‘I think I'm more free with them'—Conflict, Negotiation and Change in Intergenerational Relations in African Families Living in Britain

Abstract

While the family is increasingly being recognised as pivotal to migration, there remain too few studies examining how migration impacts on intergenerational relationships. Although traditional intergenerational gaps are intensified by migration, arguably there has been an over-emphasis on the divisions between 'traditional' parents and 'modern' children at the expense of examining the ways in which both generations adapt. As Foner and Dreby stress (2011), the reality of post-migration intergenerational relations is inevitably more complex, requiring the examination of both conflict and cooperation. This article contributes to this growing literature by discussing British data from comparative projects on intergenerational relations in African families (in Britain, France and South Africa). It argues that particular understandings can be gained from examining the adaptation of parents and parenting strategies post migration and how the reconfiguration of family relations can contribute to settlement. By focusing on how both parent and child generations engage in conflict and negotiation to redefine their relationships and expectations, it offers insight into how families navigate and integrate the values of two cultures. In doing so it argues that the reconfiguration of gender roles as a result of migration offers families the space to renegotiate their relationships and make choices about what they transmit to the next generation.

HowMoroccan‐Dutch parents learn in communities of practice:Evaluating a bottom‐up parenting programme

“…As found, parents often experienced parenting as difficult and pointed to “knowledge gaps” in their community. As indicated by the topics discussed among parents in the programme, questions about children's developmental transition in puberty; societies' digitalization; cultural transmission (Cook & Waite, ; De Haan, ; Renzaho et al, ); and issues of discrimination and exclusion intersecting with low socio‐economic status (Hermans, ) add up to this. Handling these challenges may become strained postmigration due to eroded social networks and an often experienced shift from collective to individual parenting culture postmigration (De Haan, ; Renzaho et al, ).…”

“…As found, parents often experienced parenting as difficult and pointed to "knowledge gaps" in their community. As indicated by the topics discussed among parents in the programme, questions about children's developmental transition in puberty; societies' digitalization; cultural transmission (Cook & Waite, 2016;De Haan, 2011;Renzaho et al, 2011); and issues of discrimination and exclusion intersecting with low socio-economic status (Hermans, 2004) This study illustrates how this approach shifts our view on parents as being "in need of certain skills and knowledge" to being "learning resources for one another". This is of extra importance in settings in which issues of diversity, inclusion, and social justice are of great concern for professional development in social work fields (Bose, 2014).…”

“…Postmigration contexts provide complex social learning spaces in which negotiations over meaning become intensified. Research about migrant families in, for example, Britain (Cook & Waite, ) and the Netherlands (De Haan, ) shows how parents (re)construct their parenting practices as they navigate diverse parenting concepts present in their daily life. Taking a social learning approach on cultural transitions of postmigration families defines our understanding of parents as active “meaning making [entities]” (Wenger, ; p. 2).…”

Parent–Child Relationships Among African Immigrant Families in Canada

“…Parenting practices of African immigrants are highly gendered, with the sex of both the child and the parent being a key determinant of parenting practices (J. Cook & Waite, 2016;Phillips-Mundy, 2011). Although African parents often adapt their disciplinary practices to different societal norms following migration, they tend to retain some cultural practices, including the use of corporal discipline (e.g., spanking), that can trigger acrimonious parent-child relationships.…”

“…However, the authors found only one study on tensions in parent-child relations among African immigrant families in Britain (J. Cook & Waite, 2016), and none in Canada, despite the surge in the African immigrant population in the country. To address this gap, we conducted a critical ethnographic study of African immigrant parenting practices in Alberta, Canada.…”