Harriette Pipes McAdoo

Stress Levels, Family Help Patterns, and Religiosity in Middle- and Working-Class African American Single Mothers:

In this survey of 318 middle- and working-classAfricanAmerican mothers, stress andfemale-related stress were found to be intense andfrequent. Women experienced serious life changes. Younger mothers, with younger children, had more stress than older mothers, and college-educated women had more stress than those without a college education. Religion was important; women prayed frequently but tended not to attend church services. Faith provided strong emotional support, especiallyfor the working class and those in stress, but women who were not religious had the lowest stress.

Black women in the labor force

In analyzing the recent economic literature on black women workers, this book offers forthright recommendations for improving their status in the labor market.Black Women in the Labor Force serves as a welcome balance to the disproportionate efforts devoted to research on black women outside the labor force, particularly welfare recipients. At the same time it fills a significant gap by providing a comprehensive and detailed study of this large segment of the minority working population. Different types of black women workers -- young, old, professional, service workers, wives, single heads of families -- are included in the study, which examines the effects of many variables on the participation of these women in the labor force, an approach that provides insights on how to utilize better all women in the labor market.The book begins by reviewing recent material on black women workers, including the works of several leading labor economists, as well as other data from official government sources. The next four chapters examine: selected supply characteristics of black women workers, including occupational status, work schedules, educational attainment, age and presence of children; labor market policies, including employment and training programs, unemployment, employment discrimination, public sector jobs, and unions; earnings, contribution of wives to family income, relative economic status of black women, with a technical appendix on the relative economic status of women, 1960-1970; special groups, including teenagers, black women heads of family, and domestic workers.The book concludes with several suggestions for additional research and a number of policy recommendations for upgrading the economic status of black women workers, especially the single heads of families.

An Evaluation Study of the Young Empowered Sisters (YES!) Program: Promoting Cultural Assets Among African American Adolescent Girls Through a Culturally Relevant School-Based Intervention

The present study examines the effects of a culturally relevant school-based intervention in promoting cultural assets (i.e., ethnic identity, collectivist orientation, racism awareness, and libratory youth activism) among a group of African American adolescent girls. The overall goal of the intervention was to promote cultural factors that can protect African American youth from the adverse effects of racism. A total of 74 African American girls participated in the study, of whom 36 were in the intervention group and 38 in the control group. Pre- and posttests were administered to assess intervention effects. Overall findings reveal that the intervention had significant and positive effects on ethnic identity, racism awareness, collectivism, and liberatory youth activism. Implications for risk prevention and promotion of psychosocial functioning among African American youth are discussed.

A Preliminary Study of Family Values of the Women of Zimbabwe

The values held by women who live in Harare, Zimbabwe were examined as those values were expressed in the proverbs used by the Shona people in Zimbabwe. Proverbs were used earlier with AfricanAmerican women to obtain assessments of values. With the assistance of a panel of experts, 15 proverbs were selected from a book of 1,000 Shona proverbs. The proverbs were found to be equivalent to 15 of the 30 proverbs that had been used in an original list. Women were asked to rate each value according to its importance in their own belief system and as a value to be passed on to their children. They ranked values of caution, hard work perseverance, and delay of gratification as important for them and as important enough to pass on to their children. The use of proverbs was found to be an effective way of getting to the beliefs and values of women from another culture.

Black Studies and Political Ideology as Predictors of Self-Esteem: A Call for a New Direction

This article assesses the relationship between enrollment in Black studies courses, political ideology, and self-esteem in Black college students. Although a number of studies have focused on racial identity and self-esteem, few have investigated how a race-first political consciousness among African Americans develops and whether it is related to healthier psychological outcomes. To elucidate the relationship between Black nationalism, Black studies courses, and self-esteem, 231 students from an historically Black college in the Southeast are sampled. Preliminary analysis indicates enrollment in Black studies courses is related to nationalism and self-esteem. However, subsequent regression analysis controlling for classification indicates enrollment in Black studies courses is not a significant predictor of self-esteem or Black nationalism. Black nationalism predicted self-esteem, and older African American students reported higher nationalism scores. The findings suggest early exposure to Black studies courses among students may prove beneficial and predictive of psychological well-being in African American college students.

Cultivating Consciousness Among Black Women: Black Nationalism and Self-Esteem Revisited

This study was conducted to assess the relationship between political ideology and self-esteem among African American female college students. From a historically Black university, 164 women were sampled. A series of standard multiple regression were employed to assess the relationship between political ideology, age, and self-esteem. Results of the study indicated that Black Nationalism was a significant predictor of self-esteem and that age was not a significant predictor of Black Nationalism. The findings of this study suggest that a political ideology may be predictive of well-being in African American women. Future research needs to assess the impact of maturation in the development of political ideology across the lifespan. Furthermore, research on Black women’s political ideas may contribute to the literature and broaden our understanding of what factors precede a strong Black identity and, subsequently, affect psychological health.

Oral History as a Primary Resource in Educational Research

Traditionally, educational researchers have based their findings on strictly quantifiable data, usually obtained through the use of standardized tests, interview schedules, or surveys that have been designed by the researcher. Generally, there is an unwritten assumption that to be valid a research project must be as close as possible to being an experimental design. Most of us share this feeling (because of our training at the doctoral level) although we are aware that it is seldom that the real world will meet the criteria of an experimental research design. Even when very cleanly designed results are obtained, hypotheses tested, and the results stated, we sometimes have the feeling that the data is not giving us a full picture of what was going on in reality. In other words, the findings the educational researcher presents are often of absolutely no use to the educational practitioner. There is difficulty in bridging the gap between the real world of the classroom and the results that the well-trained, well-meaning evaluators could produce. Because of this, there is an increasing interest in research methodology that would deviate from the standard approach. One of the ways being proposed to bridge the gap between researchers, teachers, administrators, and policymakers is to try to get a fuller, more detailed, more human view of what is going