Class 5: African American Extended Kin-System: Characteristics noted most frequently in literature

Question 1

Dr. Alvin Poussaint, psychiatrist, Harvard University

Answer 1

• Slavery was destructive to the family structure. However, though separated from the family, strong kinship bonds maintained the connections of men with their families.
• After emancipation, the 1880 census recorded father headed households as the norm. 84% of black rural and 72% of urban households.
• 1905, 85% of New York City’s black households were headed by men.

Question 2

In 1925, Harlem, 5 out of 6 black children under age of 6 lived in homes with both a father and a mother.

Answer 2

•1965 Moynihan Report
-25% of black families were single female headed households

• 1986 single parent female headed households increased to approx. 47%
• Total numbers of children living with one parent 5,500,000 black and 9,900,000

Question 3

Influences on Family Life

Answer 3

•Forces that have influenced the contemporary African American family

1. Adapted practices from West Africa
2. Slavery and a legacy of victimization
3. Past and current discrimination 
4. Economic inequality

Question 4

Strengths of Current Families

Answer 4

• A high degree of geographical propinquity/nearness
• Strong sense of family and familial obligation
• Fluidity of household boundaries
  1. Willingness to absorb relatives, fictive-real
  2. Frequent interactions with relatives: get together gatherings
  3. Mutual assistance: more than sharing basic needs

•Ability to deal with crisis

Question 5

African American Family Values (7)

Answer 5

• Strong kinship bonds
• Strong work orientation
• Adaptability of family roles-egalitarian
• Strong religious orientation
• Spirituality in belief structure that one has the ability to recover from adversity
• Undaunting belief in “a better day”
• Strong achievement orientation

Question 6

Motherhood an underpinning in African American Family Life

Answer 6

•Much significance and honor given to mothers and grandmothers

•Common themes:
1. Women-Centered networks fulfill varied roles, nurturer, financial provider, teacher, caregiver, and community and family stabilizer, Community’s “other mothers” as well as symbols of power.

Question 7

Parameters of Fatherhood are Broad

Answer 7

• Uncles, ministers, deacons, elders of the church, male teachers can be viewed as father figures.
• Black father take an equal part in child rearing decisions in the family.
• Father predominant relationship and interaction pattern appears to be warm, nurturing and loving toward his children.