**2. Theoretical framework–defining parenting through a cross-cultural lens**

Parenting beliefs and practices vary with roles, familial relationships and expectations influenced by political, social, cultural, economic, religious, and community situations and cosmologies. Constructs that very across cultures include: the way moral context for parenting is negotiated in families and passed down to the children, definitions of good parenting, reproductive rights and resources, the relationship between intimate family life and the wider culture, and roles for parenting and work outside the home.

"Scholarly" definitions of parenting can differ from that of experienced parents with multi-generational knowledge and skills. In the Western World over the last century, the importance of expert recommendations for parenting practices has been elevated [37]. For example, TV shows and commercials in the 1930s promoted "expert"-informed mothering as a methodological occupation that should be learned [38] whereas previous generations of new mothers learned parenting skills through informal networks within community, and family members. Although current North American parenting discourse elevates experts who prescribe parenting practice, we must critically examine this notion of "expertise" devoid of contextual and cultural considerations.

Anthropological perspectives of parenting see cultural variability as historically and socially situated. As Mead [39, 40] states the tasks of bearing children and parenting have similarities the world over; babies are born and require warmth, nourishment, protection from predators, and an induction into social mores and systems. Yet *how* these fundamental tasks are carried out varies widely. Hays' [41] and Furedi's [42] work suggests that the role and meaning of parenthood has changed recently and child rearing involves a growing range of responsibilities and activities not previously considered dimensions of parenting. Contemporary, middle-class parenting in the U.S. experience continuous change, deemphasizing traditional kinship roles and prioritizing children's academic achievement, extra-curricular, and social activities. Typically, the onus to be apprised of school expectations and scheduling falls on the mother and/or women of the family. Thus, adaptation to new cultural contexts must consider how child rearing tasks shift, especially when many families' kinship networks are reduced in refugee and resettlement contexts.

Infants everywhere have the same biological needs and must succeed at many of the same developmental tasks. Parents/caregivers guide them in developing their first social bonds, learning to express and read human emotions, and making sense of the physical world. The amount of interaction between parents and offspring is greatest in infancy, a time when we are especially susceptible to the influences of experience, i.e. culture, language, and trauma [43]. Almost all young infants' worldly knowledge is acquired from interactions they have with their parents/ caregivers. Social competence in children has origins in specific socioemotional characteristics of the parent–infant relationship [44]. Refugee children carry these socio-cultural influences long after they leave their country of origin. Factors such as conflict, migration, relocation, and the loss of kinship relationships and community stability have a direct impact on child development. Most contemporary

#### *Stories of Struggle and Resilience: Parenting in Three Refugee Contexts DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103827*

parenting literature originates from Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic countries and the fields of Education, Early Childhood and Human Development sorely lack a global perspective on parenting.

In the US, many parenting practices align with how children will succeed according to the standards held by public schools and other state institutions. The standards typically reify a Caucasian, middle-class values and ways of life. U.S. Media, schools, and public institutions reinforce these norms of child behaviors. When parents resettle in the US, many enrichment programs are provided for parents, with an underlying agenda to reprogram families' childrearing practices. Such programs can alienate refugee families if they are pressured to adopt different parenting norms for discipline and guidance and different cultural norms regarding ethnic identity and individualism.

When these external forces (rather than familial, community and historical practices) shape parenting expectations, a mismatch and/or tension can arise. Parents may resist these influences that will change their parenting practices and strive to keep their values, beliefs and cultural and linguistic identities alive. Cultural bias and discrimination can occur, which adds to social alienation However, some families adopt new modes of parenting and readily apply new knowledge in their home lives. This often requires a shift in childrearing priorities and poses challenges for families. Our understanding of enculturation and acculturation as a multidimensional family and community-level construct is key to understanding the diversity of refugee and immigrant groups.

A global perspective of parenting recognizes the impact of globalization and global power inequities. As people migrate around the world, localized constructs reveal great diversity in what is considered "good parenting". As refugees navigate new realities, they do so within the context of a host country with greater global dominance. Thus, parents' ideas of values, priorities, belief systems, kinship and the roles of kinship, are challenged. Evidence suggests that parenting is becoming more child-centered, resource intensive, and focused on the maximization of individual achievement potential in countries with rising or strong capitalist economies such as Chile [45], Brasil [46], the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Schooling in these contexts often focuses on cultivating workforce readiness, citizens who embody individualism, and economic social mobility [47]. As parents/caregivers remake themselves and their families through processes of crossing borders, they contend with the hegemony of national and state visions of "best parenting practices" that can position them as deficient and "at risk" of not succeeding.
