Rogers 2015

600071
research-article2015
JARXXX10.1177/0743558415600071Journal of Adolescent ResearchRogers and Way
Article
Journal of Adolescent Research
136
I Have Goals to Prove The Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permissions:
All Those People Wrong sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0743558415600071
and Not Fit Into Any jar.sagepub.com
One of Those Boxes:

Paths of Resistance to
Stereotypes Among
Black Adolescent Males
Leoandra Onnie Rogers1 and Niobe Way2
Abstract
Adolescents form their identities by both accommodating (endorsing)
and resisting (challenging) cultural stereotypes. Most research on Black
males focuses on how they accommodate to negative stereotypes (e.g.,
delinquency, aggression), but a growing literature emphasizes how youth
resist stereotypes. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed to examine
patterns of resistance and accommodation at the intersection of racial
and gender stereotypes among Black adolescent males (N = 21). Findings
indicate that, overall, Black males resist racial stereotypes more readily than
gender. Using an intersectionality lens, we found three paths of resistance:
(a) the accommodators endorsed racial and gender stereotypes, (b) the
resisters resisted both sets of stereotypes, and (c) the exceptions
resisted racial stereotypes but accommodated to gender. Implications for
the study of resistance, identity, and intersectionality are discussed.
Keywords
resistance, identity, stereotypes, intersectionality, race, gender, Black males
1University of Washington, Seattle, USA

2New York University, New York City, USA
Corresponding Author:
Leoandra Onnie Rogers, University of Washington, I-LABS, Portage Bay Building, Room 464,
1715 Columbia Rd. North, Seattle, WA 98195-7988, USA.
Email: lorogers@uw.edu
Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

2 Journal of Adolescent Research
Adolescence is a developmental period when youth are preoccupied with

their identitieswho they are and who they will become. These identities are
tied to social expectations and stereotypes, which function like social mir-
rors reflecting societys image of who and what one should be (Erikson,
1968; Surez-Orozco, 2004). Black males, for example, are routinely depicted
as aggressive, hypersexual, and violent; they are gang members, criminals, or
professional athletes. While this cultural image does not represent the vast
majority of Black males, its dominance as a stereotype tangibly impacts how
young Black males come to view themselves and make sense of their own
identities (e.g., Davis, 2006; Ferguson, 2000; Nasir, 2011).
Decades ago, Erik Erikson (1968) articulated the influence of social expec-
tations on identity processes, arguing that a young person may well put his
energy into becoming exactly what the careless and fearful community expects
him to be (p. 196). In other words, youth may accommodate to stereotypes,
endorsing and reinforcing stereotypes in their own identities. A Black male,
for example, in response to being stereotyped as threatening and aggressive
reacts with violent outbursts of anger. Or, being viewed by his teachers as a
troublemaker who does not value education, a Black boy drops out of school.
This process of accommodation has been the focus of much research about
Black males, with the questions centering on how and why they reinforce
negative stereotypes in their behaviors and attitudes (e.g., Cunningham,
Swanson, & Hayes, 2013; Ferguson, 2000; Spencer, Fegley, Harpalani, &
Seaton, 2004). At the same time, there is growing evidence that youth desire
not to be a stereotype and, in fact, often resist stereotypes in ways that are
beneficial to their health and well-being (Chu, 2014; Gilligan, 1990; Way,
2011; Way et al., 2014; Way, Hernndez, Rogers, & Hughes, 2013; Way &
Rogers, 2014). An example of such resistance is when Black males cultivate
scholar identities and resolve to excel in school despite the low expectations
they face (Hrabowski, Maton, & Greif, 1998; Whiting, 2006).
Framing identity development as a process of resistance to stereotypes is
an emerging area of study in human development (e.g., Brown & Gilligan,
1992; Nasir, 2011; Rogers & Way, 2015; Spencer, Dupree, & Hartmann,
1997; Way, 2011; Way et al., 2013; Way & Rogers, in press). In this frame-
work, resistance and accommodation are theorized as the tools of identity
construction which adolescents use to negotiate cultural stereotypes as they
establish their identities (Anyon, 1984). There are only a few studies that
attend to this process and the extant research that does examine resistance to
stereotypes tends to focus on either race or gender, without explicit attention
to the intersectionality of stereotypes and adolescents identities. In this arti-
cle, we examine identity development using the resistance framework and an
intersectionality lens. Analyzing in-depth interviews with Black adolescent

Rogers and Way 3
males, we explore the prevalence and pathways of boys resistance to racial

and gender stereotypes.
Resistance and Accommodation

Resistance and accommodation is a conceptual framework for understanding
how individuals respond to and negotiate systems of oppression (Anyon,
1984; Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Chu, 2014; Gilligan, 1990, 2011; Robinson
& Ward, 1991; Ward, 1996; Way, 2011; Way et al., 2014; Way & Rogers, in
press). The literatures on slavery and other oppressed peoples have long
noted how people not only accommodate but also resist their oppressions
(Camp, 2004; Freire, 1970; Genovese, 1976; Marrus, 1995; Suhl, 1967).
Genovese (1976) described how slaves both resisted enslavement (e.g.,
acquiring literacy) and accommodated to its constraints (e.g., a subservient
gaze) in order to survive. Historians of the Holocaust describe the resistance,
by both Jewish and non-Jewish people, to Hitlers Nazi Germany (Marrus,
1995). The resistance framework simultaneously acknowledges oppression
while privileging human agency.
Scholarship conceptualizes resistance as a two-pronged process, each lead-
ing to distinct outcomes. For example, Carol Gilligan (1990, 1996, 2011) and
Lyn Mikel Brown (Brown, 1999; Brown & Gilligan, 1992) distinguish between
political and psychological resistance to gender oppression. When girls speak
their minds or express their genuine thoughts and feelings rather than cover
them over with feminine niceties and goodness, their resistance is political.
However, when girls silence the self and dismiss their own beliefs, ideas, and
emotions in order to maintain the image of the perfect girl, their resistance is
psychological (Brown & Gilligan, 1992). Gilligan and Brown also find that
political resistance is more prevalent during late childhood, but as girls enter
adolescence, their resistance often turns psychological and they silence them-
selves. It is psychological resistance, they argue, that leads to depression, eating
disorders, and low self-esteem, but when girls stay connected to what they
know and openly voice their thoughts and feelings, they retain a healthy psyche,
a positive self-image, and meaningful relationships (Brown & Gilligan, 1992;
Gilligan, 1990, 1991, 2011; Gilligan, Rogers, & Tolman, 2014).
Way (2011; Way et al., 2014) also examines resistance to gender norms
but among Latino, Asian American, Black, and White boys. In Ways
research, resistance refers to challenging norms of masculinity (i.e., political
resistance) and accommodation refers to reinforcing norms of masculinity
(i.e., psychological resistance). Through in-depth interviews with hundreds
of boys, Way (2011; Way et al., 2014) finds that adolescent boys, across race
and ethnicity, resist masculine stereotypes of stoicism and autonomy in their

friendships, divulging emotional intimacy with their close friends, feelings of

sadness and loss over former best friends, and their desires for intimate
male friendships. This resistance, Way (2011) finds, is most evident during
early and mid-adolescence, but declines as boys approach late adolescence.
In another study, following boys from 6th to 11th grade, Way et al. (2014)
found varying patterns of resistance to norms of masculinity across adoles-
cence. While most of the boys in the study, across race and ethnicity, illus-
trated a decrease in resistance over time, others were more stable (with high
or low levels of resistance), or showed mixed patterns of resistance over time.
Moreover, boys who maintained higher levels of resistance across adoles-
cence fared better on measures of psychological adjustment (Way et al.,
2014). Similar patterns of resistance to norms of masculinity have been found
with younger boys as well (Chu, 2014). In early childhood, Chu (2014) finds
both emotional and relational acuity among boys, and while some boys
avoided activities that were for girls, other boys resisted such restrictions in
their play choices and behaviors. But, as boys prepared to enter formal
schooling (kindergarten), Chu observes a loss of resistance as they become
boys in stereotypic ways, such as acting out and disrupting class.
Robinson and Ward (1991) also delineate two paths of resistance in their
research on resistance to racial oppression among African American girls.
Resistance for survival is marked by short-term solutions or quick fixes to
systemic racism, which provide a sense of agency in the face of oppression,
but ultimately reinforce the very stereotypes girls need to challenge in order
to thrive. For example, when a girl drops out of school and becomes a teen
mom, she may find purpose in motherhood but simultaneously reifies the
stereotypes that oppress her. Resistance for liberation, in contrast, is long
term and benefits the self and others by uplifting the collective. Examples
include succeeding in school despite low expectations or maintaining strong
spiritual and community ties even while society undermines these ideals
(Ward, 2000). Resistance for liberation is rooted in an inner strength of
hope in the self and others (Robinson & Ward, 1991). Surez-Orozco (2004)
similarly distinguishes between a resistance that is infused with hope for a
better tomorrow and one that lacks hope for change. She finds that immi-
grant adolescents who respond to stereotypes with a hopeful resistance (i.e.,
resistance for liberation) defy the odds and achieve, but when youth resist
without the belief that their actions can bring about lasting change (i.e., resis-
tance for survival), it often leads to delinquent behaviors, such as failing out
of school or joining a gang (Surez-Orozco, 2004).
Spencer and colleagues (1997) propose two ways of responding to stereo-
types. Reactive coping (i.e., resistance for survival) is acting in the moment
without forethought of the costs, for example, reacting with violence.

