This research paper will explore primarily the impact of African American single-parent households on the children that live in these environments. This is a very important issue and more awareness is needed. Research has provided evidence that single-parent households are one of many risk factors that can negatively affect a child’s educational outcome, emotional health and social behavior. Although not all single-parent family households have disadvantages, the focus of his study is to shed more light on the issues and offer solutions. For example, more policies are needed to reinforce fathers to pay child support. This alone will provide mothers with more money to help them better raise their children. I grew up in a single parent home not having a good relationship with my father. Although I've lived with my mother, I've always been around my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins; and I never really hung out much with my mother. I know being in a single parent home has impacted my school performance and emotions. Some children of single parent homes have challenges related to academics, violence, self-esteem, and emotions? You may ask, how do I know that African American youth (of single parent homes) are having these challenges? I know because I too experienced the same struggles. Reports show that teens of single parent homes have an increase likelihood of dropping out of high school (Ricciuti, 2004). If teens drop out of high school, they will have a difficult time finding a good paying job, and they may get involved in criminal activities. I know some teens that only live with their mothers and join gangs because of their stressful home environments. For example, one teen sells drugs to help his mother pa... ... middle of paper ... ... “Have you ever been depressed?” out of the 24 students who answered, 66.6% have been depressed. Again, this data also correlate to research evidence of depression being one of the psychological problems for black kids in a single-parent home. Thirdly, when asked students, “What were their average grades?” out of 38.8% were “A” and “B” students. This is somewhat contrary to some research findings and is accurate to other research evidence. Lastly, when asked the question about “Are you or your family member in a gang?” out of the 24 students asked, 72% said “no” but 47% did know someone personally tha was injured as a result of gang violence. Again, the research on social behavior of a child in a single-parent home support that some kids do have difficulty socially adjusting or if they been exposed to violent behavior at home, will display this behavior too.
The book Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life published in 2003, takes a close look into the lives of different families in the United States and how they are affected by race and social class and how their family lives differ. The Author, Annette Lareau, discusses how social class affects the parenting styles and how these parenting styles are affecting the children. Although Lareau’s book could use a few changes, it is well written and it is a good read to help better understand how social class and parenting styles can affect the lives of different children on a personal level. In
In conclusion, African American children face unwanted obstacles that prevent them from getting the equal education opportunities that they deserve. These children face problems everyday regarding crime, poverty and the school system not providing the right supplies for them to become effective members of their communities. When these children grow up in the high-poverty areas, they are already being set up as a failure. The time for equal education opportunities may not come due to the lack of funding, poverty levels and the way they are looked at through societies eyes. It is up to the black community to fix what they need to succeed.
Perhaps more importantly, the average black teenager is raised within a single parented home, typically with their father being absent. Not only does the absence of father’s affect the home financially, but also emotionally and socially destruct the family. Although most single mothers do a great job in raising their kids, 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. For children who live only with a mother, a male teacher may be the only positive male role model in their lives. Most black teens attend urbanized schools in the city or in low budgeted areas. In most cases, these schools does not always function at it’s full potential, due to the high number of students. The average high school graduation rate in the nation’s 50 largest cities was 53 percent, compared with 71 percent in...
Research has also shown that this record of poor performance by Black male students during their elementary and secondary school years limits their involvement in education at the college level (Cross & Slater, 2000) and correlates strongly with their disproportionately large numbers in the country's jails and penitentiaries (Males & Macallair, 2000; Yeakey, 2002). Adult Black males lead the nation in being undereducated, unemployed (Boyer, 1988; Hornor, 2002; Pinkney, 2000), and incarcerated (Drakeford & Garfinkel, 2000). Black males are also characterized as having more health problems (Kirk, 1986) and dying at a younger age (Boyer, 1988; Hornor, 2002; Kirk, 1986; Pinkney, 2000), regardless of race and gender, than any other group in America.
