The concept of respect has been largely overlooked in developmental science. Yet respect, or lack thereof, is often central to key psychosocial outcomes during adolescence (e.g., interpersonal relationships, behavioral choices). The research that has examined respect often focuses on micro-level interactions, ignoring the ways macro-level forces (e.g., racism, sexism) complicate notions of (dis)respect. Given the gaps, this theoretical paper utilizes m(ai)cro developmental theory to consider the ways macro-level master narratives shape respect for marginalized and privileged adolescents. In addition, this paper presents a new process and conceptualization of the development of respect within the m(ai)cro. Lastly, we present humanizing versions of the development of respect.

1.
Alexander
,
T.
,
Burnette
,
C. B.
,
Cory
,
H.
,
McHale
,
S.
, &
Simone
,
M.
(
2024
).
The need for more inclusive measurement to advance equity in eating disorders prevention
.
Eating Disorders
,
32
(
6
),
1
19
.
2.
Allen
,
K. A.
,
Gray
,
D. L.
,
Baumeister
,
R. F.
, &
Leary
,
M. R.
(
2022
).
The need to belong: A deep dive into the origins, implications, and future of a foundational construct
.
Educational Psychology Review
,
34
(
2
),
1133
1156
.
3.
Alridge
,
D. P.
(
2006
).
The limits of master narratives in history textbooks: An analysis of representations of Martin Luther King, Jr
.
Teachers College Record
,
108
(
4
),
662
686
.
4.
Anderson
,
E.
(
2000
).
Code of the street: Decency, violence, and the moral life of the inner city
.
WW Norton & Company
.
5.
Anderson
,
P. M.
, &
Levine
,
P. B.
(
1999
, March).
Child care and mothers’ employment decisions
. Available from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=159076
6.
Aspy
,
D. N.
,
Roebuck
,
F. N.
, &
Black
,
B.
(
1972
).
The relationship of teacher-offered conditions of respect to behaviors described by Flanders’ interaction analysis
.
Journal of Negro Education
,
41
(
4
),
370
376
.
7.
Baumeister
,
R. F.
, &
Leary
,
M. R.
(
1995
).
The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation
.
Psychological Bulletin
,
117
(
3
),
497
529
.
8.
Benner
,
A. D.
,
Alers-Rojas
,
F.
,
López
,
B. A.
, &
Chen
,
S.
(
2024
).
Some people will tell jokes to you; some people be racist:” A mixed-method examination of racist jokes and adolescents’ well-being
.
Child Development
,
95
(
5
),
1572
1585
.
9.
Berberian
,
A. G.
,
Gonzalez
,
D. J.
, &
Cushing
,
L. J.
(
2022
).
Racial disparities in climate change-related health effects in the United States
.
Current Environmental Health Reports
,
9
(
3
),
451
464
.
10.
Bland
,
A. M.
, &
DeRobertis
,
E. M.
(
2020
).
Maslow’s unacknowledged contributions to developmental psychology
.
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
,
60
(
6
),
934
958
.
11.
Blau
,
F. D.
, &
Kahn
,
L. M.
(
2020
).
The gender pay gap: Have women gone as far as they can
.
In Inequality in the United States
(pp.
345
362
).
Routledge
.
12.
Bordo
,
S.
(
2012
).
Beyond the anorexic paradigm: Re-thinking ‘eating’ disorders
. In
B. S.
Turner
(Ed),
Routledge handbook of body studies
(pp.
253
264
).
Routledge
.
13.
Bottiani
,
J. H.
,
Camacho
,
D. A.
,
Lindstrom Johnson
,
S.
, &
Bradshaw
,
C. P.
(
2021
).
Annual research review: youth firearm violence disparities in the United States and implications for prevention
.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
,
62
(
5
),
563
579
.
14.
Bovet
,
P.
(
1928
).
Respect
. In
P.
Bovet
(Ed),
The child’s religion: A study of the development of the religious sentiment
(pp.
131
159
).
