Rising Children Alone: Single Mother's Struggle and Difficulties

1703 Words4 Pages

Being a single mother is not an easy feat. Raising children alone and in broken homes has proven to be difficult for women across the globe. These difficulties seem to multiple when single mother hood takes place in an African American household. Why does this happen? Is it self-inflicted or is there something deeper going on in the mind of the black women that subconsciously leads some to end up being single black mothers? I seek to better understand the dynamic of single black motherhood from a psychological and sociological perspective. Looking at the works of womanist theologians, a solution to this hardship will hopefully arise.
Sociological statistics show that:
In 1950, 17 percent of African-American children lived in a home with their mother but not their father. By 2010 that had increased to 50 percent. In 1965, only eight percent of childbirths in the Black community occurred out-of-wedlock. In 2010 that figure was 41 percent; and today, the out-of-wedlock childbirth in the Black community sits at an astonishing 72 percent. The number of African-American women married and living with their spouse was recorded as 53 percent in 1950. By 2010, it had dropped to 25 percent” (Lloyd).
Sociological data clearly shows that the black family is slowly but surely deteriorating especially in terms of broken homes. From 1950 until now, the amount of black children living only with their mothers has almost tripled. This phenomena can be attributed to many factors. Absent fathers paired with the independency we see in black women are two main reasons that contribute to this issue. These two ideas date back to before the 20th century when slavery was in full effect. “Social theorists have argues that slavery resulted in disorganization...

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... a process of internalized oppression and multigenerational transmission in African American families. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 12, 230 –242.
Phelps, Jamie T. “Joy Came in the Morning…Confronting the Evil of Social Sin and Socially Sinful Structures.” In A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering, pgs. 48-50. Edited by Emilie M. Townes. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1993.
Pyke, Karen D. "What Is Internalized Racial Oppression and Why Don't We Study It? Acknowledging Racism's Hidden Injuries." Sociological Perspectives 53.4 (2010): 553. Print.
Ruggles, Steve. "The Origins of African-American Family Structure." American Sociological Review 59.1 (1994): 136. Print.
Thomas, Linda E. Living Stones in the Household of God: The Legacy and Future of Black Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2004. 39. Print.

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