Inner city adolescents: characteristics and challenges

Custodial Grandparents

The Effect of Family Structure on the Mental Health and Educational Implications of Adolescents from High-Risk Neighborhoods, with Special Emphasis on Custodial Grandparents.

Because of the United States' impressive diversity, it is not surprising to realize that family structures vary greatly across the country, especially in urban centers. While different family structures must be recognized as legitimate, in order to empower their caretakers to raise children, it is important for sociologists, psychologists, those in the educational field, and others to understand that certain family structures may be associated with certain negative trends. Understanding these associations gives social service workers the ability to prevent such negative events from happening in the lives of adolescents and children in the inner city. A potent example of the association between family structure and negative trends can be seen with regards to the subject of substance abuse. A problem that is rampant among urban teenagers, substance abuse can lead to a variety of negative affects for the adolescent user, including dropping out of high school, pregnancy, and problems with relationships (Hoffmann and Johnson, 1998). While many variables impact an adolescent's decision to use drugs, Hoffmann and Johnson (1998) found that family structure was certainly associated with the substance abuse in teenagers. In fact, the researchers found that teenagers in father-custody families -- single parent father families or families in which a father and stepmother parent together -- tend to fall to substance abuse at a greater number than those in other family constructions. In fact, Hoffmann and Johnson (1998) generalize, "adolescents who reside with their mothers fare better than those who reside with their fathers in both single-parent and stepparent families" (pg. 634). Because they were unable to find other factors that served as an explanation for this connection, variables such as residential mobility and socioeconomic status, the researchers made the argument that family structure helps explain teens' decisions to become involved in drugs is more credible. Because of the author's research, further studies into the connection between negative adolescent behavior or challenges faced by adolescents and family structure must be conducted.

Focusing on the inner city as the arena in which to examine the challenges faced by adolescents and their respective family structures is a prudent idea for a variety of reasons. Logistically, better results are likely to be obtained through the comparison of teens in the inner city because the inner city tends to be more diverse, offering researchers children from a number of ethnic backgrounds and family structures. In addition, the environment is one that can be kept constant if only inner city adolescents are measured. Further, focusing on family structure in the inner city will provide real data for school counselors and other social service providers who would like to make an attempt at helping students facing difficult challenges. Although it is important that research considering all types of family structures be conducted in order to determine which structures inherently foster positive affects and which foster negative, Hoffmann and Johnson (1998) remark that, since few families in which fathers are guardians exist, little research had been done regarding the structure before their study. Far more prevalent than the father-headed home is the grandparent-headed family. Oliver (2008) writes that the number of grandparents heading homes and caring for their grandchildren on a full-time basis has witnessed a significant increase in the recent future across ethnic lines. In the United States today, around seven percent of children are raised by grandparents (with or without the aid of another parent), and the number of children being raised by grandparents skyrocketed between the years of 1980 and 1994, increasing by around 40%. About one-tenth of grandparents in the United States will become involved in the raising of grandchildren under the age of 18 for at least six months during their lives, and close to two and a half million grandparents in the United States are considered to be "raising" their grandchildren (Minkler and Thomspon, 2005; Oliver, 2008).

But despite the fact that this trend has grown for those in a variety of different cultural and ethnic situations, the number of African-American grandparents who raise their children are disproportionately higher than the rest. A variety of variables accounts for this interesting situation. A cultural component may exist, as African-Americans tend to have relationships in which extended family are a greater part of their lives, suggesting that the involvement of grandparents in the children's lives is more normal. However, other causes for grandparents becoming involved in the lives of children include substance abuse on the part of the mother or father, in addition to other problems that make parenting impossible or difficult for biological parents (Oliver, 2008). Indeed, Oliver (2008) found that grandparents most often care for their grandchildren when the biological mothers have neglected or abused them due to drug problems. Among the causes of grandparent-headed families listed by Oliver are teenage parents who are unable to care for their children, unemployment on the part of parents, and parents who lack parenting skills. Although they can be grandfathers, grandmothers are generally the ones tasked with taking on the burden of grandchildren, and many do so in the event that biological parents cannot take care of them. In addition, there are several forms of grandparent-headed families. First, grandparents can be the custodial parents, meaning that they are raising their grandchildren the way a parent would traditional raise his or her children. Second, grandparents can act as co-parents with a biological parent, a situation in which they live with their children and help them care for grandchildren. Finally, there are grandparents who have no care giving duties. Within this category fall grandparents who serve as childcare providers for their children. While the grandparents may care for children while their parent or parents are working, they return the children to their parents' homes and generally have no responsibilities as to parenting decisions. It is also possible for grandparents to live with their grandchildren without undertaking any parenting roles (Oliver, 2008).

