Andrea G. Hunter

Family structure and aggressive behavior in a population of urban elementary school children

OBJECTIVE This report examined associations between family structure and 393 fourth-grade childrens aggressive behavior. METHOD In an epidemiologically defined urban community population, both teacher and parent ratings of child aggressive behavior were examined among family structures that reflected current demographics. Relative risks for teacher- and parent-rated child aggressive behavior in mother-alone households were compared with those in the next most prevalent family structures (mother-father, mother-grandmother, and mother-male partner families). RESULTS With all income groups combined, teachers rated boys and girls in mother-alone families as more aggressive relative to mother-father families. Among low-income families, the protective effects for mother-father families were not apparent, and mother-male partner families were associated with an increased risk for teacher-rated aggression for boys. CONCLUSION Absence of and type of second adult present, child gender, home and school context, and income were important factors that moderated the associations between family structure and child aggressive behavior in this urban setting.

Diversity and Fluidity in Children's Living Arrangements: Family Transitions in an Urban Afro-American Community.

The article presents a study exploring the evolution of urban African-American childrens living arrangements in a community-defined population. African-American children are more likely than non-black children to spend significant portions of their childhood in households that are not dual parent and are more likely to coreside with extended relatives. In addition, the rates of marital disruption and never-married childbearing among Afro-American parents, and the fluidness of extended family house-holds, suggest that change is a common experience for black. The family as an evolving social context has been a major theme in family research, for several decades. The family developmental perspective in concert with demographic work on the family life cycle has emphasized the dynamic nature of families both in composition and developmental tasks. The prevalence and stability of two-parent nuclear family households has changed for all Americans and the forces of change have been particularly pronounced in African-American communities.

Loss, Survival, and Redemption: African American Male Youths' Reflections on Life without Fathers, Manhood, and Coming of Age.

Using an interpretivist approach, this article explores young African American men’s (n = 20) reflections on coming of age and the meanings of father loss. Based on focus groups, the authors found that it was through autobiographical narratives of loss, survival, and redemption that young men positioned themselves ideologically and constructed the type of man they wanted to become. These emergent narratives reflect the complex ways young men worked out the meaning of father loss and the defining intragenerational and intergenerational lessons about manhood learned from their relationships with fathers and others. Within these narratives, young men also constructed both wanted and unwanted possible selves and evoked the discursive tropes of respectable manhood and deadbeat daddies.

Links Between Social Network Closure and Child Well-Being: The Organizing Role of Friendship Context

Third grade children (N = 404) and their mothers completed questionnaires and participated in interviews designed to identify childrens friendships across multiple contexts, determine levels of social network closure for these friendships, and assess child well-being. Cluster analyses revealed distinct patterns in the contexts in which childrens friendships were maintained. Closure was highest for children whose friendship clusters heavily represented relatives as friends and lowest when friends were from schools and the broader community. Intermediate levels of closure were observed for the clusters of neighborhood friends and friends from church and school. Both friendship cluster and, to some extent, ethnicity moderated associations between closure and indicators of well-being.

Drug abuse prevention for high-risk African American children and their families: a review and model program.

In this article we are specifically concerned with the familial and socioeconomic factors that contribute to the exceedingly high prevalence rates of drug abuse in African-American children. In addition to detailing the impact of drug abuse in African-American children and their families, we consider how this critical health problem can be prevented using existing knowledge and strategies known to mental health professionals. A model program entitled Project for a Substance Abuse-Free Environment (SAFE) is outlined. Its objectives are to implement: (a) a broad-spectrum family intervention to empower disadvantaged and high-risk families in their communities: (b) a competency-based skills intervention to increase resilience and decrease drug use and other maladaptive behaviors in at-risk children; (c) alternative activities that will promote self-efficacy, achievement, and self-esteem; (d) a culturally-relevant evaluation plan that includes both formative (process) and summative (outcome) evaluation; (e) a comprehensive approach for assessing project impact; (e) systematic procedures for enhancing the maintenance and generalization of gains in participating children and families.

Race, Class, and Religious Differences in the Social Networks of Children and Their Parents:

The study is a qualitative investigation of mothers’ perspectives about and their role in negotiating and developing intergenerational closure across race, class, and religious differences and their management of children’s diverse friendships. Black and White mothers (n = 25) of third graders were interviewed about social networks, children’s friendships, and closure relationships. Race, class, and faith were critical vantage points from which parents thought about social difference and managed closure relationships. Mothers’ involvement in diverse networks reflected articulated ideologies, socialization goals, and active engagement of strategies to build relationships between parents and children. However, de facto social barriers and ideologies about the invisibility of social differences created barriers to building intergenerational closure across social differences as did mothers’ perceptions of these relationships as threats to aspired to or salient identities and values.

Context and closure in children’s friendships: Prevalence and demographic variation:

Third-grade children (N = 404) and their mothers completed questionnaires and participated in interviews designed to identify children’s friendships across the multiple contexts of their lives and to determine the strength of parent-to-parent relationships for these friendships (social network closure). Hierarchical linear modeling procedures were used to evaluate links between friendship context and strength of closure relationships. Closure relationships were stronger when friendships were maintained within the contexts of neighborhood, church, extracurricular activities, relatives-as-friends, and family friends, and when friendships were maintained across multiple social contexts. Lower socioeconomic status mothers were particularly likely to report higher levels of closure within the contexts of neighborhood and relatives-as-friends.