“This is America”: Narratives of parenting experiences by African immigrant parents from Cameroon, Kenya, and Somalia living in the United States

Abstract

AbstractThis study utilized thematic content analysis and a partial ecological model to analyze qualitative data drawn from focus group discussions with first-generation immigrant parents from Cameroon, Kenya, and Somalia from the Twin City area of Minnesota. (Twin Cities: the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis are adjacent to each other, with Saint Paul located on the west bank and Minneapolis on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the state of Minnesota.) Results indicate that macro-time or chronosystem levels in the event of immigration had the most influence on parental perceptions. Hence, contextual changes that made “parenting” challenging were attributed to immigration. Variations were partly due to the reasons for migrating. Cameroonians and Kenyans migrated mainly for economic reasons and held perspectives that emphasized how the contextual change had influenced their parental roles. Cameroonians pointed to the impact of the exosystem on the perceived role of the child welfare system in t...