Understanding Teenage Girls: Culture, Identity and Schooling

(Paperback)

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Understanding Teenage Girls: Culture, Identity and Schooling focuses on a range of social phenomenon that impact the lives of adolescent females of color. The authors highlight the daily challenges that African-American, Chicana, and Puerto Rican teenage girls face with respect to peer and family influences, media stereotyping, body image, community violence, pregnancy, and education. The authors also emphasize the incredible resiliency that young women possess in countering many of the social barriers confronting them.

This work attempts to communicate the often hushed voices of girls of color, for the purpose of understanding their views on life experiences and how they negotiate social and cultural mores. In company with their perspectives are the authors' analyses guided by their years of teaching and mentoring experiences, as well as contemporary research literature from the fields of education, counseling, psychology, nursing, and anthropology. Practical strategies are also offered for those professionals assisting adolescent girls of color in and outside of schools.

Reviews

Understanding Teenage Girls: Culture, Identity, and Schooling is essential reading for everyone working with teens or deciding policies affecting the lives of America's youth. -- Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center of the CUNY
Hall and Brown-Thirston present a compelling discussion on the complexities of womanhood and navigating the education system, as seen through the eyes of Latina and African American female adolescents. Their work, which addresses how race, class, and gender are inextricably linked in shaping the experiences of women of color, provides an invaluable lens for educators, parents, and mentors concerned about and committed to the educational progress among women from underrepresented backgrounds. -- Frances Contreras, associate professor, University of Washington; co-author of The Latino Education Crisis; author of The Brown Paradox: Latinos an
Horace R. Hall and Andrea Brown-Thirston present a compelling account that asks the reader to consider the constraints, challenges, and contradictions of femininity that under-served, culturally diverse teens negotiate on a daily basis. Their work further underscores the potential of caring mentors to authentically address the frequently scarring impact of gender hierarchies, exploitation, and oppression. While resilient, theirs is a call to action to engage young women in their own personal transformation. -- Angela Valenzuela, University of Texas at Austin; author of Subtractive Schooling: U.S.-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring
African American and Latina young women are one of the most overlooked student groups in the U.S. Drawing on research and theories in education, psychology, child development, and family studies, this book adds to the growing body of literature on how gender and racial identity shape girls' everyday experiences and educational aspirations. Using narratives of 14 young women, the authors reveal processes of resilience and agency. Understanding Teenage Girls is incredibly useful for educators and social workers working with racial and ethnic minority female students. -- Venus E. Evans-Winters PhD, research and policy scholar, African American Policy Forum

Author Bio

Horace R. Hall, Ph. D. is assistant professor at DePaul University in the department of Educational Policy Studies and Research. He is also the founder and co-director of the school-based youth mentoring program R.E.A.L. (Respect, Excellence, Attitude and Leadership), which is designed to engage young people in critical thinking and social activism.

Dr. Andrea Brown-Thirston earned her bachelor of science degree from Northwestern University and her doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is currently chief academic officer for the Chicago International Charter School Network.