E. P. Dutton
. (Original work presented 1913).
15.
Bowleg
,
L.
(
2017
).
Intersectionality: An underutilized but essential theoretical framework for social psychology
. In
B.
Gough
(Ed),
The Palgrave handbook of critical social psychology
(pp.
507
529
).
Palgrave McMillen
.
16.
Bronfenbrenner
,
U.
, &
Morris
,
P.
(
2006
).
The bioecological model of human development
. In
R. M.
Lerner
, &
W.
Damon
(Eds),
Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical models of human development
(6th ed., pp.
793
828
).
Wiley
.
17.
Burk
,
B. N.
(
2015
).
Black girls’ perceptions of health and ideal body types
.
Journal of Gender Studies
,
24
(
5
),
496
511
.
18.
Caton
,
M. T.
(
2012
).
Black male perspectives on their educational experiences in high school
.
Urban Education
,
47
(
6
),
1055
1085
.
19.
Coll
,
C. G.
,
Crnic
,
K.
,
Lamberty
,
G.
,
Wasik
,
B. H.
,
Jenkins
,
R.
,
Garcia
,
H. V.
, &
McAdoo
,
H. P.
(
1996
).
An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children
.
Child Development
,
67
(
5
),
1891
1914
.
20.
Dahl
,
R. E.
(
2004
).
Adolescent brain development: a period of vulnerabilities and opportunities. Keynote address
.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
,
1021
(
1
),
1
22
.
21.
Deci
,
E. L.
, &
Ryan
,
R. M.
(
2012
).
Self-determination theory
.
Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology
,
1
(
20
),
416
436
.
22.
Deci
,
E. L.
, &
Ryan
,
R. M.
(
2000
).
The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior
.
Psychological Inquiry
,
11
(
4
),
227
268
.
23.
Dee
,
T. S.
, &
Penner
,
E. K.
(
2021
).
My brother’s keeper? The impact of targeted educational supports
.
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
,
40
(
4
),
1171
1196
.
24.
Deutsch
,
N. L.
(
2008
).
Pride in the projects: Teens building identities in urban contexts
.
New York, NY
:
NYU Press
.
25.
Dienstag
,
J. F.
(
1996
).
Between history and nature: Social contract theory in Locke and the founders
.
The Journal of Politics
,
58
(
4
),
985
1009
.
26.
Dillon
,
R. S.
(
2007
).
Respect: A philosophical perspective
.
Gruppendynamik und Organisationsberatung
,
38
(
2
),
201
212
.
27.
Du Bois
,
W. B.
(
1935
).
Does the Negro need separate schools
.
Journal of Negro Education
,
4
(
3
),
328
335
.
28.
Egbert
,
A. H.
,
Hunt
,
R. A.
,
Williams
,
K. L.
,
Burke
,
N. L.
, &
Mathis
,
K. J.
(
2022
).
Reporting racial and ethnic diversity in eating disorder research over the past 20 years
.
International Journal of Eating Disorders
,
55
(
4
),
455
462
.
29.
Freire
,
P.
(
1970
).
Pedagogy of the oppressed
.
Seabury Press
.
30.
Frey
,
K. S.
,
McDonald
,
K. L.
,
Onyewuenyi
,
A. C.
,
Germinaro
,
K.
, &
Eagan
,
B. R.
(
2021
).
“I Felt Like a Hero:” Adolescents’ understanding of resolution-promoting and vengeful actions on behalf of their peers
.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
,
50
(
3
),
521
535
.
31.
Garcia
,
C.
, &
Godsoe
,
C.
(
2022
).
Divest, invest mutual aid
.
Columbia Journal of Race and Law
,
12
,
601
,
32.
Gilligan
,
J.
(
2003
).
Shame, guilt, and violence
.
Social Research: An International Quarterly
,
70
(
4
),
1149
1180
.
33.
Glasgow
,
J.
(
2009
).
Racism as disrespect
.
Ethics
,
120
(
1
),
64
93
.
