The Tough Guy Image in Black Families

Poverty can lead to the black male adherence to the tough guy image in black families. The tough guy image is the leading cause of death amongst black families. The fear of black on blacks is another cause by the tough guy image. According to the book the overwhelming number of offenses committed by African American are directed towards other African Americans. Interpersonal amongst blacks is the leading cause of death for blacks. Black males are known to make up majority of people that incarcerated.

Blacks males are 8 time more likely to be in prison than whites (Oliver 1989). The tough guy image was developed in families mainly families with a man in the house. The tough guy image is also a major factor contributing to the higher rate of wife beating amongst blacks. The tough guy image also contributes to interpersonal violence in families. Looking back on slavery the men use to take their frustration out on their wives and beat them because they had no one else to beat on. Reading many articles some African American men beat on their wives to feel they have control. Statistics found that wife beating was 400% more common among black families than white families (Oliver 1989).

African American men also develop the tough guy image that image is responsible for the higher rates of divorce amongst blacks widowed. The high divorce rate creates a number of female headed households among black women over age 32. While one out of two white marriages will end in divorce, two out of three black marriages will eventually dissolve. Black women who divorce are less likely than their white people to remarry. According to the author blacks have a divorce rate two times higher than whites. With the increases of divorce, family balance is breaking up. Young people themselves do not have enough knowledge to know the difference between bad and the good, so they need their parents’ help. If they do not receive enough information and supervision, the possibility of crime will get higher. Power control theory was created by John Hagan. The theory shows the relation in the house hold and work place conditions patterns of parental control of children in family’s homes. The theory states that delinquency and crime are influenced by class position and family function. Power control theory talks about two types of family paternalistic families and egalitarian families. Paternalistic families the fathers play the traditional role work while mothers stay home and take care of the house. In egalitarian families there is no difference everybody in the house hold do the same thing. Delinquency occurs more in paternalistic families. Young girls in paternalistic families engaged in role exit behaviors such as running away or killing themselves. They engaged in that because they are unhappy with their status in the Family. According to Encyclopedia of criminological theory Ivan Nye stated that juveniles engage in delinquency because the family. This is because family is the primary setting where children start to learn acceptable way of socializing and thinking.

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