Francesca DiMaggio

EPSY 5810 - Advanced Adolescent Psychology

CASE STUDY
SPRING 2 - May 2015

Case Study:
Age 17, DOB: 3-12-98
Gender - Female
Race African American

Grade Level 10
Method for obtaining information Interview, Student Records, Research
Introduction:
This case study will focus on a seventeen year old African American female and her
adolescent development with the struggle of identity and understanding Who Am I?,
specifically in the area of her racial identity development as an African American.
Background information:
The following case study focuses on a seventeen years two month old African
American female. She currently is a sophomore in high school and attends a charter
school in the city of Saint Louis. The student has attended schools within this charter
school system since the fourth grade. Her schooling has been consistent with her
attending the same elementary/middle school for four years and now the same high
school for two. The student has not attended schools in her immediate neighborhood
because her father had chosen to send her to a charter school. Most students that
attend schools within this charter school system stay within this district until high
school graduation. The student resides with her father and three siblings, along with her
grandparents who share a two family flat with her immediate family. The subject has a
nine year old sister and eleven year old brother. All children share the same mother and
father. The childrens mother does not live in the home; however the children still have
some contact with their mother. The contact with the mother though, is not frequent and
she is not the primary decision maker in her childrens life. The subject states that her
parents are divorced; however to the schools knowledge and information provided by
the family, the parents were never married but had a long relationship to where they
were living together and shared three children. The subject has no other siblings from

either parent. The subjects most important female role model is her grandmother. Along
with her father, the subjects grandparents are those closest to her.
The subject resides in North Saint Louis City. She describes her neighborhood as
being not the best, but not terrible. Most of her neighbors are elderly and she has very
few peers that live near her. She also states that her neighborhood is predominantly
African American. When asked if there are activities for her in her neighborhood, she
described that there is little to do in her neighborhood, but unlike other areas in North
Saint Louis, there is not a lot of crime or opportunity for children to get involved in bad
activities in her area. In the future, she would like to move though because of the lack of
activities near her. She stated, I get sick of seeing the same things every day and I get
bored with my neighborhood.
Academically the subject has an Individual Education Plan for a diagnosis of
emotional disturbance. She has been receiving special education services since her
early elementary years. She is fully aware of why she receives special education
services and does not state it as a bad thing and sees her special education services as
a supportive tool to help her become more successful at school. At times she relies
heavily on these services and lacks independence in the classroom and through
behavioral issues she may face. She stated in the interview that she does often have
moments controlling her anger when she gets frustrated at school. She states she gets
mad easily and often her way of coping is to take it out on others or get very quiet. Often
her behaviors at school are not appropriate in normal circumstances, some examples of
her behaviors at school when she is frustrated are: she will leave the classroom, rip up
her work or projects, yell at others, pace back and forth, show aggressive body

language or go to either the bathroom or counselors office to be alone. The subject also
lacks confidence in completing academic tasks. She will quickly give up on things that
may seem difficult or things she may not enjoy. When encouraged, she is however
accurate in many of her academic tasks and has good basic academic skills.
She is very organized and takes responsibility for her education. She makes
overall good grades in school and finds happiness in performing well. She has a desire
to attend college, but doesnt see herself actually completing college. Both parents
graduated high school but neither attended any sort of post- secondary educational
institution. She does acknowledge that people now a days will not get far in life without
an education, so in order to be successful, you have to be a responsible student. Her
favorite thing about school is the fact that she gets to make new friends and hang out
with her old friends. Her least favorite thing about school is some of the teachers and
the fact that she does not enjoy some of the school work she is given.
She states that she is overall happy most of the time at both home and school.
She has remained friends with the same peer group this entire school year and has
known some of the females in this group since elementary school. She was able to
name six females who are her best friends. She describes her peer group as funny,
silly, one of a kind and chatty. She mainly sees her peers at school though and did not
state that her and her friends participate in any sort of activities outside of school. She
even stated that her family has not met most of her peers. She feels though, that it
would be better if her family was familiar with her friends and would like them to meet in
the future. The subject often demonstrates low self- esteem when she is with her peers,
being self-conscious about her appearance and often is quiet and will not advocate for

herself if her peers make statements about her. Her peer group at times will put her
down and make statements to her that upset her. When she was asked about her views
about herself, she describes herself as silly, funny, one of kind, crazy, bi-polar, caring,
shy, likes to help with things and she likes her personality because she is happy most of
the time. The things she feels that are going really well for her right now in life are that
she is doing well at school, not getting in trouble, shes not in trouble with the law and
she is overall happy.
In the future she hopes to have a good job and will be living on her own. She
currently does not have a boyfriend, but wouldnt mind being in a relationship in ten
years. She looks forward to being an adult because she can make decisions for herself.
Her future goal would be to become an entrepreneur and own a business that is in the
clothing industry.

