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Black Fathers, Oedipal Issues, and Modernity

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Psychoanalysis, Fatherhood, and the Modern Family

Abstract

African American fathers often must function in an overly bounded inter- and intrapsychic spaces. Their paternal agency is often limited due to the need to protect the triad from the predations of a racist culture. At the same time, they are often marginalized from the mother-child dyad. With support and self-reflection, such fathers will strive to be good-enough paternal figures.

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Notes

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    See C. Jama Adams, “Poor African-American Fathers: Healthy Moves.” In: Kirkland C. Vaughans & Warren Spielberg (Eds.), The Psychology of Black Boys and Adolescents II (Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2014), 469–486; and Adams, “Black fatherhood in a time of fluidity,” Psychoanalytic Perspectives 16 (2019): 326–339.

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    See Blazina and Bartone, “Moving Beyond Essentialism.”

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    Blazina and Bartone, “Moving Beyond Essentialism.”

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    Adrienne Harris, “Melancholic Fathers; Dangerous Fathers.” Paper presented at the American Psychological Association: Division of Psychoanalysis Conference. New Orleans, April 2018.

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    See Gilmore, “Psychoanalytic Developmental Theory.”

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    Coetzee, “Antigone, Empire, and the Legacy of Oedipus.”

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    Williams, Capitalism and Slavery.

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  46. 46.

    Radley Balko, “There’s Overwhelming Evidence that the Criminal Justice System is Racist. Here’s the Proof,” The Washington Post (2020); https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/opinions/systemic-racism-police-evidence-criminal-justice-system/ (access March 2021); and Christine Benz, “75 Must-Know Statistics About Race, Income, and Wealth.” Morning Star (2020); https://www.morningstar.com/articles/987356/75-must-know-statistics-about-race-income-and-wealth (access March 2021).

  47. 47.

    See Adams, “Poor African-American Fathers.”

  48. 48.

    Adams, “Poor African-American Fathers.”

  49. 49.

    Adams, “Respect and Reputation.”

  50. 50.

    Diamond, “Recovering the Father in Mind and Flesh”; and Harris, Melancholic Fathers.

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Correspondence to C. Jama Adams .

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Adams, C.J. (2022). Black Fathers, Oedipal Issues, and Modernity. In: Weissberg, L. (eds) Psychoanalysis, Fatherhood, and the Modern Family. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82124-1_7

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