Helen K Black
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 306765 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Helen K Black |
| PRENOMES | Helen K |
| SOBRENOME | Black |
| ASSINATURA | BLACK H K |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Thomas Jefferson University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5266-5122 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 30 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 74 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 30 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1996 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2018 |
| ÍNDICE H | 5 |
Caregiving as Pilgrimage
In this chapter, we explore the experience of an elder husband who was the primary informal caregiver for his wife of 60 years. We describe their encounters as caregiver and care recipient through the years as a pilgrimage. We do so because we believe this word has a revered connotation. Generally, two or more people travel together to a pilgrimage site for the sake of gaining spiritual insight or meaning. In a pilgrimage, the journey toward the …
Identity in Caregiving
In this chapter we use case studies and men’s own words to show how each man’s caregiving style reflected his sense of personal identity. We also examine if and how the legacy of his culture and family prepared him for the role of caregiver. Witnessing and taking part in caregiving earlier in life supported men’s belief in the moral worth of both affective and instrumental acts of providing care. The self-worth individuals found in caregiving bot…
Caregiving and Generativity
African-American men revealed a unique type of generativity. It was rooted in their experiences as African-American men, including the foundation they received from family and their experiences of marginalization and racism in the wider world. They believed they had received a legacy from ancestors that was “a responsibility, a warning, and a promise to the five generations that follow them” (Black, Groce, & Harmon, 2011, p. 167). In this chapter…
The Hidden Among the Hidden
The question of our research and our book is as follows: What is the experience of African-American elder male caregivers? Research and literature on African-American older males as informal, primary caregivers of demented or impaired family members, particularly spouses, are negligible. Male caregivers in general have been called “hidden” caregivers. Thus, we named the elderly African-American male caregivers we interviewed for this book “the hi…
Addressing the Silence
This chapter, as the conclusion to our book, is entitled Addressing the Silence. We went “behind the scenes” of our work to examine the research process and pondered various aspects of interviewing a coterie of African-American men. For example, why were our caregiving men so willing to discuss their experiences of caregiving? Were there topics within caregiving that men were reluctant to discuss? And, why did the methods of our research fit well…
Aging, Spirituality, and Time
We examined the concepts of aging, time, spirituality, and future care needs in four randomly selected informants from a group of 54 never-married childless older women. Using data from the Generativity and Lifestyles of Older Women (GLOW) study, we questioned how women's perceptions of these concepts came together in current older age. We employed cultural theory, (our theoretical framework), ethnography, (our methodological framework), and phen…
A Pragmatic Belief System in Family Meaning-Making After Death
The authors explored a sample of families' beliefs concerning creation of meaning in the recent death of the elderly husband and father and his existence in an afterlife. Data were collected through qualitative inquiry. Family members from 34 families were asked about their reaction to their loved one's death. Three themes emerged from participants' responses (a) the significance of context in the father and husband's life and death; (b) family m…
Gender, Religion, and the Experience of Suffering
The Influence of African American Elders' Belief Systems on Health Interactions
This qualitative article explores how African-American elders' cultural and religious belief systems informed elders' perceptions of: (a) healthcare encounters, (b) quality of healthcare received and, (c) relationships with providers. The descriptive study involved interviews with African American elders (N = 60), 60 years of age and older. Open-ended interview questions concerned elders' perceptions of how their age, gender, race, and belief sys…
A War within a War
Most accounts of World War II that address the service of black soldiers were written by White officers, and often excluded, limited, or misreported African-American soldiers' contributions. This article chronicles an African-American elder's (William H. Thompson) memories of the war in his own words. We use the case of one “Buffalo Soldier” to explore core experiences of African American men during the Second World War and its aftermath. A key f…
Context and culture
The word “depression” is used in many forums, such as clinically or colloquially. Our study explored how the word is used culturally and experientially in a particular group of individuals. In this article, we examine the meaning of depression to a sample of 60 African-American men and women with varying levels of health and functional status. We presented the word depression in our interview questionnaire but did not pre-define the word, nor did…
The Effect of Suffering on Generativity
These AA men's generative behaviors were shaped by unique life experiences, including experiences of suffering. Bequeathing a legacy to succeeding generations was tied to suffering experiences, to the personal and communal identities that emerged from suffering, to the importance of inter- and intragenerational community, and to what men believed others needed from them