Theoretically Based Analysis of the Subject in this Case Study:

During adolescence major questions all teens face are Who am I?, What am I
going to do in my future?, How am I different from others?, What group/groups do I
belong to?, How does my ethnicity/race affect what I can do in life? etc. Erik Erikson
realized that adolescence is an important time for identity development, where a teen
typically should determine the answers to these questions. Middle adolescence (12-18
years old), is the specific time period where the subject of this case study fits in. During
this period, the subject is experiencing Eriksons stage of Psychosocial Development
titled: Identity vs. Identity Confusion. During this stage, the adolescent develops a sense
of self, they see where they fit into society, they are more independent and see a
direction in life. Teens need supports around them to help encourage this exploration

and with that, they come out of the stage with a strong sense of who they are. Those
adolescents that dont successfully make it through this time period though will
experience identity confusion, an identity crisis, which the female case study subject
faces (Santrock 2010).
This case study will analyze the subjects challenges with her identity, more
specifically her challenge with determining her racial identity. When interviewed, the
subject simply stated that she was Black and how her race has little to no meaning or
impact to her right now. When she would describe herself, her race would not be in her
description. She most often describes her personality traits rather than her race, gender
or any physical description. She did not state any obstacles she has faced in life
because of her race and has never experienced any sort of discrimination towards her
or unfair or even special treatment because of the fact that she is African American.
Her statements in the interview highly related to information the author Beverly
Daniel Tatum, Ph.D. completed in exercises with her psychology students and noted in
her National Bestseller Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?. In
her book, she discussed how her students would often describe themselves only with
personality traits. She noted that some students of color would acknowledge their race
or ethnicity and those white students who had strong ethnic backgrounds would also
mention theirs. Never though did students mention they were white, few mentioned they
were black or mentioned their religion or their sex. Something she stated, that I highly
agree with and that I noticed within the subject of the case study: The parts of our
identity that do capture our attention are those that other people notice, and that reflect

back to us, often is that which sets us apart as exceptional or other in their
eyes(Tatum 1997).
Tatum goes on to state that there are countless ways to describe someone as
being exceptional, but someone can be described as other based on their race,
ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age and physical
and mental abilities. In fact she describes how all of these others also face oppression
and how here, in the American society, there is one group that is considered the
dominant group, Whites. Identity can be a challenge for African Americans because of
the oppression they face, being that their race carries a negative social stigma based on
their skin color (Tatum 1997).
Santrock noted in his text, Adolescence, Eriksons concerns for minority
groups and identity, stating that there is a struggle to maintain their cultural identities
while blending with the dominant culture (Erikson 1968). Later Santrock stated that
adolescents confront their ethnicity for the first time in adolescence (Santrock 2010). It
was also stated within the text, that minorities who thought about and resolved issues
with their ethnicity had much higher self-esteem than those who did not (Santrock
2010). Ethnicity and race though are not the same thing, so in his text, it would have
been more appropriate for the two ideas to be separate. Race is used to refer to
distinctions drawn from physical appearance (skin color, eye shape, physiognomy) while
ethnicity refers to distinctions based on national origin, language, religion, food and
other cultural markers (Frable 1997).
Five stages were created to detail how an African American finds their racial
identity development. These stages were created by William Cross and included in his

writing Shades of Black: Diversity in African American Identity, Beverly Tatum also
cites them in her book and references them in personal experiences with her son. The
five stages are: Pre-Encounter, Encounter, Immersion/Emersion, Internalization and
Internalization-Commitment. These stages relate to the stages in Eriksons
Psychosocial Stages of Development, but individuals may stay within the first couple
stages of this identity theory into adulthood, unlike in Eriksons adolescents and adults
are expected to be in the later stages.
The first two stages are where most adolescents will fit in. In the first stage, preencounter, the African American child/teen will absorb the beliefs and values of the
dominant group. They even believe that it may be better to be a part of the dominant
group and will seek acceptance. They do not realize the significance of being a member
of their group and they dont really question what it is like to be a member of their
race.Children/teens in this stage could consider themselves raceless at times to fit in
with the majority, or exhibit behaviors of code switching, so they can conform to the
environment they are in, seeing no problem with conforming to the majority (Celious &
Oyserman, 2001). The female subject in this case study in this stage. She doesnt
notice things, like the fact she is attending a 99% African American high school, she
doesnt see the segregation that has existed within her schooling, she is very limited in
any knowledge of African American history and does not seek out a desire to learn
about it. She sees the world being similar to what she has seen through media and the
little experiences she has had outside of her community but is unaware that things may
be different for others, even members of her own race. On one occasion, after she had
saw the movie Selma, she was puzzled on why the events in the movie were important

