CLINICAL ISSUES WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE WOMEN WISHING TO MARRY IN MID-LIFE

This article reviews the literature on the conflicts and presenting problems of mid-life single women wishing to marry and addresses the clinical issues in their treatment. Methodology and findings of a research project conducted by the authors with 49 African-American and White women who married after the age of 35 are reported. There is a review of the sociological and historical context for African-American women, which accounts for the different findings for the two subgroups studied. The paper concludes with recommendations to the clinician working with this population.