A Critical Examination of Immigrant Acculturation: Toward an Anti-Oppressive Social Work Model with Immigrant Adults in a Pluralistic Society

Today, in North America, the idea of complete assimilation ofimmigrants no longer seems relevant. Under the commonly espousedideologies of multiculturalism and pluralism, the goal of socialwork with immigrants is now integration into the host society,whether that be economically, socially and/or psychologically(Li, 2003). However, critics argue that the traditional ideaof immigrant assimilation continues to lurk behind social policiesand social services for immigrants, in that the successful integrationof immigrants is prompted by their conformation to the dominantculture (Balgopal, 2000). While a growing body of literatureon social work with immigrants has resulted in an increasedunderstanding of this diverse population and its needs, theliterature still lacks coherent theoretical and ideologicalframeworks necessary to inform effective models of service delivery.Social work literature on immigrants also requires criticalinterrogation of the impact of social science theories, particularlyin terms of long-held assumptions of culture and acculturation.In this paper, a critical review of literature on acculturationand social work with immigrants will be followed by findingsof a qualitative study with skilled immigrants in Canada. Basedon the research findings, an anti-oppressive approach to socialwork with immigrants is proposed.     

Parental acculturation and parenting in Chinese immigrant families: the mediating role of social support

This study provided updated evidence on how parental acculturation and social support were associated with parenting in a sample of Chinese immigrant families (n = 255). The results from multivariate regressions with a rich array of control variables showed that parents’ cultural preferences for friends, food and TV programmes of other cultures were significantly associated with more parental nurturance and less intergenerational conflict, but had no significant associations with the use of harsh discipline. Neither the length of parents’ residence in the U.S. nor their English proficiency was significantly associated with their parenting behaviours. Perceived social support played a significant mediating role in the relationships between parental acculturation and nurturance, but not in the relationships of parental acculturation with intergenerational conflict. The findings can help social service professionals to have a better understanding of the needs in supporting positive parenting behaviours and promoting intergenerational relationships in Chinese immigrant families.     

Age Differences in Stressors,Coping Resources,and General Well-Being Among Korean Immigrants

ABSTRACT

 This study explored 346 Korean immigrants living in California to examine: a) differences in stressors, coping resources, and general well-being (anxiety, depression, positive well-being, self-control, vitality, and general health) between younger (18–64 years old) and older (65–96 years old) Korean immigrants; and b) differences in associations of stressors and coping resources with general well-being in the 2 groups. Results revealed that the older immigrants experienced higher levels of socioeconomic stressors and psychological/physical problems. In addition, English-language problems, low education, and financial difficulties were more consistently associated with lower levels of general well-being in the older immigrants than in the younger immigrants. Social support, religious practice, and spiritual coping were more likely to alleviate the detrimental consequences of stressors on general well-being in the older immigrants than in the younger immigrants. To improve the general well-being of older Korean immigrants, the results suggest: a) emphasis of social and health care services with bilingual capability; b) improved social support systems; and c) utilization of spiritual assessments and interventions. Future research should extend the current study with longitudinal data of a more generalizable sample of Korean immigrants.     

Acculturation and adaptation of first‐ and second‐generation South Asians in Hong Kong

This study investigates the experiences of psychological and sociocultural adaptation among 404 first‐ and second‐generation South Asian immigrants in Hong Kong. Results indicate that for first‐generation immigrants, lack of host language fluency, fewer contacts and friendships with host members, the strategy of marginalisation, and perceived discrimination are all related to higher psychological distress, lower self‐esteem and less competence in sociocultural adaptation. For second‐generation individuals, although they reported higher knowledge of the host language and higher preferences the for assimilation strategy, the levels of psychological distress were higher compared with the first‐generation group. An interesting finding of this study is the preference for the marginalisation strategy as opposed to the assimilation and/or separation strategy. The findings of this study highlight the importance of considering the unique experiences of the second generation in order to further our understanding of immigration and acculturation processes.     

