Following up on a 1972 study evaluating the characteristics of African American families that have allowed them to survive, adapt, and grow stronger, this volume offers parents, activists, service providers, and policy makers possible solutions to social problems experienced by the African American family by examining the range of African American familial experience rather than focusing on the nonworking poor. Analysis is provided concerning a number of previously unpublicized studies that have focused on the strengths of families of color since the early 1970s. Lacks an index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This volume brings together leading experts from different disciplines to offer new perspectives on contemporary African American families. A wealth of knowledge is presented on the heterogeneity of Black family life today; the challenges and opportunities facing parents, children, and communities; and the impact on health and development of key cultural and social processes. Comprehensive and authoritative, the book critically evaluates current policies and service delivery models and sets forth cogent recommendations for supporting families' strengths. Following an overview that traces the ongoing evolution of theory and research in the field, the book examines how African American families fare on numerous indicators of well-being. Throughout, contributors identify factors that promote or hinder healthy child and family development, writing from a culturally sensitive, nonpathologizing stance. The concluding chapter provides an up-to-date framework for culturally competent mental health practice.

This volume takes an in-depth look at the family resources and coping mechanisms of African Americans. Organized in two sections, the book first examines African American families in a broader context, then moves on to relationships within families. Chapters cover topics such as: growing up and surviving in the inner city; the resilience of families in military and foreign environments, or when faced with a lack of prenatal care, or with single parenthood; healing forces in African American families; and a comparative study of mother-daughter interaction in African American and Asian American families.

Hill, a Black social scientist and research director of the National Urban League, discloses the weaknesses of previous biased studies on the Black family and looks at five traits which characterize thriving Black families: strong kinship bonds, strong work orientation, adaptability of family roles, strong achievement orientation, and strong religious orientation. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

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.