Abstract
Purpose. The dissertation explored the barriers, concerns, and strengths of Latino parenting grandparents raising their biological grandchildren. Method. Sixteen intensive, semi-structured interviews with nineteen male and female Latino parenting grandparents raising their biological grandchildren were conducted. Participants were recruited from community referrals and through snowball sampling. An interview protocol, created by the researcher, was piloted by researcher prior to the current study. The interview protocol was then used to gather demographic information and qualitative data for this study. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. Grounded theory was used to create theory and a model that emerged from the collected data. Results. From the 16 interviews conducted, eight main themes and 37 subthemes emerged from the data through grounded theory. Eight main themes emerged from the data. Emergent themes included: Initial Placement in Grandparents Care and Reasons for Placement in Grandparents' Care, Issues Impacting Grandchildren as a Result of Being Removed from their Parents' Care, Difficulties Faced by Parenting Grandparents, Grandparents' Biological Children, Legal Decisions and Impact of the Legal System, Forms of Strain, Sources of Support, and Rewards/Benefits of Being a Parenting Grandparent. An analysis of the data led to the development of a theory of Latino parenting grandparents, grounded in the data collected from the study. The theory illustrates the life cycles and patterns that Latino parenting grandparents. The Latino Parenting Grandparent Life Cycle Model, was created from the emergent themes in order to better understand the experiences of Latino Parenting Grandparents and to aid in their treatment in the community. Discussion. Findings indicated the benefits of being a Latino parenting grandparent and the resilience of these persons. Results showed the need for more bilingual and accessible services to the Latino parenting grandparent community. Services need to be provided by multiculturally competent service providers to meet the needs of this community.