African American Women Seeking Strength in Romance and Family Relationships

Family interactions play a central role in creating relationships. The dynamic roles of intersectionality and biopsychosocial factors including culture, race, gender and environments stimulate the synergistic effects of relationships. Sociocultural contexts provide meaning to individual lives. The mechanisms within a family dynamic impact the formation of life decisions and overall health, spiritual and mental well-being. The purpose of this chapter is to explain and expand on how many African American women and LGBTQ couples create and interpret family dynamics and romantic relationships; specifically investigating the influential impact of kinship support, the role of the sandwich generation and the occupation of the Black woman as a primary caregiver.

Relationship Literacy

This chapter will explore the attitudes of young women between the ages of 18-25 years towards romantic relationships in the slums of Nairobi, with a view to wider lessons for young women in other societies. Through four case studies examining the lives, relationships and motherhood experiences in Mukuru Kwa Ruben slum, key themes are suggested to explain the high rate of early and single motherhood. Through the construct of ‘relationship literacy,' the chapter will suggest that poor or non-existent male role models, weak or negative experiences of committed relationships, combined with harsh socio-economic consequences have resulted in young women having a little notion of what a real relationship is or what commitment is about. In the conclusion, it is suggested that to achieve improved relationships and life chances for young women both in the slums and well beyond, it is vital to focus on promoting and enhancing the relationship literacy of girls and young women, to enable them to make effective life choices.

Coming Out as Transgender or Transitioning Genders

In recent years, the transgender community has been gaining more awareness and visibility in research, the media, and sociocultural landscapes. Despite this, transgender individuals endure a vast range of personal problems that stem from larger social issues. This chapter will connect the psychological components of identity and the influences of social surroundings to the possible experiences of an individual who comes out as transgender or transitions genders. While many individuals may feel a strong sense of identity affirmation, the interpersonal relationships in his or her life may face a major transitional period as well. This is especially evident in romantic relationships and family dynamics. Outside social stressors or gender transitions could impact the romantic relationship quality and structure of transgender people. Likewise, with family dynamics, the level of family functioning could depend on whether the transgender family member is a parent or child. Conclusively, clinical implications and future directions towards building strong relationships will be explored.

Let's Talk about Sex

Developing comfort in having an open and honest conversation about sex is essential to better our community's sexual health and to assist individuals in developing happy and healthy relationships. Discourse about sex commonly begins in schools' sex education programs, but these programs need radical reform. The current mandated sex education programs only cover the basic anatomy of sex with the emphasis of abstinence. However, reformation to a sex positive approach within sex education would educate individuals on the physiological, psychological and emotional aspects of sex, and could promote safe sex practices for both mental and sexual health. Communication is extremely important for all types of sex relationships; communication in general about sex is correlated with higher rates of overall relationship satisfaction. Communication about one's sexual needs and desires leads to higher levels of sexual satisfaction. Higher levels of satisfaction lead to higher levels of overall relational satisfaction, emphasizing importance of communication about sex.

How Incarceration Affects the Parent-Child Relationship and Family Dynamics

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world (Pew Charitable Trust, 2008). More than one in 100 adults are incarcerated and many of these individuals are parents who have one or more children who are under the age of eighteen. Therefore, 1.7 million children are affected by parental incarceration (Glaze & Maruschak, 2008). Children who have incarcerated parents are exposed to factors that put them at risk for increased delinquency and maladjustment in childhood (Aaron & Dallaire, 2010). Parental incarceration is a heart-wrenching topic, but needs to be discussed because it can negatively impact children and families. Thus, this chapter will explore how parental incarceration affects children and families. Specifically, the various relationships of parent-child, caregiver-child, parent-caregiver, and sibling relationships will be explored. In addition, this chapter will examine the developmental impacts parental incarceration has, legal recommendations, and interventions for children and families affected by parental incarceration.

HIV-Positive Latino Immigrants

Many immigrants have conflicting relationships with their families. Families can be an important source of support for immigrants facing challenges in new countries. For some immigrants however, families can also be a source of frustration and lead to feelings of being trapped in old roles. For immigrants who are men who have sex with men (MSM) the contradictions of families being sources of support or sources of frustration may be heightened. This study examines family relationships among Latino immigrants who are HIV-positive MSM who are currently residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. In particular, issues of disclosure around sexual orientation and HIV to families are explored.

I Want to Know What Love Is

This chapter delves into the intricacies of liking, attraction, online dating, successful marriage and the roots of divorce to better explicate the rich, but complex development and maintenance of romantic relationships. More specifically, the chapter explores familiarity, similarity, gender, short and long-term dating intentions, trustworthiness, positive partner attraction, dominance, attachment security and other factors that pertain to attraction and liking. The chapter introduces The Cues Filtered out Theory, Social Presence Theory and Media Richness Theory, and delineates the benefits and limitations of online dating as it relates to computer-mediated communication. The chapter delineates the importance of similarity, communication and equity for successful relationships and the detriments of dissatisfaction and conflicts in unsuccessful relationships. Finally, the chapter shows how the Prepare/Enrich Program offers valuable advice for resolving conflicts, recognizing partner strengths, and creating a financially stable and productive life with one's partner.

Sticks and Stones

Although bullying has occurred for generations, movement to fully understand the effects of the dangerous behavior has recently been ignited. While much research has focused on the negative effects of bullying on victims, little research has focused on the effects bullying behavior has on the bully. The following is an examination of research regarding the short and long term negative effects bullying has on both bullies and victims. In addition, research regarding the influence of familial, peer and romantic relationships on the engagement of bullying behavior is also addressed, as well as the influence bullying behavior has on the formation and quality of these relationships. The utilization of this research to create anti-bullying programs in schools, homes and informal social situations may help to eradicate bullying behavior.

Young Children and Digital Media in the Home

This chapter presents an overview of the digital practices of young children (under 8 years old) in the home. At such an early age, parents are the main mediators of the contact with digital media, thus paying a preponderant role in shaping young children's practices, perceptions and attitudes. In this chapter, we present partial results of a European-scale qualitative project that followed a methodology based on grounded theory, using interviews to families as method. Our findings reveal different roles played by the parents – role models, gatekeepers, companions, and supervisors. We also found that these different roles are related to the parenting style and also to the parents' own digital practices, and most importantly to perceptions and attitudes towards digital media.

What the Future America Will Look Like

This chapter begins with the historical antecedents of interracial dating and marriages (IRM) within the United States and then the increasing rates of IRM in the 21st century. Several forms of discrimination against interracial couples such as racial microaggressions and the transmission of implicit racial attitudes within the family, are analyzed. The Marketplace Economy Theory is also examined. It attempts to explain the existence of IR couples. Theories behind the origins of racism against IRMs are explored. Asian American dating interracially is also discussed. The latter section examines the implications of IRMs for mental health counselors. It provides recommendations of techniques and special therapy styles that may be more effective for IR couples and IRMs during therapy sessions. These techniques (including goal-oriented sessions, based on strengths, psychodynamic approaches, and postmodern approaches) may be more efficacious due to the unique problems IR couples encounter. Suggestions are provided for why further research into biracial and multiracial children is needed.