Life stress buffer
the salubrious role of African-centered spirituality
pp. 503-519
in: Thomas W. Miller (ed), Handbook of stressful transitions across the lifespan, Berlin, Springer, 2010Abstract
Contemporary life is challenging enough for most of us with interminable to-do lists, multitasking, long work days and commutes, and struggles to meet simple goals like assembling the family for a traditional dinner around the kitchen table. But for a large proportion of the African American population, the simple stress of living is often magnified. Additional factors of entrenched poverty, chronic disease, juvenile crime and societal prejudice raise questions of how people cope under such circumstances. Many African Americans find that the negative consequences of blatant prejudice ultimately manifest in issues of mental and physical well-being (Carter 1994; Landrine and Klonoff 1996). People cope with life stress and transitions in the lifespan in myriad ways, but for many people identified with African American culture, a primary resource is an African-centered spiritual base.