Black Family Features and Drinking Behavior

Abstract

The structural features of the Black family are explored in detail: the social organization of Black family life, the functions of the Black family and the concrete material context within which the Black family exists. Also explored is the contextual relationship between the family and its environment and how this interchange affects the family system and the behavior of its constituent members as manifested in patterns of drinking behavior.

While most of this work is highly descriptive, the logic of discovery underlying this article is guided by a theoretical model that suggests that the features of Black family life, as well as the pattern of drinking behavior, are unique and that such uniqueness derives from the cultural world-view of Black people. Accordingly, it is suggested that current Black drinking patterns are a product of historical traditions and practices originating from the African continent which have been modified by the concrete historical experience of Blacks in America.