Sociocultural considerations in social skills training research with African American students with emotional or behavioral disorders

Students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) often have been identified on the basis of their social competence deficits. The overrepresentation of African American students in special education programs for EBD has been recognized for decades. This suggests that African American students with EBD have been in urgent need of social skills training (SST) if they have not been misidentified. Given that sociocultural contexts influence social behavior, there is a need to advance culturally sensitive SST research. This paper reviews SST research studies with African American students with EBD, including the extent to which researchers incorporated a sociocultural perspective in the design, implementation, and reporting of their research. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research and practice are discussed.