VARIATIONS AMONG FAMILIES Race Ethnicity Structural Problems Influencing Ethnic Minority Families in the US Institutionalized Racism o Prejudice Power White Americans Educated Ability to earn a lot of money Live better neighborhoods DNA low crime Asian Americans Model minority Very educated African Americans Latino Americans Native Americans Historical Legal Limitations on o Access to Education Brown vs Board of Education o Housing Racial Segregation of Neighborhoods o Employment o Health Racial health disparities Historical Immigration Patterns How immigrants come to the US has a profound impact on their ability to adjust to the US o By Force o By Political or personal safety o By choice Skin color plays a role in whether how families blend in African American Families 1965 Came to the attention of social scientists and popular press o 25 of Black families single parent o dysfunctional families Remedy Government needs to step in and fix these broken families Sparked Debate Was this difference in structure equivalent with a difference in function African American Families Historical Trends Black middle class increased substantially from mid 1950s to 70s o Level off after 1970s Why o Civil Rights Movement Affirmative Action policies o Many policies intended to remedy longstanding injustices rolled back in the 1980s Understudied subgroup relative to poor black families Large number of female headed households o Increase in female headed families due to Increase in divorce Decrease in remarriage Decrease delay in marriage Less likely to marry than any other racial ethnic group 66 of AA women marry today 92 for whites high 90s for Asian and Latina Patterns of out of wedlock births What s Happening o Increased among blacks and whites o However Greater number for Black families Greater rate of increase for whites 1970 to 2006 Black 38 to 69 White 6 to 27 Hispanic 38 Out of wedlock births Dysfunctional or Practical Negative cultural assumptions o Marriage not valued o Actually marriage is highly valued among many African Americans Harder for black couples to meet traditional American gender standards for marriage role for black men Historical factors affecting the viability of the breadwinner Other Explanations Independence of Black women o Black women have longstanding history of working outside the home before it became a national trend o Gender roles are less traditionally adhered to in Black families Traditional gender roles unrealistic for all black women to aspire Hispanic Latino Families to Fastest growing ethnic racial group Has increased 58 between 1990 and 2000 Great variation in characteristics based on country of origin Largest group in the US is Mexican Americans In DC the largest groups are Central Americans and South Americans o Differences in terms of the economic status of these 2 groups South Americans are wealthier Relatively young group The diversity of experiences is reflective o Immigration status o Economic capital o Social capital Familism Familismo Extended living arrangements and networks of support Marry younger than either Blacks or Whites Divorce rates are the same as for Whites 25 of families are female headed High fertility particularly in marriage Higher rate of consensual unions common law marriages o Varies by class and country of origin More likely to have traditional sex role practices separate decision making by gender Asian American Families Group is considered a model minority Most of the knowledge is demographic with few interactional studies o This is changing o Parent child conflict studies Acculturation tensions between generations Larger of group is college educated Low rates of divorce families most likely to be headed by two parents Lower fertility rates than population as whole Greater percentage of college educated Asian American women are today marrying non Asian than vice versa Strong sense of family and elaborate system of obligation and loyalty to kin Recent research Targets of discrimination o Perpetual foreigner stereotype o Adolescent boys bullying linked to differences in physical stature Native American Families Great emphasis on extended family Economic isolation of some families leads to struggle Poverty rates comparable to or greater than African American or Hispanic Latino High male headed households 31 Out of wedlock birthrates are high o 54 Interracial Marriage Acceptance is increasing but there is little research Most common o Latino white o Asian white configuration Least common Black White Divorce rate higher than same race couples but depends on race gender Challenge of growing up biracial youth starting to be examined by researchers