What are the Psychological Implications for the Separation/Individuation Process for an African American Family that is Poor?

Abstract

It will be argued that the psychological implications of the Separation/Individuation (S/I) process in an African American family structure of lower socioeconomic status. can best be described in terms of the borderline syndrome. This will prove to be a challenging task in that the literature on African American families does not directly include references to the complex theoretical issues associated with the S/I process or with borderline patients. Furthermore, the literature on S/I is mostly concerned with issues related to the dominant culture. Consequently, the integration of these two areas into a functional understanding of poor African American family structure will have to be inferential in nature. It was the work of Mahler et al. (1949) who introduced the psychological characteristics of children that later became associated with the concept of the borderline syndrome. In the years to follow, numerous authors (Geleerd, 1958; Knight, 1954; Rosenfeld & Sprine, 1963) began the systematic investigation of the confusing characteristics associated with this pathological state. These investigations were dynamic and developmental in origin and relied on three basic sources: of the transference-countertransference in intensive psychotherapy or analysis, observation of the preverbal infant in with his mother, and study of the family in interaction (Shapiro, 1978, p. 1305). Em-