The Black Extended Family - Softcover

Martin, Elmer P. P.; Martin, Joanne Mitchell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226507971 ISBN 13: 9780226507972

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1980

Synopsis

Misunderstood and stereotyped, the black family in America has been viewed by some as pathologically weak while others have acclaimed its resilience and strength. Those who have drawn these conflicting conclusions have gnerally focused on the nuclear family—husband, wife, and dependent children. But as Elmer and Joanne Martin point out in this revealing book, a unit of this kind often is not the center of black family life. What appear to be fatherless, broken homes in our cities may really be vital parts of strong and flexible extended families based hundreds of miles away—usually in a rural area.

Through their eight-year study of some thirty extended families, the Martins find that economic pressures, including federal tax and welfare laws, have begun to make the extended family's flexibility into a liability that threatens its future.

About this title

About the Author

Elmer P. Martin is professor of social work at the Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland. Joanne Mitchell Martin is Director of the Learning Skills Center at Coppin State College, Baltimore, Maryland.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1980
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226507971
• ISBN 13: 9780226507972
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 140