Mainstream research has looked traditionally at the Black family to explain its overall difficulty in society, while dissenting studies have emphasized the effects of societal factors on the Black conjugal unit's function and structure. The dualistic nature of Black family research captures society's divergent impression of the Afro-American…

A CASTE-CLASS ANALYSIS IS A USEFUL FRAMEWORK FROM WHICH TO STUDY THE CURRENT POSITION OF THE NEGRO. HIS SPATIAL ISOLATION HAS CREATED A RACE CONSCIOUSNESS AND A RACIAL SUBCULTURE WITH DISTINCTIVE FOLKWAYS (MUSIC, FOOD, AND CHURCHES). THE NEGRO LOWER CLASS IS STRATIFIED INTO AN "ORGANIZED" SECTOR WHOSE LIFE STYLE IS ORIENTED AROUND THE CHURCH AND…

This book, originating as a series of papers given in a critical symposium on the "culture of poverty" concept, comprises chapters written expressly for the book, with a couple of exceptions, and embodying reports on the original research or direct experience of the individual writers. The authors vary in their emphases and interests, but share…