Promoting Ethnic Identity Development in African American Youth: The Role of Rites of Passage

Abstract

Contemporary adolescent rites-of-passage interventions within the African American community are designed to positively influence the ethnic identity of African American youth through activities that provide historical and cultural information, teach intellectual and social skills, and promote values that are consistent with African American culture and community needs. Unfortunately, it is unclear how consistent these interventions are with current developmental research and theory. This article presents and describes the adolescent developmental pathways paradigm (ADPP), a rites-of-passage modelforAfrican American youth that provides a developmentalframework for ethnic identity development and integrates it into the current literature on adolescent rites of passage. Particular attention is given to the ecological context within which adolescent-focused interventions currently operate and have been shown to be effective. The implications of the ADPPfor adolescent development, community empowerment, social change, andfuture research are also discussed.