Immigrant Families, Parenting, and Divorce

Special Concerns of Immigrant Families

• Familism is a value system where family needs take priority over individual needs.
• Adolescents who value familism are more likely to develop prosocial values, avoid depression and antisocial peer groups, and are less likely to use illicit drugs.
• Generational dissonance is common in immigrant families, as views between adolescents and parents may differ.

Parenting Styles and Effects

• Dianna Baumrind identified parental responsiveness and demandingness as critical parenting dimensions.
• Parental responsiveness refers to the degree to which a parent responds to a child's needs in an accepting and supportive manner.
• Parental demandingness refers to the degree to which a parent expects and insists on mature and responsible behavior from a child.

Adolescents and Divorce

• The process of divorce itself, rather than the resulting family structure, is a major factor affecting adolescents.
• Risk factors include visible conflict (especially physical violence), feelings of insecurity or self-blame, and disruption of the parent-child relationship.
• Hostile marital conflict is associated with adolescent emotional insecurity and behavioral problems.
• Factors like contact with fathers, supportive parental relationships, consistent discipline, and financial support can be protective.

Remarriage

• Adolescents in stepfamilies often face more challenges than their peers.
• Conflicts between stepparents and biological parents, and blending of children from different marriages, are common issues.
• Girls often have a more difficult time adjusting to remarriage than boys.

Economic Stress and Poverty

• Economic hardship can lead to family stress and emotional distress in families.
• Economic struggles can negatively impact parenting styles, creating issues for adolescents.
• Factors like father's or mother's depressed mood, marital conflict, poor parenting, and adolescent difficulties can stem from financial strain.

Adolescent Difficulties

• Adolescents may experience diminished sense of mastery, increased emotional distress, academic and interpersonal problems, and delinquency as a result of chronic poverty.
• Persistent poverty can make parenting less effective, leading to harshness, less parental involvement, and more conflict.
• Adolescents from various family structures, including those with lesbian or gay parents, or who are in foster care, may face unique challenges.

Peer Groups

• Peer groups are important in modern societies, particularly as a source of socialization, advice, and support for young individuals.
• Cultures vary in the speed of change.
• Postfigurative cultures (slow) are those in which elders hold knowledge essential to socialization.
• In configurative cultures(moderate), elders often engage in socialization but peers also play a critical role.
• In prefigurative cultures (very rapid), young people are often better positioned to guide adults.

Cliques and Crowds in Adolescence

• Cliques are small groups of friends with defined activities or shared attributes.
• Crowds are larger, less formally organized groups loosely defined by reputation.
• Peer groups may be categorized through factors like school and extracurricular activity involvement, and shared values, attributes, or common interest activities.

Crowds as Reference Groups

• Crowds serve as important reference groups for adolescents, who may adopt their norms, behaviors, and goals.
• Adolescents often imitate high-status individuals.
• Cultural factors including ethnicity and race may be important divisions within and between crowds.

Social Climates and Peer Relationships

• Sensitivity about sex roles can be a factor within peer groups.
• Factors like education level or achievement, socioeconomic status, cultural interests influences peer group dynamics in schools
• Involvement in school activities, like group interventions, are important parts of social interaction.

Popularity and Rejection in Peer Groups

• Sociometric popularity refers to how well-liked an individual is.
• Perceived popularity refers to an individual's social status or prestige.
• Aggressive behavior can be a factor in student popularity.
• Rejected adolescents are disliked by classmates, and this can present challenges for them.
• This unpopularity can be broken down into subgroups such as aggressive and withdrown adolescents.

Bullying, Bullying Victims, and Victimization

• Bullying is identified by its repetitive nature and power imbalance.
• The prevalence of bullying can sometimes correlate with income inequality.
• Bullied individuals exhibit various reactions, from passiveness to aggression.
• Witnessing harassment and victimization impacts individuals in their emotional well-being.

School Context: The Rise of Secondary Education in America

• The rise in secondary education in America has been driven by industrialization, urbanization and immigration.
• Comprehensive high schools house general education, college prep and vocational education.
• School size and class sizes may influence student outcomes.

Classroom Environment and Student Performance

• A supportive classroom climate is crucial, and it disproportionately impacts disadvantaged students.
• Teacher expectations can significantly influence student outcomes, and those with lower socioeconomic status are particularly impacted.
• Student engagement in school, which includes things that are authentic to a student, is correlated with increased success in school.

The College-Bound and the Noncollege-Bound

• A large number of students do not graduate from college within six years.
• College-degree recipients tend to earn more than individuals who do not attend college.

Explore the challenges and dynamics within immigrant families, focusing on familism, generational dissonance. Understand the impact of parenting styles such as parental responsiveness and demandingness on adolescent development. Examine how divorce affects adolescents, highlighting key risk factors.