Understanding the Black male experience: Recommendations for clinical, community, and school settings

The characterizations of Blackness and maleness are stark and pervasive throughout the theoretical and scientific literature. Too often, Black males occupy a vicarious and distinctive position in American society. The depictions of Black males are rarely casted in a positive manner. Instead, an overpowering image of incompetence, unintelligence, complacency, and propensity to result to violence consumes the livelihood of Black males in the United States. Thus, despite these perceptions, they have been resilient, successful, and stubbornly resistant to negative typecasts. Moreover, there has to be a better awareness and understanding of the educational challenges and psychological and social struggles that Black males endure as “they define who they are, build and maintain relationships, cope with racism, and search for strengths in the African American way of being”. Further, more research is needed to better support Black males in clinical, community, and school settings. This special issue on the Black male experience is a step in this direction. To that end, the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development (JMCD) presents five theoretical, qualitative, and quantitative articles focusing specifically on the Black male experiences in both clinical and educational contexts. Each article, in its own way, amplifies the importance of culturally responsive approaches.