The young Black male in foster care: the St. Vincent's hall experience, 1982

Tate, Robert L., Jr.

1980-1989

The primary intent of this thesis is to examine foster care services. An attempt has been made to study, from a dual perspective, the relevance of discharge and the relevance of foster care services for Black children and the Black community. Juvenile boys are increasingly exhibiting behavioral problems such that the family is having to look outside of the nuclear and extended units for supportive alternatives. While the intent of the thesis is to examine discharge and Black children in foster care, the major concern is the institutionalization of Black males and the impact this syndrome is having on the Black community. After beginning with a brief history of foster care and a selected review of the literature, the thesis focuses on the central topic: the study of a sample discharge group from a foster care institutional residence program in New York City. The main source of information was the agency's population information forms. The separation experience was chosen as a focus of study for two reasons. First of all, the discharge experience can be a traumatic and confusing episode to adolescents who have developed a psychodynamic profile that makes them dependent on institutional living. Secondly, this examination will begin to draw attention to the effect the foster care experience has on their future development and the impact the system has on the Black community. It is therefore imperative to begin on examination of what happens to adolescent Black males when they leave foster placement.

text

application/pdf

1982-07-01

thesis

Master of Arts (MA)

Atlanta University

Afro-American studies

Long, Richard A.

Clark Atlanta University

Georgia--Atlanta

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1982_tate_robert_l_jr