examines how prevention, intervention, and social policies are reflective of historical, structural, and cultural circumstances, with discussion of programs like Early Head Start, home visitation, obesity interventions, preventing risky behaviors among boys, and others. Contributors are researchers in education, public health, psychology, development, and other fields from the US. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Nancy E. Hill is associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Neurosciences at Duke University, Durham, NC; visiting associate professor at Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA; and faculty affiliate of the Center for Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

Tammy L. Mann, PhD, is executive director of the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute at United Negro College Fund which focuses on examining barriers and facilitators of educational attainment for African Americans and other underrepresented minorities across the P-16 education pipeline.

Hiram E. Fitzgerald is series editor for the Praeger series, Child Psychology and Mental Health. He is associate provost for university outreach and engagement, University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; and adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.