Pathways Into College And Away From Crime: Perspectives of Black and Latino/a Youth Growing Up in Single-Mother Households In One of America’s Most Dangerous Cities

Abstract While much of the extant literature on single-mother households describes a host of risks that these children experience, much less research addresses how youth raised by single Black or Latina mothers living in resource strained neighborhoods achieve successes. This investigation explores the methods single mothers of color utilize to foster resilience and academic and personal success among a sample of college students and recent graduates who grew up in a crime ridden city. Through in-depth retrospective interviews that are part of a larger multi-methods study, a subsample of respondents (n=40) shared their perceptions of the strategies used by their single mothers to help them become academically successful while also protecting them from the crime, drugs, and poverty within their homes and neighborhoods. Both Black and Latina single mothers used restrictive parenting techniques, provided educational and emotional supports to the youth studied here, and exemplified prowess and creativity in accessing resources to fulfill the financial and academic needs of their children in remarkably similar ways.