Parenting among Settled Migrants from Southern Africa: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis
Since 1970, the world has seen increasingly large flows of migrants from the Global South to the Global North for better living conditions (Adserà & Tienda,
2012). The phrase Global South tends to be broadly used to refer to regions of Africa, Latin America, and developing Asia, including the Middle East. The term Global North encompasses regions of North America, Western Europe, and developed parts of East Asia (Confraria et al.,
2017). Contemporary international migration has received considerable critical attention because it presents new challenges in sustaining health and well-being. All cultures aim for good children’s health and well-being, however, immigrant parents often seek a culture balance in destination countries to ensure that their children assimilate into the destination society and preserve some of their culture (Nesteruk & Marks,
2011). The term ‘migrant’ is defined by the United Nations (
2019, n.p) as ‘someone who changes his or her country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration or legal status’. Thus, they represent a highly heterogeneous population which may have different constructions of health. It is important to note that the experiences associated with migration vary as parents use different routes and sometimes include more opportunity to physical, economic and political security (Altschuler,
2013). Furthermore, almost half of all migrants are women, and most of the migrating population are of reproductive age; hence, many children are born to migrant parents (United Nations Population Fund,
2019). This gives rise to research on their welfare in the destination countries to ensure their life chances are not based on foundational inequalities.
Settlement is commonly linked to negotiation of social capital means, such as employment, often surrounded by perceived racism and discrimination, cultural adaptation, and integration factors (Alemi & Stempel,
2018; Nannestad et al.,
2013; Renzaho et al.,
2011; Vathi,
2015). The differences and subjectivity in the context of their experiences may have an impact on how they ensure that their children have the best possible health outcomes. Several studies suggest that migrants’ health deteriorates over time from their point of entry into a destination country (Fernández-Reino,
2020). It is still unclear whether the deterioration is due to acculturation (adoption of norms, values, and lifestyles prevalent in the destination country) or structural barriers to good health (socio-economic deprivation and poor access to services) (Condon & McClean,
2017). Children represent a vulnerable group as they mirror their parents’ health behaviours as a foundation for their lifelong health path. Deteriorating health behaviours among migrant parents predispose both adults and children to ‘lifestyle-related’ diseases (Condon & McClean,
2017). This indicates a need to understand the foundations for promoting children’s health as they represent a diverse and growing group.
Understanding migrant parents’ experiences may provide some ideas about how they sustain their children’s health and well-being. Since migrants constitute a highly heterogeneous population, the focus of this qualitative synthesis is on migrants from Southern Africa, a region in the Global South, who moved to a Global North destination country. It should be noted here that the Global North, for the purposes of this paper, consists of the countries of Western Europe, North America, and Australia and New Zealand which represent a common destination for a great number and growing population (Eten,
2017). This review gathers contemporary qualitative evidence on settled Southern African migrants’ experiences of bearing and raising children in Global North destination countries and collates qualitative evidence on how they conceptualise sustaining children’s health and well-being in these destination countries. Our use of the term Southern Africa is not meant to homogenise but to draw out common experiences while recognising the diversity within these. To date, no reviews synthesising qualitative research on this body of literature have been identified. This study aims to explore if there is a gap on migrant parenting and maintaining children’s health and well-being, as well as informing process and methodology for subsequent primary studies. Settled migrants were taken to define movers who have a lengthy stay (5 years) and have no limitations to be economically active in the destination countries. Bearing and raising children was taken to represent parenthood activities of caring for their children which prioritise their well-being, knowledge about their needs, how to accommodate them and creating an environment that promotes children’s development and happiness from birth or before until adulthood (Ainsworth,
1969; Helseth & Ulfsæt,
2005).
