A Social-Ecological Perspective on Vulnerable Youth: Toward an Understanding of Sexual Development Among Urban African American Adolescents

Abstract

The authors employ a social-ecological framework to aid our understanding of the complex array of factors in the immediate and broader environment that influence adolescent sexual development. Further, sexual development is viewed as normative and critical to positive growth. The authors provide an overview of the Two-Cities Study, a multi-stage qualitative investigation that aims to contribute to an understanding of sexual development and to illuminate gender differences in sexuality. The current studies focus on urban African American youth living in low-income neighborhoods, offering new data on sexual development among these youth.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Grant Number R01 HD061027-01, awarded to M. Margaret Dolcini. We wish to thank the communities, staff at community-based organizations, and youth who made this project possible. A number of individuals made important contributions to the fieldwork and data management including, Donald Tyler, April Timmons, Darnell Motley, Audrey Bangi, Lauren Fontanarosa, Kimberly Richards, and Senna Towner. We also thank Marcia Macomber for her excellent support in manuscript preparation. The final manuscripts have been strengthened by suggestions and guidance from external reviewers. Finally, we thank Elijah Anderson for the inspiration that his work has provided and for his consultation on this project.