The Blackwell Companion to Sociology (34 page)

provides her with familiar and predictable contexts; these predictable contexts

change in dramatic ways following immigration. As Polish immigrant Eva

Hoffmann notes in her exquisitely written memoirs, immigration results in fall-

ing `òut of the net of meaning into the weightlessness of chaos'' (Hoffman, 1989, p. 151). Without a sense of competence, control, and belonging, migrants often

have a keen sense of loss and marginality. A 23±year-old Mexican informant

insightfully summed up the experience: `Ì became an infant again. I had to learn all over again to eat, to speak, to dress, and what was expected of me.''

Responses to the Stresses of Immigration

While anticipating migration and during the initial period following arrival,

many immigrants experience a sense of euphoria (Sluzki, 1979). Expectations

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Carola SuaÂrez-Orozco

are often high as the anticipated possibilities may seem boundless. Energies are focused on attending to the immediate needs in becoming oriented to the new

environment, including finding work and a place to live. As the realities of the new situation are confronted, individuals normatively begin to experience a

variety of psychological problems (Sluzki, 1979; Arrendondo-Dowd, 1981;

Grinberg and Grinberg, 1989). Most frequently, the cumulative losses of loved

ones and familiar contexts lead to feelings along a spectrum from sadness to

depression tò`perpetual mourning'' (Volkan, 1993). The dissonances in cultural

expectations and lack of predictable contexts lead many to experience an

anxious disorientation (Grinberg and Grinberg, 1989). Disappointed aspirations

and dreams, when coupled with a hostile reception in the new environment, may

lead to feelings of distrust, suspicion, anger, and even well founded paranoia

(Grinberg and Grinberg, 1989).

Migration has destabilizing effects on the family (Sluzki, 1979). It is not

unusual for there to be an increase in conflict between family members following migration (particularly if there was pre-existing marital tension). Migration

often creates changes within the family structure: former family leaders may bè`demoted'' (Shuval, 1980) and the nature of the gender relationships may shift.

Espin (1987, p. 493) argues that `ìmmigrant families may become entrenched in

traditional social and sex role norms as a defense against the strong pressures to acculturate.'' In other cases, as immigrant women move into the workplace, their new role as family providers may at once provide them with new found independence but create tensions within the family.

Many immigrant families incorporate extended family members and are more

interdependent and hierarchical than traditional Anglo-American families

(Smart and Smart, 1995). To some extent, this can be traced to their distinctive cultures, but it also can be secondary to migration. Extended families will often live together to share both the financial and the childcare burdens. In the absence of other social support networks, they may rely on each other considerably more

than most non-immigrant families.

Immigrant parents often have to make dramatic sacrifices for what they hope

will be a better future for their children. They are frequently fiercely protective of their children, with deep-seeded concerns about the perceived dangers of the new environment (including the potential of becoming too Americanized). Within the

new context, they may set limits that are significantly more stringent than they would have been had they stayed in their country of origin. At the same time,

immigrant parents are often quite dependent upon their children, who may

develop language skills more quickly than they do. As a result they often serve

as interpreters and errand-runners for the family. Alternating between ``parentifying'' the children and, at the same time, severely constricting their activities and contacts might create significant tension within the family.

Many immigrant parents (particularly those coming from poorer families)

have several jobs. These multiple obligations lead them to be relatively unavailable to their children. For example, because their work schedules do not permit

much flexibility, immigrant parents are often unable to attend school functions: as a result, educators lament the perceived lack of interest in their children's Immigrant Families and Their Children

131

education. It is a mistake, however, to automatically interpret this as lack of

interest or concern. Immigrant parents often tell us that they feel that working hard is the best way they can help their children; yet these long work hours leave the children unattended. This physical absence compounds the psychological

unavailability that often accompanies parental anxiety and depression (Athey

and Ahearn, 1991), and such absence and unavailability frequently leave immi-

grant children to their own devices long before it is developmentally appropriate.

While in some cases this leads to hyper-responsible internalized children, in other cases it leads to depressed kids who are drawn to the lure of alternative family structures, such as gangs (Vigil, 1988).

The time frame for adaptation to the new culture is usually quite different for

children than for adults. Schools represent an important first host-culture site encountered by the children. There, they meet teachers (who are usually members of the dominant culture), as well as children from both the majority and

other minority backgrounds. Hence, they are forced to contend more quickly

and more intensely with the new culture than are their parents, who are likely to work in jobs that do not require much in the way of language skills, or work in

places where there are many others from the same immigrant background (M.

SuaÂrez-Orozco, 1998). The relative rapidness of the children's adaptation may

create particular tensions in the household. Parents may try to slow the process by warning children not to act like other children in the new setting. Children

may also have feelings ranging from vague to intense embarrassment with regard

to aspects of their parents' `òld country'' and `òld fashioned'' ways.