34.
Gordon-Reed
,
A.
(
2018
).
America's original sin: Slavery and the legacy of White supremacy
.
Foreign Affairs
,
97
,
2
.
35.
Grace
,
J. E.
, &
Nelson
,
S. L.
(
2019
).
“Tryin’to survive”: Black male students’ understandings of the role of race and racism in the school-to-prison pipeline
.
Leadership and Policy in Schools
,
18
(
4
),
664
680
.
36.
Grice
,
S.
(
2022
).
The great White hype: Anti-Critical Race Theory legislation and the matrix of domination in K-12 schools
.
Journal of Critical Race Inquiry
,
9
(
2
),
24
46
.
37.
Griffin
,
L. K.
,
Adams
,
N.
, &
Little
,
T. D.
(
2017
).
Self determination theory, identity development, and adolescence
. In:
Development of self-determination through the life- course
(pp.
189
196
).
38.
Hagerman
,
M. A.
(
2018
).
White kids: Growing up with privilege in a racially divided America
.
White Kids
.
New York University Press
.
39.
Halbeisen
,
G.
,
Brandt
,
G.
, &
Paslakis
,
G.
(
2022
).
A plea for diversity in eating disorders research
.
Frontiers in Psychiatry
,
13
,
820043
.
40.
Hall
,
W. J.
,
Dawes
,
H. C.
, &
Plocek
,
N.
(
2021
).
Sexual orientation identity development milestones among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people: A systematic review and meta-analysis
.
Frontiers in Psychology
,
12
,
753954
.
41.
Harris
,
J.
,
Kruger
,
A. C.
, &
Scott
,
E.
(
2022
).
“Sometimes I wish I was a girl, ’cause they do shit like cry”: An exploration into Black boys’ thinking about emotions
.
Urban Education
,
57
(
2
),
224
250
.
42.
Hemmings
,
A.
(
2003
).
Fighting for respect in urban high schools
.
Teachers College Record
,
105
(
3
),
416
437
.
43.
Hines
,
A. R.
, &
Paulson
,
S. E.
(
2006
).
Parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of adolescent storm and stress: Relations with parenting and teaching styles
.
Adolescence
,
41
,
597
614
.
44.
Howard
,
S. J.
, &
Williams
,
K. E.
(
2018
).
Early self-regulation, early self-regulatory change, and their longitudinal relations to adolescents’ academic, health, and mental well-being outcomes
.
Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics
,
39
(
6
),
489
496
.
45.
Howard
,
T. C.
,
Flennaugh
,
T. K.
, &
Terry Sr
,
C. L.
(
2012
).
Black males, social imagery, and the disruption of pathological identities
.
Implications for research and teaching. Educational Foundations
,
26
,
85
102
.
46.
Hughes
,
D.
,
Rodriguez
,
J.
,
Smith
,
E. P.
,
Johnson
,
D. J.
,
Stevenson
,
H. C.
, &
Spicer
,
P.
(
2006
).
Parents’ ethnic-racial socialization practices: a review of research and directions for future study
.
Developmental Psychology
,
42
(
5
),
747
770
.
48.
Ishimaru
,
A. M.
(
2020
).
Just schools: Building equitable collaborations with families and communities
.
Teachers College Press
.
49.
Jacobs Brumberg
,
J.
(
1997
).
The Body Project: An intimate history of American girls
.
Random House
.
50.
Jones
,
N.
(
2014
).
“The regular routine”: Proactive policing and adolescent development among young, poor black men
.
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development
,
2014
(
143
),
33
54
.
51.
Kohlberg
,
L.
, &
Hersh
,
R. H.
(
1977
).
Moral development: A review of the theory
.
Theory into Practice
,
16
(
2
),
53
59
.
52.
Kramvig
,
B.
, &
Verran
,
H.
(
2019
).
Stories, stones, and memories in the land of dormant reciprocity: Opening up possibilities for reconciliation with a politics that works tensions of dissensus and consensus with care
. In
J. E.
Henriksen
,
I.
