Duality in context: the process of preparedness in communicating with at-risk children.

The goal of this study was to explore the cultural meaning of parent-child communication behaviors in inner-city children at risk for common behavioral problems. Following participation in a preventive intervention called Insights Into Children's Temperament, 40 parents of first and second-grade children were interviewed. The data were analyzed using a constant comparative method derived from grounded-theory techniques. Findings indicate that a complex communication process was used by parents with their at-risk inner-city school-age children. The immediacy of safety concerns for the child, the child's temperament, and the current parental state informed the choice of communication behaviors chosen by the parent. The ultimate goal of communication for these participants was to equip their children with tools to assist them to safely navigate their school and community environments. Participants also offered several recommendations that could be useful for practitioners and researchers to incorporate into their work with inner-city families.