Nurturing Social-Emotional Development from the Perspectives of Black Caregivers: A Thesis

Laura Nemi, Thesis Student

Since February of 2023, I have volunteered at the Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy. As a team member of the R-BLISS project, which stands for Black and Indigenous Supports for Social-Emotional Development, I have had the opportunity to participate in research that directly involves Black and Indigenous community members in Peel to explore their perspectives on social-emotional development and the well-being of racialized children and families. 

The R-BLISS project allowed me to combine both of my interests in psychology and sociology to explore how child development and well-being are influenced by social and cultural contexts, including the home, school, and community. This project also inspired me to pursue a future in social work, where I hope to integrate social contexts and cultural competency into the care I aspire to provide for children and families in my community. 

In the final year of my Psychology Specialist degree, I was fortunate enough to collaborate with Dr. Ruth Speidel and Sian Day to expand our R-BLISS research into my undergraduate thesis. My thesis, entitled, “Nurturing Social-Emotional Development from the Perspectives of Black Caregivers”, explores how Black caregivers in Peel Region perceive and nurture social-emotional development in their Black children. Research with racialized populations has historically been limited or conducted without direct collaboration with the community. Therefore, community-based projects such as this one are especially important. 

My thesis research suggests that social-emotional skills such as emotion regulation and empathy may promote the well-being of racialized children and families. These findings have the potential to inform social-emotional interventions and community-based initiatives that aim to enhance cultural competency in services and reduce systemic inequalities in Peel Region. In fact, the R-BLISS project is currently in its second phase in which we are applying the research collected from our focus group interviews to adapt a social-emotional training for educators in collaboration with Black community advisor members. If you would like to learn more about this project, please visit https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/ccdmp/.