Attention to Gender and Race in Interventions for Custodial Grandparents: A Scoping Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT The prevalence of custodial grandparenting in the United States and other Western countries has increased in the past decade. Custodial grandparents face challenges including navigating painful personal relationships and caring for children with trauma histories. These challenges may be exacerbated for custodial grandmothers, particularly African American custodial grandmothers, due to existing racial stereotypes and gendered expectations about parenting. Family therapy is uniquely suited to providing support to custodial grandparents and their families. This scoping review examined the current literature on interventions with custodial grandparents to assess sensitivity to issues related to race and gender. Twelve studies are reviewed, and prominent themes are identified and discussed. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.