Date of Award

Fall 2025

Language

English

Embargo Period

12-19-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

School of Social Welfare

Program

Social Welfare

First Advisor

Heather Horton

Second Advisor

Heather Larkin

Committee Members

Heather Horton, Heather Larkin, Janine Jurkowski

Keywords

Resilience, Sustainable, Intergenetarional, Black, Family

Subject Categories

Social Work

Abstract

Abstract

Aim: This dissertation examines how resilience is transmitted across two generations of Black women (18 to 70 years of age). It aims to enhance our knowledge of the meaning of resilience in the context of single motherhood and how beliefs, values, faith-based approaches to coping, and culturally driven approaches to mothering influence outcomes for the next generation. Knowledge gaps regarding theoretical formulations of resilience and single Black mothers are discussed. Methodology: The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with ten women (five mother-daughter dyads). A phenomenological inquiry was conducted to explore the meaning-making process of resilience for mothers; human development, ecological theories, family systems and resilience theories guided the analysis. Findings: Single mothers (n=5, generation 2) described their conceptualizations of resilience and their perceptions of how their relationships with their mothers (n=5, generation 1) facilitated the transmission of resilience. Patterns across dyads (to the third generation) revealed the benefits gained by receiving guidance and support from great grandmothers to grandmothers to daughters as well as from friends, their church, their job, and advocacy work. Several described attachments to helping others, especially other mothers in need. Mechanisms such as modeling, faith-based living, social support and racial socialization were integral to the transmission of resilience. These findings support the need to further expand research and literature to encompass strengths-based perspectives when engaging Black single mothers in research or practice.

Conclusions: This dissertation contributes to theoretical formulations regarding family resilience patterns across generations and fills critical gaps in literature regarding Black women.

The findings suggest that practitioners and policy makers would benefit from developing holistic, culturally relevant, and strengths-based approaches to support single parent households.

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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