Immigrant Family Processes PDF

C H A P T E R 13 IMMIGRANT FAMILY PROCESSES A Multidimensional Framework CELIA JAES FALICOV T he experience of migration is in constant flux. Today’s migration contexts differ significantly from those of the past. Moving within a globaliz...

C H A P T E R 13 IMMIGRANT FAMILY PROCESSES A Multidimensional Framework CELIA JAES FALICOV T he experience of migration is in constant flux. Today’s migration contexts differ significantly from those of the past. Moving within a globalized world impacts processes of risk and resilience in families. The changes imposed by migration on family processes deserve our careful study to inform better deliv- ery of social, medical, and educational services attuned to the special needs of immigrants. Concepts from family systems theory and family therapy, supple- mented with concepts from studies on migration, can be used to deepen our understanding of the family transformations brought about by migration. This chapter expands on my earlier writings about the dilemmas of personal, family, and social transformation faced by immigrants and their capacity to find “both/and” solutions rather than forcing “either/or” choices regarding cultural change (Falicov, 1998a, 2002). This position differs from the common deficit-oriented description of immigrants living “between two worlds” and not fitting in either one. It is also different from classical accul- turation theory, in which the immigrant gradually assimilates to mainstream culture. Rather, many families are able to live “in two worlds” by alternating their everyday practices, rituals, and cultural codes depending on the context in which they find themselves, or by finding new hybrid cultural mixes. A most dramatic contemporary example of this dual vision is the lived experience of many of today’s immigrants. In a global world, the nature of migration has changed from abrupt or gradual disengagement from family and culture to the possibility of maintaining intense family connections at long distance through the use of modern communication technologies. Many con- temporary immigrants and their children could be described as transnationals who live with “two hearts” as opposed to a “broken heart,” as it was said about the immigrants that arrived in the past (Falicov, 2005, 2007, 2008). 297 298 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING I also discuss in this chapter the emergence of immigrant resilient prac- tices that I label as spontaneous rituals, because they encapsulate in ritualized ways various family, social, and cultural restitutive attempts following migra- tion. In addition, I address situations in which migration risks test families’ capacity for blending continuity and change, and may result in clinical symp- toms. A MULTIDIMENSIONAL MODEL OF MIGRATION AND ACCULTURATION PROCESSES The MECA model (multidimensional, ecosystemic, comparative approach; Falicov, 1995, 1998, 2003) provides a framework for understanding the expe- riences of migration and acculturation, the changed ecological context, and issues related to the family life cycle and family organization. Each immi- grant family participates in multiple contexts of insertion and exclusion, and acquires shared meanings and partial perspectives imparted by dimensions of similarity and difference within its own group and within the host culture, such as ethnicity, race, language, social class, education, geography, climate, religion, nationality, occupation and political ideology. The combination of these variables comprises each individual family’s own ecological niche (Fali- cov, 1998b, 2003, in press). Families and individuals derive their meanings from their particular ecological niches and unique personal histories. The process of adaptation and acculturation is also intricately tied to each immi- grant’s ecological niche. A newly arrived immigrant who fits well with the dominant aspects of the adoptive culture in terms of language, religion, edu- cation, or race is more likely to assimilate, integrate, or develop biculturality than a new immigrant whose characteristics vary from those of the dominant culture and class. Where the family arrives and locates itself, and what the family members bring with them, such as their life cycle views and timings, as well as how the family is organized, will have implications for how immigrant family processes unfold. The dimensions encompassed by MECA, summarized in Figure 13.1, pro- vide a framework to conceptualize the processes immigrant families undergo and, at the level of clinical practice it, articulate assessments and interventions related to social justice and cultural diversity. VARIATIONS IN THE EXPERIENCE OF MIGRATION AND ACCULTURATION Many aspects of migration are contingent on a number of premigration expe- riences, such as the type of migration, or the gender or age of the immigrant, that shape, constrain, and have long-lasting influences on how postmigration adaptations unfold.  Immigrant Family Processes 299 Migration and Type of migration (e.g., undocumented) Acculturation Composition of separations (e.g., father alone) Trauma pre-, during, postmigration Losses and gains Uprooting of Meanings Transnationalism Psychological or virtual family Complex acculturation (e.g., alternation) Spontaneous rituals Social Justice Second-generation transnational exposure Adolescent–parent biculturalism Ecological Poverty Context Work/school Transformations: Continuity and Change Neighborhood Isolation Ethnic community Virtual community Church and religion Racism/anti-immigrant reception Contextual dangers (drugs, violence, gangs) Contextual protections (language, social network) Family Life Cultural ideals Cycle Meanings Timings Transitions Rituals Sociocentric childrearing practices Developmental dilemmas (autonomy/family loyalty) Cultural Diversity Suicide attempts and parent–adolescent conflicts Pile-up of transitions Absences at crucial life-cycle markers Family Separations and reunifications Organization Long-distance connections Kin care: transnational triangles Remittances Relational stresses ||Gender evolutions ||Polarizations about migration ||Boundary ambiguity FIGURE 13.1. Multidimensional, ecological, comparative framework: Continuities and changes in immigrant family processes. 