Privileged Dependence, Precarious Autonomy: Parent/Young Adult Relationships through the Lens of COVID-19

Autor/in	van Stee, Elena G.
Titel	Privileged Dependence, Precarious Autonomy: Parent/Young Adult Relationships through the Lens of COVID-19
Quelle	(2022), (36 Seiten) PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (van Stee, Elena G.) Weitere Informationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Parent Child Relationship; Social Class; Undergraduate Students; COVID-19; Pandemics; School Closing; Social Influences; African American Students; White Students; Middle Class; Working Class; Mothers; Parent Responsibility; Student Responsibility; Distance Education; Educational Technology; Power Structure; Racial Differences; Money Management; Student Needs; Social Differences + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Parents-child relationship; Parent-child-relation; Parent-child relationship; Eltern-Kind-Beziehung; Social classes; Soziale Klasse; School closings; Schule; Schließung; Schließung (von Schulen); Sozialer Einfluss; African Americans; Student; Students; Afroamerikaner; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Mittelschicht; Arbeiterklasse; Mother; Mutter; Distance study; Distance learning; Fernunterricht; Unterrichtsmedien; Rassenunterschied; Sozialer Unterschied
Abstract	Objective: This article identifies how social class differences in undergraduates' relationships with their parents shaped their responses to educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: The mechanisms through which parents transmit class advantages to children are often hidden from view and therefore remain imperfectly understood. This study uses the case of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine how young adults from different social class backgrounds expect, negotiate, and attach meaning to parental support. Method: This study draws from in-depth interviews with 48 Black and White upper-middle and working-class undergraduates from a single elite university, along with 10 of their mothers. Results: Facing pandemic-related disruptions, upper-middle-class students typically sought substantial direction and material assistance from parents. In contrast, working-class students typically assumed more responsibility for their own--and sometimes other family members'--well-being. These classed patterns of "privileged dependence" and "precarious autonomy" were shaped by students' understandings of family members' authority, needs, and responsibilities. Conclusion: Upper-middle-class students' greater dependence on parents functioned as a protective force, enabling them to benefit from parents' material and academic support during the transition to remote instruction. These short-term protections may yield long-term payoffs denied their working-class peers. Beyond the immediate context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the concepts of "privileged dependence" and "precarious autonomy" offer scholars a set of theoretical tools for understanding class inequality in other young adult contexts. [This paper will be published in "Journal of Marriage and Family."] (As Provided).
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01