Social networks and immigration stress among first‐generation Mandarin‐speaking Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles

This study examined relationships between social networks and immigration stress among first‐generation Chinese immigrants. Using data from a larger study of health behavior among first‐generation Mandarin/English‐speaking immigrants residing in the Los Angeles metropolitan area (N = 1,183), this study found that Chinese immigrants living closer to immediate family and maintaining larger social networks experienced lower immigration stress. Unexpectedly, immigrants with larger family sizes and who participated in voluntary associations (e.g., religious, alumni, and nationality associations) reported increased immigration stress. The findings suggest that practitioners need to be cautious of a possible downside in designing interventions to expand social networks among immigrant clients. The study is especially important in the context of a rapidly increasing immigrant population from Mainland China to the USA. Key Practitioner Message: ● Working with immigration families should incorporate assessment of their social network; ● Interventions designed to facilitate supportive social networks should differentiate different social network ties; ● Different social network ties may affect the stress level of immigrants differently.     

Parental stress and parenting in Chinese immigrant families: The mediating role of social support

As the population of Chinese immigrants has been growing rapidly in the United States, it has been understudied on the parenting behaviours as well as the roles parental stress and social support playing in parenting in this group. This study investigated whether parental stress was associated with parenting and whether this relationship was mediated by social support in a sample of 255 Chinese immigrant parents from the Survey of Asian American Families in New York City. Regression analyses with a rich array of control variables found that a higher level of parental stress and the presence of one or more stressors such as unemployment, low income, and low education were positively associated with the use of harsh discipline and parent–child conflicts and negatively associated with positive parenting practices. Social support functioned as a significant mediator in the relationships between parental stress and positive parenting practices but not in the relationships of parental stress with parent–child conflict or the use of harsh discipline.     

A measure of English acculturation stress and its relationships with psychological and physical health status in a sample of elderly Russian immigrants

This study aims to evaluate the factor structure and criterion validity of the English Language Acculturation Stress (ELAS) scale in a community-based sample of elderly Russian immigrants. The sample consists of 300 Russian immigrants with an equal number of females and males, from 59 to 93 years of age (Mean = 73.26, SD = 7.271). The majority of the respondents were married (72%) at the time the interviews were conducted. On average, the respondents have lived in the U.S. for about 7 years (SD = 3.00). We performed both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to ascertain the factor structure or conceptual dimensions of the 11-item ELAS scale. The findings revealed that this 11-item scale encompasses three dimensions: Basic English skills, survival English skills, and social involvement English skills. Correlation analyses of the scale with depression, physical health status, and length of residence suggest that the ELAS has good criterion validity and potential as a screening instrument of language acculturation stress for elderly Russian immigrants. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

No te dejes pisotear por nadien: Examining Latino Immigrants' Efforts to Resist Discrimination

ABSTRACT

Latino immigrants in the United States face a hostile climate, including policies that reinforce community-level prejudices and acts of discrimination. Discrimination has an impact on the well-being of individuals who are targeted. The purpose of this study was to learn from Latino immigrant parents about responses to incidents with discrimination, including the process by which they determine how to respond. Fifty-four Latino immigrants participated in in-depth interviews. Using constructivist grounded theory methods, a model was developed to reflect participants' responses to discrimination. Findings indicate Latino immigrants' responses to discrimination evolve in a consciousness-raising process, including five phases of awareness: recognizes discrimination; questions discrimination; engages in reflection/dialogue on issues of race and discrimination; acknowledges value in self; and takes action. Moving through these phases, participants are more critically reflective on personal experiences and larger environmental contexts. Participants also engage in assessment of risks and opportunities when deciding how to respond to discrimination. Documentation status, English proficiency, and knowledge of systems of care affected their ability/decision to advocate. This study offers guidance for social service providers to support and collaborate with immigrants to increase their capacity to advocate. Findings suggest that future research is needed to explore the connection between phases of response and well-being.     

Labor force participation among Asian immigrant women: Findings from the 2007 American Community Survey

Using a nationally representative sample of Asian immigrant women in the USA (N = 33,032), we examined ethnic variations in labor force participation and different predictors of labor force participation among six Asian ethnic subgroups, including Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese. Our findings indicated that having a higher level of education, fewer children under age 5, US citizenship, a longer length of residence in the USA, and a better English proficiency were significantly related to higher rates of labor force participation among certain ethnic subgroups. The different predictors of labor force participation by ethnic subgroups were further analyzed in cultural contexts.     

