Exploring maternal social perceptions and child aggression among urban American Indians

Currently, the majority of American Indian families live in urban areas. A number of statistics demonstrate that urban American Indian families deal with a variety of Stressors such as poverty and isolation. However, very little is known about how these families perceive their lives. This report provides an exploratory study examining the status of 20 urban American Indian mother/child dyads. Mothers were asked about the role of American Indian culture in their lives, their views of life in general, and their attributions for their child's mild misbehavior. Two measures of child aggression were collected as well. The links between maternal perceptions and child aggression were complex, indicating the need for more studies of urban American Indian families.