Patterns of Participation in Informal Social Activities among Chinese Immigrants in Toronto1

This study addresses two questions. First, among the three major perspectives on integration (i.e., zero‐sum, pluralist, and selective integration) suggested in the literature, which is the dominant pattern of the participation level in informal social activities in the ethnic community and in the wider society among new immigrant groups? Second, how well do the factors suggested by these three perspectives explain these patterns? Based on recently collected data about Chinese immigrants in Toronto, Canada, the analyses suggest that nearly half the respondents claim a low level of social participation. Among those who do participate, the pluralist integration pattern is the dominant pattern of participation in informal social activities among today's Chinese immigrants. Though the analysis shows the consistent effect of human capital resources on the pluralist integration patterns, there is no significant effect of either human capital resources or duration in the country on the zero‐sum and selective patterns. Implications of the results are discussed.     

In Search of a Better Life: The Experiences of Working Poor Immigrants in Vancouver,Canada

We utilized data from 72 in‐depth interviews with immigrant hotel and hospital support workers employed in the service sector of Vancouver, Canada to analyse migration decisions and subsequent experiences after arrival. We found that migrant social networks were centrally important, both as a stimulus for migration and in shaping post‐arrival experiences. At the same time, the working conditions faced by immigrants after arrival, such as low pay and long work hours, resulted in serious challenges. While some struggled with multiple jobs to make ends meet, others felt their economic circumstances prevented them from even bringing their children to Canada. In some cases, children were returned to their country of origin. Features of low‐wage service sector jobs also limited the time available for participation in community life. The findings both support and advance recent theoretical contributions about the incorporation of immigrants in the United States and Canada. As immigrants frequently face occupational downgrading and are channelled into low‐wage service sector jobs, the conditions of work and social policies are important for their post‐arrival experiences and incorporation. Going beyond traditional conceptions of citizenship in the immigration literature, some respondents acted through their union and community organizations to attempt to change society and improve their fortunes. While some sought social justice through political activism, others used their limited family and community life time to reterritorialize values from their countries of origin. Part of their activism was transnational, such as sending remittances to help loved ones back home, but other involvement included participation in organizations with the aim of promoting social justice or improving life in their new country. The experiences of immigrant service sector workers in Vancouver suggest a need for greater emphasis on the role of both immigrant and non‐immigrant specific social and labour policies for understanding immigrant incorporation in North America.     

Confucius or Mozart? Community Cultural Wealth and Upward Mobility Among Children of Chinese Immigrants

Most studies of Chinese upward mobility focus on how immigrant community institutions sustain ethnic culture to foster educational success. In contrast, I analyze how community-based music schools develop a cultural strategy to guide immigrants to pursue enrollment in prestigious colleges by utilizing high cultural capital in classical music. Chinese immigrant families take advantage of information networks in these schools to develop a bonding form of social capital that allows not only middle-class families but also working-class families to redefine the meaning of ethnicity. This is theoretically surprising, because some theory predicts that middle class status is needed to benefit from such cultural capital. Through competence in Western classical music, Asian students signify their well roundedness, an achievement that goes beyond rote learning. Chinese families pursue this musical cultural strategy to incorporate themselves into mainstream educational institutions. Research on the strategic use of nonoppositional musical culture for educational mobility suggests the limitation of segmented assimilation theory.     

Spousal Abuse Among Immigrants From Ethiopia in Israel

This ethnographic study obtains first‐hand information on spousal abuse from Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. Data include 23 interviews with male and female immigrants of various ages and 10 professionals who worked with this community as well as observations and documents. The findings, verified by participants, show that during cultural transition, the immigrants’ code of honor, traditional conflict‐solving institutions, and family role distribution disintegrate. This situation, exacerbated by economic distress, proved conducive to women’s abuse. Lack of cultural sensitivity displayed by social services actually encouraged women to behave abusively toward their husbands and destroy their families. Discussion focuses on communication failures in spousal‐abuse discourse between immigrants from Ethiopia and absorbing society, originating in differences in values, behavior, social representations, and insensitive culture theories.     

