Pathways to Adulthood for Disconnected Young Men in Low–Income Communities: New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Number 143

Increased economic inequality threatens already precarious pathways to adulthood for young disadvantaged men. While young men from more stable, middle–class backgrounds can experiment with more autonomy and self–exploration as they transition to adulthood, young disadvantaged men often lose ground over this developmental period. Young men of color who come of age in urban neighborhoods must often contend with ongoing violence and the encroachment of the criminal justice system in their daily lives. These challenging circumstances alter parenting strategies and transitions to adulthood for this group. Parents who want to protect their sons from the threat of violence or incarceration may exile them from their home neighborhoods altogether, while young men who remain in these neighborhoods must learn to manage the ever increasing surveillance of law enforcement and the mounting pressures that come along with adultification. As the chapters in this volume demonstrate, young, disadvantaged men from urban neighborhoods face a unique set of challenges and constraints as they transition to adulthood. Yet, these challenges are not always contained by place. Research among Latino and White disadvantaged men in nonurban settings highlights the pressures that come along with fatherhood for disadvantaged men. In contrast to popular understandings of absent or disengaged fathers, findings reveal how fatherhood and increasing levels of interdependence during early adulthood can buffer men as they make the difficult transition to adulthood. The innovative field–based research featured in this volume illuminates the contexts, processes, and meanings in life pathways for disadvantaged men as they move from adolescence into adulthood and should help to inform policies and practices directed at minimizing their marginalization from mainstream society.

1. Theorizing Alternative Pathways Through Adulthood: Unequal Social Arrangements in the Lives of Young Disadvantaged Men 1 Kevin Roy, Nikki Jones Increased economic inequality has created precarious pathways to adulthood for young disadvantagedmen. This introductory chapter explains how unequal social arrangements shape transitions to adulthood for young disadvantaged men and highlights the contributions of each chapter to this important discussion. 2. Taking Boys Out of the Hood: Exile as a Parenting Strategy for African American Male Youth 11 Joseph B. Richardson, Jr., Mischelle Van Brakle, Christopher St. Vil For poor African American parents with low levels of social capital, the solution to saving the lives of young African American males is moving them out of the context of inner–city poverty. The authors explain the origins and implications of exile as a parenting strategy. 3. “The Regular Routine”: Proactive Policing and Adolescent Development Among Young, Poor Black Men 33 Nikki Jones New targeted policing practices are the latest incursion contributing to a system that has sent more and more low–income young men to prisons. The author considers how the entrenchment of the criminal justice system in distressed urban neighborhoods shapes the life space of young men as they transition to adulthood. 4. Growing Up as “Man of the House”: Adultification and Transition Into Adulthood for Young Men in Economically Disadvantaged Families 55 Kevin Roy, Lauren Messina, Jocelyn Smith, Damian Waters Young men in economically disadvantaged families often take on adult responsibilities and expectations at early ages. The authors explain how young men make sense of these accelerated pressures and illustrate the later–life consequences of adultification as these men transition to adulthood. 5. Fathers’ Accounts of Struggle and Growth in Early Adulthood: An Exploratory Study of Disadvantaged Men 73 Richard A. Settersten, Jr., Jack K. Day, Doris Cancel–Tirado, Debra Minar Driscoll Examining the experiences of disadvantaged Latino and White fathers in nonurban settings, the authors show how fatherhood can create new struggles and provide opportunities for growth. In some cases, fatherhood can serve as a gateway to adult development for these disadvantaged men. INDEX 91