Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

African Americans Navigating Through Relationships Towards Marriage: A Grounded Theory Study, Moosgar Yrveens Borieux

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore if and how early parent-participant relationships affect subsequent intimate relationships among African American couples. Given the clear gap between African Americans’ attitudes about marriage and the data that show them to be the least likely to be married among other racial or ethnic groups in the United States of America, a unique conceptualization [Life Course Developmental framework, Object Relations theory, Symbolic Interactionism perspective] was used to explore the role that early key figure-child social interactions potentially have in influencing young African Americans interactions with their significant others. To carry out the research …