300 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING Voluntary and involuntary types of migrations. Voluntary and invol- untary migrations differ significantly. Refugees forced to leave beloved home- lands for religious, political, or war-related reasons often have experienced trauma and feel intensely ambivalent about their longing to return and the necessity of departure. Such anguish may be ameliorated in those who left willingly in search of a more prosperous life. Asylum seekers live with the painful ambiguity of having escaped a terrible situation but having no assur- ance of a safe future. Their fate is uncertain, and they always await a decision as to whether they will be granted legal status to stay or be sent back to their old country, where their lives will be at risk or their freedom curtailed. Documented or undocumented status. Immigration status creates vastly different physical, social, emotional, and cultural contexts for immi- grants. Unlike the fairly predictable, albeit lengthy, situation that accrues for the immigrant who can arrive in the United States and obtain a legal visa, a green card, or a work permit and trust the process of becoming a perma- nent resident or U.S. citizen, the undocumented immigrant often risks many potential harms. These dangers range from a perilous border passage that can result in death by dehydration, robbery, or rape by the smuggler, to slav- ery or prostitution inflicted by an employer after entering the United States. Many psychological stresses also result from living “in the dark” because of fear of detention accompanied by brutality, only to culminate in deportation. Families are often split up when an undocumented parent is deported, even after many years in the United States, forced apart from a grieving spouse and children. Proximity between homeland and new land. Proximity between home- land and new land also mediates the intensity of the loss and the possibility of a gain. The ability to make frequent visits or even reside in both countries is dubbed a “two-home,” transnational lifestyle. This binational arrangement alleviates immigrants’ pain by maintaining their sense of belonging and par- ticipation, a much less feasible option for those whose homelands are far away and unreachable for political or economic reasons. Gender and generation. Migration is vastly different for women and men; infants, children, or adolescents; and young adults or older adults. Devel- opmental issues such as language acquisition, socialization, internalization of cultural codes, and a formed or unformed sense of national identity, figure into the ease or difficulty of adaptation. Family composition at migration. Whether members of the family unit migrate together as a couple, family, or extended group, or in sequen- tial stages, the family composition before and after migration (from extended three- and four-generation families to two-generation nuclear arrangements, single-parent or individual alone) has important implications for family con- nections and disconnections that affect outcomes and coping with the stresses of separation, reunification, or adaptation to the host culture.  Immigrant Family Processes 301 Host country receptions and community insertions. Negative or ambivalent receptions and shortage of adequate economic and social oppor- tunities because of race and/or class discrimination alter radically the ability to absorb the losses involved in migration. Community social supports also vary widely depending on the opportunities for reconstructing ruptured social networks and re- creating cultural spaces in ethnic neighborhoods or in work settings. Without such connections, isolation may contribute to a host of biop- sychosocial consequences. All of these factors make up specific configurations for each family’s resources and constraints, as well as the meaning of the migration experi- ence. The local knowledge and experiences described by each immigrant are always infinitely more complex, complete, and nuanced than any attempts at generalization. Nevertheless, some generalizations are important insofar as these allow clinicians and researchers to address common issues and chal- lenges. THE EXPERIENCE OF MIGRATION LOSS AND GAIN Despite their myriad differences, immigrants in the United States encounter to one degree or another the loss, grief, and mourning that are characteristic of the migration experience (Falicov, 1998a, in press; Potocky-Tripodi, 2000). These losses have been compared with the processes of grief and mourning precipitated by the death of loved ones. Yet migration loss has special charac- teristics that distinguish it from other kinds of loss (Falicov, 2002). Compared with death, for example, migration is both larger and more complex. It is larger because migration brings with it losses of all kinds. For the immigrants, gone are the family members and friends who stayed behind; gone is the com- munity, the familiar language, the customs and rituals, the food and music, and the comforting identification with the land itself. The losses of migration also touch the family back home and reach forward to shape future genera- tions born in the new land. Migration loss also is more complicated than death, because despite the grief and mourning occasioned by physical, social, and cultural uprooting, the losses are not absolutely clear, complete, and irretrievable. An exception is the case of refugees and asylum seekers who have had loved ones tortured, sexu- ally assaulted, killed, or disappeared, or when whole communities have been destroyed; some have been the victims of ethnic cleansing/genocide. They may not ever be able to return without endangering their lives, and they may not find a large supportive community of ethnic compatriots that resembles the original cultures. For refugees and asylum seekers the losses may be more total and less ambiguous than for economic immigrants. In most cases, loved ones are still alive but just not immediately reachable or present. Unlike coping 302 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING with the finality of death, after migration, it is always possible to fantasize an eventual return or forthcoming reunion. Like Janus, one face is turned to the new shore, the other toward the familiar harbor. Furthermore, immigrants seldom migrate toward a social vacuum. A relative, friend, or acquaintance usually waits on the other side to help with work, housing, and guidelines for life in the new country. A social community and ethnic neighborhood repro- duces in pockets of remembrance the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of one’s village or country (Falicov, 1998a). For most immigrants, all of these elements create a remarkable mix of emotions— sadness and elation, loss and restitu- tion, and absence and presence—that make grieving incomplete, postponed, ambiguous. The Ambiguity of Losses and Gains The concept of ambiguous loss proposed by Pauline Boss (1999, 2006; Fali- cov, 2002) describes situations in which loss is unclear, incomplete, or partial. Basing her thesis on stress theory, Boss describes two types of ambiguous loss. In one type, family members are physically