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.

Publisher Description

Presents the obstacles and advantages of searching for Black family history, including information about places to research, and documents and techniques used to uncover genealogical history, even though considered lost or incomplete.

What progress have African Americans made in corporate America? This book examines the evidence by drawing on studies of almost 200 black corporate managers and their families. A past president of the New York State Council on Family Relations, author Susan D. Toliver, shows that black families have progressed in corporate America, but the inroads are uneven. Toliver takes a penetrating look at how the cultural identity of black families has been influenced by their participation in corporate America. She also suggests that corporations deepen their commitment to cultural diversity, not in name onlyùbut work to emphasize the talents and develop the strengths of the African American community. Black Families in Corporate America explores the following areas: + Shifting gender dynamics within the families of black managers + Changes in approaches to parenting + Issues of racial identity within corporations and the professional black community Black Families in Corporate America will appeal to scholars in ethnic studies, multicultural counseling, family theory, sociology, social work, personnel management, organizational development, and cross-cultural psychology.

With numerous selections designed to reinforce the goal of empowering clients to take charge of their lives, this revised and updated second edition of The Black Family serves a two-fold purpose. It extends the small but growing body of strength-oriented literature to include African-American families and it serves as a natural extension of current texts on African-American families to provide social workers and the education community with a broader framework for understanding the needs of Black families. Offering both a research orientation and a practice perspective, this book should appeal to social work educators and practitioners involved in family services, health and mental health settings, and child and public welfare.

An ambitious volume of studies of the origins and trends in family history of major geographical areas.

Gathering together scholars from across the social sciences, Black Family Violence is one of the first books to chart new courses for research, while simultaneously serving as a fundamental introduction to family relationship issues in the study of black family life.

Returning to his innovative work of twenty-five years ago, Robert Hill once more offers an incisive analysis of five key cultural strengths of African-American families. With compassion and eloquence, he argues that these existing strengths provide a solid foundation upon which to develop the kind of public policies and self-help initiatives that will truly promote the interests, not only of the African American community, but of our diverse nation as a whole.

The Handbook of Feminist Family Studies demonstrates how feminist contributions to family science advance our understanding of relationships among individuals, families, and communities. Bringing together some of the most well-respected scholars in the field, the editors showcase feminist family scholarship, creating a scholarly forum for interpretation and dissemination of feminist work. The Handbook's contributors eloquently share their passion for scholarship and practice and offer new insights about the places we call home and family. The contributions as a whole provide overviews of the most important theories, methodologies, and practices, along with concrete examples of how scholars and practitioners actually engage in "doing" feminist family studies. Key Features: Examines the influence of feminism on the family studies field, including the many ways feminism brings about a "re-visioning" of families that incorporates multiple voices and perspectives Centers the intersections of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, age, nation, ability, and religion as a pivotal framework for examining interlocking structures of inequality and privilege, both inside families and in the relationship between families and institutions, communities, and ideologies Provides concrete examples of how scholars and practitioners explore such facets of feminist family studies as intimate partnerships, kinship, aging, sexualities, intimate violence, community structures, and experiences of immigration Explores how the infusion of feminism into family studies has created a crisis over deeply held assumptions about "family life" and calls for even greater fusion between feminist theory and family studies toward the creation of solutions to pressing social issues The Handbook of Feminist Family Studies is an excellent resource for scholars, practitioners, and students across the fields of family studies, sociology, human development, psychology, social work, women's studies, close relationships, communication, family nursing, and health, as a welcome addition to any academic library. It is also appropriate for use in graduate courses on theory and methodology. A portion of the royalties from this book have been contributed to the Jessie Bernard Endowment (sponsored by the Feminism and Family Studies Section of the National Council on Family Relations) in support of feminist scholarship.