Brothers in grief : the hidden toll of gun violence on black boys and their schools / Nora Gross.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gross, Nora, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American high school boys--Social conditions.

African American high school boys.

African American high school boys--Education--Social aspects.

School environment--United States.

School environment.

Education, Secondary--Social aspects--United States.

Education, Secondary.

Youth and violence--United States.

Youth and violence.

Grief--Social aspects--United States.

Grief.

Psychic trauma--United States.

Psychic trauma.

Educational sociology--United States.

Educational sociology.

Physical Description:

pages cm

Other Title:

Hidden toll of gun violence on black boys and their schools

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2024.

Summary:

"Our teenage years are a uniquely vulnerable and formative time as we lay the foundations for the people we will become. Our relationships with our peers, our families, and our mentors all shape these critical years, but one institution looms large, shaping our days and guiding our futures: school. This achingly sensitive book from sociologist Nora Gross examines what happens in a group of young men's lives after three of their peers die by gun violence. Looking to their interactions at and beyond school, as well as their vibrant lives online, Gross shows what happens when a school with the mission of supporting young Black men into college confronts the realities of their living amid gun violence. Initially, the school administration and teachers responded both through personal outreach (cookies, hugs, and memorials) and institutional resources (more lenient policies and two therapists from an anti-violence organization). This, Gross tells us, is the "easy hard." When pain is fresh, so is empathy. But as the immediate shock began to fade, teachers and administrators were faced with mandated testing on the horizon and the school's charter on the line, pushing a return to normalcy. Collective mourning was no longer a school-sponsored activity, and the initial sense of community gave way to factions: those teachers who made space for grief, and those who pushed for a return to normal. These are the days Gross calls the "hard hard." As the school year wore on, routines of daily life did resume, inaugurating a period Gross calls the "hidden hard," when students' unresolved grief is pushed into private spaces by the expectation of normalcy and the mythology around the boys' resilience. Most students continued to grieve silently and on their phones, with social media as their primary space for self-expression. These students were checking out through substance use, unable to plan for the future, and seeking solidarity through posts expressing their grief and checking in on each other-all reactions that their teachers and administrators failed to register. From these moments of pain and comfort, Gross highlights meaningful ways we can support young people as they navigate loss"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Preface

"I'll never know my last time..." : introduction

Silent hallways, shared sorrow

A school prepared

and not : the easy hard

Policing grief : the hard hard

Disenfranchised grief : the hidden hard

Long-term social injury? : the repeated hard

From grief to grievance.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226820873

0226820874

OCLC:

1420621601