and how they related to her and even the current events of today. She doesnt see
importance with her membership as an African American. To her, her race is simply
that. It holds nothing more than a skin color. Stereotypical statements will even be made
about members of her racial community like, those black people always doing things,
thats black people for ya, etc.
African American Children/Teens dont often move on to the next stage of identity
development, Encounter, until they have a negative encounter with someone. It often
occurs from being a target of racism. The encounter can range from something so small
even, as Tatum mentioned in her book, a teacher stating to a black student, Oh come
on, I know you people love to dance, trying to encourage the student to attend a school
function (Tatum 1997). This allows the teen to see more significance to their race, but
can also give them a feeling of hurt or anger. They also may want to distance
themselves from the more dominant group because they feel categorized, this can even
cause that individual to self-segregate. Through the individuals mind now, they may
wonder, what does it mean to be black?, how am I supposed to act? , how do others
see me?, and they seek their answers through family, peers, even the stereotypical
images portrayed through the media (Tatum 1997).
The third stage is Immersion/Emersion, in this stage, individuals want to
surround themselves with symbols of their racial identity. They see the positives to their
racial identity and maintain friendships/relationships exclusively with their racial group.
They dont want to be associated with whiteness and seek out information regarding
their racial history and culture. The fourth and fifth stages internalization and
internalization commitment, the individual feels secure with their identity. They do not

feel threatened by any other group, they are open and are not defensive with the
concept of race. Someone in the final stages of racial identities wants to share their
culture and also learn about others. Since an individual is secure and confident in who
they are in these stages, they are excited to learn about others and spread that idea to
others within their group to help other members of their race discover their identities and
prosper.
In order for an adolescent, especially the adolescent in this case study to
successfully navigate through Eriksons stage of identity vs. confusion, she will need
supports to help her successfully reach her racial identity development as well. Those
African American adolescents that have a more balanced sense of who they are, are
better abled to be more confident and to be resilient through their challenges in life.
There are many challenges that adolescents face and being a minority adolescent at
that, she is already exposed to pre-existing challenges that exist in our society. Minority
adolescents need to especially be supported during this time of development and being
better informed and informing others of how they can assist is essential in helping
minority adolescents develop.
Recommendations and Interventions:

Create environments in schools/settings that balance all cultural norms

Encourage discussions involving issues of race/ethnicity/culture/immigration
Be open-minded when students want to discuss issues involving race
Create multicultural curriculum that covers several viewpoints
Be non-judgemental when listening to students viewpoints and having their peers do
the same when students want to discuss sensitive issues - also emphasize respect
though for members of the community
Have an understanding of what social/emotional issues may emerge from students of
different cultures
Also have an understanding of how students of different backgrounds learn
Allow students to share personal experiences and the strengths and contributions of
their culture

 As an educator of a diverse population or a population different than your own, you

should constantly gain knowledge regarding that population so you can be culturally
competent.
Have and share with your students a commitment to social justice
Promote the strengths you discover in your students of different ethnic/racial
backgrounds as well as their strengths their entire racial group may exhibit, help
students avoid and steer clear of negative stereotypes.

References
Celious, A., & Oyserman, D. (2001). Race From the Inside: An Emerging
Heterogeneous Race Model. Journal of Social Issues, 149-165.
ChaVez, A., & Guido-Dibrito, F. (n.d.). Racial and Ethnic Identity and Development.
New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 39-47.
Day-Vines, N., Patton, J., & Baytops, J. (2003). Counseling African American
Adolescents: The Impact of Race, Culture, and Middle Class Status. Professional
School Counseling, 7, 40-51.
Frable, D. (1997). Gender, Racial, Ethnic, Sexual, And Class Identities. Annual Review
of Psychology, 139-162.
Identity and African American Youth. (n.d.). Retrieved May 6, 2015, from
http://www.maec.org/equity/race-issue3.html
Santrock, J. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Tatum, B. (1997). Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? and other
conversations about race. New York: BasicBooks.