Rogers and Way 5
Proactive coping (i.e., resistance for liberation) is when youth thoughtfully

and purposely employ relational resources and problem-solving skills to con-
test stereotypes. Overtime, these response patterns become identity, for the
self is constructed in response to stereotypes and biases (Spencer et al.,
1997, p. 87). Nasirs (2011) empirical analysis of how African American ado-
lescents negotiate racial stereotypes in school illustrates these two identity
patterns: the street savvy youth in her study were characterized by taking
up and reifying stereotypical aspects of the African American identity, act-
ing out and failing classes, whereas the school oriented and socially con-
scious youth rejected these very stereotypes in order to excel (p. 87).
Although each of these scholars uses different terms to describe resis-
tance, the similarity across them is the emphasis on how individuals respond
to oppression in either productive or counterproductive ways. In this article,
we use the term resistance (analogous to political resistance, resistance for
liberation, proactive coping) to refer to challenging racial and gender stereo-
types and accommodation (analogous to psychological resistance, resistance
for survival, reactive coping) to refer to responses that reinforce racial and
gender stereotypes (Rogers, 2012; Rogers & Way, 2015; Way, 2011; Way
et al., 2014; Way & Rogers, in press). This resistance approach is valuable
because it connects identity to outcomes. Accommodation seems to pave a
path toward adverse outcomesdelinquency, depression, dropping out of
schoolwhereas resistance has been found to be positively linked with
numerous indicators of well-being (Barker, Ricardo, Nascimento, Olukoya,
& Santos, 2010; Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan et al., 2014; Gupta et al.,
2013; Way et al., 2014) and academic success (Nasir, 2011; Santos, Galligan,
Pahlke, & Fabes, 2013; Spencer, Noll, Stoltzfus, & Harpalini, 2001).
Resistance and Intersectionality

To date, our understanding of resistance to stereotypes is based on studies that
primarily focus on either gender oppression or racial oppression. However,
adolescents belong to multiple social groups and therefore negotiate their
identities in response to multiple social stereotypes simultaneously (Carter,
2006; Rogers, Scott, & Way, 2015; Shields, 2008; Way, 2011). We know little
of how resistance unfolds across (or at the intersection of) stereotypes.
From an intersectionality perspective, the social categories race, class,
and gender . . . overlap, intersect and fuse with each other in countless ways
(Omi & Winant, 1994, p. 68), such that race is gendered and gender is raced
(as well as sexed and classed; Crenshaw, 1991; McCall, 2005; Shields, 2008).
An empirical question for identity research is where these identities intersect
and how they develop in concert. While the theory of intersectionality is

widely accepted and at times embedded in studies of resistance (e.g.,

Robinson & Ward, 1991), its use in empirical research remains scarce. This
is partially due to unresolved tensions within the theory that limit its func-
tionality in an empirical context (McCall, 2005; Nash, 2008; Shields, 2008).
Our analysis of Black adolescnet males explores how a resistance framework
responds to three of these tensions: (a) structure and agency, (b) identity
union and distinctiveness, and (c) oppression and privilege.
The structure versus agency tension is principally an issue of power
(Crenshaw, 1991; Phoenix, 2006; Prins, 2006), with the question being where
intersectionality is locatedat the level of the system or the individual.
Structural intersectionality focuses on the systems that structure inequalities,
viewing power as unilateral . . . rather than relational (Phoenix, 2006,
p. 23). The consequence of this view is that individuals are structured into
intersectional positions. Agency, in contrast, recognizes that individuals are
active participants in their own experiences, choosing how to enact their
social positions (Phoenix, 2006). Thus, while race and gender are structured
positions, individuals may use the tools of resistance and accommodation
(agenecy) to reconstruct these categories in different ways.
The second tension, identity union versus distinctiveness, asks what
counts as an intersection. Identity union assumes unified identity labels as the
unit of analysis, for example, Black male. However, such labels are also
limiting as they reinforce an alternate fixed identity that then ignores other
intersections, such as sexuality and social class (McCall, 2005; Phoenix,
2006). Yet, the numerous potenial combinations pose an empirical problem
making identity arbitrary divisions necessary. Alternatively, one can view
race and gender as distinct but overlapping social categories, pieces of the
same puzzle. In this view, the purpose of intersectionality research is to
examine the nature of the relationship between categories (McCall, 2005).
For example, examining how Black males construct and experience the con-
nection (or distinction) between their racial and gender identities.
Finally, there is tension between oppression and privilege (Nash, 2008;
Wing, 1990). The study of intersectionality is rooted in oppression and
grounded in the premise that Black women are multiply oppressed by their
social position relative to race and gender (Crenshaw, 1991; Shields, 2008).
Thus, there is question about whether intersectionality equally applies to
positions of privilege (e.g., White male; Nash, 2008). Yet, to ignore privi-
leged identities would be to ignore the essence of intersectionality, the built-
in relationship between social categories. Moreover, because each social
category holds a unique status in society, individuals may hold dominance
along one dimension and subordination on the other (Verloo, 2006). For
example, Black heterosexual men are privileged for their gender and

Rogers and Way 7
sexuality and oppressed for their race, whereas White heterosexual women
are privileged for race and sexuality and oppressed for their gender. Thus, if
we ignore privilege in favor of oppression we ignore the ways in which posi-
tions of dominance and subordination work in complex and intersecting ways
to constitute subjects experiences . . . (Nash, 2008, p. 89).
In a resistance framework, structure and agency, and oppression and privi-
lege can coexist. Anyon (1984) argued, [a]ccommodation and resistance is a
part of all human beings response to contradiction and oppressionof men,
women, working-class and affluent; of white races and black (p. 30).
Furthermore, she underscores that resistance occurs alongside or often in the
palm of accommodation. For example, girls in her study would resist gender
stereotypes by claiming that they want to have a career in the future, but
qualify such resistance by saying, only if my husband lets me, thereby
accommodating to gender norms (Anyon, 1984). Acknowledging this play
between resistance and accommodation allows one to explore how resistance
operates across social categories with differing social positions. Among
Black males, for example, where gender positions them atop the social hier-
archy but their race places them at the bottom, do they resist racial and gender
stereotypes similarly? Are they more likely to resist stereotypes related to
positions of subordination (Blackness) than dominance (maleness)? Our
analysis explores these questions with the goal of furthering our understand-
ing of resistance and intersectionality.
Current Study
The current study examined identity development as a process of resistance
and accommodation to racial and gender stereotypes among Black adolescent
males. There are very few empirical examples of how Black males resist
stereotypes, and none that explicitly examine patterns of resistance across
racial and gender stereotypes. The purpose of this analysis was twofold: first,
to extend the resistance framework by including the voices of Black adoles-
cent males and using an intersectionality perspective, and second, to empiri-
cally examine how intersectionality shapes identity development. We
examined three specific questions with Black males:
Research Question 1: What is the prevalence of resistance and accom-

modation to racial and gender stereotypes?
Research Question 2: Does the prevalence of resistance and accommoda-
tion to stereotypes change over time?
Research Question 3: Are there distinguishable patterns of resistance and
accommodation across racial and gender stereotypes?

The decision to focus on Black males was threefold. First, there is a dearth
of research on resistance to stereotypes among Black males who are, instead,
often cast as monolithic and accommodating (for exceptions, see Way, 2011;
Way et al., 2014). Second, there is a widespread concern about the social and
academic pathways of Black males in America (Davis, 2006; Schott
Foundation, 2012), and thus investigating pathways of resistance to racial
and gender stereotypes helps us illuminate ways to support young Black
males toward healthy outcomes. Third, Black males hold a uniquely perilous
position in American society (e.g., Alexander, 2012; Noguera, 2008) and the
racial and gender stereotypes that frame them are intimately linked (e.g.,
Ghavami & Peplau, 2013). As such, the experiences of Black males provide
a unique and valuable lens for interrogating the nuanced ways in which mul-
tiple social positions operate in adolescents lives.
Method
Interview data for this analysis were drawn from the first authors disserta-
tion, a longitudinal mixed-methods study of racial and gender identity devel-
opment among Black adolescent males. Data, including observations,
surveys, and interviews were collected over 2 academic years (2008-2010):
pre-entry (Wave 1) data were collected the summer prior to the start of 9th
grade, post-entry (Wave 2) data were collected at the end of 9th grade, and
follow-up (Wave 3) data at the end of 10th grade. Interviews were conducted
at each time point.
Research Context
Data were collected at Black Male Charter School (BMCS), an all-Black, all-
male high school located in a Midwest urban center. BMCS is a public char-
ter school, with free tuition and lottery admission. At the time of data
collection, the school was in its 3rd year of operation, serving approximately
400 students in Grades 9 through 11. The leaders describe BMCS as a space
designed to provide its students with positive counter-images of successful
Black men and give them a vision for college. They refer to the students
as scholars and college graduation (not merely acceptance or attendance)
defines the schools primary mission.
Procedure
During summer orientation at BMCS, the first author gave a brief invitation
speech about the study to the incoming freshmen class. An invitation letter

