The changing roles of traditional and contemporary African American grandmothers

Purpose. The purposes of this study were to identify (a) to what extent traditional and contemporary African American grandmothers transmit the importance of kinship bonds, spirituality and religion, education, and work ethic to their grandchildren; (b) differences in the ways they transmitted these four cultural values; and (c) the challenges they faced in transmitting these values to their grandchildren.;Methodology. Ninety-four African American grandmothers who lived in the Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties comprised the sample for this descriptive study. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive and qualitative methods. The questionnaire response rate was 100%.;Findings. Traditional and contemporary grandmothers (a) concurred that they frequently transmitted the four family values their grandchildren; (b) used home visits, telephone, family outings, and involvement in their grandchildren's activities to transmit these values, and (c) worked to overcome challenges that they faced when they were often asked to become full-time grandmothers.;Conclusions. (a) Continued transmission of the four cultural values is essential to the development of the African American family. (b) Learning new technology tools will help African American grandmothers find new ways to transmit these values to their grandchildren in the future. (c) "Work ethic" was the least challenging and "spirituality and religion" was the most challenging family cultural value for grandmothers to transmit. (d) Traditional grandmothers often faced challenges of physical health and distance, while contemporary grandmothers were challenged with additional stress and role responsibilities in managing careers and families.;Recommendations for Future Research. (a) Conduct a community-based study to identify specific activities and strategies used by African American grandmothers to transmit these values to their grandchildren. (b) Replicate this study with African American grandchildren to determine whether the ways grandmothers reported transmitting the four family values correlate with their grandchildren's responses. (c) Conduct a study using focus groups of contemporary African American grandmothers to determine if there are other important family cultural values not included in this study.