RESPECT SCALE

The African American Adolescent Respect Scale

Associated Article:

The African American Adolescent Respect Scale: A Measure of a Prosocial Attitude

Objectives: The respect that African American youth feel promotes psychological wellness and social identity; conversely, a lack of respect compromises their identities and is viewed as a threat to safety. This article describes the development, psychometric analysis, and validation of the African American Respect Scale, a 20-item instrument measuring prosocial attitudes held by male adolescents. Method: The scale was administered to 200 African American male youth age 14 to 19 years; 100 were incarcerated in juvenile corrections facilities, 100 resided in the community.

Results: After acceptable reliability was established, factor analysis revealed three principal components labeled societal, family, and peer subscales. The subscales correlated with racial socialization and predicted the use of violence. Non-incarcerated youth scored significantly higher on all three subscales than incarcerated youth.

Conclusions: Suggestions for social work practice with African American youth include assessing their attitudes toward respect, and assisting them to handle disrespect without resorting to violence.

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