Transactional relations and reciprocity between refugee mothers and their children: changes in child, parenting, and concept of child

Guided by the transactional approach, this grounded theory study examined the reciprocal relations between the effects of participation in a preschool education intervention program on Syrian refugee children and their mothers’ parenting practices and concept of child. 128 children participated in a school-based intervention program in resettlement communities in Turkey. 32 mothers were individually interviewed regarding their observations of and experiences with their children before and after intervention. Data were analyzed with various categorization, thematization, and trustworthiness techniques of grounded theory. Results show that participation in intervention yielded a variety of positive developmental changes in children which kicked off substantial changes in maternal practices and perceptions of child/childhood among their mothers. The emergent transactional model grounded in mothers’ voices captures three aspects of reciprocity that led to these changes: Remediation, redefinition, and reeducation. The study highlights the crucial and instrumental role of refugee children’s participation in ECEC support programs in reshaping and enhancing parental practices and their competence and capability to constructively impact on members of their proximal environments.