Black Children

Black Children, Second Edition collects current empirical research unique to the experiences and situations of black children and their parents. As the editor emphasizes, "African American children develop a duality for their existence. To be fully functional, they must develop the skills to do well simultaneously in two different cultures, both black and non-black." This volume explores the meaning of this duality in four distinct environments: socioeconomic, parental, internal, and educational. The complex picture that emerges discredits many of the myths that surround black childhood development and initiates in-depth exploration into the diversities of the African American experience.

Taken together, the entries in this volume provide a valuable collection (suitable as both a core or supplemental textbook) for scholars, advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and professionals in the fields of education, counseling and clinical psychology, social work, family services, and related social services who are concerned about the optimal growth and development of black children.

Harriette Pipes McAdoo is a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, Department of Family and Child Ecology.  Previously, she was Professor at Howard University in the School of Social Work and Visiting Lecturer at Smith College, the University of Washington, and the University of Minnesota.  She is a Director of the Groves Conference on Marriage and the Family; was a National Adviser to the President of the White House Conference on Families; was former President and Board Member of the National Council on Family Relations; and was a member of the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development.  She was the first person honored by the National Council on Family Relations with the Marie Peters Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Leadership, and Service in the Area of Ethnic Minority Families.  Dr. McAdoo received her B.A. and M.A. from Michigan State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and she has done post-doctoral studies at Harvard University.  She has published on racial attitudes and self-esteem in young children, Black mobility patterns, coping strategies of single mothers, and professional Kenyan women and HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe.  She is editor of Black Children: Social, Educational, and Parental Environments, Second Edition (2002, SAGE) and Family Ethnicity: Strength in Diversity, Second Edition (1999, SAGE), as well as Young Families, Program Review, and Policy Recommendations.  She is coauthor of Women and Children, Alonge and in Poverty.  She has four children and four grandchildren.