According to Oliver (2008) the increase in grandparent-headed families is due in part to the ability of families to make informal arrangements for children who are not receiving an adequate level of care with their biological parents, rather than using Child Protective Services to accomplish this. Because of the negative reasons that lead to grandparent-headed families, the fact that many African-American grandparent headed families suffer from poverty without the ability to receive special assistance for their custodial grandchild, and the age difference between grandchildren and grandparents, grandparent-headed families often face significant challenges just because of their family structure. Oliver (2008), however, suggests the importance of studying these structural families: "The increase in these formal and informal kinship placements has increased the recognition and importance of GHF [grandparent-headed families] in scholarly literature" (pg. 45). Further, "Grandparents may be particularly good custodial resources for children whose biological parents are unable to raise them, as these grandparents may be one of the few constants in the lives of children exposed to family disruption," suggesting that more information into the family structure is of the utmost importance at a time when it is becoming more popular and is also needed more than ever (Oliver, 2008). Through an examination of three specific challenges faced by inner city African-Americans living in a grandparent-headed family structure -- challenges faced by grandparents and their grandchildren -- implications for school counselors and educational involvement as a solution to this problem can be found. In addition, suggestions for further research into the inherent problems found in certain family structures will be offered.

I. Challenges Faced By Grandparents

For some grandparents, raising grandchildren promotes unequivocal joy. Fuller-Thompson and Minkler (2000) found that custodial grandparenting was associated with several rewards, like "keeping the family together" (pg. 110). Oliver (1998) writes, "There are reports that becoming a caregiver to one's grandchildren provides a purpose for living, increases love and companionship, feelings of being appreciated, hope for the future, and satisfaction of helping others (pg. 46). Nevertheless, being a custodial grandparent is associated with many stressors that can lead to challenges these families must overcome. In their longitudinal study, Minkler and Fuller (2005) found that over 500,000 African-American grandparents aged 45 and over were raising grandchildren in 2000. They tended to be female, living in poverty, and less educated than grandfathers raising grandchildren or other African-American women aged 45 and older. Indeed, the researchers found that four-fifths of African-American grandmothers caring for grandchildren were living below the poverty line. Oliver (2008) points out that a grandparent responsible for raising his or her grandchildren can experience emotional, physical, and financial stress" (pg. 46). Indeed, becoming a parent again, which is essentially the case in a grandparent-headed family, can be quite difficult for a person who is at a stage in life when parenting should be complete. Fuller-Thompson and Minkler (2000) found that grandparents acting as parents were faced with a host of psychological and physical health problems in disproportionate rates than their non-care giving peers. Depression, according to the researchers, is one of the most often felt affects of raising grandchildren. Fuller-Thompson and Minkler (2000) suggest that this psychological problem may stem from a variety of stressors involved in parenting their grandchildren, such as financial strains and a renewed requirement of helping others when they thought they would have "more time to themselves" (pg. 110). Faced with non-caregiving peers, custodial grandparents may regret the freedom, leisure, and financial stability that they may never have as a result of their parenting situations. Further, Fuller-Thompson and Minkler (2000) also note that adverse physical affects have been closely linked with custodial grandparenting, such as the "exacerbation of pre-existing chronic conditions, comorbidy, declines in self-assessed health, and limitations in one or more activities of daily living" (pg. 111). African-Americans are especially at risk because African-American women, on the whole, tend to suffer from more adverse health effects than their peers, due in part to poverty, racism, and oppression (Fuller-Thompson and Minkler, 2000). African-American grandparents in the inner city are at an even higher risk of experiencing these challenges, as they are likely to be poorer, have poorer living conditions, and have grandchildren who demand special attention because of their substance abuse problems or the emotional difficulties gained in dealing with their parents substance abuse.