Pictures of suffering in elders' narratives
How Personal Control Mediates Suffering
This article is based on ethnographic research that explored experiences of suffering in late life. From a group of 60 oldest-old (age 80 and above) male participants, four were primary, at-home caregivers for wives with dementia. Men's narratives showed the inter-relation between masculinities, a sense of personal control, and experiences of suffering within caregiving. Three thematic “tools” of control emerged as strategies men used to mediate …
How the “Not Religious” Experience and Witness Suffering and Death
This article is based on a subset of a multi-site (8), multi-year (4) research study that explored the cultural construction of dying and death in long-term care facilities. In open-ended interviews with residents and staff members, we learned how four individuals who describe themselves as “not religious” respond to queries about the meaning of suffering and death while working and living in long-term care. We present case studies of two residen…
The Lived Experience of Depression in Elderly African American Women
African American women created a language for depression that was rooted in their personal and cultural history and presented in vivid vignettes through their life stories. Their belief systems and the language they used to describe depression are integral aspects of the lived experience of depression
The Sacred Self
This article is based on ongoing qualitative research that explores elders' (80+) experiences of suffering. We show how respondents link the subject of suffering to a personal sense of the sacred in order to find meaning for suffering. We describe the major concepts of this article: the sacred, suffering, aging identity, and narrative. Through case studies, we show how an individual's sense of the sacred and experiences of suffering are revealed …
How Family Members Respond to Residents' Wish to Die
Living and dying are inextricably associated in nursing homes. It is not unusual for old nursing home residents to express a wish to die. This article examines interwoven patterns of family responses to resident's wish to die. As part of a multi-site ethnographic study of bereavement in long-term care, we analyzed themes in audio-transcribed in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 family members in two religiously and culturally diverse nursing h…
Direct Care Workers' Response to Dying and Death in the Nursing Home
We suggest caretaking at the intersection of gender, race, socioeconomic status, and the inside and outside life of direct care workers as topics for future research
Questions I now ask
Moral Imagination in Long-Term Care Workers
Our study focused on the cultural construction of dying and death in long-term care facilities. This article centers on direct care workers' perspective of residents' deaths. The data on which this article is based were gathered in a multi-year, multi-site study through formal ethnographic interviews, informal conversations, and on-site observations of residents and staff members. During fieldwork, we noticed an aptitude of direct care workers to…
Themes of Suffering in Later Life
On the basis of this research, it appears that, although they have some similarities, elders' experiences of suffering are unique and incomparable. Similarities concern informants' connection of suffering with finitude. The incomparability of suffering experiences relate to informants' unique personal histories, perceptions, and "cause" of suffering. Through the process of the interview, elders connect the suffering experience to the entirety of …
The Metaphor of "Family" in Staff Communication About Dying and Death
The family metaphor provides cultural scripts that enable staff to overcome barriers to the expression of grief. The family metaphor structures the meaning for staff of death and bereavement, and it provides a bridge between their work and personal experience
Old Souls
This volume presents an intimate and compassionate portrait of elderly black and white women who speak, in their own voices, of the domestic and social abuses that led to their financial and emotional impoverishment, and of the transcendent effect of their relationship with God. Drawn from extensive qualitative interviews over a four-year period, the stories reveal women not impoverished by poverty, but amazingly resilient and resourceful in conf…
Jake's Story
In this article, the author explores a middle-aged, working-class man's, Jake's, reaction to his life-threatening illnesses and to his impending death. The experiences of illness and dying demand the "thick description" of narrative. Just as the medical model of illness breaks down the person into symptoms and parts, the relational model of illness and death in narrative "puts him back together again" by embedding him in a personal and social his…
Poverty and Prayer
How Personal Control Mediates Suffering
This article is based on ethnographic research that explored experiences of suffering in late life. From a group of 60 oldest-old (age 80 and above) male participants, four were primary, at-home caregivers for wives with dementia. Men's narratives showed the inter-relation between masculinities, a sense of personal control, and experiences of suffering within caregiving. Three thematic “tools” of control emerged as strategies men used to mediate …
The Effect of Suffering on Generativity
These AA men's generative behaviors were shaped by unique life experiences, including experiences of suffering. Bequeathing a legacy to succeeding generations was tied to suffering experiences, to the personal and communal identities that emerged from suffering, to the importance of inter- and intragenerational community, and to what men believed others needed from them
Life As Gift
Direct Care Workers' Response to Dying and Death in the Nursing Home
We suggest caretaking at the intersection of gender, race, socioeconomic status, and the inside and outside life of direct care workers as topics for future research