Rogers and Way 9
was also mailed to all enrolled students homes along with parental consent
forms describing the project. Additional recruitment materials were distrib-
uted at school, and students returned signed parent consent forms to their
homeroom teachers or main office. All data collection occurred at the school.
Interviews were conducted during non-academic periods (before or after
school, during lunch). The first author conducted all of the interviews, which
were audio-recorded and ranged in length from 39 to 110 minutes (M = 65
minutes). Each participant was informed that he had been selected to partici-
pate in an interview about What it means to be a young, Black male and
What it is like attending an all-boys school. He was then given an assent
form and told that any question could be skipped without penalty. Boys were
given the opportunity to ask further questions at the end of interview.
Participants
A total of 183 Black males participated in the full study (see Rogers et al.,
2015). All participants were members of the incoming ninth-grade class,
ranging in age from 13 to 15 years at Wave 1 (Mage = 14.2, SD = 0.56). Based
on school records, students were predominantly from low-income back-
grounds. In the full sample, more than half (58%) of the students reported
living in single-parent homes, and the majority of their mothers (75%) and
fathers (66%) were employed. Approximately half (52.5%) had a parent who
completed some college or earned a 4-year degree (Rogers et al., 2015).
A subsample of 21 boys participated in one-on-one interviews over the
course of the study. Sixteen boys were selected by school administrators dur-
ing the summer orientation program. Two of the boys interviewed during
Wave 1 transferred out of the school before the second interview, and one
participant declined subsequent interviews. During the third wave of data
collection (the end of 10th grade), an additional five participants were inter-
viewed to include more students voices, including those who transferred into
the school after the first wave of data collection. Table 1 lists each interview
participant and their interview schedule. A total of 42 transcripts were ana-
lyzed for this analysis. Longitudinal analyses were restricted to boys who
completed interviews at the pre-entry period (Wave 1) and at least one of the
post-entry periods (Wave 2 and/or Wave 3; n = 13).
The question of sample size in qualitative research is what scholars refer
to data saturationthe number of interviews, for example, at which no
new information or themes emerge (Creswell, 1998; Glaser & Strauss, 1967).
While a few scholars have recommended standards for sample sizes, ranging
from 5 participants, on the low end, to over 100 at the high end (depending
on the specific goals of the study), there is no set number. In one study, Guest,

Table 1. Interview Schedule by Participant.
Interview schedule
Pre-entry
Subject namea (Wave 1) Post-entry (Wave 2 and Wave 3)
1. Teddy
2. Tyrell
3. Eric
4. Marcus
5. Ronald
6. Steven
7. Brandon
8. Omar
9. Kelvin
10. Kirk
11. Deon
12 Franklin
13. Cameron
14. Devin
15. Michael
16. Jaire
17. Jeremy
18. Lewis
19. Monte
20. Ahmad
21. Rashad
aAll names listed here and throughout are pseudonyms.
Bunce, and Johnson (2006) found that 12 subjects were sufficient to achieve
data saturation. Our sample size of 21 (and longitudinal sample of 13) is
within these guidelines.
Interview Protocol
The semi-structured interview protocol was designed to capture the subjec-
tive experience of identity via open-ended questions (Mishler, 1986; Rogers
& Way, 2015). The protocol focused on boys understandings of race and
gender, and covered a range of topics, including family structure and relation-
ships, school experiences, self-descriptions, awareness of racial and gender
stereotypes, racial and gender identity, friendships, and future aspirations
(see the appendix).

Rogers and Way 11
Data Analysis
Interviews were transcribed verbatim by a professional company and then
verified by the first author. We drew upon The Listening Guide Method
(Gilligan, Spencer, Weinberg, & Bertsch, 2003) to guide our analysis. This
technique emphasizes the relational quality of interviewing and the larger cul-
tural context within which stories are shared. Thus, analysis does not focus on
the interview transcript as an insular piece of data, but on the threads between
what was asked by the interviewer as well as what was said by the interviewee
and the meaning(s) within the larger cultural narratives of social stratification,
norms, stereotypes, and expectations (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan et al.,
2003; Rogers & Way, 2015; Way, 2011). As such, an interview about racial
identity is analyzed with attention to the shared racial storylines existing in
the culture (Nasir, 2011) and the intersections of race with other social catego-
ries, including gender, sexuality, and social class (Crenshaw, 1991).
For the present study, we drew from the listening guide, grounded theory
(Glaser & Strauss, 1967), and content analysis (Huberman & Miles, 2002) to
develop a systematic reading for resistance and accommodation to racial and
gender stereotypes (Rogers & Way, 2015; Way, 2011; Way et al., 2014). The
process of developing this analytic technique entailed a team of graduate
student researchers and the authors of this article meeting on a weekly basis
for approximately 2 years in which we read over a hundred interviews with
adolescents who had participated in another study of social and emotional
development1 to develop and refine a system of reading for resistance and
accommodation to gender and racial stereotypes. Reading for resistance and
accommodation involves moving back and forth between the micro-level of
the interview and the macro-level of culture, and entails the following steps.
We first read the interview transcripts to take the perspective and social
position of the speaker and listen to what stories the interviewee is telling.
During this reading, we composed narrative summaries to outline the land-
scape of each interview (Way, 1998). Next, we created data matrices to
chunk the transcripts into meaningful categories (Huberman & Miles,
2002) relevant to the research questions about race, gender, stereotypes, and
intersectionality. Data within these matrices were then content analyzed to
capture boys awareness of racial stereotypes and gender stereotypes. This
phase of analysis drew principally from interview questions about racial and
gender expectations such as, What do you think other people think about
Black people/boys? Are there certain things youre supposed to do just
because youre Black/a boy? The stereotypes boys articulated in their inter-
views alongside prevailing racial and gender stereotypes in society more
broadly (Ghavami & Peplau, 2013) functioned as anchors for coding resis-
tance and accommodation to stereotypes, thereby providing a context for

interpreting boys ability to oppose ideas that are disempowering to the self
(Ward, 1996, p. 87).
In the next phase of analysis, we focus on how the interviewee places
himself into the culturally bound stories he is telling, specifically whether he
aligns himself with stereotypes (accommodation) and/or rejects those stereo-
types (resistance). Evidence of resistance and accommodation to racial and
gender stereotypes was documented by highlighting interview excerpts in
different colors. The interview questions for this step in the analysis focused
on the meaning and experience of being Black and male: What are some of
the good/bad things about being Black/male? What do you think it means to
be Black/male? With regard to race, we coded resistance and accommodation
to three racial stereotypes: intellectual inferiority (dumb or not smart), nega-
tive (violent, threatening, bad) behavior, and being unsuccessful (in school
and life; Rogers, 2012). For example, the following response was coded as
accommodation: [Black people are] Followers. Like just whatever people
say, they go for it and basically prove them right about what we really are as
a negative people. This response reinforces the stereotype that Black people
are bad and usncessful. In contrast, the following description of being Black
was coded as resistance because it challenges the idea that Blacks are unsuc-
cessful: Being Black means being successful . . . [be]cause a lot of people
dont think we can do it. They dont think were capable of excelling. But, I
believe we are. With regard to gender, we coded for resistance and accom-
modation to three gender stereotypes: autonomy/independence, emotional
stoicism, and heterosexuality (Way et al., 2014). For example, the following
self-description was coded as accommodation: Im laid back . . . Im not a
follower. I dont follow people around cause Im my own person. I make my
own choices. This response repeats gender stereotypes of autonomy and
emotional stoicism. In contrast, the response, Whats most important about
me is I have nice relationships with teachers and stuff, was coded as resis-
tance to gender stereotypes because of its focus on relationship and
interdependence.
Finally, the analyzed sections were organized into matrices to evaluate
patterns. Analysis across cases provided data on the prevalence of resistance
and accommodation at the aggregate level. We examined change over time
by evaluating prevalence in the pre-entry interviews compared with those in
the post-entry. The within-case analysis enabled us to examine patterns of
resistance across race and gender stereotypes within individuals. We used an
intersectionality lens to interpret patterns in the data and explore whether
boys who resisted racial stereotypes also resisted gender stereotypes or if
their resistance was limited to one set of stereotypes.

Rogers and Way 13
Validity
The validity of qualitative analysis depends on staying close to the data, so
that interpretation is empirically grounded (Maxwell, 2005). Lincoln and
Guba (1986) address validity as trustworthiness, arguing that one must
question the credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability of
the analysis (p. 77). The issue of credibility is of particular concern as it deals
with the truth of the findings. We applied three specific strategies for cred-
ibility offered by Lincoln and Guba: prolonged engagement, persistent
observation, and negative case analysis. The credibility of data is strength-
ened by the researchers immersion in the data collection and analysis pro-
cesses. Data collection occurred over the course of 2 years during which the
first author spent over 300 hours at the school, roaming the hallways, shad-
owing students, observing classes, and talking with teachers. The first author
then spent 2 years listening to voice recordings and coding transcripts. For
each transcript, a narrative summary (Way, 1998) was written to establish
the landscape of each subjects life story. This preliminary analysis strategy
serves to establish the credibility of interpretative analysis. During the coding
phase, we employed negative case analysis by examining alternate patterns
that emerged from the data as well as instances that countered theories of
resistance and intersectionality.
Finally, the dependability and reliability (Lincoln & Guba, 1986) of our
analysis were established through the use of an interpretive communitya
group of scholars who reads and codes the data to provide alternative inter-
pretations (Marecek, Fine, & Kidder, 2001). Our community was diverse in
academic discipline (psychology, sociology, urban education, theater), aca-
demic level (undergraduate, graduate, and professional), and personal back-
ground (racial/ethnic, gender, sexuality, and social class). Such diversity was
critical for seeing the data through multiple lenses, challenging assump-
tions, and drawing trustworthy conclusions.
Findings
Findings from the cross-case analysis answer our first two research questions
about the prevalence of resistance and accommodation among Black males
and how it changes over time. We answered the final research question using
case studies to illustrate three paths of resistance at the intersection of racial
and gender stereotypes. The findings illustrate the centrality of stereotypes in
the process of identity formation and the diversity of Black males
identities.

