ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on a typical middle-working class Virgin Islands family. It will assess their struggles through the multiple lenses of historical and political, economic, educational, and technological forces that shaped their lives. The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is a microcosm of the larger multicultural experience of the Caribbean, with its multiple approaches to family values and parenting practices. The Caribbean, education has the widely accepted means of improving one's life and opportunities. The C family reflected this cultural dominance of wealth at all costs, not only in the economic decisions they made for themselves, but their inculcation into the children of the pursuit of material wealth as a primary objective. The struggles of the C family and the parenting difficulties are driven by the reduced economic status of all but a very few in the Caribbean. The C family typifies the negative impact of historical, social, and cultural forces which derail and supersede the effectiveness of current interventions.