It is important to understand the potential for miscommunication in immi-

grant families. Children often learn the new language more quickly than do their parents. Most children long to be like others: many will quickly show a preference for the language of the dominant culture. Furthermore, even if the child continues to speak the home language, the level of fluency is likely to be

influenced by the fact that after a number of years in the new culture, without

a concerted effort, the vocabulary and literacy level of the language of origin

usually lags far behind that of the host culture. Hence, while the child may easily communicate about basic needs in her language of origin, she is likely to have

more difficulty communicating subtleties of thought and emotion in that lan-

guage (Wong-Fillmore, 1991). By the same token, often the opposite is true with

the parents. Hence, one of the parties in the conversation is likely to be at a

disadvantage in complicated communication sequences. Furthermore, in com-

plex discussions, subtleties of meanings are likely to be missed and miscommun-

ication may result. It is not uncommon to overhear discussions in which parents

and children switch back and forth between languages and completely miss one

another's intent.

My current research suggests that tensions between parents and children are

particularly heightened in cases when the children have been separated from

their parents for long periods of time. The majority of immigrant children are

separated from one or both parents for several months to several years. During

this time, the child can become attached to the caretaker, which complicates the child's later departure. If the child succeeds in attaching to the new caretaker, 132

Carola SuaÂrez-Orozco

the separation from this caretaker in order to be reunited with the parent can be quite painful (compounding the mourning and loss that follows the immigration). If the separation was painful and the child was neglected or abused, this too will complicate the adjustment following migration. In any case, there is

likely to be some fall-out following these years of separation prior to migration (particularly within the Caribbean immigrant community, as well as, increasingly, within the recent Central American community and those from some areas

in China).

Separations resulting from immigration are also responsible for children being

raised in single parent homes. In staggered migrations, where one partner goes

ahead of the other, new families are often found, dissolving families that were

intact in the country of origin. Although, overall, immigrant children are

more likely to be raised in two parent homes than their non-immigrant counter-

parts (National Research Council, 1998), increasingly women who have been

widowed, abused by their partners, or abandoned, or who simply never

married, are coming to the new country to seek employment in order to offer

their children a better life. This, of course, places children at great risk of being raised in poverty, by mothers who are overwhelmed and depressed and thus

psychologically less than optimally available to their children (Weissbourd,

1996).

The Sending and Receiving Contexts

A number of factors may significantly attenuate the severity of response to the

transitions and stress of immigration (Laosa, 1989; Garcia-Coll and Magnuson,

1997). These mediating variables can roughly be broken down into two cate-

gories: sending factors and receiving factors.

Each individual brings with him characteristics, traits, and experiences that

are referred to as sending (or antecedent) factors. The circumstances surrounding the migration can play a key role. Was the individual ``pushed or pulled'' out of the country of origin? If the immigrant is pulled out of his homeland by the

promise of opportunity and adventure, he is likely to be more positively disposed to the experience than if he is ``pushed'' out by ethnic, religious, or political conflict, chronic hardship, or famine in the homeland. By the same token, at

least initially, the individual initiating the migration is likely to be more enthusiastic about the experience than a reluctant spouse, elderly parent, or child

(Shuval, 1980). We have found that children in particular often have little

understanding of the reasons for migration. As a result they may not pass

through a stage of anticipating migration and may experience the move as a

sacrifice.

Pre-immigration stress and trauma may be critical to the subsequent adapta-

tion of immigrants. Individuals and families who flee conflict-torn areas may

have witnessed traumatic events and been subjected to torture and other forms

of physical and psychological violence (M. SuaÂrez-Orozco, 1989). This is almost always true of refugees, a special kind of migrant. In addition, as noted above, Immigrant Families and Their Children

133

these traumas may be compounded with further violence during the actual

process of migration

Socio-economic background has been found to be a consistent mediator of the

stresses of the migration process (Flaskerud and Uman, 1996). Higher levels of

education as well as economic resources play a decisive role in minimizing

structural impediments (C. SuaÂrez-Orozco, 1998). On the whole, upper middle-

class immigrants sustain the least loss. They may be able to retain much of

their prestige and be able to travel back and forth to maintain their social

relationships.

Immigrants of middle-class backgrounds often experience significant losses in

prestige: they frequently find employment in positions far below their training

and qualifications because of language difficulties, lack of connections, or lack of certification in certain professions. In addition, middle-class immigrants may suffer for the first time the painful experience of prejudice and discrimination in the new country. The poorest immigrants, who are largely members of the lower

classes in their country of origin, often suffer tremendous adversity as a result of immigration. Despite these difficulties ± which may include xenophobia, racism,

and fierce competition for the least desirable jobs ± they often achieve relative improvements in their economic and social circumstances. In addition, while

they certainly suffer from discrimination in the new country, social disparage-

ment may not necessarily be a new experience. As members of the lower socio-

economic class, they are likely to have suffered such treatment in their country of origin.

A variety of other sending factors can also help to mediate the migration

process. Possessing the language skills of the new country is clearly an asset.

Religiosity and connection with a church may also play a positive role. The rural to urban shift, which is not an uncommon pattern for many immigrants, may

complicate the transition. Many immigrant children in our study report to us that they find it very difficult to adjust being closed into their apartments. While they may have had considerable freedom to play and roam their neighborhoods in

their earlier experiences, they often lose such freedoms in an urban environment.

Just as a number of factors related to the sending situation will ease or impede the adjustment to the new context, conditions in the new host milieu will also

play a significant role. At the top of the list is the availability of effective social support networks. The presence of a healthy social support network has long