Black youth mental health: reconstructing identity through art-based research
Author
Faculty Advisor
Date
2025
Keywords
art based, youth centred, Afro-Caribbean Canadian youth (ACCY), Black, anti-Black racism
Abstract (summary)
This article presents data from a creative art-based activity conducted as part of an ongoing youth-centered phenomenological study with Afro-Caribbean Canadian youth (ACCY) aged 16-18 in Canada. The youth in this study were asked to create identity maps to explore what it means to be Black and Canadian and how their identity affects their mental health and well-being at home, school, and in Canadian society. The art-based activity of this study was informed by Fine and Sirin’s (2007) concept of the hyphenated selves defined as “the social and developmental psychologies of youths living in bodies infused with global and local conflict, as they strive to make meaning, speak back, incorporate and resist the contradictory messages that swirl through them” (p. 17). It is well-established in the literature that Black youth are grossly underrepresented in research within the Canadian context, meaning that their perspectives are often missing. Therefore, it is significant to gain their perspectives on issues that impact their overall mental health and well-being. The art-based activity empowered ACCY to become knowledge producers, allowing them to construct their own narratives about their identity and how it shapes their mental health experience. A theoretical analysis of the identity maps produced by ACCY using post-colonial theory, critical race theory (CRT) and the concept of anti-Black racism (ABR) reveals that being Black and Canadian are two separate and distinct identities Black youth embody with varied outcomes on their mental health and well-being. This article emphasizes the importance of using art-based research with Black youth as a decolonizing approach to gain their perspectives on race and mental health in order to better understand and respond to their mental health needs.
Publication Information
Edwards, F. (2025). Black youth mental health: Reconstructing identity through art-based Research. Journal of Critical Research Methodologies, 1(1), 29-43.
DOI
Notes
Item Type
Article
Language
Rights
Attribution (CC BY)