Hydle
, &
B.
Kramvig
(Eds),
Recognition, reconciliation and restoration: Applying a decolonized understanding in social work and healing processes
(1 ed., pp.
163
180
).
Orkana Akademisk
.
53.
Lack
,
B.
(
2011
).
Anti-democratic militaristic education: An overview and critical analysis of KIPP schools
.
Counterpoints
,
402
,
65
90
.
54.
Ladson-Billings
,
G.
(
2006
).
From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in US schools
.
Educational Researcher
,
35
(
7
),
3
12
.
55.
Lawrence-Lightfoot
,
S.
(
2000
).
Respect
.
Perseus Books
.
56.
Lawrence
,
L. S.
(
2012
).
Respect: On witness and justice
.
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
,
82
(
3
),
447
454
.
57.
Leary
,
J. D.
,
Brennan
,
E. M.
, &
Briggs
,
H. E.
(
2005
).
The African American adolescent respect scale: A measure of a prosocial attitude
.
Research on Social Work Practice
,
15
(
6
),
462
469
.
58.
Liang
,
C. T.
,
Rocchino
,
G. H.
,
Gutekunst
,
M. H.
,
Paulvin
,
C.
,
Melo Li
,
K.
, &
Elam-Snowden
,
T.
(
2020
).
Perspectives of respect, teacher: student relationships, and school climate among boys of color: A multifocus group study
.
Psychology of Men & Masculinities
,
21
(
3
),
345
356
.
59.
Malti
,
T.
,
Peplak
,
J.
, &
Zhang
,
L.
(
2020
).
The development of respect in children and adolescents
.
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development
,
85
(
3
),
7
99
.
60.
May
,
L.
(
1980
).
Hobbes’s contract theory
.
Journal of the History of Philosophy
,
18
(
2
),
195
207
.
61.
McElhaney
,
K.
,
Allen
,
J.
,
Stephenson
,
J.
, &
Hare
,
A.
(
2009
).
Attachment and autonomy during adolescence
. In
R. M.
Lerner
, &
L.
Steinberg
(Eds),
Handbook of adolescent psychology, Vol 1: Individual bases of adolescent development
(3rd ed., pp.
358
403
).
Wiley
.
62.
McLean
,
K. C.
, &
Syed
,
M.
(
2016
).
Personal, master, and alternative narratives: An integrative framework for understanding identity development in context
.
Human Development
,
58
(
6
),
318
349
.
63.
Mikhail
,
M. E.
, &
Klump
,
K. L.
(
2021
).
A virtual issue highlighting eating disorders in people of black/African and Indigenous heritage
.
International Journal of Eating Disorders
,
54
(
3
),
459
467
.
64.
Miller
,
D. T.
(
2001
).
Disrespect and the experience of injustice
.
Annual Review of Psychology
,
52
(
1
),
527
553
.
65.
Mills
,
C. W.
(
2000
).
Race and the social contract tradition
.
Social Identities
,
6
(
4
),
441
462
.
66.
Mills
,
C. W.
(
2007
).
The domination contract
.
Contract and Domination
,
79
105
.
67.
Mills
,
C. W.
(
1997
).
The racial contract
.
Cornell University Press
.
68.
Mills
,
C. W.
(
2020
).
The racial state
. In
J.
Solomos
(Ed.),
Routledge International handbook of contemporary racisms (1st ed.)
.
Routledge
.
69.
Morello-Frosch
,
R.
, &
Shenassa
,
E. D.
(
2006
).
The environmental “riskscape” and social inequality: implications for explaining maternal and child health disparities
.
Environmental Health Perspectives
,
114
(
8
),
1150
1153
.
70.
Morris
,
M.
(
2016
)
Pushout: The criminalization of Black girls in schools
.
The New Press
.
71.
Mugumbate
,
J.
, &
Chereni
,
A
(
2019
).
Using African Ubuntu theory in social work with children in Zimbabwe
.
