Voices of African American Single Mothers of Young Children in Child Care

By Dr. Bridget Turner

The data and research study that is referred to in this book and done on the African American Single Mothers, can offer support for all mothers seeking positive caregiving and building positive relationships with their child/children. Also, the data from the study referred to in this book, revealed that, once the mothers were aware of reflective functioning and had opportunities to practice it, their relationships with their children improved. Based on the mother’s comments, maternal reflective functioning changed maternal responses and interactions with children as it required the mothers to examine their thoughts and feelings.

To support positive social-emotional development of a child, it is important for the caregiver to be available and to have a positive, intimate, caring relationship with the child. Greenspan (1979) stated that, from conception through the lifespan, positive caregiving relationships are important to children’s positive growth and development.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781480893245

Dr. Bridget Turner

Bridget Turner earned a doctorate in early childhood education from Fielding Graduate University. She has held leadership positions in private and public early childhood education institutions and is the founder of a nonprofit early childhood educational facility and consulting and training agency. She is currently an adjunct professor at Essex County College, and professional development specialist and trainer for several programs in New Jersey.

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Copyright © 2020 Dr. Bridget Turner.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-9323-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9324-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020913306

Archway Publishing rev. date: 10/01/2020

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

• My Mission

• The Importance of Positive Parent-Child Relationships

1. Sensitive Caregiving

• Impact of Psychological Well-Being

• Risk Factors of Sensitive Caregiving

• Sensitive Caregiving and Reflective Functioning

2. Why Reflective Functioning?

• Mothers’ Understanding of Reflective Functioning

• Maternal Reflective Functioning as It Relates to the Developing Relationship with the Child

• Influence of Reflective Functioning on Parenting

3. The Study

• Qualitative Research Study Using Interpretative Phenomenology Analysis (IPA)

• Phases of the Study

• The Benefits of Psychoeducation Group Discussions

• The Effectiveness of Psychoeducation Group Discussions for Single Mothers

• The Population

• African American Single-Mother Homes

4. Intergenerational Transmission

• Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting

• Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting Practices and Behaviors

5. The Environment

• The Influence of the Urban Environment on Single Mothers’ Parenting

6. The Design of the Study

• The Setting for the Study

• The Design

• Participants

• Data Collection

• Data Analysis

7. Mothers’ Stories during Preintervention Interviews

8. Mothers’ Stories during Psychoeducation Group Discussions (the Intervention)

9. Mothers’ Stories during Post-Intervention Interviews

10. The Results

11. Conclusion

12. Recommendations

Appendix

A1 Semi-structured Interview Questions

(Preintervention)

A2 Postintervention Interview Questions

B The Mindful Meditation Activity

C Youtube Videos used During Psycho-Education Group Sessions

D-1 Photo of Child Crying

D-2 Photo of Child Crying in a highchair

D-4 Criteria Used to Determine Reflective Functioning

D-4 Indicators to Determine Reflective Functioning

D-5 Journaling

D-6 Bibliography

D-7 About the Author

PREFACE

Voices of African American Single Mothers of Young Children in Childcare was written to inform and educate parents, professionals, and paraprofessionals about what goes on in the minds of mothers of children in childcare. This book will prepare and empower the reader to support families so they can successfully grow from their experiences and the realities of their world. The stereotypical myth that African American single mothers are too stressed, don’t have time, do not prioritize things of importance, and do not put their families first are recognized and proven by the voices of mothers in this book to be completely false. The women who speak in this book are strong, and they grow and mature each day, along with their children.

Thus, the voices that you will hear as you read this book will provide insight and strategies that can be helpful to others who may have day-to-day challenges and/or difficult situations as they raise young children and take them to childcare.

At the same time, I do not want anyone to take the stories of these mothers’ experiences out of context. It is not my intention to demean anyone or any childcare program, nor do I want people to think that these stories are related to things that only happen to African American single mothers. These stories are nonfiction, told directly to me by the mothers, shared individually and in group settings during my dissertation phases. This book was derived from the results of my published dissertation, in which I studied and explored reflective functioning among African American single mothers of infants and toddlers.

I am not a clinician, so I steered away from clinical terms, but I am an educator. I present a research-based book, in which information is substantiated by the study that specifically pertains to African American single mothers of young children in childcare. On the other hand, you will find my personal stories and stories of mothers’ experiences with their children to be authentic and possibly a source of intervention for all mothers. The advice and opinions that I present in this book are based on my day-to-day experiences as a director of a childcare center, researcher, educator, and—once upon a time—a single mother of young children in childcare.

I previously owned and operated a childcare center for over twenty-five years. Some have called me the Mother of Vailsburg, which is the area where I grew up, taught kindergarteners (in the same local school that I attended as a child) and opened two childcare centers. My friends, family, family friends, and nearly all their children attended one of the childcare centers; even some of my friends’ grandchildren attended the centers.

I obtained my doctorate degree from Fielding Graduate University, but my real education came from my experiences in my environment, working with staff, supporting children and families, and navigating the harsh system of operating a grassroots, nonprofit, community-based organization that strived hard to provide high-quality family services, with minimal resources, funding, and community support.

These are actual stories from me and the participants of my study, so the grammar and written voices are very informal at times. This, however, is the way the mothers talk, and I want you to get the understanding, intensity, and complexity of their existence. These mothers found themselves in a relaxed environment, where they felt safe to speak at their comfort level, which eliminated any emotional barriers they might have put up. I have been immersed so deeply into these mothers and children that their language became normal to me, which is another way that we connected and bonded during the dissertation process. I communicated with the mothers in a straightforward but compassionate manner; I grew up in the same community, so in more ways than one, I was relatable and trustworthy to them.

This book, which is specifically about African American single mothers of young children in childcare, offers a different perspective on how we perceive, treat, look at, and/or think about single mothers of children in childcare settings. With these stories in mind, the results from the research, and my advice and opinions, I am hopeful that this book can be used as a guide to support parents, educators, clinicians, and others. I have made all efforts to spell out the advice, the research findings, and—most important—the stories told by the mothers in a way that is clear and factual (based on research and the mothers’ lived experiences) and that will make sense to those who read the book.

The voices of these mothers need to be heard because some mothers (specifically African American single mothers) are at their wit’s end as they try to figure out their children and raise them right. For people on the outside looking in, it sometimes seems that these mothers are clueless about parenting and child development and that they reject their children and/or refuse to participate or be involved in their children’s educational process. I expect, however, that this book will answer many questions, give constructive advice, and encourage more of a demand and curiosity to find more options and solutions to support African American single mothers so that they can raise successful children.

I hope this book will touch many lives in a positive manner. This book has allowed me to be a resource, coach, partner, mentor, and adviser to assist you, the reader, in supporting single African American mothers in parenting. This book will offer advice on how to get inside the mind and world of single African American mothers so you can develop better insight into the problems they face as they parent and take their children to childcare settings. I hope that through the stories,