Acculturation-based and everyday family conflict in Chinese American families

Abstract

Everyday conflict (studied primarily among European American families) is viewed as an assertion of autonomy from parents that is normative during adolescence. Acculturation-based conflict (studied primarily among Asian-and Latino-heritage families) is viewed as a threat to relatedness with parents rather than the normative assertion of autonomy. Our overarching goal for the chapter is to integrate our knowledge of these two types of family conflict that have been studied separately to arrive at a new understanding of what family conflict means for Chinese American adolescents and their parents.

Exploring Adolescent-parent Relationships in Asian American Immigrant Families: An Ecological Perspective

“…In general, the research suggests that AA adolescents' ecological contexts in regards to their relationship with their parents pose more challenges due to differences and disconnections between their different ecological contexts, most importantly between their home and other contexts. This seems to support the findings that indicate high rates of parent-adolescent conflicts among AA families (e.g., Costigan & Dokis, 2006;Farver et al, 2007;Juang et al, 2012;Lee & Liu, 2001).…”

“…Current literature provides insight into AA adolescent-parent relationships, often shedding light on how those families may be distinct from White mainstream families due to cultural and immigration-related factors (e.g., Dinh & Nguyen, 2006;Ho, 2010;Ishii-Kuntz, 2000;Juang et al, 2012). While the literature is invaluable, it lacks a conceptual model that would provide insights into the processes during this important developmental period, which often involve significant changes in parent-child relationships.…”

“…This contributes to additional conflicts between adolescents and their immigrant parents, which may not be present in mainstream American families. Indeed, many studies have shown that intergenerational cultural dissonance contributes to parent-adolescent conflicts in AA families (Ahn, Kim, & Park, 2008;Costigan & Dokis, 2006;Dinh & Nguyen, 2006;Farver, Narang, & Bhadha, 2002;Ho, 2010;Hwang et al, 2010;Juang, Syed, Cookston, Wang, & Kim, 2012;Lee & Liu, 2001). Studies that have compared AA youth with their European American counterparts have found that AA youth experience higher rates of intergenerational conflict that often stems from differences in acculturation between parents and their children (Greenberger & Chen, 1996;Farver et al, 2007;Lee & Liu, 2001).…”

Acculturation and global mindsponge: An emerging market perspective

“…The range spans from Hall (1904) at the beginning of the 20th century, to Nahavandi and Malekzadeh (1988) in 1980s, to more recent publications of Juang, Syed, Cookston, Wang, and Kim (2012). The topics have also been broad, including such issues as cultural effects on expatriates and immigrants to explanations of how acculturation works.…”

“…Arends-Toth and Van De Vijver (2003) explore different views of Dutch and Turkish-Dutch on the most preferred acculturation strategy of Turkish migrants. Juang et al (2012) study acculturation-based and everyday conflicts in Chinese American families over both minor and major issues as they related to perceived cultural values. Thus, the notion of acculturation has a long and rich history that may be useful in assessing mindset of various groups.…”