Sociology 369-01
Angel Valdivia
September 19,2013
Having been raised in a single family household in urban Los Angeles, I grew up with many who suffered from the ill effects of insufficient support and direction and who also lacked a father at home. The risk factors that I endured were detrimental to my direction and purpose. I have a desire to study the causes and influences that impact minority children growing up in inner city communities when there is only one parent. The reason that this subject matter is relevant is that this societal problem is global and increase in scope for minority children who grow up in single parent families. Growing up in a poor neighborhood with few resources exposes children to risk factors that tend to affect their future. 65% of African-American children grow up in single parent families and the problem is proliferating.
How can the community help single parent families with resources and support services?
What can motivate children in inner city communities to attain higher educational goals?
What can society do to help mothers and co-caregivers including fathers reduce conflict which has a deleterious effect on the children?
What is the effect of a child coming from a family with a low educational level and how can these children succeed?
How can society negate the effects of poverty and drug culture on children of low income families?
Societal woes continue to plague families in inner city communities that create low graduation rates, juvenile delinquency, gang violence, police brutality and economic stress. Leadership is lacking in single parent households where one parent is forced to take on almost all the responsibility that would be better shared by two parents. This creates stagnation for the nation as a whole because these children are at great risk of not reaching their full potential in society. If one looks back ten years, the cycle is even more detrimental today than