absent but psychologically pres- ent such as a soldier missing in action, a disappeared relative (as in Kosovo or Argentina), a nonresidential parent in divorce, or a migrating relative seeking a better future. In the second type, family members are physically present, but psychologically absent (as with the deterioration of Alzheimer’s disease or the parent who is emotionally unavailable due to stress or depression). Migration represents what Boss (1999) calls a “crossover,” in that it has elements of both types of ambiguous loss. Although beloved people and places are left behind, they remain keenly present in the psyche of the immigrant; at the same time, homesickness and the multiple stresses of adaptation may leave some family members emotionally unavailable to support and encour- age others. The very decision to migrate has at its core two ambivalent poles. For many immigrants, frustrations with dire economic or political conditions compel the move and result in new opportunities and gains, but love of family and surroundings pull in another direction. Not all aspects of migration challenges are sad and bleak, as there are gains to be enjoyed. The experience can bring a sense of adventure and excitement, of hope and new dreams, possibly greater economic stability and prosperity over time, better education, and in some cases, increased human and civil rights. Over time there is higher parental involvement (Martinez, DeGarmo, & Eddy, 2004), better academic achievement (Kao & Tienda, 1995), and, for some ethnic groups, less tolerance for domestic violence (Harris, Firestone, & Vega, 2005) and greater safety precautions, such as wearing safety belts and helmets (Romano, Tippetts, Blackman, & Voas, 2005). Immigrant families also demonstrate increased openness to seek professional counseling (Harris et al., 2005; Miville & Constantine, 2006). Labor opportunities for women immigrants increase their wish to settle in the United States, and they appear  Immigrant Family Processes 303 to adjust faster than men, citing not only economic gains but also more per- sonal and relational freedoms than in their countries (González-López, 2005; Hirsch, 2003). Lack of Transitional Rituals It is perhaps because of its ambiguous, inconclusive, impermanent quality that migration as a life transition is devoid of clear rituals or rites of passage. The preparations that precede the actual departure may bear some similari- ties to rituals, but practices such as packing symbolic, meaningful objects (e.g., photographs or other mementos, including a small cache of native soil) are random and idiosyncratic, and do not involve family members or friends. There is no formal structure, no designated place or time, no cultural collec- tive celebration that allows people to come together to mark the transition, try to transcend it, and provide a container for the strong emotions everybody is feeling. Thus, migration is similar to other transitions that lack cultural ritu- als: A miscarriage or perinatal loss represents a future life that was cut off; a divorce leaves partners feeling that what could have been is no longer pos- sible. Even the term “adopted country,” like an adopted child not raised by its biological parents, suggests that there was a “homeland,” a map of a possible territory that could have been inhabited but is not now accessible. Uprooting of Meanings In comparison with other ambiguous losses, what is distinctive and most dra- matic about migration is the uprooting of entire systems of meanings: physi- cal, social, and cultural. Urban ecologist Peter Marris (1980) suggests that the closest human counterpart to the root structure that nourishes a plant is the systems of meaning that provide familiarity with a physical, social, and cultural reality. If we take the uprooting metaphor further, we can see that when a plant is plucked from the earth, some residue of soil always remains attached to the roots. Good gardeners know that when replanting in the new soil, they must not wash away this little bit of residue of the old soil, in order to minimize shock and ensure the success of the transplantation. Although immigrants no longer have the depth and expanse of the native soil to nourish their roots, the little bit of original native soil they bring with them is represented in the type of households they recreate, the traditions they pass on to their children, the language they speak, the foods they cook, the friendships they form, the connections they keep with their country of origin, and the family and social rituals that evolve over time. Therefore, it seems plausible that as in the case of plants, migrant families that hold onto and re- create parts of the old context, while adapting to new ecologies, are able to develop firmer family and cultural foundations in the new context. This may contribute to the healthy growth of future generations. 304 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING THE IMPACT OF RACISM AND ANTI-IMMIGRANT RECEPTION The adaptation to a life of uncertainty and ambivalent feelings depends to a large extent on the number and type of contextual stresses families face in the new country. Striving for economic stability and psychological equilibrium in the new land is riddled with pressure to assimilate the dominant culture’s negative judgment of dark-skinned, poor immigrants and to cope with oppres- sive institutional treatment and derogatory stereotypes. Racial, ethnic, and economic discrimination shape the individual stories of most immigrants, particularly those from disadvantaged classes and poor countries, who are almost always perceived as the “other,” not as us. The con- cept of “double consciousness,” which Du Bois (1903) first used to describe the social situations of African Americans, is useful to understand the situ- ation of many immigrants, because it encompasses a perception of who one really is as a person within one’s own group, as contrasted with the attribu- tions of the larger society’s story regarding that group. When immigrant children from various ethnic groups (Chinese, Haitian, Central American, Dominican, and Mexican) were asked what was most dif- ficult about immigration, discrimination and racism were recurrent themes in the research data. Researchers Suárez- Orozco and Suárez- Orozco (2000), observed that immigrant children develop a keen eye for their reception and incorporate these socially negative reflections in the image of themselves and their ethnic identity, a phenomenon these authors call “social mirroring.” Par- ents’ positive mirroring often cannot compensate for the distorted reflections children encounter in daily life, but hope is essential for positive outcomes. In fact, hope and confidence that