Turning Corners

How the African-American community has strived for competence in the face of societal hostility is the subject of this dynamic new book. Recognized scholar and psychologist Adelbert H. Jenkins applies a unified psychological point of view to the African-American situation.

Jenkins begins with an introduction to the humanistic psychological view and goes on to present discussions of self-concept, cognition, school performance, speech and language processes in children, assertion and identity development in young adults, and the issues related to mental health among blacks. The result is a one-of-a-kind look at the aspects of traditional psychology that can make a contribution to the understanding of the Black experience in America.

Highlighting the neglected aspects of general psychological theory that emphasize the human potential for mastery even in the face of adversity, he uses a more positive model to correct the social science image of African Americans. This broadly humanistic and teleological approach to the psychological situation of African Americans looks at people as "psychological agents" - proactive, potentially competent beings who are able to make a difference in the situations that confront them.