Conferring Kinship: Examining Fictive Kinship Status in a Black Adolescent’s Natural Mentoring Relationship

Abstract

This case study examines the way an adolescent Black boy extends his kinship network as a part of navigating and demonstrating agency in mentoring relationships with nonparental adults. We purposively selected one participant, Bodos, from the sample of a larger mixed-method study involving youth, aged 12 to 18 years, in the southeastern United States. Drawing on narrative methodology, we used a holistic-content approach to analyze Bodos’ responses to semistructured interviews. Bodos used several narratives to describe his experiences. We offer three findings: (a) Fictive kinship is a positive feature of Black adaptive culture that can be leveraged by Black youth as a tool for creating a distinct relational dynamic with their mentors, (b) adolescent Black boys possess skills and knowledge that both preexist and emerge within positive mentoring relationships, and (c) youth agency and expectations manifest in mentoring relationships to inform and influence those adults’ significance. This case study furthers the field’s understanding of how cultural practices can positively influence relational development and create a unique relational context and experience.

Aunties, Aunts, and Tías: The Forgotten Othermother Supporting and Housing LGBTQ Youth

“…Othermothers and aunts can become an essential support system for LGBTQ youth. Indeed, when one decides to take on a parenting role that helps and supports LGBTQ youth, they are opening a new pathway to meet the needs of the youth (Scott and Deutsch 2021). This new pathway can include providing housing stability.…”

A Resistance Framework for Racially Minoritized Youth Behaviors During the Transition to Adulthood

“…In turn, some racially minoritized youth, especially sexual and gender minoritized youth, continue to create new ways of expressing alternative identities and ways of being. They may reject traditional family values and traditionally White familial compositions creating “chosen families” (Hailey et al., 2020) as well as conferring kinship (Scott & Deutsch, 2021). Additionally, some racially minoritized youth create and navigate ambiguous boundaries around supportive networks (Catalpa & McGuire, 2018).…”

“Whatever You Become, Just Be Proud of It.” Uncovering the Ways Families Influence Black and Latino Adolescent Boys’ Postsecondary Future Selves

“…Black and Latino family members (e.g., parents, extended family, fictive kin) support and encourage postsecondary educational ambitions in spite of systemic barriers (Sánchez et al, 2006), limited “college knowledge” (i.e., understandings of the college admission process) (Hooker & Brand, 2010), and minimal understandings of financial aid (Carey, 2016, 2018, 2019a; Goings & Sewell, 2019). Black and Latino adolescent boys also rely heavily on fictive kin to serve as proximal college and career role models and motivators (Carey, 2016; Scott & Deutsch, 2021). Such support mechanisms may be invisible to educators but are culturally rooted, congruent to familial and community norms, and thus salient in motivating children’s college-going mindsets and ambitions (Carey, 2016, 2021; Patrón, 2020).…”