Poster #148 - Parenting practices among South Sudanese Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) parents

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

In a cohort of 500 South Sudanese unaccompanied refugee minors (URM) who arrived in the United States in 2000-2001 after years of maltreatment and hardship from prolonged civil war, a myriad of poor outcomes was expected. The negative impact of war and displacement on child development is well documented (Fazel et al., 2012; Lustig et al., 2004) and some research suggests these children were distressed and vulnerable when separated from their parents much more than when they were experiencing the violence of war (Berman, 2001). Now entering the stage of parenthood themselves, what might be expected as they rear their children.
Despite prevailing beliefs about psychological vulnerability among South Sudanese URM, researchers have described them as highly functional rather than dysfunctional, resilient, and possessing positive psychosocial development and wellbeing (Gelman et al., 2005). Findings also revealed their successful adjustment (Luster et al., 2008, 2009), and healthy psychological coping strategies (Duncan, 2001; Luster et al., 2009). Nevertheless, the question remains, what might be their parenting perspectives given their traumatic experiences.
It has been more than 15 years after their resettlement and these youth have made developmental transition from adolescence to early adulthood which required them to undertake different roles and responsibilities. For example, many of them are in relationships and have become a parent providing their child(ren) a unique multicultural background. Parenting practices of unaccompanied refugee minors from Africa are rarely studied in the parenting literature. Thus, our study fills this gap by focusing on a group of South Sudanese parents, who were once unaccompanied refugee minors, to understand how they raise their child(ren) between two distinct cultures (i.e., South Sudanese and American); and what are the important perspectives of their parenting.
In 2014-2015, we conducted individual interviews with five parents among 19 participants, with one to three child(ren). The semi-structured interview included open-ended questions regarding the general experiences of being a parent and parenting practices in two cultures. Using the phenomenological approach (Giorgi & Giorgi, 2009), we describe and analyze the key aspects of their childrearing practice.
Two important aspects of parenting emerge in the analysis of South Sudanese URM parents. First, all participants emphasize remembering their history by teaching their offspring about where they came from and what they had been through until resettled in the U.S. (i.e., childhood experience of parental separation and war). In this way, they believe that they can motivate and promote their children’s success. Second, they intend to inherit their children with highly valued South Sudanese culture. They are not necessarily expecting their children to speak their mother-tongue (i.e., Dinka) but they do expect them to learn and maintain markers of their cultural heritages such as respecting elders, being patient, having goals, working hard, and being successful while in American society.
Important practical implications enhancing our understanding of the parenting practices among African refugee parents are revealed. Potential interventions should support their challenges in raising the second generation. Following, future studies should focus on parenting and child outcomes among understudied African refugee families.

Authors

• Junghee Yoon, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Deborah J Johnson, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author