"A good mother got to fight for her kids": Maternal management strategies in a high-risk, African-American neighborhood

Abstract

This article critically examines a key tenet of research based on neighborhood effects models (resource, collective socialization, epidemic). This research, based primarily on macro-level demographic data, details the various ways in which inner-city neighborhoods compromise child development. Using recent qualitative data from low-income African-American mothers with young children and who live in a Chicago housing project, we explore how maternal parenting strategies promote the safety and positive development of children in a high-risk, low-resource neighborhood. Findings from in-depth interviews identify buffering strategies (monitoring, cautionary warnings, danger management, chaperonage, confinement) and enhancing strategies (resource-brokering, in-home learning strategies) that protect children from danger and promote positive social, cultural, and academic development. These data expand on narrowly formulated neighborhood effects theories, demonstrating the active role that mothers play in child well-being and growth.