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Examining The Psychosocial Impacts Of Transgenerational Trauma: A Phenomenological Study Of Parenting Styles Among African American Women, Sandra Maria Anderson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to examine the psychosocial impacts of unresolved grief and trauma within the dynamics of parenting styles of African American women. The theories used to guide this study include family systems theory, first introduced by Murray Bowen in the 1950s, and attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby in 1969, as they intersect and provide a foundation for understanding emotional bonds, social relationships, and parent-child attachment wounds at the core. This phenomenological qualitative study answered the following central research question: “How has trauma exposure affected African American women’s awareness of their traumas within their lived experience and …