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Abstract
Black youth are disproportionality detained in juvenile justice facilities in the United States; however, there is a lack of culturally specific interventions for incarcerated youth. The first step in developing effective interventions for this population is to develop a deep understanding of their racial identity and behavior. Utilizing a mixed method concurrent triangulation design, this study: (1) evaluates racial identity attitudes in Black incarcerated youth and (2) provides an understanding of the relationship between racial identity attitudes and behavior. For the quantitative portion, the researcher collected Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS) surveys and Detention Assessment Inventory (DAI) scores for 120+ Black incarcerated youth. The results were analyzed via cluster analysis and regression analysis. For the qualitative portion, the researcher conducted 10 semi-structured phenomenological interviews, which were analyzed using deductive and inductive thematic analyses. Quantitative, deductive (qualitative), and inductive (qualitative) results supported the hypotheses that youth primarily reported a Miseducation Pro-Black racial identity attitude, which was related to anti-social behaviors. Based on the findings, it is recommended that interventions promote of racial pride and integrate cognitive behavioral therapy based techniques (i.e. traditional CBT, TF-CBT, DBT, ACT).