social marginalization is a temporary rather than permanent price to pay, and a belief that the family will triumph over the odds, are elements that keep alive immigrants’ dreams of a better life for themselves and their children. DUAL VISIONS: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE Migration disrupts family stability and poses struggles to regain continuity in the midst of new challenges and opportunities. From a family systems view- point, for a family to be both flexible and stable during crucial family transi- tions the tendencies toward both change and continuity need to occur simul- taneously. To cope with life challenges these two processes must be integrated, so that a sense of continuity, identity, and stability can be maintained while new patterns of behavior, interactions, or beliefs evolve. Today the notion of continuity is not circumscribed to ritual re- creation of the old culture in the midst of cultural change experienced within the new culture. Rather, original cultures and relationships can be both maintained and transformed through a form of mutual “co-presence” of people and places  Immigrant Family Processes 305 (Baldassar, 2008). The flow of people and information between cultures, and the increasing globalization of the world allow immigrant families to find con- nectedness through new technologies of communication that help continuity and allow for change and renewal within their culture of origin and with fam- ily members left behind (Abrego, 2009; Falicov, 2007; Levitt & Waters, 2002; Vertovec, 2004; Wilding, 2006). Rethinking Linear Acculturation Models Undoubtedly, migration experiences require a complex blend of cultural conti- nuity and cultural change. For the past two decades, new acculturation theo- ries have questioned the simplistic cultural assimilation theory that postulated a gradual, steady shedding of the original language and culture in favor of the adoptive language and culture. New concepts reflect a much more complex and dynamic balance of continuity and change. Terms such as “binational- ism,” “bilingualism,” “biculturalism,” and “cultural bifocality” describe dual visions, ways of continuing familiar cultural practices while acquiring new behaviors to fit the new physical and social contexts. Unlike linear models of assimilation, new constructs of alternation, hybridization, segmented or selective acculturation, or syncretism provide frameworks for describing con- tinuous family, community, and cultural connections in this country and also the country of origin, along with discontinuous changes or adaptations to the new cultural settings. Among these newer acculturation frameworks, alternation theory pro- poses that individuals can alternate or switch language and cultural codes according to the social context at hand. Those social contexts, so variable in our multicultural society, comprise “cultural borderlands” in which people move and live, and where behavior is flexibly alternated according to the need at hand. The result is a sense of fit or partial belonging in more than one cul- tural and linguistic context. Multidimensional models of acculturation (Schwartz, Unger, Zamboanga, & Szapocznik, 2010) and integrative models that include multiple influences, opportunities, and constraints for immigrant families (Glick, 2010; Piedra & Engstrom, 2009; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001) bear similarities to MECA and to the idea of ecological niche. These new models consider specific dimen- sions of immigrants’ ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds, such as language or country of origin, that result in various degrees of similarity and difference, and complex acculturation processes between the culture of origin and the adoptive culture. Sense of Coherence and Family Resilience The theme of ambiguous loss, gain, and integration is not limited to the first stages of migration. Choices about affirming cultural meaning systems or adapting to change are made throughout a family’s initial transplantation and 306 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING for other generations to come. There are compelling psychological reasons for retention of cultural and family identities, among them the family’s attempt at preserving a sense of family coherence. A family’s sense of coherence refers to the perceived coherence of family life in coping with specific crises. The concept addresses meaning and pur- pose in life, and a larger and deeper existential confidence than is implied in concepts such as mastery or locus of control, which focus more narrowly on self-reliance and specific coping strategies. According to Walsh (2003, 2006), this sense of coherence and hope are key ingredients in family or relational resilience, those processes by which families surmount persistent stress. In the next section, I describe a number of practices that appear with regularity in the lives of immigrants, reflecting not only a spirit of pride and respect for continuity of their language and cultural background but also dem- onstrating that awareness of social location and flexibility to transform family life to the present requirements can facilitate success and adaptation. THE EMERGENCE OF SPONTANEOUS RITUALS Immigrants deal with the massive uprooting of meanings and migration loss, with attempts at physical, social, and cultural restitution through a num- ber of practices that create makeshift physical, social, and cultural bridges across the absences. These actions have a number of characteristics that bear many similarities with rituals: They are catalysts for feeling, thinking, and action; they validate ties between past, present, and future; and they contain both sides of the ambiguity— presence and absence, connection and discon- nection, gain and loss, ideal and real. Such actions tend to be repetitive and incorporate continuity in the midst of change and familiarity in the midst of strangeness. In fact, immigrants find themselves almost magnetically drawn to the following situations, when nobody really instructs them to do so. It may be tempting to speculate that these rituals have psychological and social “functions.” However, it seems preferable simply to assume that these activi- ties have psychological, cognitive, and emotional effects in the way all rituals do. Visits Home, Communications, and Money Remittances: Rituals of Connection Longing for one’s country makes visits home a priority. Visits close the gap between that which is psychologically present and physically absent. When economically possible, trips to the country of origin serve to revive, renew, and reinforce personal and cultural connections, and not allow such con- nections to stagnate or wither away. Some