SOCIAL WORK

PRACTICE WITH
AFRICAN-
AMERICANS
 African-Americans constitute the second largest
culturally diverse group in the United States.
 Women outnumber men in the population as a result of
the loss of African-American boys and young men to
homicide, suicide, and substance abuse.
 In terms of family history and genealogical lines, one
half or more of all Af-Ams are multiracial.
 The March, 2002 census reported that 36 million Af-
Ams (13% of total population) lived in the United
States. There are 194.8 million whites (69% of
population) in the U.S.
 Race and Hispanic Origin – Population estimates
July 2107

White alone, percent(a)
76.6%


Black or African American alone, percent(a)
13.4%


American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent(a)
1.3%


Asian alone, percent(a)
5.8%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, 

percent(a) 0.2%


Two or More Races, percent
2.7%


Hispanic or Latino, percent(b)
18.1%

White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent 

Geography
 The 10 states where 60 percent of African
Americans resided were: New York, California,
Texas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina,
Maryland, Michigan and Louisiana. Five of these
had more than 2 million Blacks each: New York,
California, Texas, Florida and Georgia.
 52% of all African-Americans live in a central city
within a metropolitan area, compared to 21% of
whites
 Why the term?
 African-American is used because it is consistent with
terms used to describe other groups. It is also used
because the term Black is inadequate to convey the rich
history of descendants of the peoples who came to the
U.S. from the continent of Africa. The term also includes
recent immigrants from the West Indies, Brazil, and a
host of other countries, including those from Africa.
 African-American is used because the term Black has
been associated with darkness, evil, and ignorance,
whereas the term White has been associated with
brightness, good, and intelligence
(examples: black market, black ball, blackmail, black lie)
Acculturation
 African-American culture draws on both standardized Af-
Am behaviors and at the same time, patterns derived from
the dominant culture.
 Socialization into both systems begins at an early age and
continues throughout life, and both systems are generally of
equal importance in individuals’ lives. As a result, Af-Ams
are bicultural, with a foot in both worlds.
 Staples (1976) suggested that the bicultural nature of Af-
Ams is forced on them and is often in direct opposition to
their own values. He also says that the commitment to Euro
American cultural practices such as individualism,
materialism should not be taken as a strong commitment to
those values.
Poverty and Economic
Concerns
 Historically, African American unemployment
rates have been at least twice those of members
of the dominant culture. In March 2002, the
unemployment rate was 11% for Af-Ams and 5%
for whites.
 33% of all Af-Am and 57% of white families
earned 50,000 or more in 2002. The percentage
of white families making 75,000 or more a year
was more than twice that of Af-Ams.
a. The proportion of Af-Ams in poverty has increased
b. The proportion of Af-Ams with incomes between
$15,000 and $34,999 has declined
c. The proportion of Af-Ams at the highest income
levels (over $35,000) has risen by almost one third.
Despite the progress among middle-class Af-Ams, the
underclass are poorer today than they were in the
1960’s. One half of Af-Am babies are born in poverty,
and nearly 25% of the men between the ages of 19
and 28 are in jails, prisons, or awaiting their day in
court.
History of Oppression
 Formal slavery ended following the Civil War, and
a social system developed that continued to
relegate former slaves and their descendants to a
position of inferiority.
 Events such as the “Red Summer,” so named
because Af-Am soldiers returning from the WW I
in 1919 were assaulted and 76 lynched by White
mobs fearful of armed men who had been treated
as equals abroad, serve to demonstrate
oppression. There were 26 race riots during the
Summer of 1919.
 Racism is still the largest concern for Af-
Ams in the U.S.
 Changes in the status of African-
Americans have occurred, but the lack of
significant change in the first 100 years
after emancipation compounded the
problems.
Racism and Prejudice

