How Black Disadvantaged Adolescents Socially Construct Reality: Listen, Do You Hear What I Hear? - Review - book review

Adolescence, Spring, 2000

BRUNIOUS, Loretta J. How Black Disadvantaged Adolescents Socially Construct Reality: Listen, Do You Hear What I Hear? New York: Garland Publishing, 1998. 224pp. $52.00 (h).

This book examines how black disadvantaged children socially construct their reality and why this process is a particularly critical factor in their perception and creation of self. Generally born to a "station" in life, black adolescents develop a lifestyle and adopt values that are appropriate and constant for that setting. Much of their identity and today's disquieting realities are grounded in a history of racism, inequality, and oppression. However, it has been argued that black children are defined by those in power who cannot understand the full dynamics of the black culture and its implications. These children, raised in impoverished communities, must contend with gangs, violence, poverty, and many other impairing social factors that create negative self-concepts. Researchers and society at large make assumptions about these children, but it is important to see how they view themselves; and to understand the children's notion of self, it is necessary to understand how they see reality. As such, the ph enomenon of poverty is investigated from cognitive, linguistic, and experiential occurrences in the lives of black disadvantaged adolescents. In addition, the perception of the larger society and that of the children about themselves affect the way in which they construct their common sense world. This includes how they see schooling, its relationship to their lives, and how they define themselves. Contrary to the judgment based on negative research models of "cognitive deficits," these children come to school with a rich set of collective experiences and a particular, well-developed dialect -- black English. However, after receiving public school education for approximately two years, their scores begin to drop. Rarely do these scores recover, suggesting that deficits are created because of teaching style, environment, and context rather than a lack of ability on the students' part. Ecological factors are also important in their creation of self, and this study suggests that the negative labeling the childre n receive promotes their low self-worth and valuation. This book allows black children to define themselves and the environment with which they interact.