Black Children: Social, Educational, and Parental Environments

This revision of a respected volume collects current empirical research unique to the experiences and situations of black children and their parents. As the editor emphasizes, "African American children develop a duality for their existence. To be fully functional, they must develop the skills to do well simultaneously in two different cultures, both black and non-black." This volume explores the meaning of this duality in four distinct environments: socioeconomic, parental, internal, and educational. The complex picture that results explodes many of the myths that surround black childhood development. Taken together, the entries in this volume provide valuable information for those who are concerned about the optimal growth and development of Black children. Features//Benefits: * A theme of resiliency-that black children can and do thrive despite being surrounded by an array of risk factors-underscores positive aspects of black child development while not neglecting the potential for negative and detrimental development. The goal is to avoid presenting Black children in the light of either negative or positive stereotypes, but to highlight the complexities and diversities of the Black American experience. * Entries present empirical and conceptual studies to provide real-life databased analyses of the lives of African American children in an attempt to offset stereotypical views too often perpetuated within the child development literature. * Entries are grouped into four thematic units to reflect the significant environments within the lives of Black children: Perspectives of African American Parenting, Racial Messages, Educational Environments of Children, and Conflict in African American Children. New to This Edition: * The Second Edition has been updated with new entries reflecting new research, contemporary theory, and modern interventions. New chapters on social settings explore how violence is becoming a much more significant element in the environments in which children live.

Table of Contents:
Foreword - A.G. Hilliard III Preface - H.P. McAdoo PART I. PERSPECTIVES ON AFRICAN AMERICAN PARENTING 1. The Dynamics of African American Fathers′ Family Roles - H.P. McAdoo & J.L. McAdoo 2. Diverse Children of Color: Research and Policy Implications - H.P. McAdoo 3. African American Grandmothers′ and Grandfathers′ Influence in the Value Socialization of Grandchildren - L. McWright PART II. RACIAL MESSAGES 4. The Village Talks: Racial Socialization of Our Children - H.P. McAdoo 5. Racial Socialization of Young Black Children - M.F. Peters 6. Racial Identity Development in African American Children: Cognitive and Experiential Antecedents - C.B. Murray & J. Mandara 7. Racial Socialization Processes in Single-Mother Families: Linking Maternal Racial Identity, Parenting, and Racial Socialization in Rural, Single-Mother Families With Child Self-Worth and Self-Regulation - V.M. Murry & G.H. Brody PART III. EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS OF CHILDREN 8. A Psychological and Educational Perspective on Black Parenting - A.J. Franklin et al. 9. Family and Child Influences on Educational Attainment: A Secondary Analysis of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Data - T. Luster & H.P. McAdoo 10. Sankofa Shule Spells Success for African American Children - S.W. Rivers & F.A. Rivers PART IV. CONFLICT IN AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN 11. Conflict Resolution Styles Among African American Children and Youth - A.O. Harrison-Hale 12. Violent Crime, Race, and Black Children: Parenting and the Social Contract - B.E. Lawson & R.Sanders-Lawson Index About the Editor About the Contributors

About the Author :
Harriette Pipes McAdoo is a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, Department of Family and Child Ecology.  Previously, she was Professor at Howard University in the School of Social Work and Visiting Lecturer at Smith College, the University of Washington, and the University of Minnesota.  She is a Director of the Groves Conference on Marriage and the Family; was a National Adviser to the President of the White House Conference on Families; was former President and Board Member of the National Council on Family Relations; and was a member of the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development.  She was the first person honored by the National Council on Family Relations with the Marie Peters Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Leadership, and Service in the Area of Ethnic Minority Families.  Dr. McAdoo received her B.A. and M.A. from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and she has done post-doctoral studies at Harvard University.  She has published on racial attitudes and self-esteem in young children, Black mobility patterns, coping strategies of single mothers, and professional Kenyan women and HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe.  She is editor of Black Children: Social, Educational, and Parental Environments, Second Edition (2002, SAGE) and Family Ethnicity: Strength in Diversity, Second Edition (1999, SAGE), as well as Young Families, Program Review, and Policy Recommendations.  She is coauthor of Women and Children, Alonge and in Poverty.  She has four children and four grandchildren.

Review :
"The authors are bold in addressing the legacies of enslavement, racism, and the debilitating impact of economic exploitation at the individual, family, and community levels. BLACK CHILDREN moves us away from the traditional comparisons of black and white children in the context of Eurocentric theoretical models as the context for the study of development. The authors create a basis for an African and African American theoretical framework to guide future research, educational strategies, and community intervention."