Themes of Suffering in Later Life
On the basis of this research, it appears that, although they have some similarities, elders' experiences of suffering are unique and incomparable. Similarities concern informants' connection of suffering with finitude. The incomparability of suffering experiences relate to informants' unique personal histories, perceptions, and "cause" of suffering. Through the process of the interview, elders connect the suffering experience to the entirety of …
Pictures of suffering in elders' narratives
The Lived Experience of Depression in Elderly African American Women
African American women created a language for depression that was rooted in their personal and cultural history and presented in vivid vignettes through their life stories. Their belief systems and the language they used to describe depression are integral aspects of the lived experience of depression
The Metaphor of "Family" in Staff Communication About Dying and Death
The family metaphor provides cultural scripts that enable staff to overcome barriers to the expression of grief. The family metaphor structures the meaning for staff of death and bereavement, and it provides a bridge between their work and personal experience
A War within a War
Most accounts of World War II that address the service of black soldiers were written by White officers, and often excluded, limited, or misreported African-American soldiers' contributions. This article chronicles an African-American elder's (William H. Thompson) memories of the war in his own words. We use the case of one “Buffalo Soldier” to explore core experiences of African American men during the Second World War and its aftermath. A key f…
Questions I now ask
Jake's Story
In this article, the author explores a middle-aged, working-class man's, Jake's, reaction to his life-threatening illnesses and to his impending death. The experiences of illness and dying demand the "thick description" of narrative. Just as the medical model of illness breaks down the person into symptoms and parts, the relational model of illness and death in narrative "puts him back together again" by embedding him in a personal and social his…
Paternal Bereavement in Older Men
Styles of coping with the death of an adult child were explored in a study that examined the behavioral and affective aftermath of loss in older men. Twenty-five fathers aged sixty to eighty-eight who had lost an adult child were studied through ethnographic interviews based on life history review. Three general styles of adjustment to loss were identified. Men who described themselves and their careers in superlative terms appeared most likely t…
Narratives of Three Elderly African-American Women Living in Poverty Who have Lost an Adult Child to Horrendous Death
Fifty Elderly African-American Women Living In Poverty Were Interviewed For A Research Project Entitled “Chronic Poverty And The Self In Later Life” Which Studies The Effects Of Long-Term Poverty On Women's Self-Concepts. The Fact That Ten Women Out Of The Forty-Five Women In Our Sample Who Bore Children Lost Them To Murder, drugs, or other forms of violence made the subject of horrendous death (Leviton, 1995) salient during data analysis. Interv…
A Sense of the Sacred
Fifty white and 12 African-American elderly, middle class women were interviewed regarding their life history, self-concept and financial circumstances. The middle class women were a contrast group to women living in poverty. The latter was the focus group for the research project, "Chronic Poverty and the Self in Later Life." Using two case studies (1 from each middle class group), the women's spirituality was explored through their narratives. …
Life As Gift
Poverty and Prayer
Old Souls
This volume presents an intimate and compassionate portrait of elderly black and white women who speak, in their own voices, of the domestic and social abuses that led to their financial and emotional impoverishment, and of the transcendent effect of their relationship with God. Drawn from extensive qualitative interviews over a four-year period, the stories reveal women not impoverished by poverty, but amazingly resilient and resourceful in conf…
Jake's Story
In this article, the author explores a middle-aged, working-class man's, Jake's, reaction to his life-threatening illnesses and to his impending death. The experiences of illness and dying demand the "thick description" of narrative. Just as the medical model of illness breaks down the person into symptoms and parts, the relational model of illness and death in narrative "puts him back together again" by embedding him in a personal and social his…
The Metaphor of "Family" in Staff Communication About Dying and Death
The family metaphor provides cultural scripts that enable staff to overcome barriers to the expression of grief. The family metaphor structures the meaning for staff of death and bereavement, and it provides a bridge between their work and personal experience
Moral Imagination in Long-Term Care Workers
Our study focused on the cultural construction of dying and death in long-term care facilities. This article centers on direct care workers' perspective of residents' deaths. The data on which this article is based were gathered in a multi-year, multi-site study through formal ethnographic interviews, informal conversations, and on-site observations of residents and staff members. During fieldwork, we noticed an aptitude of direct care workers to…
Themes of Suffering in Later Life
On the basis of this research, it appears that, although they have some similarities, elders' experiences of suffering are unique and incomparable. Similarities concern informants' connection of suffering with finitude. The incomparability of suffering experiences relate to informants' unique personal histories, perceptions, and "cause" of suffering. Through the process of the interview, elders connect the suffering experience to the entirety of …