African Journal of Social Work
,
9
(
1
).
72.
Muhammad
,
K. G.
(
2019
).
The condemnation of Blackness: Race, crime, and the making of modern urban America, with a new preface
.
Harvard University Press
.
74.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
(
2019
).
The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth
.
Washington, DC
:
The National Academies Press
.
75.
Nieman
,
D. G.
(
1995
).
From slaves to citizens: African-Americans, rights consciousness, and reconstruction
.
Cardozo Law Review
,
17
,
2115
.
76.
Neitzel
,
J.
(
2018
).
Research to practice: Understanding the role of implicit bias in early childhood disciplinary practices
.
Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education
,
39
(
3
),
232
242
.
77.
Pabon
,
A. J. M.
,
Anderson
,
N. S.
, &
Kharem
,
H.
(
2011
).
Minding the gap: Cultivating Black male teachers in a time of crisis in urban schools
.
The Journal of Negro Education
,
80
(
3
),
358
367
.
78.
Phinney
,
J. S.
, &
Ong
,
A. D.
(
2007
).
Conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity: Current status and future directions
.
Journal of Counseling Psychology
,
54
(
3
),
271
281
.
79.
Piaget
,
J.
(
1965
).
The moral judgment of the child
.
The Free Press
. (Original work published in 1932).
80.
Raven
,
H.
, &
Pels
,
F.
(
2021
).
Why feeling competent matters: Associations between satisfaction of basic psychological needs of students and self-efficacy in secondary school physical education
.
German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research
,
51
(
3
),
371
377
.
81.
Rawls
,
J.
(
2005
).
A theory of justice
.
Belknap Press
.
82.
Robinson
,
C. J.
(
2020
).
Black Marxism, revised and updated third edition: The making of the black radical tradition
.
UNC press Books
.
83.
Rogers
,
L. O.
,
Niwa
,
E. Y.
,
Chung
,
K.
,
Yip
,
T.
, &
Chae
, D.
(
2021
).
M(ai)cro: Centering the macrosystem in human development
.
Human Development
,
65
(
5-6
),
270
292
.
84.
Rogers
,
L. O.
&
Syed
,
M.
(
2021
).
Conceptualizing the multiple levels of identity and intersectionality
. In
M.
Bamberg
,
C.
Demuth
, &
M.
Watzlawik
(Eds.),
The Cambridge Handbook of Identity
(pp.
604
626
).
Cambridge University Press
. https://www.cambridge.org/de/academic/subjects/psychology/social-psychology/cambridge-handbook-identity?format=HB
85.
Rogers
,
L. O.
, &
Way
,
N.
(
2019
).
Reimagining social and emotional development: Accommodation and resistance to dominant ideologies in the identities and friendships of boys of color
.
Human Development
.
61
(
6
),
311
331
.
86.
Rogers
,
L. O.
, &
Way
,
N.
(
2021
).
Child development in an ideological context: Through the lens of resistance and accommodation
.
Child Development Perspectives
,
15
(
4
),
242
248
.
87.
Rousseau
,
J. J.
(
2018
).
Rousseau: The Social Contract and other later political writings
.
Cambridge University Press
.
88.
Sadler
,
R. C.
, &
Highsmith
,
A. R.
(
2016
).
Rethinking Tiebout: The contribution of political fragmentation and racial/economic segregation to the Flint water crisis
.
Environmental Justice
,
9
(
5
),
143
151
.
89.
Santos
,
C. E.
, &
Toomey
,
R. B.
(
2018
).
Integrating an intersectionality lens in theory and research in developmental science
.
New directions for child and adolescent development
,
2018
(
161
),
7
15
.
90.
Sayal
,
K.
,
Washbrook
,
E.
, &
Propper
,
C.
(
2015
).
Childhood behavior problems and academic outcomes in adolescence: longitudinal population-based study
.
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
,
54
(
5
),
360
368
.
91.
Sennett
,
R.
(
2003
).
