“Brenda’s Got a Baby”

Single Motherhood in the

Streets

Presenter: Brooklynn K. Hitchens

National

- About 44% of Black women have never been married (US Census Bureau, 2008);

- 70% of professional Black women are unmarried (US Census Bureau, 2009);

- 65% of Black births are to single parents (US Census Bureau, 2000); &

- More Black children are reared in impoverished, single mother families than any other race (Rendall, 1999)

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

Local

- 58% of Black births in New Castle County are born to teenage Black mothers (Delaware Health Statistics Center, 2009);

- 71.6% of Black babies born in New Castle County are born to single mothers (Delaware Health Statistics Center, 2007); &

- 85.7% of Black births in Wilmington, DE are to single mothers (Delaware Health Statistics, 2009)

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

To what extent are family

composition, criminal record or street activity, and educational

level predictive of intergenerational notions of

single motherhood?

RESEARCH QUESTION

Single motherhood: State of being a female single-parent, or dominant

caregiver for one or more children without the physical assistance of the father in the home

Black women and motherhood viewed phenomenologically (Collins, 1987 & 1990; Crenshaw, 1991; Chunn & Gavigan, 2004; Richie, 2012) Family Composition Criminal/Street Activity

Preparing Drugs for Sale, Selling or Holding Drug Money Prostitution and “Selling Sex”

Reshaping notions of “fatherless” homes (Collins, 1987; Payne, 2008 & 2011; Livingston & Parker, 2011)

Intergenerational Transmission of attitudes and temperament (Blau & Duncan, 1967; Antel, 1992; Corcoran, 1995; Butterfield, 1995)

Rejects “Cultural pathology” of Black mothers and Black teenage mothers (Rowley, 2002; Cherlin, Cross-Barnet, Burton, & Garrett-Peters, 2008; Sharp & Ispa, 2009)

LITERATURE REVIEW

Yasser A. Payne (2011). Site of Resilience: A Reconceptualization of Resiliency and Resilience in Street Life-Oriented Black Men. Journal of Black Psychology, 37, 4, 426-451.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Street Ideology – centered on personal & economic survival.

Passed on by older Black male generation; and (2) More connected to the code or the better a person understands the

ideology the more resilient a person is considered by men in the streets. (3) Black women are also informed by this street ideology and code.

Set of Activities Bonding activities extends to joking, “playing the dozens”, hanging on the

“corner” or “block”, rhyming (or rapping), playing basketball amongst each other to name a few activities. Also Black women may hang on the “corner” or house stoops, braid or “do hair,” or prepare meals together; &

( 2) Illegal activities are generally employed to confront the effects of economic poverty. Black women in the streets generally engage in the following street activities: (a) prostitution, (b) preparing drugs for sale, (c) selling or holding drugs, (d) gambling, & (e) bookkeeping

What is Street Life?(Payne, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2011)

Sites of Resilience Theoretical Model

(Brown, Payne, Green & Dressner, 2010; Payne, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2011)FUNDAMENTAL PRISM

CONCEPTUAL PRISM

INDIVIDUAL CONDITIONS

SOCIAL STRUCTRAL CONDITIONS

Relational Coping

Phenomenology History

SocialInjustice

SocialStructural Systems

GENERAL LOCAL

Street Life

PHYSICALS.O.R.

PSYCHOLOGICALS.O.R.

Wilmington Street PAR Family

(I.) Participatory Action Research (PAR) projects

includes on the research team, who are members of the population under study. Once such members are identified, they then are offered the opportunity to participate in all phases of the research project (e. g. theoretical framing, literature review, analysis, publication, presentation, monetary compensation, etc.); &

(II.) PAR projects require an social justice based response to be organized in response to the data collected by the study.

Research + Social Activism = PAR

What is Participatory Action Research?

METHOLOGICAL DESIGNof LARGER STUDY

Community Sample

(age range)

Community Survey Packet

Individual Interview

s

Group Interviews

18 – 21 173 121

(5 participants)

22 – 29 205 121

(5 participants)

30 – 35 142 121

(5 participants)

41 – 53 ---- -----

1(7 participants)

United Brothers of 9th Street

Survey Samplen = 520

310 total women surveyed from the larger 520 sample (n=310) Most of the women currently reside and grew up in the Eastside or Southbridge

sections of Wilmington, DE Over 65% of the women currently live in low-income or multi-family homes Over 43% of the women have less than a high school diploma Almost 62% of the females in the sample are unemployed Less than 5% of the women are legally married Over 64% of the women have children Almost half of the women have been arrested, and over 1/3 have been

incarcerated at some point Of those incarcerated, 55% of the women’s prior primary hustle was

drugs/narcotics (selling, holding, preparing, etc.) Over 15% of the sample has been attacked or stabbed with a knife at some point. Over 53% of the women have had a relative killed with a gun

Summary of Survey Data

Mikesha Washington shows several stab wounds on her back that

she got in Wilmington

Neighborhood children gather around as the PAR team walk around the neighborhood

getting residents to fill out an eighteen page survey.