Discussion
This qualitative synthesis identified eight analytic themes describing the experiences of migrant parents in their destination countries. These themes were drawn from the perspectives of the parents who shared their lived experience of parenting across 14 primary studies. An extensive amount of qualitative research exists on migrants’ parenting experiences; this is however, the first qualitative synthesis to gather contemporary qualitative evidence on settled Southern African migrants’ experiences of bearing and raising children in Global North destination countries; and to collate qualitative evidence on how they conceptualise sustaining children’s health and well-being in these destination countries. Our themes illuminate the nature of Southern African families and how their values shape their experiences.
This study used a systematic search process, followed a transparent planning and reporting guideline (ENTREQ statement), and documented the analysis process using Thomas & Harden’s (
2008) thematic synthesis procedure. Another strength of the study is the approach to the review which allowed a broad range of parenting experiences to be captured from diverse populations living in a few high-income Global North destination countries. The analysis integrated all these aspects and some studies had methodological strongpoints because of use of visual methods to elicit responses and support parents to give voice to their responses (Benza & Liamputtong,
2017; Makoni,
2013). Although several efforts were put to enhance the rigour of the study, the results of this synthesis should be interpreted with consideration of several limitations. Firstly, although a specific broad migrant group (Southern Africa) was studied, the authors synthesised primary studies where source countries of participants included in the primary studies were diverse including other migrant groups from other African Countries. Critics have also argued that most studies suffer from viewing Black families as a homogenous entity instead of explaining differences in experiences according to ethnicities (Ochieng & Hylton,
2010). Experiences are shaped by multiple factors; hence future research should study migrants as distinct groups to better apply a transnational lens to further understand these experiences in their home countries. Approaching this synthesis, we expected to gather a diverse data set comprising of different Southern African Countries. However, the systematic search strategy and objective selection led to the inclusion of dominantly Zimbabwean migrant groups (twelve studies) and Zambian migrants (three studies). Therefore, interpretation of this synthesis might be most relevant to these Southern African groups. In line with the nature of qualitative research, the primary studies included small samples that at times have unique characteristics which limit the confidence with which generalisations can be made from the themes identified. However, these findings may help us to understand the nature of the literature on migrant parents’ experience. From the demographics represented, most of the participants represented in the included studies are mothers. These results should be interpreted with caution; future research should engage experiences of both parent figures and also extended family. Lastly, although we have documented the analysis process, it is possible that other researchers may interpret the data differently as our interpretation was influenced by our backgrounds and identities. One author self-identified as Black African, another Black Caribbean and the rest identified as White British. One of the authors was raised in a migrant family, another migrated as an adult after being raised in a Southern African family, whilst the rest were born and raised in the UK. Four of the authors were also mothers at the time of drafting this manuscript. These findings should be considered in the context of their strengths and limitations.
This synthesis shows that migrant parents’ loss of support from extended family after migration makes parenting an isolating experience. This is echoed by another qualitative synthesis focusing on African parents’ practices, which revealed that kinship is lost post-migration (Salami et al.,
2017). Within their diversity, most African families come from an extended family which constitutes biological relations, non-biological relations and extended cousins who function in a collective culture where supporting each other in raising children is central (Mugadza et al.,
2019). The findings of our study show how parenting in destination countries has changed to become a matter only for both parents. International migration has broken social bonds of amity that African families thrive on.
We highlighted that power distribution when it comes to vaccination decision was more skewed towards the father as the key decision-maker. In most African societies the gender system fosters power imbalances that support men as the key decision makers. These studies have also highlighted that gender roles changed post-migration; challenging the traditionally assigned roles when raising children in their home countries. There is no single model of gender roles in Southern Africa, however, in the African culture and traditional life there is a general understanding that men assume dominant roles of being the breadwinners and key decision makers while women are expected to be subordinate homemakers dealing with childrearing and household upkeep (Ngubane,
2010). The notion that men are losing their power in their families through their involvement in child-rearing due to migration is apparent in this synthesis. Although there are several parallels between the findings, a large number indicated they were comfortable with renegotiating roles within their households, especially given the involvement of women in the workforce. The social constructionist theory helps us to understand this renegotiation as it recognises that role allocation varies widely based on norms for masculinity and femininity that are subscribed to (Benza & Liamputtong,
2017). Gender roles are often mutually agreed upon; hence both parents go through the process of changing their attitudes towards gender roles in raising the children in a new environment.
