Makrosociologisch perspektief

Samenvatting

The study by E.E. Abraham-van der Mark on the family in Curacao (Yu'i mama, enkele facetten van gezinsstructuur op Curacao, Some facets of family structure on Curacao, Curacao, 1969), while it produced much valuable information, was not sociological enough and would have been more effective if it had approached the problem from a macro-sociological perspective. This has been true for many studies on West-Indian society. The absence of the father from lc families has a significant bearing on the future of the children, as is reflected by the fact that these children receive less education than their peers in families with fathers. The weakness of the family is also one of the reasons for the social immobility of the lc on the West-Indian island of Jamaica, which indicates that this problem must be treated from a macro-sociological framework. In Enkele opmerkingen naar aanleiding van Kruijers makro-sociologisch perspektief (Some negative observations on Kruijer's macro-sociological perspective), E.E. Abraham-van der Mark notes it is indeed the case that the marginality of the m is greater in lc families; this can be related to the fact that these families are poor because the m is not present for support. The situations on Curacao and Jamaica are not as analogous as Kruijer suggests, partly because fathers leave their families less and when one parent is absent, other relatives help raise the children. P. Tiersma