ABSTRACT
It is being said that British girls of Caribbean background are "doing better than boys" of the same background. The dilemma faced by the girl can be viewed as a circular situation of persistent trauma, created by slavery. This chapter conceptualizes the trauma of slavery as an injury to the psyche passed down through individuals to the child of the unformed or broken couple. The child is left with no males to defend and protect him—no third party—to get between the little boy and mother to prevent suffocation, disrespect, tyranny and humiliation. The failure, as a result of slavery, of stable and loving relationships between fathers and their sons and daughters has over time created difficulties for children in both one-parent and two-parent families. Babyfathering and babymothering emerged as terms to describe a support pattern for the care of children.
