AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

The intersecting factors of social class and race are essential markers of place and shapers of behavior and perception in the United States. In this phenomenological study, six low-income African-American caregivers were interviewed about their experience of having a son referred for mental health care by the school counselor. Issues of how the participants viewed the school, mental health care, and the process of being referred were explored. Key findings of the study included; the caregivers' experiences of alienation and powerlessness in the face of a rigid, hierarchical system for parent involvement in educational decision making, caregivers' perceived lack of power in relationship to school staff members, and caregivers' lack of understanding of school administrative processes. Other findings, as well as implications for practice and research, were examined.