Soviet immigrant resettlement in the United States

Gitelman, Zvi

doi:10.1080/13501678208577390

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Immigrants to the United States from the former Soviet Union, primarily Jews receiving refugee status, have numbered over 400,000 since the early 1970s (L. Gordon, Immigration and Naturalization Service, personal communication, 1999). The primary reason for their emigration was to escape the personal and institutional anti-Semitism in the former Soviet Union (Gold, 1992). There they were ethnic minorities who were not considered to be ethnically Russian but were officially registered as having a Jewish "nationality" (see Birman, 1994).…”

Section: Soviet Jewish Refugees In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soviet Jewish refugees might be expected to assimilate easily in the United States. The adults are highly educated, with the majority possessing a college degree (Birman & Tyler, 1994;Gold, 1992) and having been employed in professional occupations prior to migration (Simon & Simon, 1982a). Because they are White, they have the opportunity to shed the minority status they had in their country of origin and blend into the mainstream in the United States in a way not clearly available to non-White immigrants or ethnic minorities (Hurh & Kim, 1983;Rumbaut, 1994).…”

Section: Soviet Jewish Refugees In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Soviet Jewish refugees have also been reported to be strongly attached to Russian culture and have pride in the accomplishments of the former Soviet Union (Gold, 1992). By comparison, they find the United States less satisfactory in terms of friendships and culture (Flaherty, Kohn, Golbin, Gaviria, & Birz, 1986).…”

Section: Soviet Jewish Refugees In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cultural Transitions in First-Generation Immigrants

Birman

Trickett

2001

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

265

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This article focuses on the process of acculturation for first-generation Soviet Jewish refugee adolescents and their parents who have resettled in the United States. First, the extent of acculturation to the new and the old culture is assessed independently. Second, acculturation is assessed multidimensionally, including the constructs of language competence, behavioral acculturation, and cultural identity. Third, the extent to which life stage differences at immigration affect the acculturation process is assessed. Overall, the data suggest that acculturation appears to occur in a linear pattern over time for most dimensions of acculturation, with acculturation to the American culture increasing and acculturation to the Russian culture decreasing. However, Russian language competence for the parents did not diminish with length of residence in the country. Furthermore, an unexpected acculturative gap was observed between parents and children with respect to Russian identity, with adolescents being more identified with the Russian culture than their parents.

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Section: Soviet Jewish Refugees In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soviet Jewish Refugees In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Soviet Jewish Refugees In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cultural Transitions in First-Generation Immigrants

Birman

Trickett

2001

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

265

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“…Since the 1970s (former) Soviet immigrants have been tagged as having a predominantly right-wing ideology, yet, both Gitelman (1982) and Horowitz (1996) argue that there is no clear-cut proof that most in the 1970s and 1980s were right wing. What can be said is that the immigrants have a negative attitude toward Arabs, based on an unfavourable stereotype of Arabs and of Islam as a religion.…”

Section: Ideologymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The perception of alienation from the former Soviet regime and their inability to exert influence (Gitelman, 1982;Horowitz, 1996) was replaced by a sense of empowerment and influence in the Israeli political environment.…”

Section: High Levels Of Political Efficacy Following the 1992 Electionsmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Increasing Political Power of Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel: From Passive Citizenship to Active Citizenship

Horowitz¹

2003

International Migration

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The immigrants in Israel from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) followed a different pattern of political growth than other immigrant groups. Their increased power began on the national level and moved down to the local level, rather than from the periphery toward the centre -the pattern followed by the Oriental Jewish immigrants. We can trace three stages in the development of their political power.The first stage was during the 1992 elections when the immigrants attempted to organize their own list. Though they failed, the results of the election strengthened them because they were given credit for the left's victory, giving them a sense of political effectiveness.The second stage came during the 1996 elections. It was a defining moment for the former Soviet immigrants' political power. In this stage external factors and internal factors reinforced each other. The change in the electoral system made it possible for the immigrants to vote for their community on the one hand and for a national figure on the other, thus resolving their identity dilemma.The local elections in 1998 marked the third stage in their political strength. They found the immigrant community better organized, with an improved understanding of its local interests, the capacity to put forward a strong local leadership, and a stronger link between the immigrant political centre and the local level.

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