Why We Do What We Do: Reflections of Educated Nigerian Immigrants on their Changing Parenting Attitudes and Practices

Abstract

This study contributes to the limited literature on African immigrants in the United States, by examining the experiences of Nigerian immigrant parents. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to extract the meanings underlying parenting practices and attitudes related to raising children in a new environment. Based on in-depth personal interviews with 30 Nigerian immigrant parents, three themes emerged: 1) parents' socio-cultural adaptation, 2) issues of parent-child interaction, and 3) limited community support for child-rearing. This study provides a knowledge base for relevant human and social service providers to understand the motivations behind Nigerian immigrants' parenting behaviors, so that there is neither a pathology-focused approach to this group's practices, nor the assumption of complete assimilation into American parenting ideology and practices.

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