Black Adults’ Perceptions of Healthy Family Functioning

Abstract

The aim of this research was to establish what black adults' perceptions are of factors that contribute to healthy family functioning. Qualitative research was conducted. Random sampling was used to obtain eighteen black participants between the ages of 20 and 60. These participants responded in writing to the following open ended question: "What factors do you think contribute to healthy family functioning?'Setni-structured interviews were also conducted with the eight participants who presented with the richest data. Analysis of the data yielded 10 prevalent themes and eleven other themes. All these themes were compared to existing research results. It appeared that themes of this study correspond with many dimensions of family functioning as indicated by family therapy models and existing research. Participants also indicated new dimensions not mentioned by the existing literature. Recommendations were made concerning future research.

Families That Do Well: Lay Conceptualizations of Well‐Functioning, Healthy, Strong, and Good Families

“…Although a few grandparents over age 60 years with experiences of various life course stages participated, the focus of our larger study on family functioning in families with young children might have narrowed participants' attention to attributes of young families that do well. Importantly, however, our findings are consistent with previous studies on lay conceptualizations, which included laypeople of various ethnocultural origins, ages, and life-course stages (Ayón & Villa, 2013;Denham, 1999aDenham, , 1999bDenham, , 1999cKelley & Sequeira, 1997;Kushner, 2007;Lam et al, 2012;Martin & Yurkovick, 2014;Niska et al, 1999;Zwane et al, 2012). Comparable attributes to those described by our participants were included in these disparate samples' conceptualizations of family health/healthy family, well-functioning family, and strong family, suggesting that ethnocultural origin, age, and life course stage do not have substantial influence on how laypeople make sense of terms that refer to families that do well.…”

“…Each study included a disparate sample, but together the studies generated data from a diverse range of people that varied by family structure, socioeconomic status, ethnocultural origin, and age. In addition to primarily White Euro-Canadian/American samples (Denham, 1999a(Denham, , 1999b(Denham, , 1999cKelley & Sequeira, 1997;Kushner, 2007), other studies included Mexican Americans (Ayón & Villa, 2013;Niska et al, 1999), Native American Indians (Martin & Yurkovich, 2014), Hong Kong Chinese (Lam et al, 2012), and Black South Africans (Zwane et al, 2012). These samples also included diversity in age, with participants ranging from 7 to more than 90 years.…”

“…However, laypeople also identified differences among terms. Laypeople included health and healthy lifestyle behaviors in their descriptions of family health/healthy family (Denham, 1999a(Denham, , 1999b(Denham, , 1999cKushner, 2007;Lam et al, 2012;Martin & Yurkovich, 2014;Niska et al, 1999) but not in their descriptions of well-functioning family (Kelley & Sequeira, 1997;Zwane et al, 2012) and strong family (Ayón & Villa, 2013).…”

Motivations for Relationships as Sources of Meaning: Ghanaian and South African Experiences

“…Ratele et al (2004) supported the notion that there is a collective sense of responsibility among African people and that community members are bound together by a reciprocal understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Nwoye (2004) , Zwane et al (2012) , Onyedinma and Kanayo (2013) were also of the opinion that relatedness is seen in engaging in daily activities that foster respect and cultural practices of the particular culture of African people. For example, cultural practices of raising children according to cultural values are core to sustaining the bonds and relationships among African people ( Owusu-Ansah and Mji, 2013 ).…”

Family structure and functioning: Influences on adolescents psychological needs, goals and aspirations in a South African setting

“…Various South African studies have explored families in terms of well-being (Koen, Van Eeden & Rothmann, 2013), family structure and life goals (Davids & Roman, 2013), family structure and parenting (Roman, 2011;Davids, Roman & Leach, 2015) and healthy family functioning (Zwane, Venter, Temane & Chigeza, 2012), but not family structure and functioning effects on psychological need fulfilment, goals and aspirations among adolescents. The following question guided the study: How does family structure and functioning influence psychological needs, goals and aspirations among South African adolescents?…”