Abstract
In this chapter, I argue that scholars, social service providers, policy makers, and others who critically engage the topic of African American fatherhood, must attend to two concepts that highlight under-treated dimensions of that role: vulnerability and safe space. Vulnerability, a product of anxiety, uncertainty, and unfamiliarity, is a condition affecting many socio-economically disadvantaged African American fathers. These men also function without access to safe space, or public and/or institutionalized space that would allow them the opportunity to better realize, express, and address their vulnerability as men, and as fathers in particular. The absence of such safe space is a consequence of the transformation of urban communities since the age of the so-called underclass. Hence, through the review of a case study and findings in other research, this chapter highlights how and why a critical focus on vulnerability in African American fatherhood and the utility of safe spaces for addressing it can advance the scholarly and policy agenda for this social role.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anderson, E. (1989). Sex codes and family life among poor inner-city youths. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 501, 59–78.
Anderson, E. (1990). Streetwise: Race, class, and change in an urban community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Anderson, E. (1999). Code of the streets. New York: W.W. Norton.
Anderson, E. (Ed.). (2009). Against the wall: Poor, young, black, and male. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Auletta, K. (1982). The underclass. New York: Random House.
Billson, J. M. (1996). Pathways to manhood: Young black males struggle for identity. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction.
Bourgois, P. (1995). In search of respect: Selling crack in El Barrio. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bushway, S., Stoll, M. A., & Weiman, D. F. (Eds.). (2007). Barriers to reentry? The labor market for released prisoners in post-industrial America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Collins, P. H. (2005). Black sexual politics: African Americans, gender, and the new racism. New York: Routledge.
Edin, K., & Nelson, T. (2013). Doing the best I can: Fatherhood in the inner city. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hamer, J. (2001). What it means to be daddy: Fatherhood for black men living away from their children. New York: Columbia University Press.
Harding, D. J. (2010). Living the drama: Community, conflict, and culture among inner-city boys. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Holcomb, P. A., & Young, A., Jr. (2007). Voices of young fathers: The Partners for Fragile Families Demonstration Project. Prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. https://aspe.hhs.gov/execsum/voices-young-fathers-partners-fragile-families-demonstration-projects
Hooks, B. (2004). We real cool: Black men and masculinity. New York: Routledge.
Hunter, A., & Davis, J. (1994). Hidden voices of black men: The meaning, structure, and complexity of manhood. Journal of Black Studies, 25(1), 20–40.
Jones, J. (2010). Labor of love, labor of sorrow: Black women, work and the family from slavery to the present. New York: Basic Books.
Liebow, E. (1967). Tally’s corner: A study of Negro streetcorner men. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
Macleod, J. (2009). Ain’t no makin’ it: Aspirations and attainment in a low-income neighborhood. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Majors, R., & Billson, J. M. (1992). Cool pose: The dilemmas of black manhood in America. New York: Lexington Books.
Mincy, R. (2006). Black males left behind. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
National Urban League. (2007). The state of black America: Portrait of the Black Male. New York: Beckham Publication Group.
Nelson, T. J. (2004). Low-income fathers. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 427–451.
Rainwater, L. (1970). Behind ghetto walls: Black families in a federal slum. Chicago: Aldine.
Raphael, S. (2011). Incarceration and prisoner reentry in the United States. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 635(1), 192–215.
Rios, V. M. (2011). Punished: Policing the lives of black and Latino boys. New York: New York University Press.
Roy, K. M. (2005). Transitions on the margins of work and family for low-income African American fathers. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 26(1), 77–100.
Roy, K. M. (2006). Father stories: A life course examination of paternal identity among low-income African American men. Journal of Family Issues, 27(1), 31–54.
Sullivan, M. L. (1989). Getting paid: Youth crime and work in the inner city. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Tolleson, J. (1997). Death and transformation: The reparative power of violence in the lives of young black inner-city gang members. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 67(3), 415–431.
Travis, J. (2005). But they all come back: Facing the challenges of prisoner reentry. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
Venkatesh, S. A. (2000). American project: The rise and fall of a modern ghetto. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Venkatesh, S. A. (2006). Off the books: The underground economy of the urban poor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Visher, C., La Vigne, N. G., & Travis, J. (2004). Returning home: Understanding the challenges of prisoner reentry. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Justice Policy Center.
Waller, M. (2002). My baby’s father: Unmarried parents and paternal responsibility. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Western, B. (2007). Punishment and inequality in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Williams, T., & Kornblum, W. (1985). Growing up poor. Boston, MA: Lexington Books.
Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: The inner-city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wilson, W. J. (1992). The plight of the inner-city black male. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 136(3), 320–325.
Wilson, W. J. (Ed.). (1993). The ghetto underclass: Social science perspectives. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Wilson, W. J. (1996). When work disappears: The world of the new urban poor. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Young, A., Jr. (2004). The minds of marginalized black men: Making sense of mobility, opportunity, and future life chances. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Young, A. (2016). Safe Spaces for Vulnerability: New Perspectives on African Americans Who Struggle To Be Good Fathers. In: M. Burton, L., Burton, D., M. McHale, S., King, V., Van Hook, J. (eds) Boys and Men in African American Families. National Symposium on Family Issues, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43847-4_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43847-4_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43846-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43847-4
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)