Black Families

The condition and characteristics of the black family have been subjects of intense debate since at least the 1960s, when the Moynihan Report and the culture of poverty theses held sway. Since then a consistent theme has been that black families are pathological. Despite the fact that research has been inconclusive and contradictory, political debate and policy have been strongly influenced by the pathology theme. This volume presents alternative approaches toward understanding the special characteristics of black families. Extending a special issue of The Review of Black Political Economy, the book focuses on the economic circumstances and decision making of these families, employing Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives. It examines the general responses of black families to various external factors such as economic systems, and to Internal factors such as interpersonal relationships. This compendium of current thinking and research will be of interest to professionals in a number of fields, Including family studies, counseling, social work, psychology, and sociology. It will be of practical use in training programs for service delivery systems Interested In Incorporating multicultural perspectives, as well as those specifically interested in black families today.

Harold E. Cheatham, James B. Stewart

1: Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives; 1: Back to Basics: The Significance of Du Bois's and Frazier's Contributions for Contemporary Research on Black Families; 2: Ecological Perspectives; 2: Black Families and the Black Church: a Sociohistorical Perspective; 3: Black Hospitals: Institutional Impacts on Black Families; 4: Federal Government Policies and the "Housing Quotient" of Black American Families; 5: Economic Forces, Structural Discrimination and Black Family Instability; 3: Family Form and Functioning; 6: Parental Values Transmission: Implications for the Development of African-American Children; 7: Sickle Cell Anemia, Child Competence, and Extended Family Life; 8: Gender Differences in the Perception of Black Male-Female Relationships and Stereotypes; 9: Polygamy and the Declining Male to Female Ratio in Black Communities: a Social Inquiry; 4: Health Outcomes and Economic Resources; 10: Hypertension as a Manifestation of the Stress Experienced by Black Families; 11: The Employed Black: the Dynamics of Work-Family Tension; 12: Values, Beliefs, and Welfare Recipiency: is there a Connection?; 5: Intracultural Perspectives; 13: Family Environment, Educational Aspiration, and Performance in St, Vincent; 14: Child Care and Female Employment in Urban Nigeria; 15: West Indian Families in the United States; 6: Policy and Social Service Delivery Systems; 16: Developing Intervention Models for Black Families: Linking Theory and Research; 17: Counseling Black Families at Inner-City Church Sites; 18: Empowering Black Families; 19: Retrospective and Exegesis: Black Families Reconceptualized