Transcript Family Structures in the Caribbean

Family Structures
in the Caribbean
African-Caribbean
Families
 Approximately 80 to 90 percent of families in the
Caribbean are from an African background (greatest
effect on culture)
 Absent fathers
 Grandmother-dominated households
 Marriage and Divorce
 Child-shifting, where children are sent to live with relatives
because the parents have migrated or have started a family with
another spouse
 Four kinds of relationships within family
 marital union
 common-law union (the parents live together, but are not legally
married)
 visiting union (the mother still lives in the parents' home)
 the single parent family (mother raises children alone)
Chinese-Caribbean
Families
 Try to keep much of the traditions and customs of China
 Especially try to preserve their language
 They often identify with the areas in China from which they came, and keep
close associations with people from areas
 Provide education for all their children, but sons are still favored
 Privacy
 Family problems usually kept private and only talked about within the
family/household. Not a lot of emotional expression, public demonstrations
of love are rare
 Chinese families appear more stable.
 Stay true to Chinese family structure and tradition of rather introverted family life
 Chinese families will sometimes migrate to areas where other Chinese families
are, isolated from others
 Family traditions
 Many families may change religions, they still practice Buddhist traditions
like lighting incense and, sometimes, keep Buddhist shrines in the home.
 Many use/trust herbal medicine as opposed to modern.
 Are still often perceived by many as higher class families because of
their lighter skin color
Indian-Caribbean
Families
 Roles of Family Members
 Father – head of family, authority figure, provider. Final disiplianarian and
decisionmaker.
 Mother – caretaker, household chores. Major role of women is to get
married and contribute to the family.
 Women are seen as inferior to men (traditional Hindu perspective)
 Children - bring honor to their families through achievements and good
behavior
 Valued traits in chilren - conformity, generational interdependence, obligation,
and shame
 Children are seen as products of their parents hard work. One of the primary
goals of marriage in Hindu families is to have children.
 Children must take care of their parents when they grow old (traditional Indian
way)
 Girls groomed for marriage from childhood
 Several generations live in same house
 Role of women starting to improve
 More women are going to high school and universities, and hold
prestigious jobs