We found that parents incorporate religion into most aspects of their parenting including school choices, teachings on acceptable behaviour, source of protection, and consequently sustaining one’s health and well-being. These results are in agreement with those obtained by Munroe et al. (
2016) on African immigrant mothers with an autistic child/ren in the UK who place religion as central to all activities. Furthermore, religion is also a protective feature in many Global North families’ accounts of challenges in raising their children (Marshall & Long,
2010). This study confirms that parents’ religiosity can influence what behaviours and beliefs are modelled for children (Petro et al.,
2018). It is noteworthy that other factors such as culture, parenting styles and faith community structures affect how religion is incorporated in raising children.
Engagement and investment in their children’s education and future success was viewed as priority, especially as it was a factor which motivated their decisions to settle in the destination countries. Involvement in children’s education was portrayed as an important part of parenting practices. However, other parents identified pressures which limit their engagement. These results seem to be consistent with other research which found that migrant parents are less involved in their children’s education (Bergset,
2017; Free et al.,
2014; Hamilton,
2013). This has an impact on the establishment of meaningful links with schools. Other studies found that institutional barriers and stereotypical assumptions are some of the factors inhibiting the establishment of meaningful connections and consequently impact on children’s life chances (Bubikova-Moan,
2017; Hamilton,
2013). Therefore it is crucial for institutions to understand migrant families within the context of the layers of influence that shape them and not perpetuate deficit views.
In this study, parents were found to be highly conscious of their actions because of the safeguarding measures placed on children concerning discipline and vaccinations. This also accords with earlier findings, which showed that children are informed by the schools and government agencies of their rights and freedoms which was deemed interference by Somali parents (Degni et al.,
2006). In contrast, Ochieng & Hylton (
2010) noted a rise in children from Black families in the social care system. A recent review by Mugadza et al. (
2019) based on Australian studies also noted a rise in notifications to child protection services regarding suspected abuse and neglect by families from migrant backgrounds. This might indicate how the families are disempowered in navigating the socio-political environment. For most immigrants from African countries, government involvement in family life is foreign to them and the significance of corporal punishment is shared by many disciplinary actors. Their view of the government involvement is largely suspicious (Rasmussen et al.
2012). It is also possible that foreign-born parents make a lot of assumptions about how the system facilitates the integration of children into the destination society based of misconceptions about the system (Degni et al.,
2006; Ochieng & Hylton,
2010). Understanding their perceptions on public authority is important to determine their willingness to engage with public institutions which are critical in maintaining a healthy family life.
This synthesis demonstrates that communication has been adopted as a tool to strengthen parent–child relationships and to better understand children’s needs. The results seem to be consistent with other research which found that parents from collective cultures now living in individualistic cultures which are dominant in the Global North move towards allowing their children to have the autonomy, individual responsibility and establish firm individual boundaries (Renzaho et al.,
2017). This study supports evidence from previous observations of a hierarchy system that operates in most African families which only gives voice to the parents (Bukuluki,
2013). This means parents move from the authoritarian parent style they were raised on to a more power balanced style where communication is open; this likely raises difficulties in negotiating cultures (Andre et al.,
2017; Degni et al.,
2006; Londhe,
2014).
Considerations for sending children to home countries to reinforce their ethnic identity were represented in one of the studies as shown in the theme ‘
Compromises and sacrifices for a brighter future for children’. This was intended to also bridge the struggles they have in balancing between the home culture and destination country norms in maintaining their children’s health and well-being. ‘Culture is to society what memory is to individuals’ (Diener & Suh,
2000, p.13). Therefore, it is possible that in their effort to build their children’s identities, immigrant parents send their children to their home countries to uphold practices and values they were raised in (Londhe,
2014). This combination of findings provides some insight into the significant role played by culture in shaping experiences of parenting and influencing parenting practices.
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