BLACK PHYSICIANS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ABILITY OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF BLACK MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES
Abstract
The present study was designed to assess the unique needs of the black middle class family, based on perceptions of black physicians, and to gauge, in the opinion of the physicians, how well marriage and family therapists are meeting these needs. The sample consisted of 195 male and 35 female black physicians selected from the membership roster of the National Medical Association. Survey research techniques were utilized for the study, with mailed questionnaires employed to examine the research problem. Results showed that black physicians considered the following problems to be most disruptive of black middle class families: (1) financial management, (2) poor communication, (3) employment opportunities, (4) infidelity, and (5) the problems of discipline of teenagers and (6) fighting and resolving conflict. Z-test results indicated that black physicians who attended black or integrated medical schools tended to view marriage and family problems among black middle class families similarly. Analysis of variance results indicated that of seven different types of professionals, only psychiatrists were considered to be more effective than marriage and family therapists. Results of a chi square analysis indicated that black physicians who know either black or white marriage and family therapists personally and/or professionally were more likely to refer black families to therapists than those who did not. Results of correlational analysis showed that the physician's frequency of church attendance and degree of religiosity were related to his/her agreement with the importance of religion as a source of therapeutic help for black middle class families. Findings support the main thesis of this study that problems of black middle class families differ from white middle class families. Further, the data suggest that marriage and family therapists are not meeting the needs of black middle class families because present methods of intervention do not take these differences into account.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|African Americans
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