Infant Morbidity in Harlem: A Status Report

Abstract

To the longstanding cycle of poverty, disease, and despair that has afflicted several generations of Harlem residents have now been added epidemics of crack abuse, AIDS, syphilis, and pervasive violence. The community's children have been especially vulnerable to these calamities. Harlem's traditional institutions of strength, aid, and comfort--its extended families, churches, the hospital, and the government--have become nearly overwhelmed by mounting social disorganization and an apparent lack of resources. It may be possible to combat such problems by re-examining some of the assumptions we have used to deal with them, by energetically addressing their more manageable components, and by greatly increasing support for viable community institutions such as the public hospital. At the same time, we will need to learn many more facts about crack, AIDS, poverty, and shattered families so that, whenever possible, our efforts will be informed and our choices intelligent.