Respect in a World of Inequality
.
WW Norton & Company
.
92.
Smith
,
E.
, &
Hattery
,
A. J.
(
2010
).
African American men and the prison industrial complex
.
Western Journal of Black Studies
,
34
(
4
).
93.
Spade
,
D.
(
2020
).
Solidarity not charity: Mutual aid for mobilization and survival
.
Social Text
,
38
(
1
),
131
151
.
94.
Spencer
,
M. B.
(
2017
).
Privilege and critical race perspectives’ intersectional contributions to a systems theory of human development
(pp.
287
312
).
New Perspectives on Human Development
.
95.
Spencer
,
M. B.
(
2021
).
Acknowledging bias and pursuing protections to support anti-racist developmental science: Critical contributions of phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory
.
Journal of Adolescent Research
,
36
(
6
),
569
583
.
96.
Spencer
,
M. B.
(
1995
).
Old issues and new theorizing about African American youth: A phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory. Black youth: Perspectives on their status in the United States
(pp.
37
70
).
97.
Stevenson
,
H. C.
Jr.
(
1997
).
“Missed, Dissed, and Pissed”: Making Meaning of Neighborhood Risk, Fear and Anger Management in Urban Black Youth
.
Cultural Diversity and Mental Health
,
3
(
1
),
37
52
,
98.
Stewart
,
E. A.
,
Schreck
,
C. J.
, &
Simons
,
R. L.
(
2006
).
“I ain’t gonna let no one disrespect me”: does the code of the street reduce or increase violent victimization among African American adolescents
.
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency
,
43
(
4
),
427
458
.
99.
Syed
,
M.
, &
Ajayi
,
A. A.
(
2018
).
Promises and pitfalls in the integration of intersectionality with development science
.
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development
,
2018
(
161
),
109
117
.
100.
Syed
,
M.
, &
McLean
,
K. C.
(
2023
).
Master narrative methodology: A primer for conducting structural-psychological research
.
Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
,
29
(
1
),
53
63
.
101.
Tusasiirwe
,
S.
(
2023
).
Disrupting colonisation in the social work classroom: using the Obuntu/Ubuntu framework to decolonise the curriculum
.
Social Work Education
,
43
(
8
),
1
15
.
102.
Umaña-Taylor
,
A. J.
,
Quintana
,
S. M.
,
Lee
,
R. M.
,
Cross
,
W. E.
Jr.
,
Rivas-Drake
,
D.
,
Schwartz
,
S. J.
,
Syed
,
M.
,
Yip
,
T.
,
Seaton
,
E.
, &
Ethnic and Racial Identity in the 21st Century Study Group
(
2014
).
Ethnic and racial identity during adolescence and into young adulthood: An integrated conceptualization
.
Child Development
,
85
(
1
),
21
39
.
103.
Umaña-Taylor
,
A. J.
(
2016
).
Ethnic-racial identity: Conceptualization, development, and youth adjustment
. In
L.
Balter
, &
C. S.
Tamis-LeMonda
(Eds),
Child Psychology: Handbook of Contemporary Issues
(3rd ed., pp.
305
328
).
Psychology Press
.
104.
Vélez-Agosto
,
N. M.
,
Soto-Crespo
,
J. G.
,
Vizcarrondo-Oppenheimer
,
M.
,
Vega-Molina
,
S.
, &
García Coll
,
C.
(
2017
).
Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory revision: Moving culture from the macro into the micro
.
Perspectives on Psychological Science
,
12
(
5
),
900
910
.
105.
Wane
,
N. N.
(
2019
).
African indigenous education
.
Gender, Democracy and Institutional Development in Africa
,
99
121
.
106.
West
,
C.
(
2011
, April). Howard University Sermon. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGqP7S_WO6o
107.
Wun
,
C.
(
2016
).
Against captivity: Black girls and school discipline policies in the afterlife of slavery
.
Educational Policy
,
30
(
1
),
171
196
.
You do not currently have access to this content.