A persistent disparity and inequality exist in

the economic conditions of Af-Ams and
member of the dominant culture that are a
result of the racism of the past. Numerous
civil rights laws, affirmative action
regulations, and other public policies have
not been able to remove these unequal
conditions; indeed, in some areas they are
becoming worse.
 Three of every five African Americans live in
neighborhoods with hazardous waste site. In
Houston, TX, with 25% population of Af-
Ams, 100% of landfills and 75% of garbage
incinerators are located in the Af-Am
neighborhoods. One of the nations largest
landfills housing waste from all of the
eastern United States, is located in Emelle,
Alabama, with a population that is 79% Af-
Am.
 Mullins (1995) reported that when education ,
performance rating, and other factors are held
constant, African-Americans are twice as likely as
whites to be dismissed from government jobs and
that the reasons are not explained.
 African-Americans are also turned down for loans
at two-and-one-half times the rate of whites.
 Although affirmative action, problematic as it is,
speaks to the inequality structured into the social
system, the attack on affirmative action presumes
that systematic, institutional discrimination no
longer exists.
 The likelihood of major progress in eliminating
racism is remote
Child-Rearing Practices
 The role of African-American fathers has been
explored within the context of the contemporary
sociopolitical environment of all Af-Am
 Child-rearing practices of Af-Am parents reflected
the reality that their sons were being socialized to
be confrontive. Parents recognize that future
success for their sons hinges on an ability to be
alternately and selectively assertive.
 The Af-Am mother’s central role in her sons’ lives
is concern with their interpersonal relations and
their social life, whereas the father serves as a
supporter in these area
 The Af-Am approach to discipline-in which
children are expected to obey parental commands
immediately and are not permitted to talk back,
question parental authority, or have angry
tantrums-is necessary to the survival of children
who must learn to face the harsh realities of life.
 An aspect of the socialization of Af-Am children is
that it prepares them for survival in an
environment that is covertly, sometimes overtly,
hostile, racist, and discriminatory against them.
 Religious Practices
 Religion has traditionally played an important role in the
lives of African-Americans. The Af-Am church has
served as an important socializing institution for
individuals and as a source of leadership for the
community.
 The Af-Am church has provided service functions such
as senior citizen services, day care centers, credit
unions, housing developments, and education in survival
skills.
 Therapeutic aspects of the religious experience are so
profound that it has be suggested that the Af-Am church
service is a functional community mental resource for its
participants
 The cultural traditions of West Africa
were preserved directly in the lives of the
slave population in the United States.
 There are five distinctive features of
African spirituality that survived and
became incorporated into the practices of
African-Americans church services.
 The direct link between  The strong tie between
the natural and the the world of the living
supernatural and the world of the
 The importance of human dead in defining the
intervention in the scope of community
supernatural world  The importance of
through possession and participatory verbal
spiritual control performance, including
 The significance of music the call-response pattern
to invoke the
supernatural
 During slavery, the church was a center for the development of
leadership, an educational institution, and an agent for the
transmission of traditions and values of the Af-Am community.
 After emancipation, the functions of the church increased as it became
an agent for strengthened family ties, an employment agency
providing assistance to newcomers in locating housing and jobs, and a
cultural center providing opportunities for African-Americans to learn
about and appreciate their own heritage.
 The church served as a major promoter of several themes: belief in the
unity of the race, belief in self-help as the primary means of
addressing problems and social conditions, and a commitment to
improving the race.
 The majority of Af-Am Christians are affiliated with the Baptist and
Methodist denominations. The Methodist is divided into the following
groups: African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), African Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church (AME Zion), and the United Methodist Church.
Family Structure and
Dynamics
 There are five strengths of the African-
American family that lead toward survival,
advancement, and stability:
1. Strong kinship bonds
2. Strong work orientation
3. Adaptability of family roles
4. Strong achievement orientation
5. Strong religious orientation
 There are four aspects of Afrocentric (Centered or focused on Africa or
African peoples, especially in relation to historical or cultural influence ) male-female
relationships that are based on teachings that man and woman
are equally the source of strength and genius of African-
Americans:
1. Sacrifice
2. Inspiration
3. Vision
4. Victory

These elements provided the source and inspiration for all that men
and women do together.
Some researcher maintain that the African-American matriarchy is a
myth, one that still exists to a great extent despite numerous
studies that have cast doubt on it.
 The African-American extended family is a
multigenerational, independent kinship system which is
welded together by a sense of obligation to relatives, is
organized around a dominant figure; extends across
geographic boundaries to connect family units to an
extended family network; and has a built in mutual aid
system for the welfare of its members and the
maintenance of the family as a whole.
 This extended family may consist of one or both
parents and their biological children, true kin, fictive kin
(long-time friends or informal adoptions), and visiting
relatives.
Roles within the African-American family must
be viewed as having developed from an
interplay of at least three factors:
1. African heritage
2. Interaction with the dominant culture in the
United States
3. Method of coping with years of oppression
Cultural Values and
Attitudes
 Many characteristics of Af-Am culture are not
found in the dominant culture
 A connection exists between the cultural traits
of African-Americans and other Afro-centric
communities, such as the Caribbean
 Many elements are African-American culture
are similar to the same elements found in West
African, the location from which most slaves
came
 Cultural elements that have been carryovers from Africa
and that have survived in the U.S. are:
Dialect
Folklore
Adult-child relationships
Family structure
Music
Generosity or hospitality
Respect for the law
Religion
A sense of justice
Work ethic
 One specific cultural value of Africans that is
different from that of the Western world is the
concept of time
 This difference exists because Africans have no
way of expressing a distant future
 Another difference is that, in traditional African
societies, people emphasize whether something is
done only at the current moment or habitually
 The Western view of time is linear, with an
emphasis on the point on the time line at which an
event occurs- that is whether it is past, present, or
future.
The core cultural characteristics of
African-Americans are as follows:
 They tend to respond to
things in terms of the
whole picture instead of its
parts. The Euro-American
tends to believe that
things can be divided and
subdivided into pieces
and that these pieces add
up to a whole (example,
art is sometimes taught by
numbers, Music I, Dance
II)
 They tend to approximate
space, numbers, and
time, rather than stick to
accuracy
 They tend to focus on
people and their
activities, rather than on
things (choose careers in
the helping professions,
such as teaching,
psychology, and social
work)
 They tend to have a  They tend to prefer
keen sense of justice novelty, freedom, and
and are quick to analyze personal distinctiveness.
and perceive injustice This is show in the
 They tend to lean toward development of
altruism, a concern for improvisations in music
one’s fellow humans and styles of clothing
 They tend not to be
“word” dependent.
Rather, they are
proficient in nonverbal
communications
Implications
There are five-stages through which
African-Americans interpret their meetings
with non-African-American counselors.
Stage one is the appraisal stage, wherein
the client “sizes up” the counselor.
Stage two involves the client’s more
assertive investigation of who and what
the counselor is about. During this stage,
the subject of race is likely to emerge.
Stage three involves the exchange of
information and mutual obligations
Stage four is the client’s commitment to the
relationship
Stage five involves actual work on the issue
that brought the client to the counselor in
the first place.
These stages are not unique to African-
Americans
 African-American children must be taught and believe
that deviations from the normative patterns of the
dominant culture are not indications that they are
abnormal.
 They must be helped to understand that negative
social and psychological views have resulted in images
of low self-esteem, identity crisis, and self-hatred.
 An appreciation of African-American cultural values is
essential for Af-Am children if they are to develop
positive self-identities
 Social workers can work more effectively with African-
Americans if they begin from their clients’ points of
strength.