ABSTRACT
Black families come from various parts of the world and, therefore, have different cultures and histories. Stepfamilies are an integral part of the kinship patterns of black families. Slavery often caused the breakup of families when people were detached from spouses and children to be sold to different masters. The definition of family for African-American families refers to a network of kin that is wider than the nuclear unit. In the days of slavery, a tradition of “child keeping” developed wherein adult relatives took in children and cared for them. Modern black stepfamilies have been described as different from white stepfamilies in the way they are created. Black stepfamilies tend to include single mothers married to men who are not their child’s father, and white stepfamilies tend to include divorced and subsequently remarried mothers. Black stepfamilies bring with them a legacy of a communal-oriented philosophy, permeability of external boundaries, informal adoption, and role flexibility.
