Key Concepts in the Discipline of Black Psychology

Faye Belgrave, Ph.D.

Description

Key Concepts in the Discipline of Black Psychology is a rigorous disciplinary reference work that documents the foundational concepts, theories, frameworks, methodologies, historical developments, and intellectual traditions that define Black Psychology as a field of study. Designed to support scholarly inquiry, teaching, research, clinical practice, and curriculum development, this volume provides an essential conceptual foundation for understanding the psychological experiences, cultural realities, mental health outcomes, and resilience of people of African descent across the diaspora.

As mental health disparities, cultural competence, racial trauma, identity development, community wellness, and health equity continue to shape contemporary research and professional practice, the need for culturally grounded psychological scholarship as part of the psychological academic canon is paramount. This volume addresses that need by providing a comprehensive reference framework rooted in African-centered and Black psychological traditions while engaging contemporary conversations in psychology, counseling, education, public health, and social work.

Ideal for academic libraries, HBCUs, counseling programs, psychology departments, Africana Studies programs, and interdisciplinary research collections, Key Concepts in the Discipline of Black Psychology serves as both an introductory resource for undergraduate students and a scholarly reference for graduate students, faculty, clinicians, therapists, counselors, and researchers. The text supports coursework in Black Psychology, African American Psychology, Multicultural Counseling, Mental Health Studies, Human Development, Educational Psychology, Social Work, Counseling Psychology, Africana Studies, and Cultural Studies.

Vol. 2 of THE BLACK LEXICON SERIES, this glossary of terms functions as an intellectual infrastructure resource—preserving the language, concepts, and knowledge systems necessary for the continued growth, rigor, and institutional advancement of Black Psychology within the academy and the broader mental health ecosystem.

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Key Concepts in the Discipline of Black Psychology is anchored in more than 35 years of Professor Belgrave’s sustained intellectual labor in Black Psychology. In some African traditions, it is said that what an old man can see sitting down, a young man cannot see even if he climbs the highest tree. By distilling decades of insight into this volume, Professor Belgrave provides the researchers of today and tomorrow with a very tall ladder, sharing her wisdom and that of other intellectual elders so that future generations do not have to spend years wandering in the bush to find the path to rigorous afrocentric knowledge production.

Vivian Afi Dzokoto, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Virginia Commonwealth University

Authors and Contributors

Faye Belgrave, Ph.D.

Dr. Faye Belgrave is a nationally recognized scholar in Black Psychology, African American Psychology, health disparities research, culturally grounded prevention science, and African-centered psychological frameworks. She serves as University Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and has spent more than three decades advancing scholarship focused on Black mental health, racial identity, African-centered cultural frameworks, youth development, family systems, gender, community health, and culturally responsive interventions.

Belgrave’s interdisciplinary research integrates psychology, public health, education, counseling, and Africana Studies to examine the psychological, social, and cultural experiences of people across the African diaspora. Her scholarship has contributed significantly to the development of culturally grounded prevention models, HIV and substance use prevention programs, Black adolescent development frameworks, and African-centered approaches to mental health and wellness.

She is the author and editor of numerous foundational texts, including African American Psychology: From Africa to America, African American Families, African American Boys, and Sisters of Nia, as well as an extensive body of peer-reviewed scholarship published in leading journals such as the Journal of Black Psychology, American Psychologist, Social Science & Medicine, and the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

Her work has been supported by major federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), SAMHSA, the Office on Women’s Health, and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Belgrave is also the recipient of numerous national honors, including the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest and the Association of Black Psychologists Distinguished Psychologist Award.

Her scholarship remains foundational to contemporary Black Psychology, African-centered mental health research, culturally responsive education, and interdisciplinary studies.

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