Mothers on a Mission: African American Mothers Raising and Loving Their High-Achieving African American Sons

• In Event: 41.084 - Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 41.084-9 - Notions of Parental "Support" and Schooling

Abstract

The role that African American women play in general in raising sons has received scant attention in the scholarly literature. Moreover, parental strategies taken up by African American women as knowledge that society can learn from is almost nonexistent. The present study, therefore, highlights the parenting practices of five African American mothers raising sons in a major urban city in the Northeast. To understand and appreciate the richness of these mother-to-son relationships an Ecological Theory of human development situated in a sociocultural theoretical framework is used. Findings reveal a no-nonsense parenting style (higher in both warmth and control than typically associated with the authoritative style of parenting) with a strong emphasis on parental academic involvement, racial socialization, and spirituality.

Authors

• Brian L. Wright, The University of Memphis

• Shelly L Counsell, University of Memphis