YOUNG BLACK MALES

This study will increase what we know about young Black males and their victimization experiences by developing and pilot testing an instrument that captures such experiences. Black males are disproportionately impacted by violence and it often causes their disability or death. To help change that outcome, we need to learn more by generating, collecting, and analyzing data about violent victimization including: what happens, how often it happens, and how many people are impacted.

Our aims were to:

The first phase of the study involved eleven focus groups and cognitive interviews with English speaking, Black males, age 18 to 24, residing in urban, suburban, and rural Illinois. We also held two key informant meetings in Chicago with Black women who resided in Illinois, were English-speaking, age 18 or older, and were mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, friends, spouses, girlfriends, or significant others of young Black men ages 18 to 24 who had been victimized by violence. The second phase of the study will included interviews with English speaking, Black males age 18 to 24, residing in the urban areas of Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia; suburban Cook County and suburban counties in Delaware, and Georgia; and rural counties in Illinois, Louisiana, and Mississippi.