Social Capital and Mental Health among Brazilian Immigrants in Japan

This study investigates the effect of social capital on the psychological well-being of Brazilian immigrants in Japan. Social capital in immigrants has drawn considerable attention from sociologists and other social scientists because many advanced countries have accepted a large number of immigrants from other countries. Previous studies of immigration in the US have emphasized the important role of bonding social capital with family and co-ethnic friends in helping immigrants obtain social and emotional support from others. Conversely, other studies of immigration in European countries have suggested that bonding social capital with co-ethnic members does not necessarily lead to better outcomes. These contrasting findings demonstrate that social capital is largely embedded in the institutional settings within which immigrants deploy it. In this study, we explored how the psychological well-being of Brazilian immigrants in Japan depended on different forms of social capital. The results indicate that despite the lack of economic resources in their ethnic communities, Brazilian immigrants benefited significantly from bonding social capital with their extended families in terms of improved mental health. This study suggests that the effectiveness of bonding social capital substantially differs in terms of the objective and subjective realities of immigrants.     

Retired and Making a Fresh Start: Older Russian Immigrants Discuss their Adjustment in Israel

Social research on immigrants has usually centred on working age groups or youth, while studies on retired immigrants were typically driven by the social work, geriatric, or nursing agendas, centring on the issues of health, stress, social, and medical services. Trying to explore migration in old age from a broader sociological perspective, this qualitative study addressed different aspects of the socio‐cultural adjustment of older Russian immigrants of the 1990s in Israel. Drawing on group discussions and in‐depth interviews conducted in two major urban centres, the study covers senior immigrants' attitudes toward the host Israeli society; material privations and coping tools; intergenerational families; patterns of social organization, communication, and cultural consumption; ties with places of origin in the former Soviet Union (FSU); and the perceived sum total of losses and gains from migration. The findings indicate that older immigrants have developed multiple ways for meaningful identification with Israel and generally perceived their resettlement experience as difficult but positive. As their social networks were limited to the Russian immigrant community, most elders did not see their poor knowledge of Hebrew as a major integration obstacle. The main reported difficulties were in the areas of housing, low income, and weakening ties with younger family members.     

Cultural Change and Chinese Immigrants' Distress and Help-Seeking in Hong Kong

Abstract

The study examined, within a stress-coping paradigm, the contribution of acculturation, enculturation, and acculturative stress to distress and help-seeking among Mainland Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong. One hundred and thirty-one female immigrants were recruited from community service centers. Hierarchical regression results showed that general stress and acculturative stress were linked to distress. Social support did not play a buffering role on distress. Whereas length of residence and social support were strongly related to informal helpseeking, acculturation, along with age and social support, were related to professional help-seeking. Given the differential effects of various cultural change variables, the importance of independently assessing their influence on immigrant mental health and help-seeking is warranted.     

Issues Affecting Utilization of Hospice Services by Rural Hispanics

Abstract

As the population of Hispanics in the U.S. is growing, their utilization of hospice care remains low. In a study of 110 rural His-panics, most (88%) were not familiar with hospice, but did report willingness to accept such service in their homes. The most important possible barrier to receiving hospice care was language, along with poverty, lack of health insurance, and low levels of education. Hospice social workers can contribute greatly to an effort to increase access to hospice by offering education to the Hispanic community and promoting cultural awareness among hospice staff.     

Social Capital is Associated with Earnings among Foreign‐born Mexican Men but not Women in Los Angeles County

The mechanisms through which social capital is accumulated may influence its relationship with hourly earnings. Because Mexican men and women accumulate social capital differently, for instance, gender may be an important factor for understanding social capital’s association with Mexican migrant earnings. Unlike past research that often fails to differentiate between various social capital metrics (e.g., social network member reciprocity, participation in civic group organizations, neighbourhood trust), this article estimates two of these associations with wages while controlling for individual‐, household‐ and neighbourhood‐level characteristics. Results suggest that foreign‐born Mexican men receive a wage premium from civic participation (bridging social capital) and a wage penalty from reciprocal social network exchange (bonding social capital). We also find that unauthorized legal status (among Mexican men and all migrants) and having children (among women) were negatively associated with hourly wages. We conclude with a discussion of the relative association of human and social capital with Mexican migrant wages.     

