Racial And Ethnic Families In America

--> A mosaic of ethnic groups Reflecting the social and political dynamics in the United States, this edited volume offers an inclusive look at multicultural diversity in the U.S. with extensive coverage of the family life styles, traditions and values of seventeen American ethnic groups. Providing unique and personal insights, each chapter is written by a contributing author representing a particular ethnic group and is structured in a similar pattern - covering the historical background, key ethnic cultural components, traditional and current ethnic family characteristics, and changes and adaptations to the ethnic family and culture. The book is suitable for undergraduate courses in Sociology of the Family, Sociology of Minority Groups, Social Work with Minority Groups, and Race and Ethnicity. Learning Goals Upon completing this book, readers should be able to: Have a better understanding at the multicultural diversity of families in the United States Have a deeper understanding of family life styles, traditions, and values of a wide range of ethnic families in America

"This is a book about patterned differences in American families--differences based on the national, cultural, religious, and racial identification and membership of groups of people who do not set the dominant style of life or control the privileges and power in any given society. These differences are embedded in what are generally known as "ethnic groups." Ethnicity is usually displayed in the values, attitudes, lifestyles, customs, rituals, and personality types of individuals who identify with particular ethnic groups."--Introduction.

In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

"This is a book about patterned differences in American families--differences based on the national, cultural, religious, and racial identification and membership of groups of people who do not set the dominant style of life or control the privileges and power in any given society. These differences are embedded in what are generally known as "ethnic groups." Ethnicity is usually displayed in the values, attitudes, lifestyles, customs, rituals, and personality types of individuals who identify with particular ethnic groups."--Introduction.

In Race and Family: A Structural Approach, author Roberta L. Coles looks at ethnic minority families in a novel way— through a structural lens. Unlike many texts on race and family, this book offers an approach that illustrates overarching structural factors affecting all families as opposed to examining each ethnicity in isolation from one another. By focusing on various structural factors such as demographic, economic, and historical aspects, this book analyzes various family trends in a cross-cutting manner to exemplify the similarities and distinctions among all racial and ethnic groups.

This chart book is designed to document current differences in well-being by race and Hispanic origin and to describe how such differences have evolved over the past several decades. The charts included in this book show key indicators of well-being in seven broad categories: (1) population; (2) education; (3) labor markets; (4) economic status; (5) health; (6) crime and criminal justice; and (7) housing and neighborhoods. Each section begins with a brief introduction and overview of the charts presented. This information provides a benchmark for measuring future progress and can highlight priority areas for reducing disparities across racial and ethnic groups. All the racial and ethnic groups considered here have experienced substantial improvements in well-being over the second half of the century, but disparities between groups have persisted, or in some cases, widened. An example is the decline in the relative economic status of Hispanics over the past 25 years, reflecting the increasing proportion of Hispanics with lower average levels of education, in large part because of immigration. The section on education, which makes disparities in educational attainment and achievement clear, contains information on family participation in literacy activities and preschool education. One chart reviews computer use by elementary school children, and two charts cover reading and mathematics proficiency scores, both of which have implications for the pursuit of higher education. Three charts focus on the educational attainment of adults over 25 years old. An appendix provides a list of other government publications and Internet addresses for more information. (Contains 49 graphs and bar charts.) (SLD)