The web of identity: A study of adolescent immigrant girls in New York City.
Item
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Title
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The web of identity: A study of adolescent immigrant girls in New York City.
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Identifier
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AAI9830740
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identifier
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9830740
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Creator
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Michael, Suzanne.
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Contributor
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Adviser: William Kornblum
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Date
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1998
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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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Sociology, Individual and Family Studies | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Women's Studies
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Abstract
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What is the experience of adolescent immigrant girls as they face the triple challenges of immigration, adolescence, and the development of gender identity in the United States of the 1990s? Departing from other studies which either do not specify age at migration or focus on 1.5 and second generation immigrant children, this study explores how migration during adolescence impacts on post-arrival adjustment, identity and identifications, and family life. The study involved 92 documented and undocumented girls from 37 different nations who had: (1) migrated to the United States after their 12{dollar}\sp{lcub}\rm th{rcub}{dollar} birthday; (2) resided in the US at least one year; and (3) attended public high school in New York City. Through unstructured interviews and an open-ended written questionnaire, the girls defined the salient aspects of their pre and post-migration lives. The girls' narratives and observations suggest: (1) there is a dynamic relationship between age or life stage and post-migration adjustment and acculturation; (2) the nature or process of migration--nuclear family migration or chain migration, e.g., mother-first migration with prolonged separations--significantly impacts on post-migration family dynamics and thus must be examined as a critical variable in studies of immigrant adjustment; (3) immigration can revitalize and fortify families with concurrent expansion and increased flexibility of roles and functions, and contrary to general perception, a minimum of inter-generational conflict; (4) many schools in immigrant communities lack sufficient resources and/or evidence a lack of investment in their students, thereby inhibiting upward mobility; (5) immigrant adolescents seem to maintain, if not re-invest, in their ethnic/national identities as a source of pride, and as a response to alienation and social and institutional racism; and (6) in contrast to earlier periods of immigration, becoming "American" is no longer perceived as an integral part or prerequisite for achieving the American Dream, in fact, by holding on to their traditions, immigrant adolescents may gain an advantage over some of their native born peers.
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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.
