Research Library

Community organizations

NA

Key recommendations

(a) deploying child protective measures that are culturally tailored to African immigrant families

(b) building community resilience by tapping into the communal cultures of the group to develop culturally relevant family-to-family support networks and mentorship programs

(c) adopting intersectionality approaches to problem-solving in African immigrant families, as most of their parenting and other social challenges are often intertwined and complex

Key findings

African immigrant parents deal with the following challenges:

• Cultural incompatibility – individualized nature of Canadian parenting is a social problem for them because they are used to collectivist parenting culture
• Family tensions – threat to traditional gender relations, women’s empowerment affects family stability
• State interference – frequent investigations for alleged child abuse in the community
• Limited social supports – African immigrants have traditionally relied on family and community networks for physical, emotional, and mental health support during parenting, but they lack similar supports in Canada
• Poor access to services – liminal immigration status (some families wait for their papers for years and don’t qualify as newcomers) and cultural insensitivities on the part of service providers
• Low socioeconomic status – experience of racism in the job market, low education, and limited employable skills

Key populations

African immigrant parents; immigrant settlement workers, health service providers, and policymakers

Location

Alberta

Gaps identified

African immigrant children and youth have some of the poorest social and mental health outcomes in Canada

Integration timeline

At what point during the integration process the study was conducted?

NA

Open-access – No