Kin Networks and Poverty among African Americans: Past and Present

Trends in social welfare policy and programs place increasing expectations on families to provide members with various forms of material and socioemotional support. The historic ability of kin networks of many African Americans to provide such support has been compromised by long-term community and family poverty. The potential mismatch between the expectations of social welfare systems for kin support and the actual functional capacities of kin networks places African Americans living in poverty at great risk of chronic poverty and its long-term multiple consequences. This article reviews historical and contemporary research on the structure and function of African American kin networks. On the basis of evidence of functional decline, the authors argue that social workers must re-examine the a priori assumption of viable kin networks as a reliable source of resilience among African Americans living in poverty. Social workers must focus assessment at all levels of practice on a variety of aspects of kin networks to make accurate judgments about not only the availability of resources, but also the perceived costs and benefits of participation in exchange for resources.