Evidence of Resistance and Accommodation

In our analysis, we found more evidence of resistance to racial stereotypes
and more accommodation to gender stereotypes. Across the interviews, the
majority of the boys (n = 18) were able to name and reject negative racial
stereotypes in some form. For example, Monte, describing what other people
think about Black people, said, Society says that we are illiterate and thats
not true. Boys readily named racial stereotypes and refuted their truth. In
contrast, when talking about gender, two thirds of the boys (n = 14) either
stated that there were no stereotypes about boys or reiterated the stereotypes
as natural. Ronald, in response to whether there are certain ways he is sup-
posed to act because he is a boy, said,
Not really, especially being a boy I guess youre supposed to act in a certain
wayWell, not supposed to, but it just comes naturally. . . . You know, just
guys like to get into trouble . . . I like to do crazy things just for the adrenaline
rush . . . Just like joking around, like to fight, make fun of each other, like
women and flirt and stuff.
The idea that boys get in trouble, fight, and flirt with women was not seen as
a gender stereotype but behavior that just comes naturally. Although boys
readily challenged stereotypes about the intellectual inferiority and incompe-
tence of Black people, they endorsed the idea that as boys they were to be
independent, emotionally stoic, and heterosexual.
The pattern of more resistance to racial stereotypes and more accommoda-
tion to gender stereotypes became more prevalent over time. By the end of
10th grade, gender accommodation was more frequent than that in the 9th-
grade interviews. Gender accommodation was expressed in the repetition of
phrases I dont care, which downplays emotion in alignment with mascu-
line stoicism, and I just do me, which extols autonomy over relatedness.
The following excerpt is from Devins 10th-grade interview:
I dont want to say I really dont care about stuff but I really dont let stuff
bother me. I just say, yeah whatever. It used to kind of offend me but since
Ive got this personality Im like I dont care; thats what you think and Im
about to prove you wrong. . . . So thats how I became me, you know, Mr. Dont
Care.
This process of becoming Mr. Dont Care was coupled with an autonomous
stance of I just do me. Like Franklin, who explained, Ive got to do this all
by myself, which he said, is perfect! Im a man because nobody is going to
be there all the rest of your life.

Rogers and Way 15
At the same time, boys awareness of and resistance to racial stereotypes

have become more pronounced over time, as boys understood their potential
to disrupt negative stereotypes. Michael described how he feels about the
stereotype that Black people are seen as unsuccessful:
Sometimes it hurts a little bit, but then I dont even think about it because as
long as I know Im not adding on to those stereotypes or adding a number to the
statistics it doesnt bother me [be]cause I know Im doin my part.
Michael acknowledges the emotional impact of stereotypes (it hurts) and

understands that his success in school can directly counteract racial stereo-
types and make a difference (Im not adding on to those stereotypes . . . Im
doin my part). It was this sense of agency in the face of racial stereotypes
that seemed to sustain resistance over time. In sum, the prevalence of resis-
tance and accommodation seems to vary over time and by stereotype (race vs.
gender).
Three Paths of Resistance

Our third research question explores whether there are patterns of resistance
and accommodation in response to racial and gender stereotypes within indi-
viduals. Our within-case analysis examined each subject along the dimen-
sions of resistance (and accommodation) to racial stereotypes and gender
stereotypes. This set up four potential groups: boys who were characterized
by little to no resistance to either racial or gender stereotypes; those who
resist only racial stereotypes; those who resist only gender stereotypes; and
those who resist both racial and gender stereotypes. We found three groups:
the Accommodators (n = 5; 24%), the Resisters (n = 4; 19%), and the
Exceptions (n = 12; 57%) who were characterized by viewing themselves
as exceptions to the stereotypes. Figure 1 represents the characterizations of
three paths of resistance. For reporting purposes, a representative case study
was selected from each group to highlight the distinctions in these resistance
patterns. While differences between the case studies are emphasized, it is
important to note the rich nuance and diversity across all of the boys
identities.
The Accommodators: Omar. The accommodators were a group of
boys (n = 5) who, on the whole, exhibited little resistance and reinforced
racial and gender stereotypes (Figure 1a). The accommodators sounded
like stereotypesindependent and hypermasculine; the tough Black male
who is ready to fight and more focused on girls than school. Rather than

a. The Accommodators (low resistance)

(n = 5, 24%)
Race Gender
Resistance
Accommodation + +
b. The Resisters (high resistance)

(n = 4; 19%)
Race Gender
Resistance + +
Accommodation
c. The Exceptions (mixed-resistance)

(n = 12, 57%)
Race Gender
Resistance +
Accommodation +
Figure 1. Paths of resistance to racial and gender stereotypes.
challenge these negative stereotypes, the accommodators tended to per-

petuate them.
Omar is the case study for the accommodators. Omar has dark chocolate
skin and a slender build. The shallow scars etched on his face convey a richly
complex story before he even begins to share it. He lives with his mom, older
sister, and nephew (his sister gave birth to a son during his freshman year).
His father, who was in jail for most of his childhood, now lives nearby. Omar
describes himself as the hood guy who is trying to make it. Asked to
describe himself, he said, Im just a cool individual. Laid-back and down-to-
earth, so I like to have fun, crack jokes now and then; thats about it. This
laid-back humor was carried into his discussions of his racial identity:
Interviewer: What are some of the good things about being Black?
Omar: Oh, like a lot of people are scared of us; thats great.
Interviewer: Okay, and why is that a good thing?
Omar: Because sometimes its kinda funny to see that fear in people . . .
Oh no, I walked into the wrong neighborhood [laugh]. Theyre

Rogers and Way 17
shaking; its funny to me. Almost everything be funny to me [laugh].

I could be in the craziest situation and still be laughing.
Omar likes being Black because he can incite fear in others, suggesting he
has embraced the stereotypes that frame him as scary and dangerous. Yet, his
laughter peppered throughout suggests that he knows such fear is not justi-
fied. Instead of challenging its truth, he articulates why he accommodates the
stereotype into this identity: Like if youre too soft and youre Black, man,
everybody is going to mess with you no matter who it is, White people,
Hispanics, I mean everybody is going to mess with you. In response, Omar
tries to be in the middle because being too tough also invites more prob-
lemsfights with peers, negative interactions with authority figures. The
accommodators, like Omar, did not necessarily believe the stereotypes to
be true, but instead of rejecting them, they tried to repurpose them in order to
survive.
The accommodators were not, however, ignorant of the consequences
of being stereotyped. When asked what he doesnt like about being Black,
Omar said,
Everybody think[s] youre like the other Black person they see. They think if
one Black person is bad they think every Black person is bad, no matter who
you are, what you say or what you do. . . . And Im like, dont judge me; let me
at least show you what Im about before you judge me because you never
know.
Contending with the idea that everyone already thinks you are bad is
daunting:
Interviewer: When you think about your future, what do you hope for?
Omar: Man, to be alive. Yeah because this is wild, Ill be like man I hope
I dont get shot. Because I already know, Im the hood guy . . .
Interviewer: And what do you worry about when you think about your
future?
Omar: Man, I think Ill worry about me being bad; I dont know. Ill be
kind of tempted sometimes, like man, you need that money dog;
Im trying to be good now . . . I aint trying to be locked up [laughs].
I cant do that, no, no, no. Im too little to go to jail.
Omar does not believe that he is bad or scary, and yet his primary fear is
that he will exactly confirm societys expectations (Ill worry about me
being bad.).

Such vulnerabilities were rarely expressed among the accommodators

because those who feel the most vulnerable often appear the most stereotypical
as a means of self-protection (Majors & Billson, 1992; Spencer et al., 2004).
Omars vulnerability is clear when he talks about violence: Over by my house
theres been a lot of killing a lot of people getting killed or shot . . . about ten
[shootings] in the last couple of days. Asked how he felt about this, he said,
Well, it really dont make me feel any kind of way. Because like its their fault;
to me its their fault if they dont know how to stay in the house and stop doing
all that crazy stuff; if they do like me, theyll be okay.
Omar uses masculine stoicism (I dont feel) to shield the vulnerability he

seems to experience living in the midst of violence. He focuses on the indi-
vidual (its their fault) rather than the systemic factors that underlie the vio-
lence in his community; a strategy that offers him a sense of agency in ensuring
his own safety (If they do like me, theyll be okay). Thus, the accommoda-
tors were not ignorant or passive recipients of stereotypes, but they responded
in ways that simultaneously fortified stereotypes about race and gender.
The Resisters: Marcus. The resisters (n = 4) were distinguishable
from their peers in terms of the prevalence and depth of their resistance to
racial and gender stereotypes (Figure 1b). The resisters were more likely to
see stereotypes as a system of oppression that undermines an entire social
group (e.g., Black people) rather than individuals. Their narratives also reveal
how resistance to gender stereotypes interweaves with and supports resis-
tance to racial stereotypes.
Marcus is the case study for the resisters. Marcus has chocolate brown skin
and a wide smile. He talks rapidly and laughs heartily. He describes himself as
flamboyantlike colorful and really energetic. He lives with his mom and
step-dad and is a big brother to his three half-siblings. Marcus illustrates how
some of the boys were able to stay connected to what they know and feel despite
cultural pressure to disconnectto not know, not feel, and not care. The resist-
ers spoke of stereotypes as a system of oppression. Marcus explained,
[S]ociety has its boxes for everybody, and they dont like it when you like jump
outside of it. . . . The well-youre-never-going-to-be-anything cause youre in
the Black box and I dont think you can do this cause youre Black . . . Like
Black kids are always doing the drugs . . . and theyre always doing sports, or
always the one thats just trying to shoot somebody up, theyre always the
violent ones. . . . Youre not supposed to be a bookworm, be feminine, be gay.
Oh, youre Black, youre not supposed to be gay, youre supposed to have like
fifty women and youre supposed to have a lot of girlfriends and get a lot of
people pregnant and then leave them all.

