Parenting after resettlement poses a range of stressors for migrant families, particularly as caregivers adjust to new norms, systems, and environmental changes in their host country.
Exposure to trauma compounds the strains placed on parents after arrival. Parents exposed to trauma are more likely to withdraw, be hostile, and use harsh
discipline methods.
Immigrant and refugee parents commonly report a loss of parental authority as they shift away from traditional methods of physical punishment to respond to host country laws about child abuse, but often lack alternative skills to discipline. Additionally, parents often feel they are parenting alone after losing extended family support.
Select Publications
- Mehus, C. J., Wieling, E., Achan, L., & Oloya, O. T. (2018). Identifying the roles of fathers in post-war northern Uganda: Groundwork for a parenting intervention. African Studies, 77. doi: 10.1080/00020184.2018.1496593
- Garcia-Huidobro, D., Diaspro-Higuera, M. O., Palma, D., & Palma, R., Ortega, L., Shlafer, R., Wieling E.,…& Allen, M. L. (2018). Adaptive recruitment and parenting interventions for immigrant Latino families with adolescents. Prevention Science, 20. doi: 10.1007/s11121-018-0898-1
- Ballard, J., Wieling, E., & Forgatch, M. (2017). Feasibility of implementation of a parenting intervention with Karen refugees resettled from Burma. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 44, 220-234. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12286