This updated edition of the classic book Black Families at the
Crossroads offers a comprehensive examination of the diverse and
complex issues surrounding Black families. Leanor Boulin Johnson
and Robert Staples combine more than sixty years of writing and
research on Black families to offer insights into the pre-slavery
development of the Black middle class, internal processes that
affect all class strata among Black American families, the impact
of race on modern Black immigrant families, the interaction of
external forces and internal norms at each stage of the Black
family life cycle, and public policies that provide challenges and
promising prospects for the continuing resilience of the Black
family as an American institution. This thoroughly revised edition
features new research, including empirical studies and theoretical
applications and a review of significant social policies and
economic changes in the past decade and their impact on Black
families.
Praise for the First Edition
"Those who work with Black families will find the book a helpful
resource, and thoughtful lay people will find that the text
augments what they have long suspected. Irrespective of experience
levels, all readers will more fully appreciate the fact that the
Black family is far from a monolithic, deficient, or amoral
institution."
-Family Relations
"Authors Robert Staples and Leanor Boulin Johnson describe how
external forces, such as economics, racism, culture, and politics,
shape the dynamics of the modern Black family."
-Ebony
"This work makes a significant contribution to the field."
-Journal of Marriage and the Family