This book offers readers and professionals an in-depth understanding of the importance of culturally competent processes that do not further mitigate African American parents to be deemed as unfit. . . . I would purchase this book and recommend it to others, because (it) helps reframe the way we look at African American parenting, challenging our biases as professionals. . . . This was an informative, detailed, thought-provoking, and enlightening read!

Thomas A. Vance, The New School

Adkison-Johnson takes the reader through an engaging history and overview of the conceptualizations of child-rearing in African American families. The book dives into the myriad and complex ways in which child-rearing in African American families is often misunderstood, primarily as a result of the hegemonic ideologies, rooted in white supremacy, that define Black people as "out of control" and "violent." The narrow constructions of "appropriate" child-rearing not only impact our assessment of African American parents but also infiltrate policy. This book unpacks clearly the linkages between these constructions of appropriate parenting and referrals to child protective services and the disproportionate impact of the child welfare system on African American families. Recommended. All levels.

Choice Reviews