This paper examines the theoretical assumptions of resiliency theory and tests these assumptions through a qualitative research design. Eighteen professionals were interviewed to gain a clearer understanding of what conditions practitioners thought act as buffers to life stress and contribute to coping and resilience. Themes that frequently emerged from the data included personal attitude, spirituality/religion, education, and multilevel attachments. The data identified important practice skills to enhance client resilience. Implications for practice and education are discussed.

Resilience Theory: Theoretical and Professional Conceptualizations

Grandmothers primarily responsible for caring for their grandchildren possess strengths and confront challenges. To gain insight into intergenerational parenting, 17 African American grandmothers were interviewed. Based on a qualitative content analysis, seven strategies emerged: maintaining effective communication, taking a strong role in the educational process, providing socioemotional support, involving extended family, involving grandchildren in selective community activities, acknowledging and working with the vulnerabilities, and recognizing children's feelings about the absence of the biological parent(s). Implications for clinical work with grandmothers are included. Key Words: African American families, intergenerational parenting, kinship caregivers. As African American grandmothers increasingly become primary caregivers to their grandchildren, their experiences in parenting a "second time around" emerge as an interesting, yet underdeveloped, topic. Of particular interest is how they parent grandchildren to become productive adults. There are approximately six million children living with grandparents and other relatives (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000). Of that number, 2.1 million are being raised solely by grandparents, without the presence of the biological parent(s). Thirty-eight percent are African Americans, which is a disproportionate representation (Mason & Link, 2002). The increase in this phenomenon has been well documented. Casper and Bryson (1998) listed 14 reasons for children entering kinship care. Among those, parental drug abuse and maternal incarceration are cited as the most prominent factors (Casper & Bryson; Minkler & Roe, 1993). Given the heightened level of vulnerability (Gleeson, 1995; Young & Smith, 2000) to negative outcomes faced by African American youths who enter kinship care (Bryant & Range, 1997; Claussen & Crittenden, 1991; Kelley, 1993; Scannapieco & Jackson, 1996), these grandmothers have a tremendous responsibility in terms of the upbringing of their grandchildren, the biological parent(s) of those children, the child welfare system, and society at large. Because collective responsibility for children is considered one of the strengths of the African American community, kinship care becomes a matter of family preservation rather than child placement (Danzy & Jackson, 1997). Strengths-Based Perspective and Kinship Care Little research has been conducted on African American families from a strengths perspective (Barnes, 2001). A strengths perspective emphasizes the capacities and competencies of clients (Saleebey, 1992) and is an emergent approach with an uplifting quality (Freeman & Logan, 2004). Attributes of research studies incorporating a strengths-based approach include the identification of context, the recognition of family strengths and other resources, and cultural sensitivity (Freeman and Logan). Although arguably waning, European-influenced social science (Schiele, 2000), which emphasizes ideas, interpretations, and racism that are inherent in European-American culture, still acts as a barrier to working with African American families from a strengths perspective (Hillard, 2002; McAdoo, 2002). This influence seems to extend to mental health professionals who often doubt the effectiveness of the mutual aid system of African Americans as kinkeepers in which grandparents are key (McDonald & Armstrong, 2001), which is often viewed as a strength (McAdoo). For example, Beeman and Boisen (1999) found that child welfare workers expressed concern about grandmothers being allowed to parent their grandchildren when the grandmothers had already parented children (biological parent of the grandchildren) with many social problems. Others have proffered similar concerns about the intergenerational transmission of poor parenting, resulting in out-of-home placement (Dubowitz, Feigelman, & Zuravin, 1993). …

Intergenerational parenting from the perspective of African American grandmothers

Restorative justice is the growing movement that aims to change the direction of criminal law by focusing it on the needs of victims and repairing communities. The focus of this article is on three restorative initiatives-family group conferencing, victim-offender mediation, and reparations. The link between social work and restorative justice is explored in each of these areas.

Restorative justice: A model for personal and societal empowerment

This qualitative study represents one of the first efforts to examine how African American fathers protect their children from community violence. Eighteen African American biological and “social” fathers of preschoolersin the Washington, DC, metropolitan area participated in focus groups addressing parentingin violent neighborhoods. Fathers described seven protective strategies reflecting three major themes: monitoring children, educating children about safety, and improving community life. These strategies are discussed within the context of African American values, traditions, and neighborhood contextual factors.

