MEN AND COMMUNITIES :

1. MEN AND COMMUNITIES: AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES AND THE WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS Prepared for The Dellums Commission By James B. Hyman, Ph.D., Inc.

2. Rationale: Why is this important? • Community poverty • Macro (communal) vs. Micro (Individual) Strategies • Interventions with Multiplier Effects

3. Nine Propositions: Families, Children and Neighborhoods do Better when: • Men and Women Marry • Men do well Economically • Men Pursue Education • Men Accept Their Fatherhood Roles • Men Are Sexually Responsible • Men Eschew Crime and Violence • Men Avoid the Sale and Use of Drugs • Men are not Incarcerated

4. Conclusion: What men do is important to community well-being. Intervention Approaches: Bad Formulation: • We need to find a way to get black men to “act right.” All too easy. All too simple, All very wrong. Better Formulation: • The fortunes and conditions of black men are not unique to them. • Much of the status and condition of black men is structurally imposed. • We need to examine behaviors– the “choices” black men make that determine whether they surmount or succumb to these structural impediments.

5. The challenge Extremely complicated: simultaneous and inter-dependent. Education; income and earnings; marriage, fatherhood and family formation; crime and incarceration; child, youth and community development are all linked. Need a map to navigate these relationships. Defining question: Can we find a way to better understand the connections between these variables and their place in determining the extent, the manners, and the mechanisms through which men affect the well-being of poor communities?

6. A. Societal Expectations B. Opportunity Structure C. Male Choices and Behaviors D. Expected Impacts on Children, Families & Neighborhoods (CFN) E. Community Health and Well-Being F. Feedback Loop to Societal Expectations B1 C1 D1 Individual Endowment and Disposition Asset Accumulation w/ Respect to: Positive CFN Well-Being Outcomes Human Capital Phys/Mental Health Social Networks Pos. Youth Devel Strong Families Pos. Neighborhood Climate A B2 F Prescribed Male Roles Macro-Social Structural Forces Impact on Community Well-Being Adaptations in Prescribed Male Roles Worker Family Supporter Civic Participant B3 D2 C2 Institutional Structural Forces Social Disinvestment w/ Respect to: Negative CFN Well-Being Outcomes Human Capital Phys/Mental Health Social Networks Troubled Youth Fragile Families Disinvested Neighborhoods The Impact of Males on the Well-Being Of Children, Families, Neighborhoods (CFN) and Communities Health: Physical/Mental Supports: Community/Family Values: Cultural/Spiritual Competence: Intellectual/Social Racism Economics (Globalism) Policy/Politics Geography Econ Growth/Stability Political Voice/Power Social Stability Education – Public Schools Medicine – Health/Mental Health Workplace – Economic Security Law/Justice – Safety, Civil Rights Media – Communications

7. Implications Need to intervene in ways that “condition” male choices (e.g., at Node B: Opportunity Structure) Community-level intervention (at node B1: Individual Endowment and Disposition)