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The purpose of this research is to analyze the methods a group of African-Colombian teenage mothers use to raise and educate their children. The sample group lives in the District of Buenaventura-Colombia, and is considered to live under vulnerable conditions. The methodological approach was qualitative-descriptive, following the hermeneutical-interpretative paradigm. The sample was non-probabilistic, by choice. Seven teens, which became pregnant between the ages of 13 and 17, were interview for this purpose. The most significant finding suggests that the practice used the most by these mothers is the authoritarian type. Although, they alternated it with the democratic and permissive types too. It was found that for these moms it was extremely important the assistance and advice they received from family support teams in order to fulfil their role as new parents. In consequence, it is advised to create new strategies and support groups that will facilitate the child raising practices of teenage families in this region, according to their cultural background and context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the effects of the 1991 Political Constitution about conceptions and practices of identity, this paper proposes the ethnic field as an analytical concept to understand the complexity resulting from recognition of ethnic diversity in Colombia. Using some of the categories proposed by Pierre Bourdieu, the ethnic field is seen as a conceptual scenary where many agents dispute about the legitimate way of naming and classifying the Colombian population through the use of a central criterion, the possession of a "genuine" ethnic identity. Then the ethnic field creates deep and creative disputes in order to establish or undermine hegemonies that define ethnic identities. Its effects are analyzed taking into account the positive and negative discrimination that are produced in a regional context like the Amazon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]