Figure 1
The map centres an African refugee mother parenting an early adolescent aged 11 to 14 years. The microsystem covers parent–child relationships, discipline, communication, emotional bonding, routines and sibling relationships. The mesosystem covers interactions among families, schools, faith communities, peers, social services and community organisations. The exosystem covers employment, financial instability, housing, transport, language barriers, service access, child welfare systems, media and community resources. The macrosystem covers cultural values, beliefs, laws, child-rights discourse, social norms, mental-health stigma and Western individualism compared with African collectivism. The chronosystem covers migration history, premigration experiences, resettlement, acculturation and changes across early adolescence. A phenomenological orientation centres mothers’ lived experiences and the meanings they assign to parenting within a new sociocultural context. The table has the headers Ecological Level and Key Findings from the Study. For the macrosystem, findings include conflict between African collectivist values and Western individualism, fear of child welfare, differing beliefs about discipline and children’s rights, and stigma surrounding mental health and help-seeking. For the exosystem, findings include financial instability, demanding work, limited childcare, language barriers, difficulty navigating systems, and mistrust of child-welfare and legal systems. For the mesosystem, findings include challenges with schools and communication, limited culturally responsive services, support from faith communities and social networks, and a need for collaboration among families, schools and service providers. For the microsystem, findings include changing parent–child authority, communication difficulties, adolescent autonomy, peer influence, emotional strain, worry and efforts to maintain connection and guidance. For the chronosystem, findings include changing parenting challenges as adolescents grow, acculturation reshaping expectations and relationships, and mothers adapting strategies during resettlement and child development. The integrated understanding states that parenting is shaped by interacting systems across time, cultural transition, structural barriers and evolving family–institution relationships. Implications include culturally responsive family-centred programmes, stronger partnerships among families, schools, faith communities and services, policies addressing language access, employment, childcare and mental-health services, and stronger protective factors and resilience.Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Phenomenological Orientation: a conceptual map of African refugee mothers’ parenting experiences with early adolescents in the postmigration context