Rogers and Way 19
The resisters were able to name the racial, gender, and sexuality stereo-
types (as they intersect) and challenge them, as Marcus does: My plan in life
is to be as unique and extraordinary as possible . . . I have goals to prove all
those people wrong and not fit into any one of those boxes.
The resisters were also able to locate stereotypes in society:
Well I guess some people are so used to seeing the gang bangers and the
gangsters and stuff like that on the outside, so they think that every Black male
is like that. But thats actually a stereotype. And, its just notIm not going to
say its not fair because then again it kind of is because thats all they see all the
time, so of course theyre going to think that. So, we are trying to change their
minds about Black men in general, being the best that we can be and getting our
educations and proving them wrong.
Marcus not only knows that people see the stereotypes on a regular basis but also
knows that this does not justify it or make it true. The resisters did not dismiss
the stereotypes or assume they exist out there and therefore do not matter.
Rather, the resisters believed that together with other Black males, they can
shift how others view Black males (We are trying to change their minds).
This belief that they could change the stereotypes, however, did not mean
that the stereotypes did affect them. Marcus explained how he feels about the
stereotypes:
I actually get kind of mad but I try to keep that anger under wraps [be]cause, you
know, you dont want that anger coming out in the wrong way. So I try to focus
it in, do my schoolwork, so I can break the stereotype. And, Id like to get out
into the community and like tell people that you know this is not how we act,
you know, things like that. So I guess you could say that Im kind of inspired,
but then again Im kind of like pissed off. Thats kind of how I feel about it.
Unlike the accommodators who tended to dismiss stereotypes by saying

the the stereotypes dont matter, the resisters acknowledge their impact.
For example, Marcus names his emotions (mad, anger, inspired,
pissed off) and articulates how he utilizes emotion to fuel a healthy resis-
tance that can bring about systemic change.
The resisters also stood out for their resistance to gender stereotypes.
Interviewer: Are there things you feel like youre supposed to do or ways
youre supposed to act just because youre a boy?
Marcus: Well, its not things that I think Im supposed to do, its things
that people think Im supposed to do. Like guys arent supposed to be
feminine or guys arent supposed to be sensitive or show their feel-
ings, or cry. Thats a big one, like guys arent supposed to cry. . . . Its

like but if you get hit or you get a bone broken or your mama or some-
one close to you dies like, you know, of course you gonna cry cause
thats like human nature, youre supposed to cry, thats why you have
tear ducts in your body.
In contrast to the accommodators who viewed gender stereotypes as natu-

ral and beneficial, the resisters questioned the assumed privilege of this
gender ideology. Marcus explained,
Cause, I guess society thinks that if men or boys act feminine that theyre gay
or they just assume that theyre gay. And I think thats a bad stereotype because
guys need to express their feelings too. Im not going to say that guys are
supposed to be tough all the time . . . and theyre supposed to man up and cover
that up with hardness or whatever. Its okay to let yourself cry and be
heartbroken. I dont think thats a good stereotype because thats like telling
kids not to care about anything that happens.
Marcus rejects the idea that emotion is feminine because he knows that emo-
tion is human nature (see also Gilligan, 2011; Way, 2011). And he identifies
stereotypes as the cause of carelessness (Thats like telling kids not to care
about anything.).
The resisters were acutely aware of what society said they were sup-
posed to be and challenged the expectations by questioning the truth of the
boxes. This resistance is not about individual success; it is not about boys
or girls, Black people or White; this is a resistance for liberation, a resistance
for all (Robinson & Ward, 1991).
The Exceptions: Jaire. The final pattern identified was the exceptions
who comprised the majority of the sample (n = 12). They are so named because
they viewed themselves as exceptions to the stereotypes. The exceptions
were distinguishable from the accommodators and the resisters because
they accommodated to gender stereotypes, perpetuating masculine norms of
individuality and emotional stoicism, but at the same time resisted racial ste-
reotypes by positioning themselves as exceptions to the stereotypes (Figure 1c).
Jaire is the case study for the exceptions. At 13 years old, Jaire stood
over 6 feet tall with a broad frame and dark brown skin. Both his parents
passed away while he was young, so his grandmother has raised him as an
only child, and he has always been the man of the house. He exerts great
effort to present himself in what he describes as the proper manner because
appearance and acting right are essential to his success: I have to hold
myself to a higher standard because people dont think that African American
males can do this and do that, like go to college, accomplish things. The
exceptions were acutely aware of the negative stereotypes that

Rogers and Way 21
characterized their racial group and were determined to stand apart from
them in order to prove them wrong. Asked to describe himself, Jaire said, I
would say that Im a very intelligent, articulate young man . . . And someone
who is genuinely a well-behaved person, a well-dressed or groomed person . . .
Jaire is articulate, and his self-description stands in direct contrast to how
other people see Black people: Just lazy and acting out and dont care about
their educations. In response to this stereotype, Jaire strives to uphold a
higher standard, to be exceptional and not just a regular Black man.
The exceptions sought to challenge racial stereotypes by separating
themselves from other Black people. Asked what he likes the most about
himself, Jaire said,
I love the fact that people think of me to be a more complex individual and a
more intelligent individual. Because theres no 14-year-oldlets be real, no
14-year-old African American male that can use different words in different
situations and give his opinion about Barack Obama or the state the economy
is in, the Iraq war, and different situations or the lesbian movement.
Jaire resists the idea that because he is a Black male, he is unintelligent and
informed. But, unlike the resisters who challenged the truth of the stereo-
type, the exceptions established their identities viewing themselves as an
exception to it. In other words, Jaires self-description suggests that other
Black boys might be dumb and uneducated, but Im not.
For the exceptions, resistance was also limited to racial stereotypes.
Their narratives about gender sounded more similar to the accommoda-
torsreinforcing rigid gender ideology.
Interviewer: Are there certain things youre supposed to do because

youre a boy?
Jaire: Yes, there are certain things that males arent supposed to do because
theyre males. Like playing, acting female-ish or acting feminine or
something like that. A male isnt supposed to do that. . . . Youre sup-
posed to talk like men, not like women . . . Like, most women get real
emotional in their decisions. Like men, theres not supposed to be any
emotion in your decisions. Thats why a woman isnt fit to be
President. Thats what I believe. . . . And thats why a man is more
dominant than a female.
While Jaire positioned himself in opposition to racial stereotypes, he aligns

himself with gender stereotypes, framing gender norms as absolute and
beneficial:

The best part about being a young man is that were like the trendsetters of the
world. You know what Im saying, like the government, the world is ran by men.
Men run the world. . . . And I dont think that a woman is fit to run a world. . . .
Because men make hard decisions without emotion. And the women get
emotional in certain situations. . . . Like their emotions are too high . . . We, we
dont express our feelings as much. We dont talk about how we feel, you know.
Jaire reiterates the stereotype that women are emotional (and therefore weak),
whereas men are stoic (and therefore strong). He goes on to explain, We
[males] get to set the tone or mode of our lives, we get to impact other peo-
ples lives too . . . Because women, some women, like you know what Im
saying, cant protect themselves like a man can protect them.
Jaires interview reads like a contradiction, enacting resistance and accom-
modation. The exceptions were characterized by this duality in responding
to oppression: Resisting the oppression of racial stereotypes (specifically for
the self ) while also accommodating to the male privilege of gender
stereotypes.
Discussion
The purpose of the analysis was to examine the identity development of
Black adolescent males within a framework of resistance and accommoda-
tion using an intersectionality lens. Our findings underscore that the process
of resistance and accommodation to stereotypes plays a critical role in iden-
tity development (Anyon, 1984; Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Robinson & Ward,
1991; Rogers & Way, 2015; Way, 2011; Way et al., 2013; Way & Rogers, in
press). Moreover, there are varying pathways of resistance that both converge
and diverge across identities. Such diversity coupled with the evidence of
resistance among Black males challenges monolithic representations of
Black males identities as negative and accommodating. Here, we discuss
how the findings speak to resistance, the intersectionality framework, and
implications for research on adolescent identity development.
Resistance and Intersectionality

Overall, there was more evidence of resistance to racial stereotypes than to
gender stereotypes. The boys in the study were more likely to challenge stereo-
types about their intellectual and academic abilities than to contest gender
expectations about their independence and stoicism. Likewise, the most com-
mon pattern of resistance was the exceptions where boys accommodated to
gender stereotypes but resisted racial stereotypes (Figure 1c). Together, these
findings raise the following question: Is it easier to resist racial stereotypes than