Secondary Analysis on Black Women in the

Streets…

Project DesignInterview/Qualitative Data

Age Range

Individual Interview

s

Age Range

Dual Interview

s

Group

Interviews

18-21 1 18-22 --- ---

22-29 3 27-29 --- 1 (3 participant

s)

30-35 2 28-35 3 (6 participant

s)

1 (2 females and 1 male)

n = 17

Age cohort

Female

18-21 1

22-29 9

30-35 7

n = 17

n = 17

n = 15

n = 9

n = 5

n = 14

17.6%

29.4%

5.9%

17.6%

5.9% 5.9%

n = 16

11.8%

5.9%

17.6%

23.5%

35.3%

Coding Scheme

1st Phase of Qualitative Coding

2nd Phase of Qualitative Coding 3rd Phase of Qualitative Coding

Broad Domain Core Code Sub Codes

(1) Family Childhood Home Experiences (Non-residential Biological

Fathers of Women)

(1) Substance Abuse- Sales and Use

(2) Incarceration(3) Anger

(1) Family Present Home Experiences (Non-residential Biological

Fathers of Children)

(1) Substance Abuse- Sales and Use

(2) Incarceration(3) Anger(4) Personal safety of

child

1st Phase

of Qualitative Coding

2nd Phase of Qualitative Coding

Interrater

3rd Phase of Qualitative Coding

Interrater

Broad Domain

Core Code Coding Alpha

Subcodes Coding Alpha

(1) FamilyChildhood Home

Experiences (Non-residential Biological Fathers of Women)

0.93Substance Abuse-Sales and Use IncarcerationAnger

.75 

1.0.93

(1) FamilyPresent Home

Experiences (Non-residential Biological Fathers of Children)

0.72

Substance Abuse-Sales and UseIncarcerationAngerPersonal safety of child

.72 

.66

.83

.88

Interrater Reliability

What’s it like raising children in your

community?Aneshia (29): Now you scared to let your child be born…it's a strain on your youth, and when your child goes outside. It's a shame…that they can’t walk outside because you're afraid. When we first moved over here it was the Wild-Wild West. The first three days over in Southbridge was the Wild-Wild West. I mean, the movie scene, they were ducking on the basketball courts, and it was like a war zone. Like they were literally shooting in broad daylight like they were in the Wild-Wild West, I thought I was on TV. CODE: Childhood/Personal

Safety

How would you describe the home life of the average youth in

Southbridge?

Yadira (31): Single, parent, mothers raising children on their own…

CODE: Fatherless Homes

Childhood experiences of

Black Women in the Streets…

n = 12

“Motherless” home?

Michelle (31): Like, my mom left when I was 2…She didn't want nothing to do with me and my brother. So my dad…took on what he had to do. So from then on it's been me, my dad and my brother. My dad raised me from age 2 and that's it…

CODE: Opposite of Fatherless Homes

n = 12

Tell us about your experiences with your

father?Brandy (29): My dad went to jail when I was 5 years old, got 25 years [in prison]. [He] came home when I was 25. I’m 29 now. He got out when I was 25, he went back when I was 27 and got life…So basically I know his first and last name.

CODES: Fatherless Homes; Incarceration; Anger

n = 11

How would you describe your relationship with your father?

Tisha (27): Me and my father’s relationship is fair, you know? He was always around as far as somebody to talk to. You feel me? Me and my dad got…more like a brother and sister bond. We can laugh, we can talk about whatever…he always made it clear to me…‘I’m the only man that’s going to love you unconditionally, so you can come to me with whatever.’

CODE: Fatherless Homes

n = 8

n = 15

Present home experiences

of Black Women in the Streets…

n = 13

Are any of your children’s fathers in their lives?

Leslie (31): No.

Q: No. Now how does that make you feel?

Leslie (31): It makes me feel bad because there's no, it's like, hard raising 'em all by myself with no help.

CODE: Fatherless Homes

How do you feel about your child’s father not in

the home?Aneshia (29): …If the white man gotta make you take care of my child, then we don't need you…it made me really dislike men too. 'Cause it started with my dad…Yeah, I'm a male basher…Like I was hurt by a man, really badly, deeply-rooted hurt by a man so that [has] a great impact on me to this day.

CODE: Fatherless Homes; Anger

n = 11

Substance Abuse…

Brandy (29): My children’s father is not around, not in the household, sells drugs everyday…Like you live about a 20 minute walk from Southbridge, and it’s been months since you looked my kids in their face…So no…I don’t believe you love them.

CODES: Fatherless Homes; Substance Abuse; Anger

Negative Relationship with Mother…

Tasha (29): Some fathers feel like these days, if they're not with…the mother of their child then they don't want nothing to do with the child…

CODE: Fatherless Homes

n = 15

How do you feel about fathers in the home?

Lanise (34): ..the authority of a [male] voice and just the male presence…The nature of men…their authority…

CODE: Fatherless Homes

What’s it like being a single mother?

Tisha (27): It's hard to be a single mother out trying to raise your kids on your own. So the best thing you can do is just hold them tight and let them know everything's gonna be alright… you know, don't run to the streets.

CODE: Fatherless Homes

What’s it like being a single mother?

Chantel (30): I'm…being a strong black single parent. I gotta like, you know, straighten up and don't be too depressed around my daughter, you know?

CODE: Fatherless Homes

What’s it like being a single mother?

Tisha (27): My daughter, she's a year, and I felt like I wanted to do something different, and I wanted to show her that her mom can get it. I don't need no drug, I don't need no man, 'cause that's how I want my daughter to look up and always say, 'Oh my mom did it.’

CODE: Fatherless Homes

What’s it like being a single mother?

Chantel (30): As long as my baby's stomach never growl, I'm good...I just learned to be grateful about a lot of stuff.

CODE: Fatherless Homes

What Have We Learned?

- Evidence of Intergenerational transmission and Social reproduction

- Fatherless homes- Substance Abuse (Sales and Use)- Childhood/personal safety (present)

- Anger- Need for more research that is “useful” for

Black women living in the streets

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