Resilience Narratives amid Economic and Educational Inequalities Storied by Unemployed Young American Black Men

Abstract

The objective of this qualitative narrative inquiry dissertation was to gain an understanding of how unemployed young urban American Black men negotiate economic and educational inequalities from resilience perspectives. The investigation took place in a long-standing disadvantaged Black community in a small suburban city in New York. The three participants were unemployed urban American Black male descendants of slavery in the United States, aged 18 to 35, who possessed personal experiences adapting and coping within economic and educational inequalities. Data collection consisted of in-depth narrative interviews, field notes, and reflexive journaling. In Chapters V, VI, and VII, each participant is represented by a brief description, a restoried biographical narrative with richly textured stories of life events negotiating resilience, an orientation of the narrative’s authorial voice or the predominant cultural discourse shaping and creating the perspective, and an analysis of two resilience negotiation experiences using Clandinin and Connelly’s three-dimensional narrative inquiry space framework elements, which consider temporality (continuity), sociality (interaction), and space (situation). Chapter VIII discusses the five narrative threads that emerged from collective interpretation and synthesis: recognition of tension, resolve, ongoing mentorship, strengthening social identity, and optimism and gratitude. The narratives and threads were positioned within Payne’s site of resilience theory for contextual observations. Study results recommend critical social analysis to aid in minimizing health disparities, entrepreneurial support, and helping unemployed young Black men become more resilient by encouraging self-awareness, establishing psychological and physical sites of resilience, and sustaining mentorship opportunities.