Expectations, fears and aspirations of parents from Finnish-African families

Abstract

This article analyses expectations, fears, and aspirations of parents from Finnish-African families who raise their children in Finland. Focusing on parents’ interviews narratives, we explore their ideas and expectations concerning their children’s future. As parents in general, they have hopes and responsibilities connected with their children’s future happiness and success. Because of the multiculturalism and multiple layers of difference of their families and of the fathers’ (black men from sub-Saharan Africa) origins and skin colour of the children, they also have special fears in their parenthood. In the analysis orientations regarding happiness, life satisfaction and freedom of children are considered as parental duties of these adults. They want to play an important role in influencing their children’s future. As opposite to their fears, they bring along an idea of their children representing a new cosmopolitan generation who have capabilities to act in a cosmopolitan future and change the society into that direction as well.