The identity of mixed parentage adolescents

Theories about black identity are discussed in relation to a study of adolescents with one white and one African or African-Caribbean parent. Interview findings on their racial self-definition, attitudes to their mixed parentage, and allegiance to black and white people and cultures reveal a wide range of racial identities and cultural allegiances. Differences are related to type of school, social class, and the degree of politicisation of the young person's attitudes to race. The findings are discussed in relation to the issue of interracial adoption and fostering, and to recent debates about the concept of an essential black identity.(AU)

Social integration of the physically disabled in Barbados

An emergent concern with the rehabilitation and social integration of disabled people in developing nations has created a need to identify cultural beliefs and behaviours which may affect the integration of the disabled into normative social roles. The focus of this study is the social integration of physically disabled adults among the nonelite, coloured population of Barbados, West Indies. This paper analysed the role participation of 30 physically disabled adults within the context of Barbadian beliefs and behaviours related to the disabled and to the 'normal' adult. Although village Barbadians do not expect the physically disabled to fulfill normative roles, some disabled individuals in this study do perform adult activities, such as maintaining employment and engaging in sexual relationships. However, very few of them participate in the reciprocal relationships among peers and neighbours through which village Barbadians achieve status and 'respect' as adults. (AU)

Clinical perspectives on the Rastafari movement

Members of the Rastafari movement, which originated in Jamaica, are found in the Caribbean and in parts of the United States and Europe with a large Afro-Caribbean population. To help mental health professionals serve members of this group more effectively, the authors review the literature on the movement and present clinical cases examples with analyses and recommendations for interventions. The Rastafari movement is both a political and a religious group with a life-style that includes the wearing of dreadlock hairstyles and sacramental use of marihuana. The group also advocates opposition to traditional government and support member repatriation to Africa. Clinicians involved in caring for Rastafari are encouraged to make diagnosis based on phenomenological grounds rather than on social behavior. Many blacks who become engaged in the antithetical transformation to membership in the Rastafari movement may be attempting to resolve racial, religious, class and gender conflicts. The Rastafari movement may produce an affirmation of black identity and a moral framework for black people emerging from centuries of salvery, colonization and oppression (Au)