By Grace

About the Editor
About the Contributors
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: African American Marriages at the Intersection: Challenges, Strengths, and Resilience
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley

Chapter 2: African American Marriage and Economics
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley and Berenecea Johnson-Eanes

Chapter 3: Social Policy and Black Marriage
Cassandra Chaney

Chapter 4: Race, Marital Status, and Mental Illness
King E. Davis and Hyejin Jung

Chapter 5: How Health Affects African American Marriages
Michele A. Rountree and Rebecca Larsen

Chapter 6: African American Marriage and Caregiving through the Life Span
Iris Carlton-LaNey and Blenda Crayton

Chapter 7: African American Women and Marriage
Colita Nichols Fairfax and Tricia B. Bent-Goodley

Chapter 8: Black Masculinity, Manhood, and Marriage
Waldo E. Johnson, Jr.

Chapter 9: Diversity of Marriage in the Black Community
Noelle M. St. Vil, Christopher St. Vil, and Waldo E. Johnson, Jr.

Chapter 10: African American Marriage Interventions: Strengthening the Social Work Response
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley

Tricia B. Bent-Goodley, PhD, MSW, is professor of social work and director of doctoral education for the Howard University School of Social Work. Her research and practice experience have centered on creating solutions to issues of violence against women, engaging men and boys, and HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention. She is a champion of issues affecting black families and communities locally, nationally, and internationally. Dr. Bent-Goodley received funding to establish and serves as director of the university’s office to address dating/domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. She is editor-in-chief of Social Work (2014 to 2018); chair of the National Committee on Women’s Issues for NASW; chair of the Howard University Women As Change Agents, an entity dedicated to the development of women at Howard University; board member of the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community; cochair of the National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) Academy for African Centered Social Work; and an elected board member representing Graduate Faculty for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Her service extends to the community as she cochairs a middle school girl’s leadership program, serves on her county domestic violence fatality review team, and is a member of the International Program Committee for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She is the recipient of CSWE’s Award for Distinguished Recent Contributions and NABSW’s Award for Excellence in Social Work Education. Dr. Bent-Goodley received her MSW from the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD from Columbia University. She is proudest of being a wife and mother.

Bravo to Dr. Bent-Goodley and her contributors for providing social work educators, practitioners, and researchers with an honest, culturally and historically centered examination of African American marriages in all of their complexities and diversity of relationship forms. The contributors expertly capture the current realities, evolving roles, strengths, and challenges across the developmental trajectories of both the marital relationship and the marital partners.

By Grace is a must-read not only for African Americans who are married or aspire to be married, but also for social workers interested in gaining meaningful insight into the dynamics of African American marriages and strengths-based approaches to intervention with African American individuals, couples, and families.

Tonya E. Perry, PhD
Professor, Graduate Social Work Program
Department of Social Work, Psychology & Counseling
Alabama A & M University

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Dr. Tricia B. Bent-Goodley and her contributors have made a major and significant contribution to the marriage movement and the social work profession by expanding our knowledge and the contemporary dialogue about marriage and the black community. I, among many, have sought to stimulate and integrate social research with models of promising practices and intervention strategies that would effectively address contemporary African American marriages in all of their complexities. This book is on the mark. There is much work to be done as the scholars in the book have effectively laid the foundation, raised important questions, and squarely presented the challenges to the social work community and to other disciplines. I hope this book will inspire social work educators, practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to move past the old barriers that have missed the mark on the subject of healthy marriage and relationships and create the space for innovation and solution.

Diann Dawson, JD, MSW
Former director, Regional Operations, ACF, HHS, and Founder
Federal African-American Healthy Marriage Initiative

By Grace was reviewed by Danté D. Bryant for the journal Social Work.

Historically, marriage among African Americans (AA) in the United States has been intimately tied to the country’s social, economic, and political advancements. As a result, AA couples have been distinctly and precariously placed within the public sphere of U.S. politics. The unique positionality of AA couples within this racially and economically informed public discourse has contributed to a marital and relational experience largely informed by the intersecting forces of subjugation, marginalization, and oppression.

However, despite the assortment of sociopolitical entities that have and continue to impose themselves on the private affairs of AA couples, there has been little discussion regarding their ability to successfully negotiate them. In her most recent work, By Grace: The Challenges, Strengths, and Promise of African American Marriages, author and editor Dr. Tricia B. Bent-Goodley uses intersectionality theory in an attempt to address this gap in the literature. Although intersectionality theory has gained significant traction in fields such gender and cultural studies, it remains relatively underused in the disciplines of social work practice and research. According to Bent-Goodley, a Colombia graduate, professor and director of the Doctoral Program in the School of Social Work, and director of the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Program at Howard University, the resultant effect of this underutilization is, particularly as it relates to the study of AA couples, a “one-sided dialogue” that is not only “negative and stereotypical,” but has done little to aid practitioners and researchers in their efforts to better understand the challenges, strengths, and general complexities common to black relationships.

Read the full review. Available to subscribers of Social Work.