Family Relationships and African American Community   Term Paper ID:42289 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: This paper provides an analysis of the importance and nature of family relationships in ...... More...

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Paper Abstract: This paper provides an analysis of the importance and nature of family relationships in the African American community, including relationships between mothers and children, husbands and wives, and extended family members. Paper Introduction: Family Relationships African American Community Historically the importance of family and family relationships inthe African American community has little changed As McAdoo notes The strong family tradition among blacks survived the slave system thenlegal segregation discrimination and enforced poverty p President-elect Obama and his successful and healthy family demonstrate how familystrength in the African American community has overcome all obstacles insociety The significance of African American mothers as anchor of thefamily cannot be underestimated in black culture including grandmothers aunts and other Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Relationships between black mothers or female head of householdcaregivers and their children exhibit a number of strengths that the motherhelps bestow upon the children. Family Relations, 31(4), 479-488. Journal of Marriage & Family, 4 (4), 761-776.McAdoo, H. Despite the absence of the father figure and the dominance of theblack mother in socializing African American families and communities,McAdoo (2 7) maintains that "recently substantive discussion occursregarding the roles fathers play in rearing their children" (p. These unique patterns found inthe relationship between black males and females include the following: . 1). In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, themale protagonist strives to become economically self-sufficient. Provisions of information/knowledge . This is why Dehaney (2 6) maintains the policy of theBush administration aimed at encouraging black mothers on welfare to marryis a poor idea, "One of the most dangerous obstacles for women on welfareto hurdle is that of an abusive intimate partner, so encouraging marriagein many cases actually causes more harm than good" (p. As Cherry (2 4) notes, "A spiritual orientationhas always been a part of Black family life" (p. L. Grandmothers often raise grandchildren whileparents work; aunts routinely babysit or help their adult siblings withchores; and, brothers and uncles and nephews forge close bonds that oftenaim at economic or educational goals. Mediation of concrete conditions Family patterns and relationships have become increasingly diverseamong black families due to the "growing diversities of people of color,including their economic, educational, and geographic origins" (McAdoo,2 7, p. Yet there is aunique dynamic in the nature or patterns of relationships forced by blackmen and women compared to other cultures. An egalitarian relationship between black men and women. As such, the next few decades maywitness changes in the kind of relationships in black families but theywill not, if history is any example, undermine the strength of them to theAfrican American community. Kinship remains vital to the unityof the black family. 5) liststhese strengths as: . Inaddition, we are seeing major changes in family constellations in allcultures. The truth about welfare and African-American women. Itappears that fathers enjoy much better and stronger relationships withtheir wives and their children when they are of a certain socio-economiclevel of attainment. Nickel and dimed: Contrasting perspectives of welfare reform. Stress absorbing systems in black families. Family Relationships & African American Community Historically, the importance of family and family relationships inthe African American community has little changed. Extended family is very important in theblack community, as ties of kinship continue to unite black families andserve as support systems. . McAdoo (2 7, p. (1978). Mothers serve as theanchor of black families and community. 121). Relationships betweenblack men and women have also historically witnessed a significant level ofviolence or abuse. Whilemothers have often played a dominant role in the socialization of theirchildren and as carriers of the significant burdens of childrearing andproviding for a family, an increasing number of African American fathersare committed to strong marriages, the fostering of good relationships withtheir wives and their children, and upward mobility for their family. P. When heis taken, after borrowing money from his mother, it is his mother whoforgives him and holds the family's dreams together. 5). Despite patterns of divorce and abuse in relationships between blackmen and women, marriage plays a strong role in black families. Legitimation of beingness . (2 6). A strongspiritual element and a strong commitment to marriage are both reinforcedwithin black families. Greater independence of black women within the family system. Retrieved November 17, 2 8, from http://www.blackelectorate.com/articles.asp?ID=586McAdoo, H. President-elect Obama and his successful and healthy family demonstrate how familystrength in the African American community has overcome all obstacles insociety. . 761). 9). (2 4). Relationships betweenblack men and women historically have witnessed a majority of thechildrearing duties posited upon the mother. Factors related to stability in upwardly mobile black families. Overload of duties on women. This analysis will provide adiscussion of family relationships in African American families, showinghow family strength is engendered in the black community. Black families, (4th edit.). 155). 1). McAdoo(2 7) maintains the inner strength of the African American family "lies inthe quality of the relationships of its people, their grounding in theirown culture, and their constant striving" (p. African Americans remain a culture strongly committed to marriage. One of the reasons black families of the highest social status mayalso experience less stress, aside from kin support networks, is that in amajority of such families the father is present. . P. Dehaney (2 6) maintains black single mothers facebarriers to success, including (1) a lack of childcare; (2) racism; (3) lowlevels of education, and (4) poor job skills (p. However, family ties within the African American communityare almost exclusively "culturally based" rather than solely economic innature (McAdoo, 1978, p. ReferencesCherry, R. The significance of African American mothers as anchor of thefamily cannot be underestimated in black culture, including grandmothers,aunts, and other female family members. 279) The strength of family relationships in the African Americancommunity has historically endured systemic barriers to unity and upwardmobility because it is such a powerful tie among blacks culturally. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.McAdoo, H. 479). Elasticity of boundaries . P. Provision of a family code . It must be remembered that Barack Obama credits his success tohis white grandmother, who raised him. In many instances it is the bondbetween the mother and children in African American families that is mostresponsible for the enduring strength of the family and its relationshipsin black culture. 2 1). High rates of teen pregnancy,unwed mothers, and many single mother families face systemic barriers toupward mobility. Review of Black Political Economy, 31(3), 117-128.Dehaney, Jr. If the strength of black families endures against such overwhelmingodds, it is because of more than education or economic success. C. McAdoo (1982) notes that socioeconomic success doesappear to reduce stress levels in successful black families, but kinnetworks remain a vital component of the stress reduction even for upper-class African Americans: "Families upwardly mobile over three generationsand in the highest social status classification had the lowest stressscores but kin support systems greatly facilitated stress management"(McAdoo, 1982, p. These strengths serve as supportmechanisms or networks in the African American family and black communitiesas they confront the challenges unique to them. According to one research study, black fathersdemonstrate "an increase in the active participation in the socializationof their children...when there is self-sufficiency within Black families"(McAdoo, 2 7, p. (McAdoo, 2 7, p. As McAdoo (2 7) notes,"The strong family tradition among blacks...survived the slave system, thenlegal segregation, discrimination, and enforced poverty" (p. 231). (1982). (2 7). 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