In this blog post I report on my Winston Churchill Foundation research fellowship study on the adultification of Black girls in state care in 2023 (Ikomi, 2024). Adultification can occur in a child’s dynamic with their parent when there is a reversal of roles and the child adopts the role of the responsible adult while the parent adopts the role of the child (Burton, 2007). Adultification-bias relates to adults projecting the attributes that we expect to see in adults on Black children and as a consequence, holding them to a higher standard of judgment (Epstein et al., 2017). My study examines the adultification that Black girls experience prior to, during their time in local authority care, and as they transition from local authority care. I also interviewed Professor Linda Burton about her 2007 study on adultified dynamics in families with economically disadvantaged parents. Burton’s conceptual model of adultification is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Burton’s conceptual model of adultification (Burton, 2007)

Autoethnography as navigation

Ellis and colleagues (2010) define autoethnography as research and writing method aimed at describing and systematically analysing personal experiences to gain an understanding of cultural experiences. Adams and Herrmann (2023, p. 2) argue that for autoethnography to be effective ‘personal experience must be used deliberately and for the purpose of offering unique insights about social life about a specified topic – insights not possible using other methods’. I have adopted this approach in my engagement with my research stakeholders. In my workshop presentations of my findings with professionals, I capitalised on the broad nature of adultification that Burton’s model reflects in order to enhance their understanding of its breadth. I then transitioned towards a more in-depth appreciation of the concept as I explored Burton’s model. For professionals that have worked with children that have experienced adultification, this helped them to process and make sense of what has happened to them in healthy ways that remind them not just of the trauma that this experience can cause but also the personal attributes that the children have (some of which have been inadvertently developed by their experience of adultification).

Lived experience as authority

‘Applying my lived experience meant that my audience could learn about the traumatic impact of adultification and see a demonstration of the positive attributes that adultified children can inadvertently develop.’

I presented my Churchill study’s findings during my talk as the keynote speaker at Lewisham council’s annual conference for their social workers in London in October 2023. The theme of the conference was ‘The Power of Storytelling’ and one of the organiser’s suggested that I share my own story of experiencing adultification after a family crisis when I was around 12 years old.

The application of my lived experience had an impact on my audience and the attendees of subsequent workshops in a way that my description of Burton’s conceptual model and her recommendations for professionals that work with adultified children would not have been fully able to do. Applying my lived experience meant that my audience could learn about the traumatic impact of adultification and see a demonstration of the positive attributes that adultified children can inadvertently develop – such as empathy through my own application of these skills in my presentation. The feedback that I have received during and after my workshops has shown me that my approach increased my stakeholders’ inclination to buy-in to the recommendations, and enabled them to recognise my authority on my topic not just through the lens of me being an individual that has researched the topic but someone who has also experienced aspects of the issues concerned. While the idea of being an objective third party in our research is often promoted in academia, the auto in autoethnography means that engaging stakeholders using an autoethnographic approach can also be effective.

References

Adams, T. E., & Herrmann, A. F. (2023). Good autoethnography. Journal of Autoethnography, 4(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1525/joae.2023.4.1.1

Burton, L. (2007). Childhood adultification in economically disadvantaged families: A conceptual model. Family Relations, 56(4), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2007.00463.x

Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2010). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-12.1.1589

Epstein. R., Blake, J., & González. T. (2017). Girlhood interrupted: The erasure of Black girls’ childhood. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3000695

Ikomi, S. (2024). The adultification of Black girls in state care: Perspectives. The Churchill Fellowship. https://www.churchillfellowship.org/ideas-experts/ideas-library/the-adultification-of-black-girls-in-state-care-perspectives/