In Child Discipline in African American Families, Carla Adikison-Johnson provides a contextual understanding of African American disciplinary practices, giving clinicians, child welfare professionals, and legal professionals a framework to better define what is reasonable and functional when addressing child rearing concerns with African American parents. Highlighting numerous sources, cases, narratives, and data, Adkison-Johnson debunks the theory that spanking is the preferred method of child discipline for African American parents and provides new insights into how African American parents grapple with establishing parenting goals and child behavior expectations in a society that is often hostile toward African American children. Accompanied by the perspectives of a seasoned trial lawyer, the arguments in this book are brought to life, enabling readers to witness how child rearing concerns can play out in a real-world context.
Carla Adkison-Johnson is professor and interim chairperson for the Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology at Western Michigan University.
Chapter One: Historical and Present Research on African American Child Discipline Chapter Two: Disciplinary Practices of African American Mothers Chapter Three: The Disciplinary Practices of African American Fathers Chapter Four: Forging a United Front: Mothers and Fathers Working Together Chapter Five: Culturally Responsive Service Delivery: Implications for Clinicians and Child Protective Service Workers Chapter Six: Addressing Child Discipline in Court: Perspective from a Trial Lawyer Chapter Seven: Recommendations and Implications for Future Research, Training, and Practice
This book offers readers and professionals an in-depth understanding of the importance of culturally competent processes that do not further mitigate African American parents to be deemed as unfit. . . . I would purchase this book and recommend it to others, because (it) helps reframe the way we look at African American parenting, challenging our biases as professionals. . . . This was an informative, detailed, thought-provoking, and enlightening read! -- Thomas A. Vance, The New School Adkison-Johnson takes the reader through an engaging history and overview of the conceptualizations of child-rearing in African American families. The book dives into the myriad and complex ways in which child-rearing in African American families is often misunderstood, primarily as a result of the hegemonic ideologies, rooted in white supremacy, that define Black people as "out of control" and "violent." The narrow constructions of "appropriate" child-rearing not only impact our assessment of African American parents but also infiltrate policy. This book unpacks clearly the linkages between these constructions of appropriate parenting and referrals to child protective services and the disproportionate impact of the child welfare system on African American families. Recommended. All levels. * Choice Reviews *