While they may be the easiest to define physical and mental health problems on the part of custodial grandparents are not these caregivers only challenges. In fact, Heywood (1999) notes that "the identified problems of custodial grandparenting are as complex and interwoven as the reasons for their having assumed the primary caregiving of their grandchildren" (pg. 370). Oliver (2008) points out that custodial grandparents who attempt to co-parent often face difficulty living with their adult children. Other social problems often experienced by grandparents acting as parents include isolation and alienation both from their peers and from parents of their grandchildren's age group. Whether the custodial grandparent is on a fixed income or is able to work, the burdens associated with finances are quite monumental. In addition to attempting to find the resources to care for themselves and their grandchildren, grandparents must also attempt to find daycare and babysitting services, if their grandchildren are younger (Heywood, 1999). When grandparents are the custodial parents of adolescents, they must attempt to deal with all of the problems adolescents in the inner city have, such as academic problems, the search for a college, after school jobs and clubs, and relationships and friends. There is do doubt that the custodial grandparent become exhausted as a result of this role. If this is not enough, Heywood (1999) discusses several legal challenges that are often encountered by grandparents raising their grandchildren, such as the difficulties they face without legal custody and the difficulties getting legal custody. Legal fees associated with the courts and the emotional burden of admitting or publicizing the fact that their child is an unfit parent can be devastating. In addition, Glass and Hunneycutt (2002) demonstrate that the legal road to becoming a custodial grandparent can be difficult. The courts allow parents to contest a grandparent's attempt to gain custody, and because most states have an assumption that parents should have custody of their children, it is up to the grandparents to prove otherwise. Certainly, this kind of legal procedure in a family already facing difficulties would not be a prescription for healing.

Thus, grandparents acting as custodial parents today face a variety of challenges that they, unlike their peers or other parents, must overcome. In order to create a stable home life for their grandchildren, these grandparents must be able to care for those grandchildren and overcome the physical, mental, and emotional stressors associated with being a custodial grandparent. To say the least, all of this is quite stressful on the grandparent, and could easily lead to resentment for the child or grandchild, in addition to a myriad of other stress-induced conditions. For this reason, it is advised that grandparents having custody of their grandchildren seek help in the form of family therapy.

II. Challenges Faced By Grandchildren

Typically, a child placed in a home with his or her grandparents as caregivers is done so through no fault of his or her own. Although adolescents may sometimes be sent to live with other family members as an attempt to curb destructive behavior, it is generally destructive behavior on the part of the African-American, inner-city adolescent's parents that lead to this living arrangement. Like the grandparent, the child in grandparent-headed family faces several challenges. In their 2007 study, Smith and Palmieri found that children raised in grandparent-headed families were more likely to experience behavioral and emotional problems, findings that are similar to those procured for children living in other family structures that minimize the role of the parent. According to Smith and Palmieri, children raised by custodial grandparents are "at greater risk" than other children for mental health problems (pg. 1309). When these findings are paired with the general stressors placed on adolescents in contemporary society, in addition to the stress associated with being black in the inner city, the challenges that adolescents in grandparent-headed families are monumental. According to Wilcox, around 20% of all adolescents have emotional or behavior problems, something Wilcox (2004) implies is a contemporary problem. Thoughts of teen suicide have entered the thoughts of around 20% of adolescents as of 2001, which suggests "a lack of physiological well-being among teens" (Wilcox, 2004, pg. 12). Other problems, such as depression, anxiety, drug abuse, and delinquency, have also risen in connection with today's modern teenager. These problems increase when teens view their neighborhoods negatively (Stiffman et al. 2000). Wlicox (2004) suggests that these difficulties are associated with the breakdown of the family, and, among other things, with the fact that many children live in custodial arrangements other than the traditional two-parent home. Grandparent-headed families, then, could be cited as a potential cause of such problems among teenagers. Because Darling et al. (2008) suggest that the observed less functional behaviors of teenagers, especially considering their parents' marriage, leads to less functional behavior on the part of the teenager, one could argue that family structure is of the utmost importance in a teenager's life. Because teenagers in grandparent-headed families are not only subject to greater challenges than teenagers in other family structures, but also because they are observers to their grandparent's stress and, likely, conflict between biological parents or biological parents and grandparents, it is important that such teenagers be treated for possible behavioral and mental health problems.