Risk and Protective Factors

Risk and Protective Factors
Student Name
Institution

Risk and Protective Factors
Culture may be defined as the distinct features or way of life of a specific group of people. It might comprise their language, religious beliefs, diet, laws, attitudes, values, beliefs and a multitude of other features (Spencer-Oatey, 2012). As such, a person or a community’s behavior may be affected by their culture. Importantly, culture is learned from a person’s social environment, unlike personality which can be inherited. Culture is also prone to change over time because a community is made of people of people from different cultures.
In a present-day African Americans are descendants of the slaves brought into America and other Africans who have immigrated to America since then. Black American culture is famous for its rich culture that comprises poetry, dance and music genres such as rap (Brown, 2013). The culture has also been shaped by the history of African Americans which included a long period of slavery, institutionalized racism, segregation, and general discrimination.
Rap, and especially gangsta rap, has been faulted for its seeming glorification and encouragement of violence. The problem is made all the more serious by the popularity of rap music among black Americans. Rap artists such as the late Tupac Shakur was idolized by many people. Additionally, young adults and teenagers are easily impressionable and may copy the habits of such celebrities in efforts to become popular or fit in (Oredein & Lewis, 2013).

At the family level, the African American family can do several things to reduce the prevalence of violence and aggression. To start with, parents may teach their children, from an early age, peaceful ways of resolving and deescalating violence. Often, children may be living in poor neighborhoods where they are occasionally exposed to violence and a child might risk adopting this as a way of resolving a conflict themselves (Collins & Swoveland, 2013). Guardians and parents can also actively indoctrinate their children on the importance of not copying the criminal habits of celebrities. Secondly, violence and aggression are also linked to negative life views and observations that may lead to reckless behavior that often results or involves violence. By creating positive ideology and connections at the family level, young people who are the most prone to violence may direct their energies to more productive matter.
References
Brown, A. (2013). Black Culture. International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies, 1(1).
Collins J.& Swoveland E. (2013) Impact of Gun Violence on Children, Families & Communities. Child Welfare League of America. Retrieved from http://www.cwla.org/voice/23_1.html
Oredein, T., & Lewis, MJ. (2013). Violence in Hip-Hop Journalism: A Content Analysis of the
Source, A Leading Hi-Hop Magazine.
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2012). What is culture? A compilation of quotations. GlobalPAD Core
Concepts, 1-22.