"e;Bravo to the authors! They have done an excellent job addressing the issues that are critical to community members, policy makers and interventionists concerned with Black families in the context of our nation."e;-Michael C. Lambert, University of Missouri, Colombia"e;African American Families is a timely work. The strength of this text lies in the depth of coverage, clarity, and the ability to combine secondary sources, statistics and qualitative data to reveal the plight of African Americans in society."e;-Edward Opoku-Dapaah, Winston-Salem State University"e;African American Families is both engaging and challenging and is perhaps one of the most important works I have read in many years. This book will most certainly move the discourse of the socio-economic conditions of black families forward, beyond the boundaries already set by other books in the market. African American Families is an excellent book whose time has come, and one that I would most definitely adopt."e; -Lateef O. Badru, University of LouisvilleAfrican American Families provides a systematic sociological study of contemporary life for families of African descent living in the United States. Analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data, authors Angela J. Hattery and Earl Smith identify the structural barriers that African Americans face in their attempts to raise their children and create loving, healthy, and raise the children of the next generation.Key Features:Uses the lens provided by the race, class, and gender paradigm: Examples illustrate the ways in which multiple systems of oppression interact with patterns of self-defeating behavior to create barriers that deny many African Americans access to the American dream.Addresses issues not fully or adequately addressed in previous books on Black families: These issues include personal responsibility and disproportionately high rates of incarceration, family violence, and chronic illnesses like HIV/AIDS. Brings statistical data to life: The authors weave personal stories based on interviews they've conducted into the usual data from scholarly(?) literature and from U.S. Census Bureau reports.Provides several illustrations from Hurricane Katrina: A contemporary analysis of a recent disaster demonstrates many of the issues presented in the book such as housing segregation and predatory lending practices.Offers extensive data tables in the appendices: Assembled in easy-to-read tables, students are given access to the latest national agencies data from agencies including the U.S. Census Bureau, Centers for Disease Control, and Bureau of Justice Statistics.Intended Audience:This is an ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as African American Families, Sociology of the Family, Contemporary Families, and Race and Ethnicity in the departments of Human Development and Family Studies, Sociology, African American Studies, and Black Studies.

Preface
1. African American Families: A Brief Introduction
Objectives
Introduction
What We Hope to Accomplish
The Question of Social Class
Data Sources
Organization of the Book
Notes
2. African American Civil Society: Issues, Approaches, Demography, and Theory
Objectives
Introduction
Definitions
Race as a Social Construct
African American Families
Structural Versus Individual Explanations
African American Families: A Profile
Theoretical Approaches to Studying African American Families
Data and Methods
Notes
3. Family Formation, Marriage Rates, and Cohabitation
Objectives
Introduction
Factors That Affect Family Form
Functions and Purposes of Marriage
Marriage Patterns
The Marriage Gap
In Their Own Words
Race, Class, and Gender Analysis
Summary: Outcomes of the Low Marriage Rate
Solutions
Notes
4. Childbearing and Childrearing Patterns
Objectives
Introduction
Childbearing Patterns
Nonmarital Births
Race, Class, and Gender Paradigm
Conclusions
Solutions
Notes
5. Intimate Partner Violence
Objectives
Introduction
Definitions
The Problem
The Family Violence Approach
The Feminist Paradigm
Race, Class, and Gender Approach to Studying IPV
The Dirty Little Secret: IPV in the African American Community
African American Women as Victims/Survivors of IPV: Statistics/Rates
Men and Masculinity
Race, Class, and Gender Paradigm
Solutions
Notes
6. HIV and Other Social and Health Issues
Objectives
Introduction
The State of Health and Well-Being in African American Civil Society
Racial Disparities in Chronic Diseases
Racial Disparities in HIV/AIDS
Leading Causes of Death
Infant Mortality
Outcomes of Poor Health: Premature Death
Causes of Poor Health and Death
Environmental Injustice
The Politics of Health Care
The Genetics (and Politics) of Race/Ethnicity and Health
Race, Class and Gender Paradigm
Solutions
Notes
7. Access to Opportunity: Educational Attainment and Occupational Segregation
Objectives
Introduction
A Brief History of Race and Education
Educational Attainment
Access to Education: Legacy
The Economy
Race, Class, and Gender: African American Women′s History of Work
Occupations and Work
Occupational Segregation: The Impact of Race and Gender
Causes of Occupational Segregation
Outcomes of Occupational Segregation
Financial Outcomes: Lower Earnings
Race, Class, and Gender Paradigm
Solutions
Notes
8. Welfare and Wealth
Objectives
Introduction
Income Versus Wealth
Income and Income Disparities
Wealth and Wealth Disparities
Wealth Disparities and Access to the American Dream?
Housing
A Clear Illustration: Hurricane Katrina
Poverty
Welfare
Welfare Reform
Stereotypes About Welfare and Poverty
Welfare Versus Work
Welfare Reform and Family Values
Welfare Reform and Incarceration, or African American Mothers Are Crackheads
Race, Class, and Gender Analysis
Solutions
Notes
9. African American Males and the Incarceration Problem: Not Just Confined to Prison
Objectives
Introduction
Definitions
Prisons as Total Institutions
The Growth of Prisons: Institutions and Population
The Purpose of Prison: Rehabilitation or a Tool of Capitalism?
The Demographics of the Prison Population: Race and Gender
Explaining Racial Disparities in Incarceration
The Effects of Incarceration on the Lives of Young African American Men
Felony Disenfranchisement
Other Bans-Social Services
Race, Class, and Gender Paradigm
Solutions
Notes
10. Conclusion: Solutions to a Longstanding Problem: Race, Class, and Patriarchy in the 21st Century
Summary and Review of the Primary Themes
Degrees of Separation
A Snapshot of the African American Family
The Struggles
The Causes
Bans
Family Form
The Relationship Between Structural Forces and Individual Choices
What Is To Be Done?
Structural Forces: Race, Class, and Gender
Final Thoughts
Notes
Appendices
References
About the Authors
Index