Rogers and Way 23
gender stereotypes? Because race and gender are socially constructed, they
derive meaning and significance from the sociopolitical and historical context.
While both race and gender are similarly used to stratify, they do not function
similarly for all groups. Consider the valence of racial stereotypes compared
with gender stereotypes for Black males. A racialized system of oppression
positions Black people at the bottom of the social hierarchy, and stereotypes
about Blackness are, on the whole, explicitly negative, designed to position
Black people as less than human (Lesko, 2001; Nasir, 2011). In this context, it
is clear that one should want to distance the self from racial stereotypes; one
would want to avoid being seen as dumb, bad, or unsuccessful.
Gender stereotypes, however, function differently. As males, their gender
tops the social hierarchy where the norms of masculinity bring power, domi-
nance and success. While there is growing evidence that adherence to tradi-
tional masculine norms is damaging to ones physical, emotional, and
psychological health (Barker et al., 2010; Gupta et al., 2013; Santos et al.,
2013; Way et al., 2014), because these ideals are privileged in society, it is
less obvious that one wants to avoid or resist them. Moreover, because gender
stereotypes are intimately tied to sexuality, for Black males in particular (e.g.,
Ghavami & Peplau, 2013; Majors & Billson, 1992; Pascoe, 2007), when a
Black male challenges norms of masculinity, his sexuality is also ques-
tionedhe is stereotyped as girly or gay (Pascoe, 2007; Way, 2011). In other
words, to resist racial stereotypes would move a Black male up the social
ladder, whereas to resist gender stereotypes would move him down the lad-
der. Given this structure, it may be easier to challenge racial stereotypes than
gender stereotypes for Black males.
The school context is also relevant to the patterns observed in our data.
BMCS, where these data were collected, is an all-Black, all-male school
designed to counteract mainstream cultural beliefs about Black men. BMCS
was explicit about challenging stereotypes through daily rituals, classroom
practices, and academic assignments. For example, the teachers spoke can-
didly of the statistics about Black malesdrop-outs, criminals, failuresin
direct contrast to their expectations for the students, saying, we are schol-
ars, college-bound, exceptional. Classroom observations captured in-
depth discussions of Black history and conversations about what it means to
be Black/African American. At the same time, gender was rarely integrated
in these historical conversations of oppression and often went unquestioned.
For example, the school uniforma suit-and-tiewas chosen, according to
the founder of BMCS, to communicate a message of professionalism and
success. This image directly counters racial stereotypes, but simultaneously
reinforces gender conventions of (White) masculinity. At the same time, the
all-male context may prompt accommodation as the mere absence of girls

poses a threat to boys masculinity and sexuality (Davis, 2006; Rogers &
Nelson, 2010). Thus, both the macro-cultural construction of race and gender
and the micro-level of the school context may explain why there was more
evidence of resistance to racial stereotypes compared with gender.
These patterns also clearly point to the relevance and importance of
employing an intersectionality perspective. Prior studies of resistance have
mostly focused on two ways or paths of responding to stereotypes (e.g.,
Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Robinson & Ward, 1991; Way, 2011). Our data not
only support these pathways (the accommodators and the resisters) but
also show that adding the dimension of intersectionality complicates this
dichotomous framework (revealing the pattern of the exceptions). For
example, Jaire, the case study for the exceptions, identified himself as not
just a regular Black guy, an identity that accommodates to masculine auton-
omy while attempting to resist negative racial stereotypes. It is an identity
achieved by separation; it is self-focused rather than group-focused. It resem-
bles what Robinson and Ward (1991) describe as resistance for survival
rather than resistance for liberation. With an intersectionality view, one can
interpret gender norms as a critical force in this identity strategy. That is, the
accommodation to gender stereotypes exhibited by exceptions influenced
how they then negotiated racial stereotypes. It is also interesting that while
there was a group of boys who resisted only racial stereotypes, there was not
a group that resisted only gender stereotypes; that is, each of the boys who
resisted gender stereotypes also actively resisted racial stereotypes. This sug-
gests that resisting gender stereotypes, in particular, may be essential for cul-
tivating healthy identity pathways among Black males. In an intersectionality
framework, gender identity is not only related to racial identity but also inte-
gral to understanding its development.
Our findings also extend intersectionality research by illustrating how
unresolved issues or tensions in the theory may play out empirically. For
example, both structural intersectionality and agency were evident in our find-
ings. Black males are positioned uniquely in society because of the structural
systems and stereotypes but they are not fixed or held there. They actively
resist these structures, redefining them and deconstructing them. On the issue
of identity union versus distinctiveness (Phoenix, 2006; Verloo, 2006), our
data underscore the value of examining the relationships between identities
(e.g., Black and male) rather than examining the blended identity label
(i.e., Black male). If we only examined their resistance to Black male
stereotypes, we may miss the nuance where boys actually resist race more
readily than gendernot in isolation but with distinctiveness. At the same
time, explicitly examining boys resistance and accommodation to Black male
stereotypes may reveal different paths of resistance. Finally, our data support
the claim that privilege and oppression coexist in intersectionality and must be

Rogers and Way 25
considered jointly (Nash, 2008). We found that boys are more likely to resist
their position of oppression than their position of privilege. This is noteworthy
because if we only frame intersectionality as oppression we miss the ways in
which privilege shapes how individuals respond to oppression. Moreover, in
terms of intervention, it suggests that one must work more deliberately to fos-
ter resistance to privileged statuses, as youth may be less likely to challenge
the stereotypes associated with these social positions.
Implications for Identity Development

The concept of resistance has important implications for identity develop-
ment among Black males, first because it recognizes the agency that youth
possess to respond to negative social forces, such as stereotypes. Moreover,
prior research has established that resistance leads to positive outcomes and
better adjustment (e.g., Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gupta et al., 2013; Santos
et al., 2013; Way et al., 2014). In this way, resistance is a tool for change.
Likewise, employing an intersectionality approach shifts identity into the
political and the practical. Crenshaw (1991), writing about the implications
of an intersectionality worldview, argued,
The failure of feminism to interrogate race means that the resistance strategies
of feminism will often replicate and reinforce the subordination of people of
color, and the failure of antiracism to interrogate patriarchy means that
antiracism will frequently reproduce the subordination of women. (p. 1252)
Speaking about Black women, Crenshaw suggests that intersectionality is

essential for unraveling the web of inequality, and that intersectionality must
be part of the intervention in order for it be meaningful and effective
(Crenshaw, 1991, p. 1251).
We know that stereotypes profoundly shape how we view others but our
findings underscore that stereotypes also shape how youth see themselves,
which can pave vastly different identity pathways. The accommodators
constructed their identities principally through reinforcing stereotypes, mean-
ing that they in turn act like stereotypes (Nasir, 2011; Spencer et al., 1997;
Surez-Orozco, 2004), the consequences of which are well documented
delinquency, problem behaviors, and school failure (Ferguson, 2000; Majors
& Billson, 1992; Spencer et al., 2004). Intervention for this group may focus
on awareness and providing boys with alternative ways to see themselves and
combat the stereotypes. The exceptions, on the other hand, while also
accommodating to gender stereotypes, deliberately positioned themselves in
opposition to racial stereotypes in ways that are likely to lead to academic
success (Whiting, 2006), but their endorsement of masculine autonomy and

stoicism may also place them at risk. For example, Steeles (2011) stereotype
threat research reveals how the pressure not to confirm a negative stereotype
is a psychological weight that can undermine psychological well-being, and
eventually performance, particularly when shouldered alone. Similar research
on gender has shown that boys who believe that they ought to be autonomous
and self-sufficient exhibit greater psychological distress (Gupta et al., 2013;
Way, 2011; Way et al., 2014) and decreased academic performance (Santos
et al., 2013). These potential risks, which may be overshadowed by their
resistance to racial stereotypes, must also be attended to.
The resisters, in contrast, respond to negative stereotypes with liberation
strategies that are likely to lead to positive adjustment (Robinson & Ward,
1991; Way, 2011). Studies show that youth who resist negative stereotypes that
encourage disconnection are more likely to report higher levels of psychologi-
cal and academic adjustment (Gilligan, 2011; Gupta et al., 2013; Santos et al.,
2013; Spencer et al., 1997; Surez-Orozco, 2004; Ward, 1996; Way, 2011; Way
et al., 2014). Yet, such resistance is continually threatened by culture, which is
evidenced in its general decline across adolescence (Brown & Gilligan, 1992;
Chu, 2014; Way, 2011; Way et al., 2014). This is important because, as Ferguson
(2000) found in her ethnography of Black boys, the schoolboys (i.e., those
who resisted stereotypes) were always on the brink of being redefined into the
troublemakers (i.e., accommodators) . . . due to forces of race and gender
stereotypes that are working against them (p. 10). In other words, the stereo-
types and pull toward accommodation do not lesson but likely intensify over
time, underscoring the importance of support networks, perhaps especially for
those boys who are successful and overcoming obstacles.
Finally, it is noteworthy that these identity pathways are not fixed or sta-
ble. Our data suggest developmental patterns where accommodation to gen-
der stereotypes increased over time and resistance to racial stereotypes
increased. The increase in accommodation to gender stereotypes as boys pro-
gressed through adolescence parallels the developmental pattern found by
Way (2011), showing that as boys reached the end of adolescence they
sounded more like masculine caricatures: less expressive, more independent
and more isolated. The increase in accommodation suggests a process of
becoming that is learned but not necessarily immanent, as Way et al. (2014)
show that some boys actually maintain and even increase resistance over the
course of adolescence. At the same time, resistance to racial stereotypes
increased during this time, further suggesting that adolescents are capable of
resisting cultural oppression throughout adolescence. The increase in resis-
tance may reflect scaffolding of the school context where boys received
explicit messages and thus cultivated a language for counteracting racial ste-
reotypes, indicating that resistance can be fostered and supported. It may

Rogers and Way 27
prove useful to think of these resistance pathways as transitional stages,

where youth can move from the accommodators to the exceptions and
ultimately to the resisters, not necessarily in a linear fashion but by way of
learning how to navigate stereotypes successfully. The question then becomes
less about which path leads to negative outcomes and more about how we
move youth from an identity that is grounded in accommodation to one that
is rooted in a resistance that leads to liberation.
Limitations and Future Directions

The generalizability of the findings is limited to the sample size and location
of the data. While the findings cannot be generalized to all Black males or all
single-sex schools, they are relevant to the study of resistance and identity
development in a context of stereotypes. They raise questions about how
resistance processes unfold in other contexts (e.g., coeducational schools)
and among other demographic groups and intersections (e.g., White males or
Black females). A more extensive longitudinal sample can also shed light on
the developmental trajectories of these resistance pathways, and there is more
to learn about the factors that support and impede healthy resistance (Way &
Rogers, in press), such as family. An important next question is what it looks
like to teach resistance, how best to cultivate it during adolescence, and what
interventions would look like to move youth from accommodation to resis-
tance, from the accommodators and the exceptions to the resisters.
Such research would be useful in a range of settings related to youth develop-
ment, including families, communities, and schools.
Conclusion
Examining the ways that Black males engage in the process of resistance and
accommodation makes evident the tangible impact that stereotypes have on
their developing identities, as well as their ability to stand up to societys
negative expectations. Although not all boys were among the resisters, our
data underscore the prevalence of resistance among Black males and call for
further study of how to move boys from accommodation to resistance, and
how to support boys in maintaining their resistance throughout adolescence.
Focusing on the process of resistance shifts the scientific conversation from
documenting how stereotypes impact outcomes to considering how resis-
tance processes function to counteract their insidious effects.