Associations between HIV stigma and social support for people living with HIV in Hyderabad,India

The present study examined the association between social support and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) stigma through a survey of 150 people living with HIV (PLWH) in Hyderabad, India. Survey items to assess social support were adapted from the HIV Cost Services and Utilization Survey. HIV stigma was measured using Zelaya and Jeyaseelan scales that were previously validated in India. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed an inverse association between social support and HIV stigma across both stigma scales. Depression further intensified the level of stigma faced by PLWH who had lower levels of social support. Third-gender individuals experienced significantly higher HIV stigma and lower social support than cisgender men. Social support must be used as a protective factor in current HIV stigma reduction interventions. Findings highlight the need to adopt a gender-sensitive social support framework in HIV care policies to better address HIV stigma in the Indian context.     

区域差异背景下的城市居民对外来人口迁入的态度研究——基于2005年全国综合社会调查数据

本文为外来人口城市融入研究提供了一个来自于城市居民的观察视角。基于2005年全国综合社会调查数据,作者构建了区域差异背景下的城市居民是否愿意外来人口迁入的多层线性模型。结果发现,市民个体的社会经济特征和城市的制度环境对其态度有显著影响。这一结果暗示在户籍制度的作用下,城市居民同外来人口之间的利益分隔和心理区隔可能互相转化,并有可能对后续的户籍改革造成阻碍,这提示我们为了获取大多数人对户籍改革的共识,城市居民的态度不应该被忽视。     

How does immigration affect welfare support in Korea?

This study explored the association between the perceived presence of immigrants and support for social spending in a non-Western context, particularly Korea, so far relatively under-researched. Using the Korean General Social Survey data, specifically, it analysed whether and how native Koreans' attitudes toward government spending on (each area of) social security are influenced by the perceived presence of immigrant populations in Korean society, and furthermore, whether the degree and direction of the relationship may depend not only on the type of social benefits, but also on the type of immigration, that is, whether the share of certain groups of immigrants in the population is perceived to be high or low. The results suggest that the association between (perceived) immigration and support for social spending exists in Korea, and its degree and direction differs when the types of social benefits and immigration are considered.     

Acculturation Effects on Trust in National and Local Government Among Mexican Americans*

Objectives. The objectives of this article are to examine the impact of acculturation on the levels of trust in both the national and local governments in a long‐term minority‐majority community and to consider the effect on Mexican Americans' level of trust of long‐term co‐ethnic control of local government. Methods. Ordered probit is applied to measures of local and national political trust derived from the National Election Studies. Data were drawn from a sample of Latino respondents residing in the predominantly Mexican‐American region of south Texas. Independent variables include a language‐based measure of acculturation, a measure of interethnic social interaction, and items dealing with respondents' evaluations of the honesty, efficiency, and beneficiaries of governmental policies. Clarify is then used to estimate the real‐world impacts of these variables. Results. Acculturation has a significant and negative impact on trust in the national government. This effect vanishes, however, at the local level. Moreover, co‐ethnic control of government appears not to be related to trust. Conclusions. Trust in the national government is significantly reduced by acculturation, while trust in local government is unaffected. Moreover, trust in government is not enhanced by co‐ethnic control of the levers of political power.     

Acculturation and Psychological Functioning in Asian Indian Adolescents

The objective of this exploratory study was to understand how Asian Indian immigrant families adjust to U.S. culture by examining factors that influence acculturation preferences or styles and how these styles may be associated with their children's psychological functioning, as measured by self‐esteem and academic performance. 85 U.S.‐born Asian Indian adolescents (45 girls; 40 boys) and one of their immigrant parents completed questionnaires about family demography, self‐identification, acculturation, and religiosity. Adolescents also completed a self‐perception profile. Results showed parents and adolescents had similar styles of acculturation. However, adolescents were more likely to self‐identify as ‘Indian‐American’ than were their parents. For both adolescents and their parents, integrated and assimilated acculturation styles were related to family SES, years of U.S. residence, and religiosity scores. Adolescents who had an integrated acculturation style had higher GPAs and higher scores on the self‐perception profile than did adolescents who were separated or marginalized. The findings lend tentative support for an integrated style of acculturation in promoting positive outcomes for first generation Asian Indian adolescents.     

