“If I Don’t Do It, No One Else Will” Narratives on the Well-Being of Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Daughters

Abstract

Immigrant well-being sits at the intersections of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender. Cumulative migration stressors, poverty, and socio-cultural factors have made female immigrants of sub-Saharan African descent especially susceptible to poor psychological outcomes. Furthermore, family characteristics including birth order, family size, and interpersonal relationships are known correlates of physical and mental health functioning. And yet, African immigrants are often aggregated into larger groups, effectively masking the groups’ unique historical and cultural characteristics. This phenomenological study examined how the identity of “daughter,” birth order, and transnational experiences inform the well-being of young African women. Participants ( N = 11) who self-identified as cis-gender females were invited for two cycles of in-depth interviews. These young women contextualize their identities around family and familial obligations. They struggle with the contradictions of the parent–child relationship and credit parenting strategies they sometimes view as problematic with their career and academic drive. Feelings of being overwhelmed by familial and social expectations are countered by excitement around their emerging liberated identities. These findings point to the need for inclusive spaces which consider the multiple identities they embody.

Critical Feminism Under Critical Conditions: Violence, Silence, and Resistance

“…A study by Hanna Bäckström Olofsson and Isabel Goicolea explores virtual spaces for feminist peer support in Sweden, framing them as an "arena for feminist activism" (Bäckström Olofsson & Goicolea, 2024). Fatoumata Bah and Njeri Kagotho present findings from qualitative interviews with the eldest daughters in families of firstand second-generation immigrants from Africa living in the American Midwest and explore how these young women navigate multiple responsibilities and the expectations of others (Bah & Kagotho, 2024). Meanwhile, Gina L. Fedock, Sheila Shankar, Celina Doria, and Marion Malcome urge readers to listen to women's experiences with prison-based mental health treatments, emphasizing that these treatments may be causing "mental health harm" instead of "mental health care" for incarcerated women in the United States (Fedock et al, 2024).…”