From Parent Education to Collective Action: ‘Child-rearing with Love’ in Post-war Guatemala

Summary

The paper discusses the implementation and effect of group of group-based parenting workshops orientated by the principles of liberation psychology in a low-income, hispanicized community in Guatemala City. The objective of this initiative was not only to improve outcomes in the parent-child relationship, but to galvanize the formation of community-based support groups that could have multiple ends.

The theoretical foundations of the project are introduced, before illustrating their practical application. Sixteen months post-intervention, largely positive effects were being sustained   in parent-child relations. The project was also successful in generating social action through the formation of grass-roots women’s organizations.