Developmental Perspective on Black Family Violence (From Violence in the Black Family, P 247-259, 1987, Robert L Hampton, ed. -- See NCJ-108575)

• NCJ Number: 108589
• Author(s): J Banks
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Lexington Books
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A developmental perspective that views families as long-lived groups with a natural history or life cycle can provide a useful perspective for the study of domestic violence among blacks.

Abstract

Duvall has defined the following eight stages in the family life cycle: (1) beginning families, (2) early childbearing families, (3) families with preschool children, (4) families with school children, (5) families with teenagers, (6) launching-center families in which the oldest child has gone, (7) families of the middle years, and (8) families in old age and retirement. The changes from one stage to the next are accompanied by predictable stressors. Black families must cope both with these normative stressors and with the nonnormative, external pressures that exist in the form of prejudice and racism. Some families recover from stress and become stronger, while others cannot cope. Violence may be a symptom of their dysfunction. Efforts to address family violence among blacks should examine both the normative life cycle changes and stressors and the external stressors like poverty, unemployment, poor housing, and hunger. Tables and 27 references.