Inner City Kids: Adolescents Confront Life and Violence in an Urban Community (Qualitative Studies in Psychology)

257 Pages·2000·1.06 MB·English

by  Alice Mcintyre

INNER-CITY KIDS
QUALITATIVE STUDIES IN PSYCHOLOGY
This series showcases the power and possibility of qualitative work in psy-
chology. Books feature detailed and vivid accounts of qualitative psychol-
ogy research using a variety of methods, including participant observation
and field work, discursive and textual analyses, and critical cultural history.
They probe vital issues of theory, implementation, representation, and
ethics that qualitative workers confront. The series mission is to enlarge
and refine the repertoire of qualitative approaches to psychology.
GENERAL EDITORS
Michelle Fine and Jeanne Marecek
Everyday Courage:
The Lives and Stories of Urban Teenagers
by Niobe Way
Negotiating Consent in Psychotherapy
by Patrick O’Neill
Voted Out:
The Psychological Consequences of Anti-Gay Politics
by Glenda M. Russell
Inner-City Kids:
Adolescents Confront Life and Violence in an Urban Community
by Alice McIntyre
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
INNER-CITY KIDS
Adolescents Confront Life and Violence
in an Urban Community
A L I C E M c I N T Y R E
■ ■ ■ ■
a
New York University Press
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
© 2000 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McIntyre, Alice, 1956–
Inner-city kids : adolescents confront life and violence in an urban
community / Alice McIntyre.
p. cm. — (Qualitative studies in psychology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8147-5635-2 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 0-8147-5636-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Urban youth—United States—Attitudes. 2. Inner cities—United
States. 3. Social work with youth—United States. 4. Children and
violence—United States. I. Title. II. Series.
HQ796 .M237 2000
305.235'0973'091732—dc21 00-010317
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
This book is dedicated to
Clara Beatrice Lawton
May you grow up in a just society
where your dreams will not be deferred
due to the color of your skin.
Where you can live freely and
unafraid.
Where you can walk the streets and
know,
believe,
and be assured that
Black
is
truly beautiful.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
“It isn’t funny. . . . Take it back. Call that story back,”
said the audience by the end of the story, but the witch
answered: “It’s already loose/It’s already coming./It
can’t be called back.” A story is not just a story. Once
the forces have been aroused and set into motion, they
can’t simply be stopped at someone’s request. Once
told, the story is bound to circulate; humanized, it may
have a temporary end, but its effects linger on and its
end is never truly an end.
—T. T. Minh-Ha, Woman, Native, Other: Writing
Postcoloniality and Feminism

Contents
■ ■ ■ ■
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. Participatory Action Research 13
2. Exploring Community 34
3. Constructing Meaning about Violence 58
4. Community Photography: Visual Stories by
Inner-City Youth 93
5. Becoming Somebody 123
6. Exploring Racism, Whiteness, and Careers with
Urban Youth 146
7. From Dialogue to Action 167
8. Making the Road As We Go 196
Appendix A: Transcription Code 213
Appendix B: Community Resource Inventory—Youth 214
Notes 217
References 221
Index 235
About the Author 243