Appendix
Interview Protocol
Intro
Intro question; salient self- Tell me a little bit about yourself.
descriptors; info to use
throughout interview
School
Motivations, reasons for Tell me about how you ended up coming to
attending school; their choice, BMCS, what was that process like?
parents choice, academic, How did you hear about the school?
behavioral What did your parents think about you
coming to an all-boys school?
Perception of school How would you describe BMCS to someone
who has never been here?
What do you like most about BMCS?
Why is that important to you?
If you could change anything about BMCS,
what would you change?
Why is that important to you?
Prove a counterpoint, a contrast Besides being all boys, how do you think this
for current school school is different from your last school?
environment
Knowledge/awareness of Black Do you think it is important to have schools
boy problem; interesting in like this one?
current interviews how boys Why/why not?
make sense of purpose and
necessity of the school
Student-teacher relationships; Tell me about your teachers, what are they
students perceptions of his like?
relationship with his teachers, Who is your favorite teacher? What do
and his teachers expectations you like most about him or her? Why
of him is that important?
Sometimes the adults at school have ideas
about their students. How do you think
the adults at this school see you?
Peers
Student-student relationships Tell me about the other boys at this school,
what are they like?
How do the boys at this school get along
with one another?
General friends Tell me about your friends. Who are they
and what are they like?
Do you think it is important to have friends?
Why/why not?

Rogers and Way 29
Closest/best friend Do you have a closest friend or a best friend?

Who is he?
What is he like?
How did you meet?
How long have you known him?
Description of friend as a How would you describe [best friend], what
possible reflection of self or is he like?
desired self
Good and bad of friendship What do you like most about your friendship
with [best friend]?
What do you like the least?
When was the last time you saw [best
friend]? What did you guys do?
[probe for details]
What kinds of things do you talk about with
[best friend]?
[probe for details]
What kinds of things would you NOT talk
about with [best friend]?
Why not?
Self
Global self-descriptions How would you describe yourself?
Family structure; notice if family Who do you live with?
comes up in self-description Family structure; siblings
What makes you feel really proud?
Why?
Is there anything about yourself that you are
not proud of?
Centrality; core sense of self What would you say is most important about
the person you are?
Understanding of own How do you think you have gotten to be the
development; attributions; person you are?
relational/social support
Racial identity
Self-identification; African What would you say is your ethnicity or
American vs. Black race?
Is being [race] important to you? In what
ways?
Good and bad about being What do you like about being [race/
[Black]; subjective meaning and ethnicity]?
experience of racial identity Why?
Tell me about a time when you felt this
way.

What are some of the things that bother you

about being [race/ethnicity]?
Tell me about the last time you felt this
way
Meaning they attribute/assign to What do you think it means to be Black?
Black as a social category Do you ever feel like there are certain things
you are supposed to do or ways you are
supposed to just because you are Black?
What do you think other people think about
Black people? (i.e., stereotypes)
Discrimination/unfair treatment Tell me about a time when you feel you were
based on race treated differently because you are Black
Gender identity
Image of a typical boy; behavior, Describe the typical boy. What is he like?
appearance, attitude, dress; Do you think that you are like that?
own alignment with typical How so/how not?
boy; resistance/adherence to Do you ever feel pressure to act like a typical
typical boy norms boy?
How does that make you feel?
Good and boy about being a boy; What do you like most about being a boy?
meaning and experience
What do you like the least?
Can you think of a time when wished you
were not a boy?
What do you think other people think about
boys? (i.e., stereotypes)
Differential treatment based on Can you think of a time when you feel you
gender; experience of being were treated differently because you were
a boy a boy?
What happened?
Race/gender stereotypes What are some of the benefits that Black
boys have that maybe other boys do not?
Like what, can you give me an example?
Why do you think that is?
What are some of the challenges that Black
boys face that maybe other boys do not?
Like what, can you give me an example?
Why do you think that is?
Transition to manhood; notions of What do you think it means to become a
masculinity; what and how they man?
are moving toward manhood In what ways is BMCS helping you become
a man?

Rogers and Way 31
Tell me about a man, either in society or that

you know personally, that you consider a
role model
What is he like?
What does he do?
Future
Academic expectations/ How far do you expect to go in school?
aspirations What do you see yourself doing when you
are 25 years old?
What do you think it is going to take to get
there?
When you think about your future, what is
the thing you worry about the most/what
is the thing you hope for the most?
Source. Rogers (2012).

Note. BMCS = Black Male Charter School.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by fellow-
ships awarded to Leoandra Onnie Rogers from the Spencer Foundation Dissertation
Fellowship and the Ford Foundation Dissertation Competition.
Note
1. Our analytic team was based at the Center for Research on Culture, Development,
and Education (CRCDE) at New York University. http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/
crcde/
References
Alexander, M. (2012). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of color-
blindness. New York, NY: The New Press.
Anyon, J. (1984). Intersections of gender and class: Accommodation and resistance by
working- class and affluent females to contradictory sex role ideologies. Journal
of Education, 166, 25-48. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42742035

Barker, G., Ricardo, C., Nascimento, M., Olukoya, A., & Santos, C. (2010).
Questioning gender norms with men to improve health outcomes: Evidence of
impact. Global Public Health, 5, 539-553. doi:10.1080/17441690902942464
Brown, L. M. (1999). Raising their voices: The politics of girls anger. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Brown, L. M., & Gilligan, C. (1992). Meeting at the crossroads: Womens psychology
and girls development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Camp, S. M. H. (2004). Closer to freedom: Enslaved women and everyday resistance
in the plantation south. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Carter, P. L. (2006). Straddling boundaries: Identity, culture, and school. Sociology of
Education, 79, 304-328. doi:10.1177/003804070607900402
Chu, J. Y. (2014). When boys become boys: Development, relationships, and mascu-
linity. New York: New York University Press.
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and
violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43, 1241-1299.
Creswell, J. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Cunningham, M., Swanson, D. P., & Hayes, D. (2013). School and community-based
associations to hypermasculine attitudes in African American adolescent males.
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 83, 244-251. doi:10.1111/ajop.12029
Davis, J. E. (2006). Research at the margin: Mapping masculinity and mobility of
African-American high school dropouts. International Journal of Qualitative
Studies in Education, 19, 289-304. doi:10.1080/09518390600696612
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity, youth, and crisis. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.
Ferguson, A. A. (2000). Bad boys: Public schools in the making of black masculinity.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum.
Genovese, E. D. (1976). Roll, Jordan, roll: The world the slaves made (Vol. 652).
New York, NY: Random House First Vintage Books.
Ghavami, N., & Peplau, L. A. (2013). An intersectional analysis of gender and ethnic
stereotypes: Testing three hypotheses. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 37, 113-
127. doi:10.1177/0361684312464203
Gilligan, C. (1990, March 16). Joining the resistance: Psychology, politics, girls, and
women. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, delivered at the University of
Michigan. Retrieved from http://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/g/
Gilligan_91.pdf
Gilligan, C. (1991). Womens psychological development: Implications for psycho-
therapy. Women & Therapy, 11, 5-31. doi:10.1300/J015V11N03_02
Gilligan, C. (1996). The centrality of relationship in human development: A puzzle,
some evidence, and a theory. In G. Noam & K. Fischer (Eds.), Development
and vulnerability in close relationships (pp. 237-261). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
Gilligan, C. (2011). Joining the resistance. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Gilligan, C., Rogers, A. G., & Tolman, D. L. (2014). Women, girls & psychotherapy:
Reframing resistance. New York, NY: Routledge.

