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The Costs of Getting Ahead: Mexican Family System Changes After Immigration *
Author(s) -
Bacallao Martica L.,
Smokowski Paul R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2007.00439.x
Subject(s) - acculturation , immigration , loneliness , grounded theory , psychology , authoritarianism , isolation (microbiology) , asset (computer security) , qualitative research , developmental psychology , social psychology , qualitative property , sociology , political science , democracy , social science , microbiology and biotechnology , computer security , machine learning , politics , computer science , law , biology
This study explored how immigration influenced Mexican family relationships. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 adolescents and 14 parents from 10 undocumented Mexican families. Participants immigrated to North Carolina within the past 7 years. A conceptual model derived from the data using grounded theory methods suggested that, after immigration, parents had less time to spend with children because of demanding new jobs and mothers entering the work force. Decreased time as a family was associated with adolescents’ loneliness, isolation, and risk‐taking behavior. In response to perceived environmental threats, Mexican parents became authoritarian, precipitating parent‐adolescent conflict. Parent‐adolescent acculturation gaps were viewed as an asset as adolescents helped parents navigate within the new cultural system. Families coped with postimmigration changes by maintaining high levels of familism and enacting cultural traditions.