What Influences Philanthropic Participation by Chinese Internal Immigrants: Research Based on the Perspective of Integration

Philanthropic participation is a stepping stone to integration for immigrants. However, the philanthropic participation behavior of Chinese internal immigrants, the largest immigrant group in the world, is not well understood. Data from the Special Survey on Social Integration and Mental Health of the Chinese Immigrant Population are employed to examine philanthropic participation among Chinese internal immigrants based on the perspective of integration. The study demonstrates that Chinese internal immigrants are less likely to engage in philanthropic activities than non-immigrants in China. The regression results suggest that, with the exception of social security, integration factors at the economic level are not important drivers to participate in philanthropic activities, while integration factors at the social, psychological and cultural levels, including social networks, social identity and acculturation, are positively related to philanthropic participation. In addition, social integration circumstances, including perceived inclusion and community services, are significant drivers of immigrants’ philanthropic participation. These findings improve our understanding of the philanthropic behaviors of Chinese internal immigrants and have important policy implications for government and NPO to promote immigrants’ philanthropic engagement.

     

Rethinking the Hispanic Paradox: The Mortality Experience of Mexican Immigrants in Traditional Gateways and New Destinations

Previous research suggests that favorable health outcomes among Mexican immigrants reflect high levels of social support in enclave communities with high co‐ethnic density. This study examines the mortality outcomes of Mexican immigrants in the United States in traditional gateways versus new and minor destinations. Mexican immigrants in new and minor destinations have a significant survival advantage over those in traditional gateways, reflecting less established communities in new destinations. This finding casts doubt on the protective effects of enclaves, since non‐traditional destinations have less established immigrant communities. Future research should reevaluate the relationship between community ethnic composition, social support, and immigrant health.     

Development of a Culturally Specific Career Exploration Group for Urban Chinese Immigrant Youth

A rapid increase in the number of Chinese immigrants and the specific challenges faced by low‐income Chinese immigrant youth attending urban schools warrant culturally sensitive school‐based interventions and services. However, research and services are limited for this population because of cultural biases in traditional career theories and the “model minority” myth suggesting that Asian students are excelling. The authors developed and implemented a culturally specific career exploration group for low‐income Chinese immigrant youth to address their career concerns with respect to multiple social and cultural factors and to provide social support. Implications for future program development and research are provided.     

Does the “New” Immigration Require a “New” Theory of Intergenerational Integration?1

Starting from discussions on the validity of the classical assimilation concept, a general model for the explanation of different structural outcomes of interethnic relations is developed. The core of the model builds on the assumption that different outcomes are the often unintended and situation‐logic results of (mis‐)investments in and with ethnic and non‐ethnic capital. Central initial conditions of the model are group size, social and cultural distances and the availability of social capital. The model specifies the mutual relations between these three constructs. Different variants of intergenerational integration of immigrants can thus be reconstructed as special cases of a general mechanism.     

The Native‐Immigrant Income Gap among the Self‐Employed in Sweden

During recent years we have observed that non‐western immigrants are overrepresented among the self‐employed in Sweden. A reason for this might be the difficulties faced by immigrants in the labour market. The unemployment rate among non‐western immigrants in Sweden is higher than among natives with similar human capital characteristics. While this is a well‐established result, we do not know much about how self‐employed immigrants perform economically compared to their native counterparts. The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the incomes of self‐employed immigrants and natives in Sweden. We will also discuss possible explanations for the income gap we find. We use Swedish register data for the period 1998 to 2002 and the population studied consists of individuals who have been continuously self‐employed during this period. By performing the analysis on this group of self‐employed we get a measure of the difference among the long‐term self‐employed. The outcome of interest is the average income over the period. Income regressions are estimated using both OLS and quantile regressions. We find that self‐employed immigrants receive significantly lower incomes than their native counterparts when controlling for individual characteristics, industry and start‐up year of the firm. The income gap is larger for non‐western immigrants than for western immigrants. Quantile regressions show that the native‐immigrant income gap is smaller at the top than at the bottom of the income distribution. Several possible explanations for the native‐immigrant income gap are discussed. One possible explanation is that immigrants have a lower reservation wage and accepts staying in business receiving a lower income than comparable natives. Another explanation might be that there is discrimination against self‐employed immigrants that will lead to lower incomes. There can be consumer discrimination or discrimination from banks and real estate owners.     

Education,Skills, and Wage Gaps in Canada and the United States

We analyse data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies to reveal that immigrants in Canada and the United States make over $200 less per month than native‐born workers. In the United States, immigrants disproportionately work in low‐wage occupations, leading to large mean national differences between immigrants and native workers. The wage differential disappears after accounting for education and cognitive skills, indicating policies must focus on reducing education and skill gaps in the United States. In Canada, an immigrant wage gap persists in nearly all occupational fields, suggesting that the better skilled and educated immigrants in Canada are not receiving the same wage premium as native workers. We close with implications for policy and future research.     