immigrants make it a ritual to go home for special holidays or family reunions. The actual experience is rife  Immigrant Family Processes 307 with paradoxes, sweet interpersonal nourishment, and bitterness at what has changed or is no longer accessible. The return to the country of adoption may be full of not only regret but also relief at the newfound freedom or oppor- tunity. Historically, most voluntary immigrants, and even refugees, often have managed to maintain connections through letters, messages, and packages. Ease of transportation and global telecommunications have increased the possibilities of staying in contact and have made modern-day migrations a transnational experience. Today, many immigrants from poor countries worldwide send money home as soon as they are able. These remittances contribute significantly to the economic sustenance of their families and even their countries, maintaining both their social continuity and long- distance presence. The actions of visiting, communicating, and sending money home are filled with planning and caring. These may amount to carrying out rituals of connection involving ritualized practices, such as contacting intermediaries at a specific time of the month, purchasing money orders, going to the post office, setting up joint transnational bank accounts, and getting an acknowl- edgment from the people receiving the remittance. Re-Creating Ethnic and Social Spaces: Re-Creation Rituals In most cities where immigrants live, one can find distinct ethnic neighbor- hoods. These urban landscapes reproduce in public environments the sights, smells, sounds, flavors, and tastes of the native country. Open markets and Sunday flea markets reproduce with uncanny fidelity the meeting places of the past, such as grocery stores, restaurants, the church, all using the original lan- guage. This collective cultural revival meeting may be thought as a psycholog- ical return, in a cultural representational form (Ainslie, 1998). These make- shift, “as if ” environments, where cultural memories remain alive, become rituals of re- creation that allow for routines in which people feel at home in a foreign land, which is clearly much better than not being home at all. These powerful actions help not only to reestablish links with the lost land but also to transform the receiving cultures into more familiar places. No doubt, they reflect continuity. Yet the ethnic and social spaces have elements of difference, the dominant culture being ever-present through the money, the products, the mix of languages. The vicissitudes of the disruption of lifelong networks, and the attempts at reconstructing them, attest to immigrants’ constructive attempts to make present the absent—ways of saying “hello again” in the midst of the many good-byes. Most immigrants seem to be able to reconstruct networks of co- nationals in the urban environments toward which they gravitate. Again, we can observe that these transformational phenomena synthesize both/and solu- tions, the old and the new. 308 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING Reminiscing about the Past: Memory Rituals In popular media depictions, immigrants are portrayed as telling stories about their countries, recounting the details of their migration saga, repeating old proverbs, and pining away for the special foods or customs of their country. They are also known to make either idealized or denigrating judgments about the differences between their country of origin and the country of adoption. These practices have the effect of promoting personal and cultural continuity by building connections with those in the new land, mostly the immigrant’s own children (Falicov, 2005; Levitt & Waters, 2002; Stone, Gomez, Hotzo- glu, & Lipnitsky, 2005). It is a mistake to think of this storytelling as merely a quaintly nostalgic or sentimental self-indulgence. Much of it serves to create a coherent narrative past and to make meaning out of inevitable transition into the present circumstances, as well as hopes for the future. Rather than feeling bored or tired about the parents’ reminiscing, a good number of young people become attached to their parents’ land (Levitt & Waters, 2002; Stone et al., 2005). The perpetual ambiguities of the migration story may create a powerful cognitive and emotional magnet within a family system (Troya & Rosenberg, 1999). The migration story may become the family’s dominant story—the way it makes sense of all other aspects of life, the magnet that provides meaning and narrative coherence. Experiences of failure, success, sadness, resignation, heroism, marital conflict, the wife’s newfound assertiveness, the ungrateful adult children, and the nascent freedom to be oneself all can be contained within an explanation: “This is happening to us because we came here.” The gap between physical absence and psychological presence may be particularly intense for immigrants and refugees who maintain the dream of permanent return. For them, ambiguous loss may translate into a frozen grief, as is often the case for refugees who cannot return home and for whom; unrealistic reunion fantasies block the development of new attachments and commitments. A family may remain unable to mobilize its resources, make settlement decisions, or take full advantage of existing opportunities. Preserving Culturally Patterned Rituals Processes of continuity and change in an immigrant family over the genera- tions can be studied through the transmission of family and cultural rituals. Family systems theorists and practitioners have long known about the power of rituals (Imber-Black, Roberts, & Whiting, 2003; see Imber-Black, Chapter 20, this volume) to restore continuities with a family’s heritage and reaffirm a sense of cultural identity. The preservation of traditional life-cycle rituals and celebrations (wed- dings, baptisms, funerals, etc.) may represent an immigrant family’s balance between continuity and change. Even when original cultural contents have shifted or faded, rituals continue to have the inherent power to strengthen  Immigrant Family Processes 309 families by reinforcing old bonds and reaffirming blended social identities. Interviews of immigrant families and therapist’s evaluations should include a close look at both persistent and newly evolving cultural family rituals, from routine family interactions (dinners or prayers) to celebrations of birthdays, holidays, and rites of passage, as well as the old and new meanings family members associate with them. An immigrant’s daily family rituals, such as meal preparation, home decoration, forms of daily greeting, and dress, may not only mimic the local customs of the original culture but also mix in the new elements of language and customs