Dysfunctional families play a huge role in many African-American communities and they affect the children as they mature. When people do not have a job or cannot access one, that leads them to poverty. When individuals are in poverty, it is hard to provide for a family or themselves. Many adverse outcomes can happen when a child is living in poverty that will impact their future. Many African-American males are incarcerated which affects their connection with their children. Not having a father in a child’s life can negatively impact them. When parents are not vigilant and have dysfunction happening that allows an opening for sexual abuse to take place whether it is a family member or someone outside of the
In attempting to understand the blended family system, one would be remised if we did not first look at, and understand primarily what a family system dynamic is. Unfortunately, this is a theory that once had very clear cut lines; today those lines are a little burred and more subjective than ever before. Given that the family is an ever changing system with fluid boarders, this author will illustrate some finite distinctions that may separate the typical family system from a blended family system.
THE MOYNIHAN REPORT. SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES. POVERTY. CHILDREN IN TROUBLE. The aforementioned are descriptions and reflections associated with the black family. Although these identifications are different, they all reflect one negative connotation. The connotation is that of families of African descent being "problem ridden" and "dysfunctional." Despite the fact that many families are dysfunctional, the question is: "Why are families of African descent frequently labeled as such ?"
Black men in Jail are having drastic effects upon the black community. The first and arguably most important effect is that it intensifies the problem of single parent households within the black community. When these men are sentenced to prison, they, many times, leave behind a wife/girlfriend and/or children. If they have already have had children, that child must spend multiple years of his/her early life without a primary father figure. In addition, that male's absence is even more prominently felt when the woman has to handle all of the financial responsibilities on her own. This poses even more problems since women are underpaid relative to men in the workforce, childcare costs must be considered, and many of these women do not have the necessary skills to obtain a job, which would pay a living wage, which could support her and the children. Black male incarceration has done much to ensure that black female-headed households are now equal with poverty.
According to results, a parent’s approach to parenting is highly influenced by a family’s social and economic status and condition. The popularity of the disciplinary approach is mostly due to the challenges that a black family faces on a daily basis such as racism, discrimination, and poverty.
After reading “Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black families and White Families,” by Annette Lareau, it was evident that she collected much data from her study of different types of families. In this study with the help of other sociologists, Lareau went into the lives of both black and white middle class and working class/ poor families. In her study she observed the behavior of children at home, school, and in the public eye. She observed the parenting methods the adults chose to use and the child’s reaction to them. Lareau and her team were able to see what influences certain factors such as income, race, family size, home location, schooling, and career choices had on each family and their children. The purpose of this study as well as the central argument is very well addressed by Lareau in the text and leads to many well supported conclusions.
Single Parent Struggle For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father.
“Because such neighborhoods display much higher concentrations of poverty and greater rates of disorder and violence, and because African-American college students are disproportionately connected to people living in such neighborhoods, they are at much greater risk of experiencing stress indirectly through their social networks” (Charles, Dinwiddie, & Massey (2004). Racial segregation undermines academic performance in several ways: by distracting students psychological being from their studies; by undermining their physical and emotional well-being; and by necessitating competing investments of time, money, and energy to attend to family issues. Minority students become ensnared in a web of relationships that undermine their academic performance on campus
This study, "The Effects of Race/Ethnicity, Income, and Family Structure on Adolescent Risk Behaviors", by Robert Blum, MD. has important implications for all parents and adults who work with youth. The study examines the extent to which race and ethnicity (white, black, or Hispanics), income (6 categories, ranging from $10,000 or less to $61,000 or more), and single-parent homes (i.e., family structure) predict several specific problem behaviors among middle school students and among high school students:
...ng up in a single-parent home (usually female-headed) is seven times as likely to be a delinquent. The rate of violent crime and burglary is related to the number of single parent households with children aged twelve to twenty. (1)In a new study of 72 adolescent murders and 35 adolescent thieves, researches for Michigan State University demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of teenage criminals live with only one parent. Fully 75 percent of those charged with homicide had parents who were either divorced or had never been married at all.( 5)
There are so many different types of family relationships. Whatever form a family takes; it is an important part of everyone’s life. My family has played an important role in my life. Good family relationships serve as a foundation to interactions with others. Supportive families will help children to thrive. The quality of the family relationship is more important than the size of the family. Making the relationships priority, communication, and providing support for one another is key to developing relationships. Family relationships are what make up our world today; they shape the ways that we see things and the ways that we do things.