Immigrant socioeconomic mobility in the United States: Mechanisms of inequality and the role of ethnic capital

We review recent social science research on the socioeconomic mobility of immigrants to the United States by focusing on the educational, occupational, and income attainments among immigrant adults, the first‐generation, and the educational attainment of their children, the New Second‐Generation. Existing research has identified significant inequalities in educational attainment between second‐generation Asian and Latinx immigrant groups. Researchers have also highlighted the importance of ethnic capital for mobility, but we find that they have largely proceeded with the assumption that co‐ethnic ties are easily available as a benefit for immigrants upon resettlement. We propose that future research on immigrant socioeconomic mobility should incorporate conceptual insights from economic and cultural sociology as well as use comparative ethnographic research designs to directly observe how ethnic capital operates to challenge or reinforce patterns of socioeconomic inequality.     

Ethnic‐Controlled Economy or Segregation? Exploring Inequality in Latina/o Co‐Ethnic Jobsites1

Recent research has increasingly focused on how ethnicity operates within labor markets. Due to perceptions of intragroup homogeneity and assumptions that inequality only occurs between majority whites and people of color, most research has neglected intragroup economic inequality. This study examines how skin color, immigration/nativity status, and gender influence wage differentials in Latina/o co‐ethnic jobsites (where workers are the same ethnicity). Using data from the Los Angeles Study of Urban Inequality (LASUI), it is found that there are skin color, immigration/nativity status, and sex wage gaps among Latina/os working in co‐ethnic jobsites. Moreover, illustrating intersectionality, immigrant women and dark‐skinned immigrants suffer from wage gaps in co‐ethnic jobsites. Unexpectedly, some Latinas experience a wage advantage, in comparison with Latinos, which is associated with lighter skin. The author suggests that Latinas are subjected to multiple‐jeopardy situations in which they experience an intersection of inequalities in jobsites saturated by co‐ethnics but that lightness of skin color functions as a form of social capital. Thus, research on the benefits or costs associated with working with co‐ethnics cannot be extended to the entire ethnic group. The conclusion is that for Central Americans and Mexicans, co‐ethnic jobsites are generally forms of segregated employment with limited protection from discrimination.     

Racialized Labour Market Incorporation? African Immigrants and the Role of Education‐Occupation Mismatch in Earnings

U.S. immigration policy debates increasingly center on attracting highly‐skilled immigrants. African immigrants, in particular, exhibit high levels of over‐education. But questions remain about whether African immigrants’ skills are appropriately utilized in the U.S. labour market. This paper uses U.S. Census and American Community Survey data to determine whether Africans’ over‐education leads to a corresponding wage disadvantage. I also investigate whether search and match, imperfect transferability, or queuing theory describes African immigrants’ wage outcomes. I find that, while African and Asian immigrants have similarly high rates of college education and over‐education, Africans experience significantly larger wage disadvantages due to over‐education. African immigrants’ low wages are closer to that of U.S. and Caribbean‐born blacks indicating that queuing theory describes their wage disadvantage. These findings suggest the need for policy addressing racial disparities in the labour market rather than new immigration policy.     

Community,Ethnicity, and Class in a Changing Rural California Town*

Abstract This study investigates how community is constructed, maintained, and contested among diverse residents of a rural town in California's Central Valley. Drawing on observations, interviews, and archival material, I examine the way in which ethnicity and class play a significant role in recasting how community is organized and interpreted by Mexicans and long‐term white residents. In my field site, Mexicans have long been involved in (in)formal community‐making, yet long‐term white residents perceive a “loss of community” because social relations are no longer structured around an agrarian culture that at one time reinforced ties through volunteerism and interaction in local mainstream institutions. This article demonstrates the continual significance of place and interaction in defining community, but suggests that immigrants develop communities of need aimed at providing important social, emotional, and political support absent in mainstream society. Finally, this study also speaks of the competition for representation and respectability among rural residents developing a sense of belonging. “Community” is never simply the recognition of cultural similarity or social contiguity but a categorical identity that is premised on various forms of exclusion and constructions of otherness