of the adoptive culture. Even when immigrants cannot transport the physical and social land- scapes, belief systems reflected in religious and traditional medicine rituals have transportability. Perhaps the most transportable ritual is the practice of prayer or meditation. Indigenous beliefs and rituals about health, illness, and cures also persist, along with the growing acceptance of current medical practices; for example, a family may consult an indigenous healer for a case of “fright,” while also turning to a mainstream physician to deal with the same symptoms of nervousness (Falicov, 2009). It is important for therapists to learn to work collaboratively with practitioners of other systems of healing, such as religion and traditional medicine. The emergence of spontaneous rituals of connection, re- creation of social and ethnic spaces, memory rituals, and the preservation of cultural rituals illustrate the immigrants’ attachments and losses. Embedded in these spon- taneous rituals are healthy “both/and” responses or “solutions,” which dem- onstrate that people learn to live with the ambiguity of never achieving final closure of the migration experience. Therapists’ work with immigrant families could greatly profit from an exploration of the place of rituals in their lives. It is possible that the abandonment of meaningful rituals or, alternatively, exces- sive reliance on the performance of these cultural and religious rituals at the expense of adaptations to the new culture, could contribute to problematic adaptations. FAMILY TRANSFORMATIONS Extended Families In spite of national and class variations, many immigrants come from coun- tries that favor collectivistic narratives stemming from three-generational and extended family lifestyles (Falicov, 1998a; Triandis, 1995). A primary component of the collectivistic narrative is an internalized obligation to help extended family members throughout life, regardless of how good, or not so good, those relationships might be (Falicov, 2001; Organista, 2007; Santiago- Rivera, Arredondo, & Gallardo- Cooper, 2002). At least in some large popu- lations of immigrants, family obligations and supports seem to withstand 310 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING migration and persist in some form for one, two, or more generations. New technologies of communication aid in the persistence of these relationships at long distance (Baldassar, 2008; Falicov, 2007, 2008; Wilding, 2006). Fur- thermore, the emphasis on family relationships appears to be an enduring psychosocial feature of family life and not just a marshaling of family forces in reaction to migration (Suárez Orozco & Suárez Orozco, 1995). Neverthe- less, the realities of migration frequently involve temporary or permanent separation or disconnection between the nuclear and the extended family. Transnational lives involving nuclear family members’ separations, such as those between couples and their children, or mothers and children, are pos- sible only because of the kinship care provided by extended family members. The care is reciprocal because the immigrant supports the economic survival of many family members at long distance via remittances (Abrego, 2009; Schmalzbauer, 2005). The Psychological Presence of Extended Family Today’s immigrants often construct a psychologically present family of ori- gin and, to some extent, a “virtual” family by continuing to express family connectedness through long-distance phone calls, remittances, concerns and preoccupations, and occasional visits. It is possible to speak of a psychological family or a virtual family in a global world (Falicov, 2007). Studies show that as families of Mexican descent acculturate, they become increasingly involved and competent in dealing with the norms of out- side social systems, but their basic internal family system allegiances remain unchanged (Rueschenberg & Buriel, 1989). Acculturated Latinos often live in small nuclear family households and learn how to behave in a dominant individualistic culture that values assertiveness, independence, and achieve- ment. But they do not tend to acquire mainstream internal patterns of family interaction, keeping instead the values and meanings of collectivistic families in terms of their cohesion, visiting patterns, interdependence or interpersonal reliance, and controls. They live dual lives, functioning as mainstream Ameri- cans in the affairs of the community at large but continuing their ethnically patterned lives within their own closed circle. The Physical Presence of Extended Family From a family systems viewpoint, the presence of a collectivistic group gener- ates complexity, affectional attachments, options for fulfilling instrumental or expressive functions, and alternatives for resolving problems and modeling behaviors. Because models of family life have been based predominately on the prevailing cultural form in the United States, the small nuclear family, as we attempt to understand the role of extended family members in immi- grant families, we have few guidelines about the complexities of these family arrangements before and after migration.  Immigrant Family Processes 311 Extended family members who are physically present play a significant role in shoring up the family as it struggles for continuity and copes with change. Their collectivistic sense drives a concern for one another’s lives, a pulling together to weather crises, and sociocentric values that teach children to care about others (Harwood, Miller, & Irizarry, 1995). These patterns yield support among adult siblings through pooling of money and resources, or closeness between adult children and their parents (Falicov, 2001). Family members who are able to access public resources or programs become impor- tant resources for those in their extended families who do not have access (Gilbertson, 2009). The presence of extended family members does not, however, guarantee that all is well for the immigrant family. The depiction of family closeness is sometimes taken to such extremes that images of picturesque family life dominate, while tensions and disconnections among extended family mem- bers simmer below, discounted or ignored. Migration may exacerbate preex- isting family problems. Large families generate different problems than small families. For examples, triangles involving husband, wife, and mother-in-law, or coalitions involving mother, grandmother, and child, may be more com- mon in three-generational households. Thus, closely tied, richly joined net- works may generate their own problematic triangular patterns that need to be looked at both culturally and contextually (Falicov, 1998b). Transnational triangles reflecting tensions between the mother who