Black Families and Black Identity Development: Rediscovering the Distinction Between Self-esteem and Reference Group Orientation

Abstract

The sociological and socio-historical literature on the evolution of the Black American family, covering slavery through the present period, is interfaced with the trend of empirical studies of Black identity development for studies conducted between 1939 to the present. The former defines the structural aspects (one parent, two parent kin network) of Black house-holds, while evidence of high or low selfesteem in Black children, contained in the latter, reflects how well Black families have been performing certain socialization tasks. It is pointed out that the trend of the empirical literature on Black identity development from 1939 to about 1968, which shows Black children have low self-esteem and a negative group identity, supports the Frazierian perspective on Black families, a view which holds that significant structural aberrations exist in most Black households resulting in the inadequate socialization of Black children. Furthermore, evidence pointing to a positive change iri Black identity as a product of the Black Power Movement would also seem to represent support for the Frazier Model, for implicit in such a trend is the proposition that Black identity was negative before the movement.