Comparison on predictors of mental health service use among Asian older adults

Studies have mostly examined mental health service use of older Asian immigrant combining all Asian Americans into one group whereas immigration backgrounds and socioeconomic status of each Asian minority group are different. Therefore, this study aimed to identify predictors of mental health service use within specific ethnic groups among older Asian adults focusing on Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese in California. The Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations (BMVP) is used to guide the secondary data analysis of a sample of 3,453 older Asian immigrants from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Logistic and linear regression analyses are performed to examine predictors of mental health service use and the frequency of mental health service use, respectively. As results, mental health‐seeking patterns differ by ethnicity within the older Asian immigrant sample, not being married (Korean), higher levels of acculturation (Filipino), lower levels of neighborhood cohesion (Korean and Vietnamese), higher levels of perceived safety (Korean) and lower levels of perceived safety (Vietnamese), higher levels of mental distress (Korean and Filipino), and having perceived need (all) were related to more visits for mental health services. The study findings highlight the necessity of cultural competency services and programs for each Asian ethnicity.     

Unemployment compensation and the use of social assistance among second-generation immigrants in Sweden

Previous studies have shown that the participation of first-generation immigrants in the Swedish income security system deviates from that of the native population. However, so far there has been no research that has focused on this issue where second-generation immigrants are concerned. This study shows that the rates of participation in different parts of the income security system vary considerably between different groups of second-generation immigrants. Second-generation immigrants whose parents come from Western Europe have low participa-tion rates in all the studied parts of the income security system. Their participation rates are even lower than for natives with both parents born in Sweden. Second-generation immigrants with parents from southern Europe and from outside Europe, on the other hand, have very high participation rates in especi-ally social assistance. The differences between the groups are of course to a great extent explained by differences in their labour market situation. According to the findings of the study, there are reasons to be concerned about the future labour market integration of second-generation immigrants with parents of non-European origin.     

Traditional Support Systems: Are They Sufficient in a Culturally Diverse Academic Environment?

Correspondence to Dr Adital Ben-Ari School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel 31905. Summary The present study explores the relationship between perceivedsocial support and well-being among students of the three mainpopulations living in Israel: Israeli-born Jews, Israeli-bornArabs and Russian immigrants. More specifically, it comparesthe well-being of these three groups and examines to what extentperceived social support actually contributes to their well-being.The sample comprised 278 undergradute students in the schoolsof social work and nursing at one of the major universitiesin Israel. Three instruments were used. Well-being was measuredby both the Brief Symptoms Inventory Scale (Derogatis, 1979)and the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck and Steer, 1987). Perceivedsocial support was assessed by the Multidimensional Scale ofPerceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988). The findingsshow that the Arab students are significantly more distressedthan their Jewish and Russian counterparts on all measures ofwell-being. At the same time, their perceived social supportis significantly higher than that of the Jewish students (bothIsraeli-born Jews and Russian immigrants). Stepwise linear regressionanalysis revealed that while perceived social support was amajor contributor to the explanation of well-being among theIsraeli students, it did not surface as a significant explanatorypredictor of well-being among either Arabs or Russian immigrants.The significance of the findings is discussed within the theoreticalframeworks of stress and social support theories as well asmodernization and immigration processes.     

Solidarity towards immigrants in European welfare states

The concern that immigration could threaten the sustainability of the European Social Model is a reason to have a closer look at popular images of immigrants in the context of European welfare states. The focus is on Europeans' informal solidarity towards immigrants relative to other vulnerable groups in society. Using data from the European Values Survey 1999/2000 we find that in all European countries the public is least solidaristic towards migrants, in comparison with elderly people, sick and disabled people and unemployed people. Contrary to expectation, there is little relation between welfare state characteristics and people's solidarity, while the relative solidarity towards immigrants is higher in culturally more diverse countries. As expected, the relative solidarity towards immigrants is lower in countries with a more negative opinion climate towards immigrants and in poorer countries of Europe.     

Living Arrangements,Depression, and Health Status Among Elderly Russian-Speaking Immigrants

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between living arrangements, depression, and health status in a community-based sample of 300 elderly Russian-speaking immigrants. Data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire survey method. The questionnaire was designed to investigate various aspects of health, mental health, health services utilization, and health behaviors. A team of bilingual professionals was involved in the construction and translation of the survey instrument. The sample consists of 150 females and 150 males. The respondents' average age was 73.2 years. The regression analysis reveals that elderly Russian-speaking immigrants who live alone are more likely to experience a higher level of depression than those living with others. This relationship remains statistically significant after controlling for age, education, income, ability to speak English, years residing in the United States, gender, and health status. Since health status appears to influence depression, we performed further regression analyses and found that living arrangements had no statistically significant relationship with health status. Health status serves as an intermediate variable between the block of demographic variables and depression. Implications for future research are discussed.