scholarly journals The role of work in gender identity, stress and health in low-income, middle-aged African-American men

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Robinson ◽  
Luis Valdez ◽  
Lamont Scott ◽  
David Buchanan
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Minority Stress ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
Sense Of Identity

Summary Although progress has been made in reducing disparities in life expectancy, addressing the persistence of health inequities by race remains a high priority for public health professionals. The purpose of this research was to refine a minority stress model (MSM) by identifying previously unrecognized factors contributing to stress and chronic disease health disparities among low-income middle-aged African-American men. Using a Community-Based Participatory Research approach, we conducted semi-structured individual health interviews with 42 low-income middle-aged African-American men in a mid-size New England city. The interviews focused on the participants’ perceptions of the causes of health disparities. Four major themes emerged from the analysis: the positive aspects of work, both financial and symbolic; and the negative repercussions of not working, both financial and symbolic in terms of a sense of self-respect. On an instrumental level, working men can support their family, be physically active and find social support. Symbolically, work provides a positive sense of identity as a man; it offers both social- and self-respect; it provides discipline and a sense of gratitude. Conversely, the lack of work is a significant source of stress, stemming both from the inability to support one’s family and from having nothing to do, which lead to depression, low self-esteem, suicidal ideation and anger. With no perceived viable routes to socially approved roles, many low-income men of color succumb to internalizing a negative identity. This research demonstrates a clear link between structural problems with the US economy and harms to sense of identity among low-income, middle-aged African-American men.

scholarly journals Racial Disparities in Disability Among Older Adults

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1261-1279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland J. Thorpe ◽  
Rachael McCleary ◽  
Jenny R. Smolen ◽  
Keith E. Whitfield ◽  
Eleanor M. Simonsick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Low Income ◽  
White Women ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Urban Sample ◽  
Functional Advantage

Objective: Persistent and consistently observed racial disparities in physical functioning likely stem from racial differences in social resources and environmental conditions. Method: We examined the association between race and reported difficulty performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) in 347 African American (45.5%) and Whites aged 50 or above in the Exploring Health Disparities in Integrated Communities–Southwest Baltimore, Maryland Study (EHDIC-SWB). Results: Contrary to previous studies, African Americans had lower rates of disability (women: 25.6% vs. 44.6%, p = .006; men: 15.7% vs. 32.9%; p = .017) than Whites. After adjusting for sociodemographics, health behaviors, and comorbidities, African American women (odds ratio [OR] = 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.14, 0.70]) and African American men (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.90]) retained their functional advantage compared with White women and men, respectively. Conclusion: These findings within an integrated, low-income urban sample support efforts to ameliorate health disparities by focusing on the social context in which people live.

scholarly journals Weight Status and High Blood Pressure Among Low-Income African American Men

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marino A. Bruce ◽  
Bettina M. Beech ◽  
Christopher L. Edwards ◽  
Mario Sims ◽  
Isabel Scarinci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
African American ◽  
High Blood Pressure ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Weight Status ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Biological Risk Factor ◽  
West Tennessee

Obesity is a biological risk factor or comorbidity that has not received much attention from scientists studying hypertension among African American men. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between weight status and high blood pressure among African American men with few economic resources. The authors used surveillance data collected from low-income adults attending community- and faith-based primary care clinics in West Tennessee to estimate pooled and group-specific regression models of high blood pressure. The results from group-specific logistic regression models indicate that the factors associated with hypertension varied considerably by weight status. This study provides a glimpse into the complex relationship between weight status and high blood pressure status among African American men. Additional research is needed to identify mechanisms through which excess weight affects the development and progression of high blood pressure.

scholarly journals Search for Identity and Self-Realization in Toni Morrison'sBeloved.

2018 ◽  
Vol 214 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-152
Author(s):  
Assist. Instr. Alaa Sadoon Muhsen.
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
African American Women ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
American Women ◽  
The Past ◽  
Women's Relationships ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
Black Writing

       This paper aims at exploring the search for identity and the ways in which Toni Morrison has systematically recast the image and reconstructed the identity of African American women in her novel Beloved. She employs different means such as pure black writing, love and myth by which she re-opens new doors for the African American women to achieve and reconstruct their identities in the community of slavery. Drawing upon womanist and postmodern theories of identity construction, and incommensurability, this paper argues that African American femininity is relationally constructed. In essence, black women's relationships with their children (especially their daughters), their men, and the White community of brutal slavery define who they are, determine how they perceive themselves, and, largely, dictate their capacity for success and survival.Though many scholars contend that Morrison's Beloved situates individual and collective memory as the vehicle by which such self-identification is achieved. It  maintains that it is not until African American women and African American men are able to put their stories together and to identify new ways of  seeing and relating to the other can they create any real sense of self-worth.  Many scholars support this assessment as Morrison offers it through a reconstruction of personal and community histories and ancestral reclamation whereby the entire characters move on a continuum from a repressive slave perspective to an open, accepting, free perspective of self and environment. Therefore, (re)memory alone is not sufficient. There must be collaboration to weave the pieces, the fragments of the past into a tapestry that might provide warmth and security for the future.

Rethinking the Relationship of African American Men to the Street

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alford A. Young
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Social Power ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This article examines how the street has become a point of reference in scholarly and public discussions of the behavior of low-income African American men living in urban communities. It begins with a discussion of how the street has attained such an overriding centrality in the cultural analyses of low-income, urban-based African American men in public space, especially in the formation of images and understandings about them. It then considers how and why African American men have come to be viewed as a frighteningly disturbing presence on the street because of the social power they are assumed to have in affecting the actions and lives of others who make use of the streets. It also looks at various frameworks for the cultural analysis of African American men and concludes by arguing that the street has been both overdetermined and incompletely theorized in terms of its significance for cultural analysis.

scholarly journals Sexual Behavior, Sexual Identity, and Substance Abuse Among Low-Income Bisexual and Non-Gay-Identifying African American Men Who Have Sex with Men

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 748-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina T. Harawa ◽  
John K. Williams ◽  
Hema C. Ramamurthi ◽  
Cleo Manago ◽  
Sergio Avina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
African American ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Low Income ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Sex With Men
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