How Family Members Respond to Residents' Wish to Die
Living and dying are inextricably associated in nursing homes. It is not unusual for old nursing home residents to express a wish to die. This article examines interwoven patterns of family responses to resident's wish to die. As part of a multi-site ethnographic study of bereavement in long-term care, we analyzed themes in audio-transcribed in-depth qualitative interviews with 20 family members in two religiously and culturally diverse nursing h…
Direct Care Workers' Response to Dying and Death in the Nursing Home
We suggest caretaking at the intersection of gender, race, socioeconomic status, and the inside and outside life of direct care workers as topics for future research
Questions I now ask
The Sacred Self
This article is based on ongoing qualitative research that explores elders' (80+) experiences of suffering. We show how respondents link the subject of suffering to a personal sense of the sacred in order to find meaning for suffering. We describe the major concepts of this article: the sacred, suffering, aging identity, and narrative. Through case studies, we show how an individual's sense of the sacred and experiences of suffering are revealed …
How the “Not Religious” Experience and Witness Suffering and Death
This article is based on a subset of a multi-site (8), multi-year (4) research study that explored the cultural construction of dying and death in long-term care facilities. In open-ended interviews with residents and staff members, we learned how four individuals who describe themselves as “not religious” respond to queries about the meaning of suffering and death while working and living in long-term care. We present case studies of two residen…
The Lived Experience of Depression in Elderly African American Women
African American women created a language for depression that was rooted in their personal and cultural history and presented in vivid vignettes through their life stories. Their belief systems and the language they used to describe depression are integral aspects of the lived experience of depression
How Personal Control Mediates Suffering
This article is based on ethnographic research that explored experiences of suffering in late life. From a group of 60 oldest-old (age 80 and above) male participants, four were primary, at-home caregivers for wives with dementia. Men's narratives showed the inter-relation between masculinities, a sense of personal control, and experiences of suffering within caregiving. Three thematic “tools” of control emerged as strategies men used to mediate …
The Effect of Suffering on Generativity
These AA men's generative behaviors were shaped by unique life experiences, including experiences of suffering. Bequeathing a legacy to succeeding generations was tied to suffering experiences, to the personal and communal identities that emerged from suffering, to the importance of inter- and intragenerational community, and to what men believed others needed from them
Pictures of suffering in elders' narratives
Context and culture
The word “depression” is used in many forums, such as clinically or colloquially. Our study explored how the word is used culturally and experientially in a particular group of individuals. In this article, we examine the meaning of depression to a sample of 60 African-American men and women with varying levels of health and functional status. We presented the word depression in our interview questionnaire but did not pre-define the word, nor did…
The Influence of African American Elders' Belief Systems on Health Interactions
This qualitative article explores how African-American elders' cultural and religious belief systems informed elders' perceptions of: (a) healthcare encounters, (b) quality of healthcare received and, (c) relationships with providers. The descriptive study involved interviews with African American elders (N = 60), 60 years of age and older. Open-ended interview questions concerned elders' perceptions of how their age, gender, race, and belief sys…
A War within a War
Most accounts of World War II that address the service of black soldiers were written by White officers, and often excluded, limited, or misreported African-American soldiers' contributions. This article chronicles an African-American elder's (William H. Thompson) memories of the war in his own words. We use the case of one “Buffalo Soldier” to explore core experiences of African American men during the Second World War and its aftermath. A key f…
Gender, Religion, and the Experience of Suffering
A Pragmatic Belief System in Family Meaning-Making After Death
The authors explored a sample of families' beliefs concerning creation of meaning in the recent death of the elderly husband and father and his existence in an afterlife. Data were collected through qualitative inquiry. Family members from 34 families were asked about their reaction to their loved one's death. Three themes emerged from participants' responses (a) the significance of context in the father and husband's life and death; (b) family m…
Aging, Spirituality, and Time
We examined the concepts of aging, time, spirituality, and future care needs in four randomly selected informants from a group of 54 never-married childless older women. Using data from the Generativity and Lifestyles of Older Women (GLOW) study, we questioned how women's perceptions of these concepts came together in current older age. We employed cultural theory, (our theoretical framework), ethnography, (our methodological framework), and phen…
Psychology (29 obras) · Sociology (23 obras) · Medicine (14 obras) · Social Psychology (14 obras) · Narrative (12 obras) · Art (11 obras) · Gender Studies (11 obras) · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health (11 obras) · Psychotherapist (11 obras) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (11 obras)