Developing a Foundational Understanding of the Sociohistorical Context
The Socio-Cultural Context and Our Relationships with Families
I’ve worked in Early Intervention for almost twenty years as a developmental therapist, professional development consultant, and professor. Throughout those twenty years, the thing that I am most proud of is my ability to create meaningful, lasting relationships with the families. When I put out a call for interview participants for this project, I was pleased to see that several of my old EI clients wanted to be interviewed. One even responded, “Anything for you!” Imagine my surprise, then, when during the interviews with my old clients each of them referenced the ways that I didn’t understand them, or that they didn’t feel comfortable asking me questions, or that they couldn’t be their full authentic selves during our EI sessions.
I know that when I was working in family homes, I did not understand the sociohistoric context I was working in, and that prevented me from seeing the racial power dynamics at play. Meanwhile, the Black, Latine, and other families of color I worked with were acutely aware of the power dynamics inherent in having a White woman working for a government program into their homes. At best, families are concerned about their providers having negative stereotypes about them and those stereotypes impacting the quality of care provided. Crenisha, the mom who responded with “Anything for you, Megan!” repeatedly described the experience of having a White woman from EI come into her home as “nerve-wracking.” She stated she was afraid of being judged by the EI providers and had to make sure they felt comfortable when in her home. Crenisha’s partner Ibraheem recalled how sometimes he would lie to providers about what recommendations he had been able to carry out over that week because “This White woman told me to do something that’s supposed to be for my kid. I don’t want her thinking I’m an irresponsible parent, so I’d rather just lie, but I’d make sure I’d do it next week…if we had a better rapport I coulda been like I really want to do this, but it was just really hectic this week or whatever. Like be really honest.” Ibraheem went on to say, “I think what happens is you feel like…if you do not do what they tell you to do, if they think you don’t care, if the parents do not care, then [the providers] do not care either.”
At worst, families are worried about potential legal harm that can come from interacting with White women who hold negative stereotypes about you. Another mom, Adrienne Thomas said,
“When they walk in the door..size us up and immediately biases are everywhere and this is our first time experiencing it with the vulnerability sick child. It’s one thing to walk around the world and in spaces in life as Black people in America…It’s different when you’re already completely vulnerable emotionally and existentially, because you got this sick kid and no one knows what’s going on, and you experience the different treatment. Someone comes in and our baby is so sick, she’s been throwing up all night and we had to come to the emergency room, she’s losing weight, and the next person in your room is from [child and family services] doing an investigation. You’re like, wait, what do you think we’re doing? Not feeding her? What do you think this is? And then you leave…and the next step is we’re going to send someone from the state [early intervention program] into your house to help…and people are lined up to come into your house. And they are not ready…You have to be on guard because it’s these state people and you can’t have any misunderstandings that’s gonna trigger /…call someone if you see this. You have to prioritize their comfort in your home no matter how vulnerable your home. It’s just the way things are.”
I’m sad to say that I was one of the providers’ whose comfort Adrienne had to prioritize over her own. Back then, my ignorance of the sociohistorical context I was coming into made it impossible for me to know that Adrienne was experiencing these very realistic fears. I think a lot about how if I had known, how my interactions with Adrienne could have been different. I’m aware that my knowledge wouldn’t have changed Adrienne’s prior experiences, but it would have helped me to better understand them and adjust my practices accordingly.
Upon reflection, my own ignorance of the ways that the sociocultural context showed up in my interactions with families shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me. When I worked in direct service provision, I wasn’t very far along in my journey to antiracism. When I work with EI practitioners who are in the same place in their journeys now that I was then, I often see the ways that their lack of knowledge about history, power dynamics, and systemic racism (and all the -isms) interferes with their desire to be more culturally responsive EI practitioners. It makes sense that my ignorance showed up in my interactions with families in the same way. What surprised me the most, I think, is that the marginalized families I worked with carry enough fondness for me to stay in touch and that this fondness developed despite the ways in which our cultural differences hindered their abilities to be truly themselves in my presence.
While good relationships can be built without foundational knowledge about the sociohistorical context, my research interviews demonstrate the ways my ignorance limited my ability to provide truly exemplary EI services.
