"And the pressure is from cradle to grave" : exploring Black manhood

ion. Data collection and analysis were conducted simultaneously and that analysis was used to shape strategies for subsequent data collection (e.g., theoretical sampling, interview protocol changes). Strauss and Corbin (1990) define open coding as the ―analytic process through which concepts are identified and their properties and dimensions are discovered in the data‖ (p. 101). During open coding, data were coded phrase-by-phrase and included identifying, labeling, categorizing, and describing conceptual categories found in the transcripts. If an item presented as an example of something previously coded, it was given the same category label. If not, a new label (code) was created. This method ensured that categories arose from the data and were not determined a priori by the researcher. Open coding of interview and focus group transcripts produced 344 distinct codes. Reoccurring categories were used as ―search terms‖ to sift through transcripts in determining the frequency and context of specific codes. Axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) is the process of drawing connections between codes, codes that develop with high frequency of mention and those that EXPLORING BLACK MANHOOD 24 demonstrate a logical consistent connection to other codes. In the present study, axial coding involved identifying contextual influences, intervening conditions, and antecedents and consequences of particular events. For example, being responsible (the phenomenon) is described as occurring in the family and community domains (context), as taught to participants by family, religion, and culture (antecedents), and results in behaviors such as being role models and accepting the outcomes of your actions (consequences). In this stage, codes were also grouped into concepts according to their thematic commonalities. Toward establishing core categories, I further identified, grouped, and clarified concepts during selective coding using additional interviews and focus groups (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). I compared and contrasted the most useful and/or frequent categories against the data itself. I used a type of selective coding developed by Charmaz (2006) called focus coding. This involves a summation and comparison of individual interviews for important and reoccurring thematic domains and categories to bring to light continuities and contradictions across interviewees. During selective coding, core categories emerge and relationships between categories and the contexts in which they exist become evident. For example, the following focus code was created for Amos: Amos seems to see manhood as centering on his obligations as a father and role model in his community. For him, being a good father is equivalent to being a good man. He extends his concept of good father beyond just being a provider. Amos also feels strongly about the importance of education and defines it broadly to include getting a trade apprenticeship or going to college. This is something he underscores in his parenting. He also thinks volunteering is an important element of manhood. Amos also sees it as his responsibility as a man to ―oversee‖ EXPLORING BLACK MANHOOD 25 household tasks. Growing up, he derived many of his ideas about manhood from his father and grandfather and from more distal models, including absent or unavailable fathers in other families, common problems in Black communities, in his opinion. As a result, he feels an obligation to be a role model for children. Memoing and integrative diagramming (Charmaz, 2006) were employed throughout the data collection and analysis processes in order to document the development of categories, to direct changes in the research questions, and to clarify relationships between categories and concepts. Reflective memoing consisted of a record of my questions, observations, and assessments of the data as they emerged during interactions with participants and during the data coding process. Memoing was a means of documenting the development of more abstract concepts and core categories. Integrative diagramming, as suggested by Strauss (1990), helped to clarify through visual representations emerging theoretical patterns and gave direction for further inquiry. By comparing emerging concepts with existing concepts, I was able to determine when modifications to the original protocol (e.g., changes in questions, wording, and/or foci) were required and saturation was reached (Glaser & Strauss, 2009). A constant comparison method strengthens the validity of studies by analyzing initial data for categories and themes. With each subsequent participant, new categories were compared with extant categories to determine if they were distinct from or an element of an existing category. Specifically, I collected data from the first case, drew from memos and transcripts in developing initial concepts, and speculated on the connections between them. I interviewed subsequent men and compared conceptual patterns across each participant. Data derived from additional interviews and focus groups were used to refine EXPLORING BLACK MANHOOD 26 concepts. Memos were used to document the process of theory development from interviews, literature, and observations of Black men in my daily life. Outsider/Insider Perspective and Theoretical Sensitivity Theoretical sensitivity is a critical component of grounded theory. Theoretical sensitivity refers to the researcher‘s ability to recognize patterns of behavior in raw data (Glaser, 1992). Sensitivity is developed through the process of constant comparative coding. Sensitivity is also a reflection of the researcher's knowledge of the topic of interest prior to engaging the data. Thus, grounded theorists are to be cognizant of the nature and quality of their prior information, experiences, values, and beliefs as they shape and are shaped by research processes. As an African American woman, I feel it necessary to address the issue of outsider/insider perspective in the exploration of Black masculinity. My perspective on Black manhood is shaped primarily by interactions with Black males in my family, in my community, and through my exposure to literature (academic and popular) on Black family dynamics. My views on and curiosities about Black manhood are also shaped by the fact that I am a single mother of two Black males, both entering developmental stages where defining and expressing notions of Black manhood are being explored. A number of scholars have theorized concerning the costs and benefits of outsider and insider membership with respect to cross-cultural and/or cross-gendered research. For example, Miescher (2008) discusses his experiences as a young Swiss gay male historian interested in the daily lives of women in post-colonial West Africa. He addresses a number of methodological and theoretical questions that arise with EXPLORING BLACK MANHOOD 27 consideration for the impact of his various intersecting identities on the research process. He concludes by stating that his position as outsider, "illuminate[s] our ethnographic endeavors by giving us a certain interpretative distance and theoretical insight. Yet at the same time this gendered baggage also obscures, since we will never fully understand our research subject" (p.231). Thus, there are both benefits and disadvantages to being a Black woman studying African American manhood. First, as a Black woman and scholar of Black Family Studies, I am able to relate to and apprehend the intricacies of African American gender dynamics from a woman's perspective. As argued by Collins (2000) and other Black feminists, Black women have a unique vantage point from which they view and experience issues of gender and race. Collins asserts that Black women ―provide a unique angle of vision on self, community, and society‖ (p. 22) which is derived from our distinctive social, political, and interpersonal localities. From this vantage point and through my own practical knowledge, I was able to embark on this project with sensitivity to the lives of people of African descent reared in the United States that non-Black scholars may lack. In this sense, I can claim the title of ―insider,‖ or one who shares a similar cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and national heritage with my participants (Collins, 2001). There are also ways in which I lack the experientially-based expertise to fully comprehend the perspectives of my participants, particularly with regard to their views and ventures in becoming men. Not only does my location as a woman limit access to certain experiences, but as a middle-class academician I am also viewing the lives of working class and upper class men from a veiled distance. For most of my participants EXPLORING BLACK MANHOOD 28 (primarily middleand working-class), being a doctoral student and researcher potentially put me at a hierarchical advantage based solely on my association with the local institution of higher learning and perceptions of my level education. Thus, I do not claim to speak for the men in my study, but am speaking with them (hooks, 2004). My intent is to bring forth their perspectives and derive a theory of manhood from their words.