migrated alone, the child who was left behind, and the caretaker to whom she entrusted the child are common and often reveal themselves in full force at the time of reunification (Falicov, 2007). Gender and Generational Conflict: Impact on the Second Generation Children of immigrants do not experience migration loss with the same poi- gnancy as their parents, but they are often exposed to their parents’ emotions about their ambiguous losses, gains, risks, and hardships. Thus, children and adolescents are central participants in the family’s evolving cultural narratives and the homegrown cultural spaces that re- create a subjective, altered past in the present. Children help mix continuity with change in their language, val- ues, and identities. Thus, they co- construct with the parents and with society the family’s transformations. Immigrant parents, as they re- create familiar patterns and perpetuate customs, may help instill a sense of cohesion and connectedness that binds together even distant generations and may promote attachment with the parents’ countries of origin, a form of emotional transnationalism (Falicov, 2005; Levitt & Waters, 2002; Stone et al., 2005). When immigrant parents ensure the psychological presence (e.g., through photos, stories, or e-mail) of absent relatives, they may expand for their children the meaning of family to broader ethnic and national identifications with their country of origin (Troya & Rosenberg, 1999). 312 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING Generational Tensions: Continuity and Change Traditional depictions of immigrant parents’ relationships with their preado- lescent, adolescent, or adult children almost invariably include eruptions of conflict. This conflict is said to be based primarily on the fact that children, who learn to speak English and understand American ways much faster than their parents, become translators of the culture and the language. They often act as helpers to their parents, and the hierarchical reversal that ensues strips authority from the parent. This pattern has been observed many times, yet new studies reveal a much greater variety of outcomes (Morales & Hanson, 2005; Orellana, Dorner, & Pulido, 2003). Suárez Orozco and Suárez Orozco (1995) found much less parent–child conflict in the stories told by Mexican and Mexican American adolescents than in those of white American adolescents. These authors tie their findings to the familistic tendencies of Mexicans, whose sense of self is deeply embed- ded in social others rather than being defined “against” others, as is more typ- ical of individualistic cultures. Their recent research findings (Suárez- Orozco & Suárez- Orozco, 2008) also point to the strong positive role that family connectedness and ethnic affiliation play in the motivation for school achieve- ment in children and adolescents of various cultures, who identify with their immigrant parents’ dreams and sacrifices. These observations coincide with recent findings (Santisteban & Mena, 2009) that acculturation per se does not create conflict and loss of parental authority so long as a strong cultural family orientation is maintained in the home. Only when parents and children do not share languages at all does the acculturation gap become so large that the family may not have the resources to resolve cultural conflicts (Choi, He, & Harachi, 2008; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). Importance of Reciprocal Parent–Child Biculturalism for Adolescents Although studies have shown that Latino youth face numerous risk factors when integrating into U.S. culture, from increased alcohol and substance abuse to higher suicide and school dropout rates, a recent longitudinal study (Smokowski, David-Ferdon, & Stroupe, 2009) indicates that adolescents who actively embrace their parents’ native culture—and whose parents, in turn, become more involved in U.S. culture—stand a greater chance of avoiding those risks and developing healthy behaviors overall. The study showed that parents who construct a strong bicultural perspective have teen children who are less likely to feel anxiety, and who face fewer social problems. It appears that parents who were more involved in U.S. culture were in a better position proactively to help their adolescents with peer relations, forming friendships and staying engaged in school.  Immigrant Family Processes 313 Similarly, Portes and Rumbaut’s (2001) research with several Asian and Latino groups demonstrated important variations in generational conflict between situations of “dissonant acculturation,” which separate children and parents along language and cultural lines, and “selective acculturation,” in which both parents and children are able to retain language and culture to some extent and in some areas of life. The latter is more common when a community of the same ethnicity, sufficient size, and institutional diversity surrounds the family and helps to buffer the cultural shift. This selective style preserves parental authority and provides a strong bulwark against the delete- rious effects of racial and ethnic discrimination. A third type of acculturation found in Portes and Rumbaut’s study is “consonant acculturation,” whereby both parents and children abandon language and culture at about the same pace, a situation most often found when parents are educated professionals, who are quickly incorporated in mainstream institutional settings. It seems possible that unacculturated parents, isolated and fearful of the mainstream world, exert an authoritarian style of control as opposed to a nurturant and authoritative style, and thus unwittingly alienate or antago- nize their adolescent children. The developmental process of striving toward greater personal autonomy and testing parental limits can be difficult in the face of multiple contextual stressors and high-risk conditions brought about by migration, poverty, and neighborhood dangers such as drugs, sex and crime. Many immigrant parents exert their authority to protect their children from these contextual dangers. The cultural demand that parental hierarchies be respected may be at play, but the very real dangers for adolescents exacerbate the need for controls and authoritarian intervention. Cultural Assimilation and Violence in Adolescence The perils of rapid assimilation and rejection of parents’ cultures are dem- onstrated in recent studies. In a review, Gonzales, Knight, Morgan-López, Sáenz, and Sirolli (2002) found that higher adolescent U.S. cultural involve- ment or “assimilation” by youth in immigrant families was associated with increased delinquency and strong relationships with antisocial peers. More recently, Smokowski, David-Ferdon, et al. (2009) reported that in 9 out of 13 empirical investigations, higher adolescent cultural assimilation to U.S. cul- ture and relationships was associated with increased youth violence. Conversely, researchers have consistently found a positive relationship between culture-of- origin involvement, in the form of ethnic identity, and self- esteem for Latinos (Santisteban & Mena, 2009; Schwartz, Zamboanga, & Jarvis, 2007). In fact, Gonzales et al. (2002) found culture-of- origin involve- ment to have a moderately strong, positive relationship with self- esteem across ethnicities, genders, and age groups. The implications of these findings need to be taken into account by thera- pists through bolstering of families’ own inclinations toward selective accul- turation and biculturalism. 