(WITHDRAWN) The Importance of Kinship Networks in Promoting the Healthy Development of Black Children in Urban Neighborhoods

Background and Purpose: Young Black children in low-income urban neighborhoods are disproportionately at-risk to experience adverse academic and psychosocial outcomes due to their high rates of exposure to poverty. While most research on this population focuses on the challenges these families experience, this study illustrates how twenty-one families navigate their communities in order to promote the healthy academic and socioemotional development of their children.

Methods: Qualitative research methods (e.g. in-depth interviews, note-taking, and photographic documents) were used to capture the lived experiences of 21 Black mothers residing in a targeted neighborhood within Chicago. A purposive sampling strategy was used and in-depth semi-structured interviews with families were conducted while children were in preschool. Interviews were conversational in nature, and guided by active listening and probing utilizing a culturally relevant protocol. Each interview lasted between sixty and ninety minutes, and was audio-recorded. Extensive field notes were also taken. Transcribed interviews were coded using apriori and emergent codes. Ten of the twenty-one families also consented to capture their parenting practices via photography. These photos and parents’ descriptions were coded in matrixes also using apriori and emergent codes. Data analysis also entailed creating data displays and memoing for all sets of data.

Findings: Guided by family resiliency and neighborhood resources theories, findings from this study highlight the ability of these families to overcome adversity, despite the conditions of their surrounding neighborhoods. Mothers, fathers, and extended family members (i.e. grandparents, aunt/uncles, and cousins), played an essential role in the rearing of children, including assisting in academic preparation, behavioral socialization, and teaching neighborhood safety. Families in low-income neighborhoods are often more susceptible to social isolation, and limited in terms of opportunities that can promote upward mobility. However, the families in this sample successfully created a key network of kinship support and worked together in their parenting practices to ensure positive family functioning. Kinship networks proved to be effective for the families in this study, especially those with time consuming work schedules, because it provided the primary caregivers with comfort knowing their child was still receiving the academic, social, and psychological support that they need to survive and thrive in their neighborhoods, despite the dangers that may exist, even if they were unable to directly provide it themselves.

Conclusion/ Implications: Utilizing an asset-based approach that privileges the perspectives of the participants, this study identifies the resilient family practices and strategies some Black families are utilizing to reduce racial and economic inequities. Specifically, these narratives highlight the importance of utilizing kinship network assistance early and ongoing to ensure the welfare and positive development of children in high-risk urban neighborhoods. These findings are particularly relevant for social work practitioners and researchers as it highlights the nuanced cultural practices within the homes of Black families that best aid children, and support positive family functioning.