The role of immigrant service organizations in the transformation of cultural capital.
Item
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Title
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The role of immigrant service organizations in the transformation of cultural capital.
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Identifier
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AAI3283154
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identifier
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3283154
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Creator
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Motta-Moss, Ana.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Susan Saegert
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Date
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2007
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social | Health Sciences, Public Health
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Abstract
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This study examines the environment of immigrant service organizations as precursors of the transformation of immigrant culture into social resources. Specifically, it is proposed here that immigrant service organizations present an interesting case connecting cultural capital and adult immigrants' acculturation and related learning processes; that certain aspects of the cultural environment of immigrant service organizations contribute to the development of social resources among immigrants; and that these environments mediate the effects of unequal distribution of cultural capital inherent in capitalist societies, thus having strong implications for the health and well-being of immigrants. Bourdieu's cultural capital theory offers a conceptual framework for the examination of these processes of reproduction and transformation of culture among immigrants. Three case studies were conducted with organizations forming the immigrant service delivery system in East New York, Brooklyn: an informal neighborhood-based immigrant taxi drivers' association; a legally constituted community-based organization with a 501(c)3 status; and a large metropolitan-level service provider that have immigrant clients. The findings illustrate how the experience of recent U.S. immigrants---especially those from a Latin background---requires further understanding, as people struggle to maintain a sense of themselves and their cultural values while adapting to new geographic, socio-economic, and cultural environments. The analysis of selected immigrant service sites as fields of action generated information that is consistent with main arguments of the literature on immigration. Structural and resource-based arguments propose that factors both macro and internal to immigrant groups influence these groups' self-definition and identification processes, their ability to organize and support members of their community, the strength with which they attach to ethnic traditions, and the socio-cultural practices of their members. Combined, study results suggest that immigrant service organizations constitute an intermediate-level of social institutions, linking practices of grassroots Latino immigrant enterprises (e.g. Botanicas, bakeries) with those of larger social institutions (e.g., hospitals, universities, government agencies). These organizations form unique environments within which Latino immigrants in East New York not only define and redefine themselves as individuals; but also seize existing opportunities for survival, learning and development, and well being.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