Rogers and Way 33
Gilligan, C., Spencer, R., Weinberg, M. K., & Bertsch, T. (2003). On the listen-
ing guide: A voice-centered relational model. In P. M. Camic, J. E. Rhodes,
& L. Yardley (Eds.), Qualitative research in psychology: Expanding perspec-
tives in methodology and design (pp. 157-172). Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for
qualitative research. New York, NY: Aldine.
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An
experience with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18, 59-82. doi:10
.1177/1525822X05279903
Gupta, T., Way, N., McGill, R., Hughes, D., Santos, C., Jia, Y., . . . Deng, H. (2013).
Gender-typed behaviors in friendships and well-being: A Cross-cultural study
of Chinese and American boys [Special issue: Adolescents in the Majority
World]. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 57-68. doi:10.1111/j.1532-
7795.2012.00824.x
Hrabowski, F. A., III, Maton, K. I., & Greif, G. L. (1998). Beating the odds: Raising
academically successful African American males. New York, NY: Oxford
University Press.
Huberman, M., & Miles, M. B. (2002). The qualitative researchers companion:
Classic and contemporary readings. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Lesko, N. (2001). Act your age! A cultural construction of adolescence. New York,
NY: RoutledgeFalmer.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1986). But is it rigorous? Trustworthiness and authen-
ticity in naturalistic evaluation. New Directions for Program Evaluation, 1986,
73-84. doi:10.1002/ev.1427
Majors, R., & Billson, J. M. (1992). Cool pose: The dilemmas of black manhood in
America. New York, NY: Lexington Books.
Marecek, J., Fine, M., & Kidder, L. (2001). Working between two worlds: Qualitative
methods and psychology. In D. L. Tolman & M. Brydon-Miller (Eds.), From
subjects to subjectivities: A handbook of interpretive and participatory methods
(pp. 29-41). New York: New York University Press.
Marrus, M. R. (1995). Jewish resistance to the Holocaust. Journal of Contemporary
History, 83-110. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/260923
Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach.
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
McCall, L. (2005). The complexity of intersectionality. Signs, 30, 1771-1800.
doi:10.1086/426800
Mishler, E. G. (1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Nash, J. C. (2008). Re-thinking intersectionality. Feminist Review, 89, 1-15.
doi:10.1057/fr.2008.4
Nasir, N. S. (2011). Racialized identities: Race and achievement among African
American youth. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Noguera, P. A. (2008). The trouble with Black boys and other reflections on race,
equity, and the future of public education. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Omi, M., & Winant, H. (1994). Racial formation in the United States: From the 1960s
to the1990s. New York, NY: Routledge.
Pascoe, C. J. (2007). Dude, youre a fag: Masculinity and sexuality in high school.
Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Phoenix, A. (2006). Interrogating intersectionality: Productive ways of theorizing
multiple positioning. Kvinder, Kn & Forskning, 2-3, 21-30. Retrieved from
https://tidsskrift.dk/index.php/KKF/article/view/53110/97750
Prins, B. (2006). Narrative accounts of origins: A blind spot in the intersec-
tional approach? European Journal of Womens Studies, 13, 277-290.
doi:10.1177/1350506806065757
Robinson, T., & Ward, J. V. (1991). A belief in self far greater than anyones dis-
belief: Cultivating resistance among African American female adolescents
[Special issue: Women, Girls & Psychotherapy: Reframing Resistance]. Women
& Therapy, 11, 87-103.
Rogers, L. O. (2012). Young, Black, and male: Exploring the intersections of racial
and gender identity in an all-Black, all-male high school. Available from
ProQuest Dissertation Abstracts. (UMI No. 10197)
Rogers, L. O., & Nelson, J. (2010, March). Masculinity when no girls are watch-
ing: Black adolescent males experiences in all-male schools. Poster session
presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence,
Philadelphia, PA.
Rogers, L. O., Scott, M. A., & Way, N. (2015). Racial and gender identity devel-
opment among Black adolescent males: An intersectionality perspective. Child
Development, 86, 407-424. doi:10.1111/cdev.12303
Rogers, L. O., & Way, N. (2015). Semi-structured interviews and adolescent racial-
ethnic identity development. In C. E. Santos & A. Umaa-Taylor (Eds.), Studying
ethnic identity: Methodological advances and consideration for future research
(pp. 195-230). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Santos, C. E., Galligan, K., Pahlke, E., & Fabes, R. A. (2013). Gender-typed behav-
iors, achievement, and adjustment among racially and ethnically diverse boys
during early adolescence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 83, 252-264.
doi:10.1111/ajop.12036
Schott Foundation. (2012). The urgency of now: The Schott 50 state report on pub-
lic education and Black males. Retrieved from http://www.schottfoundation.org/
urgency-of-now.pdf
Shields, S. A. (2008). Gender: An intersectionality perspective. Sex Roles, 59, 301-
311. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9501-8
Spencer, M. B., Dupree, D., & Hartmann, T. (1997). A phenomenological variant of
ecological systems theory (PVEST): A self-organization perspective in context.
Development and Psychopathology, 9, 817-833.
Spencer, M. B., Fegley, S., Harpalani, V., & Seaton, G. (2004). Understanding hyper-
masculinity in context: A theory-driven analysis of urban adolescent males
coping responses. Research in Human Development, 1, 229-257. doi:10.1207/
s15427617rhd0104_2

Rogers and Way 35
Spencer, M. B., Noll, E., Stoltzfus, J., & Harpalani, V. (2001). Identity and school
adjustment: Revisiting the Acting White assumption. Educational Psychologist,
36, 21-30. doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3601_3
Steele, C. M. (2011). Whistling Vivaldi: How stereotypes affect us and what we can
do. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.
Surez-Orozco, C. (2004). Formulating identity in a globalized world. In M. M.
Surez-Orozco & D. B. Qin-Hilliard (Eds.), Globalization: Culture and educa-
tion in the new millennium (pp. 173-202). Berkeley: University of California
Press.
Suhl, Y. (Ed.). (1967). They fought back: The story of the Jewish resistance in Nazi
Europe. New York, NY: Crown Publishers.
Verloo, M. (2006). Multiple inequalities, intersectionality and the
European Union. European Journal of Womens Studies, 13, 211-228.
doi:10.1177/1350506806065753
Ward, J. V. (1996). Raising resisters: The role of truth telling in the psychological
development of African American girls. In B. J. R. Leadbeater & N. Way (Eds.),
Urban girls: Resisting stereotypes, creating identities (pp. 85-99). New York:
New York University Press.
Ward, J. V. (2000). The skin were in: Teaching our children to be emotionally strong,
socially smart, spiritually connected. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Way, N. (1998). Everyday Courage: The lives and stories of urban teenagers. New
York: New York University Press.
Way, N. (2011). Deep secrets: The landscape of boys friendships. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Way, N., Cressen, J., Bodian, S., Presten, J., Nelson, J., & Hughes, D. (2014). It
might be nice to be a girl . . . then you wouldnt have to be emotionless: Boys
resistance to norms of masculinity during adolescence. Psychology of Men &
Masculinities, 15, 241-252. doi:10.1037/a0037262
Way, N., Hernndez, M. G., Rogers, L. O., & Hughes, D. L. (2013). Im
not going to become no rapper: Stereotypes as a context of ethnic and
racial identity development. Journal of Adolescent Research, 28, 407-430.
doi:10.1177/0743558413480836
Way, N., & Rogers, L. O. (2014). [T]hey say Black men wont make it, but I know
Im gonna make it: Identity development in the context of cultural stereotypes.
In M. Syed & K. McLean (Eds.), Oxford handbook of identity development (pp.
269-285). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Way, N., & Rogers, L. O. (in press). Resistance to dehumanization: A developmen-
tal process. In N. Nasir, C. Wainryb, & E. Turiel (Eds.), Jean Piaget society.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Whiting, G. W. (2006). From at risk to at promise: Developing scholar identities
among black males. Journal of Advanced Academics, 17, 222-229. doi:10.4219/
jsge-2006-407
Wing, A. K. (1990). Brief reflections toward a multiplicative theory and praxis of
being. Berkeley Womens Law Journal, 6, 181-201.

Author Biographies
Leoandra Onnie Rogers is a research assistant professor of human development in
the College of Education and Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University
of Washington. She studies racial-ethnic and gender identity development among
low-income children and adolescents. Her research focuses on the intersection of mul-
tiple identities and the ways that cultural stereotypes shape identity processes.
Niobe Way is a professor of applied psychology in the Stienhardt School of Culture,
Education and Human Development, New York University. She studies the socio-
emotional development of adolescents and how macro-level factors such as stereo-
types about race, ethnicity, gender, and nationality shape relationships and identity
development.

Rogers 2015

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Rogers 2015

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

600071

One of Those Boxes:

Leoandra Onnie Rogers1 and Niobe Way2

1University of Washington, Seattle, USA

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Adolescence is a developmental period when youth are preoccupied with

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

males, we explore the prevalence and pathways of boys resistance to racial

Resistance and Accommodation

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

friendships, divulging emotional intimacy with their close friends, feelings of

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Proactive coping (i.e., resistance for liberation) is when youth thoughtfully

Resistance and Intersectionality

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

widely accepted and at times embedded in studies of resistance (e.g.,

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Research Question 1: What is the prevalence of resistance and accom-

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Table 1. Interview Schedule by Participant.

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Evidence of Resistance and Accommodation

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

At the same time, boys awareness of and resistance to racial stereotypes

Michael acknowledges the emotional impact of stereotypes (it hurts) and

Three Paths of Resistance

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

a. The Accommodators (low resistance)

b. The Resisters (high resistance)

c. The Exceptions (mixed-resistance)

Figure 1. Paths of resistance to racial and gender stereotypes.

challenge these negative stereotypes, the accommodators tended to per-

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

shaking; its funny to me. Almost everything be funny to me [laugh].

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Such vulnerabilities were rarely expressed among the accommodators

Omar uses masculine stoicism (I dont feel) to shield the vulnerability he

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Unlike the accommodators who tended to dismiss stereotypes by saying

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

In contrast to the accommodators who viewed gender stereotypes as natu-

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Interviewer: Are there certain things youre supposed to do because

While Jaire positioned himself in opposition to racial stereotypes, he aligns

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Resistance and Intersectionality

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Implications for Identity Development

Speaking about Black women, Crenshaw suggests that intersectionality is

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

prove useful to think of these resistance pathways as transitional stages,

Limitations and Future Directions

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016

Closest/best friend Do you have a closest friend or a best friend?

Downloaded from jar.sagepub.com at La Trobe University on March 1, 2016