ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some of the mechanisms and policies that inhibit Black male development across the life course and further interrogate how they influence racial and gender identity for adolescent Black males. It describes the view racial and gender identity development as the linchpin that structures “risk” to health behaviors and health outcomes. The chapter discusses how the broader environment of public and social policy can positively or negatively shape the development of Black males from an early age in three specific ways: policies as structural determinants of health and well-being. It examines the ways by which Black males begin to adhere to the masculine ideals that are theorized to contribute to the disparity between men’s and women’s health outcomes over time. Conceptualizations of manhood differ as men age, and a recognition exists that these conceptualizations may rise or lower the risk for Black males for various social, economic, and health outcomes.
