Racial identity attitudes and self-esteem of black adolescents in residential care: an exploratory study

Summary The study examined and compared the racial identity attitudesand self-esteem of 40 African Caribbean adolescents in residentialcare in a city in the West Midlands and a comparison group of40 African Caribbean adolescents attending a multiracial comprehensiveschool in the city. The respondents were administered the Rosenberg(Rosenberg, 1965) Self-Esteem Scale, the Racial Identity AttitudeScale (Parham and Helms, 1981) and a Demographic Questionnaire.Multiple regression analysis and analysis of variance were usedto analyse the data. Both respondents in residential care andthe comparison group primarily endorsed positive racial attitudes.Self-esteem and racial identity attitudes were positively related.The study assessed the implications of the findings for socialworkers working with black children and adolescents.