Black motherhood and child to parent violence and abuse: exploring experiences and perceptions

Thesis

Though historically understudied, Child-to-Parent Violence and Abuse (CPVA) is now recognised as a grave and complex social issue among policymakers, practitioners, and academics within Global North countries (Simmons et al. 2018). While the overrepresentation of mothers as victims of this phenomenon is duly observed in research (Fawzi et al. 2013; Condry and Miles, 2014; Calvete et al. 2015), there is little empirical exploration on how CPVA manifests within families of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. As the first in-depth academic work to explore how CPVA is perceived, experienced and navigated by Black mothers in England, this thesis addresses this gap by advancing an intersectional disaggregation of parental experiences. It draws upon a mixed qualitative approach of interviews, focus groups and victim questionnaires with 19 Black African and Caribbean mothers and 26 professionals to provide insight into the multi-layered and complex nature of Black maternal identity, its idealisations and inherent tensions. By foregrounding race and ethnicity in the ‘social institution of motherhood’ (Rich, 1976), this thesis finds that CPVA compounds with the social identities of Black mothers to frame their perception, experience and navigation of the phenomenon.

Though the criminalisation of Black childhood and the pathologisation of Black motherhood are considered separate issues, this thesis found that the participation of mother and child in the shared struggle against systemic racism implicates the navigation of CPVA, as the racialised systems inherent in schools, social care, mental health services, and the criminal legal system affect Black maternal coping and help-seeking efforts. Theoretically and conceptually, this thesis uses intersectionality and a Black epistemological reworking of ‘Stigma’ to explore the racialised undertones of maternal blame and stigmatisation (Tyler, 2018; 2022). It highlights how the intersecting gendered and racialised disadvantages marking Black womanhood manifest through racial tropes like the ‘Strong Black Woman’ and the ‘Baby mama’, which not only perpetuate a myth of deficiency in Black motherhood but contribute to the misidentification of CPVA and form barriers to formal and informal support pathways. Through the adultification of Black children and their false labelling as ‘violent and aggressive’ (Davis, 2022), Black mothers are placed in a quandary where they must balance the tripartite role of ‘mother-victim-advocate’ as they navigate CPVA.

Authors: Oladapo-Adebogun, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-r8bvgzrjg
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: racial tropes; adultification of Black children; Black motherhood; racialised parenting; child-to-parent violence and abuse; barriers to disclosure; faith-based coping strategies; matricentric scholarship; mother blame; intersectionality; African and Caribbean diaspora; childhood and youth; family; phenomenology of mothering
• Subjects: Criminology; Culturally responsive social care; Gender; Matricentric feminism; Law; Family violence--Great Britain; Racialised motherhood; Maternal and infant welfare; Sociology; Race