Development in a Variety of Familial Contexts
Saturday, 10:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Sheraton Constitution A&B

Chair: Velma McBride Murry, University of Georgia

Biographical Sketch
Velma McBride Murry, Ph.D., is a Professor of Child and Family Development and Co-Director of the Center for Family Research at the University of Georgia. She received her doctorate in Human Development and Family Relations from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1988. Dr. Murry has made significant contributions to our understanding of the significance of context in studies of African-American families and youth. Her investigation of the impact of racism on family functioning has elucidated the dynamics of this contextual stressor in the everyday life of African Americans. Her research on the ways in which family members buffer each other from the impact of the external stressors that cascade through African-American lives was one important stimulus for her subsequent focus on family intervention as a potential protection against the development of risky adolescent behavior. The results of this research support her premise that individual and family attributes can ameliorate the impact of multiple risk factors on children and adolescents. These two areas of research have informed the development of the Strong African American Families (SAAF) intervention program that targets the prevention of early onset sexual behavior and substance abuse. Currently, Dr. Murry’s work focuses on the implementation and dissemination of this preventive intervention for African-American youth and their families.

Abstract
The four papers in this symposium highlight the significance of considering familial contexts in studies of child development. The authors summarize findings from their current research to elucidate the process through which family composition, parental marital status, paternal involvement, fathering, and grandparents raising their grandchildren affect child development. The implications of poverty and geographic residence in understanding linkages between parenting and child well-being are also addressed. Each paper offers suggestions of ways to integrate familial contexts in future research, social policy, and in the design and implementation of preventive interventions for youth and families.

Discussant: Jennifer Jenkins, University of Toronto

Biographical Sketch
Dr. Jennifer Jenkins is Professor in the Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology in the University of Toronto. She is a clinical and developmental psychologist. Her research has examined the influence of marital, parental and sibling relationships on developmental health. She studies why some children are more resilient than others when growing up in high-risk environments and is particularly interested in within family differences in development. She is the director, with Michael Boyle, of Kids, Families, Places, a birth-cohort study, looking at the impact of neighbourhoods, families and childcare contexts on children’s developmental health. She is the author of three books, including Understanding Emotions.

Presentation 1
Fragile Families and Inequality
Speaker: Sara McLanahan, Princeton University

Biographical Sketch
Sara McLanahan is a professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University and Faculty Associate of the Office of Population Research. She directs the Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, is a principal investigator on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, and Editor-in-Chief of the Future of Children. Her research interests include family demography, poverty and inequality, and social policy. She has written 5 books, including Fathers Under Fire (1998), Social Policies for Children (1996); Growing Up with a Single Parent (1994); Child Support and Child Wellbeing (1994); and Single Mothers and Their Children: A New American Dilemma (1986), and over 100 scholarly articles. She is currently a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars, the Selection Committee for the W.T. Grant Young Scholars Award, the Board of Trustees for the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Advisory Board for the National Poverty Center, and the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on the Family and the Economy. She has served on the Board of the American Sociological Association, the Population Association of America, and the National Academy of Sciences Board on Children Youth and Families. She is a Past-President of the Population Association of America. McLanahan was named the James S. Coleman Fellow of the American Academy of Political Science in 2005 and received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association Family Section in 2004. A full list of publications can be found at http://CRCW.Princeton.edu.

Abstract
Recent changes in marriage, cohabitation, divorce and non-marital childbearing have increased the proportion of children being raised in fragile families, defined as unmarried parents and their children. This paper discusses the implications of these trends, drawing on data from a new birth cohort study – The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study – which is following approximately 5000 parents who gave birth at the turn of the century in large U.S. cities. Four questions are examined: (1) what are the capabilities, and trajectories in capabilities, of parents in fragile families, (2) what is the nature of parents’ relationships and how do relationships change over time, (3) how do children fare in fragile families, and (4) what role do policies play in the lives of children and parents?