Parenting in Violent Neighborhoods African American Fathers Share Strategies for Keeping Children Safe

“Caught” versus “Taught”: Ethnic identity and the ethnic socialization experiences of African American adolescents in kinship and non-kinship foster placements

Female faculty at Arizona State University's School of Social Work joined forces to revise syllabi for required MSW courses with the intent of integrating content on women. They argue that integration can be achieved only through the development of new paradigms that include women's experiences. They propose an approach based on a historico-structural perspective reinforced by social work values and ecological and critical perspectives. Examples of the curricular modifications introduced by this approach are given.

Integrating Women's Issues in the Social Work Curriculum: A Proposal

The author discusses African-centered family preservation services and the use of a strengths perspective in work with African American families, focusing on the heterogeneous structure of African American families and critical issues facing African American communities. African traditions and ways of integrating these traditions into family-preservation work with African American families are described. Integrating African traditions reflects a holistic approach to family-preservation services, improves the breadth and cultural relevance of services, protects children, and empowers families within the natural context of their communities. These outcomes complement the goals of family-preservation services and enhance the chances of families remaining intact.

Using African-Centered Principles In Family-Preservation Services

During the 1995-96 period, there was a noticeable increase in arson to churches whose congregations are predominately African American. The U.S. Justice Department reported 28 incidents in the 17 months before May 1996 (Fletcher, 1996b). Most of the fires occurred in isolated areas of the South and Southwest, including the states of Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, South Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma. Several churches dated back to the beginning of the century. The Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Alabama, for example, was 100 years old and the Matthews-Murkland Presbyterian Church of North Carolina was 93 years of age (Associated Press, 1996). Although the deliberate burning of a church is generally abhorred, for many African Americans church arson suggests more than destruction of a place of worship. Church burning brings to mind earlier periods in U.S. history when bombings, burnings, and other destructive acts to black churches were common. An example is the well-publicized incident of 1963, in which four African American girls were killed in a fire bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church of Alabama (Smith & Peyser, 1996). The burning of black churches is also associated with lynchings, segregated facilities, and other indignities (Gates & West, 1996; Nixon, 1996). Church arson is a vivid reminder to some African Americans of the limited resources within their communities, particularly funds to rebuild churches. Even when sufficient resources are available for rebuilding projects, church burning can be devastating to black communities. The church is in many ways a focal point of African American communities and a major source of support to black families. When church arson occurs, a vital coping mechanism (Johnson & Barer, 1990) is suddenly and tragically lost. Communities can find themselves in crisis. In the absence of a familiar stress management strategy, residents sometimes feel disempowered and turn to community organizers for assistance. As community organizers, social workers are in key positions to help client systems address many of the empowerment issues related to church burnings. This article identifies church burnings as a major threat to the integrity of African American communities and discusses the conservative political context within which church arsons occur, the vital role of the church in African American communities, and the responses of African American communities to church burnings. Because social workers have not played an active role in addressing church burning and because it is important that the profession respond to church arson in ways that mobilize strengths within black communities, the article stresses the value of empowerment practice. Empowerment practice, unlike strategies aimed at helping client systems adjust to or cope with problems, is concerned with increasing clients' personal, social, or political power so that they are enabled to change their situations and prevent the reoccurrence of problems (Gutierrez, GlenMaye, & DeLois, 1995). Political Context Researchers have documented a resurgence of conservative attitudes in the United States. They cite as examples attacks on affirmative action, court reversals of decisions on redistricting, and increases in hate speech and hate crimes (Smith & Peyser, 1996; White, 1996a). Activities such as the U.S. Department of the Treasury (1996) Good O' Boy Roundup, the opening of a South Carolina Ku Klux Klan memorabilia store during a period of increased church burnings in the area, and refusal of the state of Alabama to remove the confederate flag from the state house (Fletcher, 1996c) tend to further exacerbate racial hostility. As a white resident of Lane, South Carolina, stated when a black church was burned in his neighborhood, "People are acting differently, talking differently. You can't pinpoint it, but you can tell the good relations are dwindling away" (Fletcher, 1996c, p. …

Church Burning in African American Communities: Implications for Empowerment Practice

The integration of ethnic diversity content into social work curricula is a major focus of social work education This narrative tells of how my experience in seeking to make "meaningful connection with my ancestors" in Africa influenced my teaching and enhanced students' appreciation of ethnic diversity and practice with with their own and other cultural groups [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Reflections : Narratives of Professional Helping is the property of Cleveland State University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts)

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Carolyn S. Carter

Papers

Integrating Women's Issues in the Social Work Curriculum: A Proposal

Using African-Centered Principles In Family-Preservation Services

Church Burning in African American Communities: Implications for Empowerment Practice

ENHANCING SELF-ESTEEM BY EXPLORING DIVERSITY: A Personal Experience.