BARROW, Christine, FAMILY IN THE CARIBBEAN: Themes and Perspectives

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BARROW, Christine, FAMILY IN THE CARIBBEAN: Themes and Perspectives. Toronto, Ontario: Irwin Publishing, 1999, 472pp., $24.95 softcover. The past decade has witnessed a rash of scholarship on family in the Caribbean. Christine Barrow, who has authored several works on the subject, continues to contribute to this discourse. This book offers a comprehensive review and critical examination of the literature on family patterns in this region. ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK The author constructs the book around six themes, prominent at one time or another, throughout the course of Caribbean family studies. These specific themes are as follows: the definition of the family, the debate between plural and Creole society perspectives, differences between social structure and human action approaches, the analysis of gender roles and relationships, methodology, and the importance of history and social change in explanations of familial patterns. A primary attraction of the book is the insertion of reproduced articles at the end of each chapter. This feature adds considerable value to the work, particularly if it is intended for an academic and classroom audience. The use of original articles provides the reader the immediate opportunity to review and critique original research and analysis of Caribbean families. More importantly, they are able to do so readily with or without the filter of another scholar's interpretation. CONTENT Barrow demonstrates that Caribbean familial patterns are diverse, multifaceted, and historically linked to past traditions. Yet, this interpretation of Caribbean families and households is relatively new. Original examinations of this subject were conducted primarily by U.S.: or British-born academics. Early explorations were an offshoot of the Negro family debates `in the United States, occurring prior to 1950. They focused primarily on the of black family patterns and theoretical explanations of the phenomena. However, Eurocentric notions of nuclear family forms, produced biased explanations of Caribbean family patterns. The many conjugal relationships, nonresident fathers, low rates of marriage, and high rates of out-of-wedlock births that existed among Caribbean households were characterized as deficient. In general, typologies and concepts developed to define and understand families did not fittingly explain Caribbean reality. Following the end of WWII, a second trend emerged. This period shifted the emphasis of study from origins and the provision of explanations to a concern with family functioning. Unlike their predecessors, many post WWII Caribbean family scholars conducted rigorous fieldwork. Yet, they remained focused on behaviors of low-income populations. Their analysis often led to deterministic interpretations that linked Caribbean familial patterns with economic status. Relative to middle-income, nuclear familial patterns, those of lowincome and non nuclear families were seen as dysfunctional. …