Presentation 2
To Grandmother’s House We Go: The Challenges of Custodial Grandparents
Speaker: Carole Cox, Fordham University

Biographical Sketch
Carole Cox, Ph.D., is Professor at the Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the author of more than 50 journal articles and chapters dealing with various aspects of aging and care giving. She has done extensive research on caregivers for persons with Alzheimer’s disease, their needs and use of services with a particular focus on ethnicity. In the last few years, she has expanded her interest in care giving to that of grandparents raising their grandchildren. She has developed a program and curriculum for empowerment training for grandparents, Empowering Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Training Manual for Group Leaders (Springer Publishing, 2000) and is also the editor of To Grandmothers House We Go and Stay: Perspectives on Custodial Grandparents (Springer Publishing, 2000). Her other books include Home Care: An International Perspective (Greenwood, co-author Abraham Monk), The Frail Elderly: Problems, Needs, and Community Responses (Auburn House), Ethnicity and Social Work Practice (Oxford University Press, co-author, Paul Ephross) and Community Care for an Aging Society: Policies and Services, Springer Publishing, 2005. She is also the editor of the book Dementia and Social Work Practice which is soon to be published by Springer Publishing.

Abstract
It is estimated that more than 4,000,000 grandparents in the United States are raising their grandchildren, and in most of these homes there is no parent present. These grandparents, the majority of whom, never anticipated becoming parents again, confront many challenges as they attempt to raise these children. The children come to them for many reasons ranging from parental substance abuse to incarceration, mental illness, and death. In many instances, these children have already been severely damaged emotionally and psychologically before moving in with their grandparents. Consequently, grandparents are grappling with their own new roles as well as the myriad of demands placed on them by these children. This session will discuss many of the issues faced by these growing families and the supports and services that can assist them.

Presentation 3
Diverse (and Dynamic) Contexts for Paternal Involvement in Children’s Development
Speaker: Kevin Roy, University of Maryland

Biographical Sketch
Kevin Roy, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Family Studies at the University of Maryland in College Park. His research examines the life course of men on the margins of families and the work force. Through a mix of participant observation and life history interviews, he has explored the intersection of policy systems, such as welfare reform and incarceration, with parents’ care giving and providing roles. He has received funding for his research from NICHD, the W.T. Grant Foundation, and the National Poverty Center. Dr. Roy has published in Social Problems, Journal of Family Issues, and Family Relations, and has co-edited a recent volume, entitled Situated Fathering: A Focus on Physical and Social Spaces. He received a Ph.D. from the Human Development and Social Policy program at Northwestern University in 1999.

Abstract
Extant research on fatherhood suggests that paternal involvement has generally positive impacts on children’s well-being. However, researchers remain challenged to discern differential impacts across contexts. Links between paternal involvement and socioeconomic status, as well as race/ethnicity, have been weak or marginal in studies with large national datasets. Maternal employment status remains a key predictor of men’s involvement as fathers, and a better understanding of residential status may also offer new insight into the impact of fathering. Other important factors that may shape fathering include authoritative approaches to parenting, men’s closeness and warmth with children, and couple relationship status. Recent studies have focused on a range of contexts for men’s involvement. Future research on fathering may explore the processes of fathering, including multi-partner parenting, paternal resilience, socialization to fatherhood, and kinscription of men into father/father figure roles. We can also pay closer attention to patterns of change in fathering over the life course. Focus on ontogenetic and historic transitions in men’s parenting roles, and differential fathering at periods in the life course, may lead researchers to new insights into men’s involvement and its impact on the development of children – and adolescents and young adults – over time.

Presentation 4
Harnessing African American Families’ Protective Capacities: Parenting in Rural Communities
Speaker: Velma McBride Murry, University of Georgia

Abstract
Several million African American families live in the rural Southern coastal plain that stretches across South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. This region is one of the most economically disadvantaged areas in the United States (Dalaker, 2001), in which tax bases are low. Consequently, growing up poor, with poor prospects for the future, in addition to inequities due to racial discrimination may occasion less optimistic view about the possibilities of attaining life course goals. Such fatalistic circumstances may compromise youth development and adjustment. Our own work on rural African American families revealed that a cluster of parenting practices serve a protective role in reducing risk among their children. We highlight those processes offer suggestions that may inform future research and prevention interventions that are designed to harness rural African American families’ protective capacities to foster positive child outcome.