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Parenting challenges of African immigrants in Alberta, Canada
Author(s) -
Salami Bukola,
Alaazi Dominic A.,
OkekeIhejirika Philomina,
Yohani Sophie,
Vallianatos Helen,
Tetreault Brittany,
Nsaliwa Christina
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
child and family social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-2206
pISSN - 1356-7500
DOI - 10.1111/cfs.12725
Subject(s) - immigration , thematic analysis , socioeconomic status , nonprobability sampling , mental health , qualitative research , sociology , psychology , political science , social science , population , psychiatry , demography , law
Abstract African immigrant children and youth have some of the poorest social and mental health outcomes in Canada. Although parenting challenges have been widely documented as a key driver of these outcomes, limited systematic research has investigated this phenomenon. In this paper, we report the results of a study examining parenting challenges among a sample of African immigrant parents in Alberta, Canada. We relied on the theoretical lens of transnationalism to collect and analyse data from a purposive sample of African community leaders ( n = 14), African immigrant parents ( n = 32), and a range of stakeholders ( n = 30). Our thematic data analysis revealed several intricately intertwined parenting challenges, organized around six overarching themes, namely, cultural incompatibility, family tension, state interference, limited social supports, poor access to services, and low socioeconomic status. We present these themes and the policy and service implications of our findings.