314 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING Gender-Based Conflicts: New Perspectives Gender also enters into the equation of migration in complex ways. In search of a better economic or political future, historically, men took the lead on the migration journey. They left wife and children behind, sent remittances, and reunited with the family later, typically in the United States. Sometimes, men acquired a second wife and children, thus having one family in each country. In the 21st century, increasingly, women from many developing countries take up the journey by themselves and leave their children with family caretakers; they send remittances and work to be reunited later. Sometimes many years pass before reunification, and much family reorganization may take place, such as having more children in the country of adoption. Both men and women experience emotional difficulties following individ- ual or solo migration. They use a variety of coping mechanisms that appears to follow their gender socialization, such as women seeking help for depres- sion or psychosomatic problems, and men becoming alcohol dependent or exhibiting violent behaviors. Gender ideologies regarding performance in parental roles continue to be highly durable in transnational contexts. Fathers who succeed as economic providers can maintain stable relationships with their children. Mothers’ relationships with their children depend on their abil- ity to demonstrate emotional intimacy from a distance (Abrego, 2009; Artico, 2003; Dreby, 2006). Over time, the presence of community networks helps to ameliorate the symptoms of isolation and disenfranchisement, especially in women (González-López, 2005). When men and women migrate together, particu- larly when both leave the children behind, sometimes polarizations take place that reflect the ambiguities about leaving and staying, with one supporting the decisions to return, while the other opposes it. When the nuclear family is together, other polarizations focus on one parent supporting language and cultural continuity in the home, while the other sponsors language and cul- tural change (Falicov, 1998a, 2010). The positions that men and women assume in these polarizations seem to depend at least in part on the historical moment and the encounter of cultures and social contexts that may create different ambiguities, gains, or losses for the two genders in the country of adoption compared to the country of origin. Immigrant men from traditional patriarchal cultures and ecological niches may feel threatened and disempowered by the more Western, egalitarian val- ues influencing their wives and children in American mainstream culture. Nevertheless, it is also important for therapists to raise critical issues relative to machismo stereotypes, as men from patriarchal cultures present a variety of conceptions and manifestations of masculinity, and respond to cultural change in their countries and in the country of adoption (Falicov, 2010). These changes are likely to be tied to the increased participation of women in the workforce. Thus, many immigrant women feel torn by the dual vision and double shift of maintaining ethnic traditional lifestyles within the home,  Immigrant Family Processes 315 while becoming modernized in their outside work settings (Gil & Vazquez, 1996). Some women manage to integrate the old and new roles by articulating their wish for greater equality in decisions about sex, intimacy, and fertility, through invoking benefits to children and family, since framing the requests in this fashion is more culturally acceptable to their men (Hirsch, 2003). Gender and Adolescence in Immigrant Families Gender also interacts with migration processes in adolescents. Gender rules differ significantly for boys and girls within the same immigrant family. Par- ents have biological rationales that designate girls as the “weaker sex” that need protection from street dangers, such as getting pregnant. The traditional imperative that a daughter must be pure and virginal to be marriageable also plays a role in exerting higher controls (Smith, 2006; Zayas, Lester, Cabassa, & Fortuna, 2005). A family in therapy for depression in their 19-year-old daughter, Con- suelo, related that both the mother and the father controlled her behavior by having her boyfriend visit her in the home and sit to watch TV without touching even the side of their arms, because in their estimation, the most minimal physical contact would stimulate the boyfriend’s temptations. In con- trast, Consuelo’s 18-year-old brother was allowed to come home late at night after drinking, going to dances, and spending time in the backseat of cars with girls. To add to the controls, this younger brother was supposed to supervise Consuelo’s activities in the street when boys were around. When Consuelo would express her frustration to her parents over the obvious “double stan- dard” she would get a few slaps in the face for her disobedience, along with intimations that she was on the brink of becoming a woman of ill repute for wanting to go out alone with her boyfriend. Her depression needed to be seen in the context of immutable parental positions that were blocking her desires for greater autonomy. “Lockdown” is an expression commonly used by second-generation ado- lescent girls, referring to their parents’ insistence that they stay home (Smith, 2006). Most likely parents exercise very high controls on girls because of their perception that the dangers and costs on the street are much greater for girls than for boys, even though boys are exposed to other dangers, such as drug abuse and gangs. Zayas et al. (2005) and Zayas (2011) have constructed a clinically useful model to understand why so many Latina teens attempt suicide, a model based on the notion that different cultural ideals create internal conflicts for the immigrant family. The suicide attempt is seen as representing a major develop- mental dilemma between the adolescent’s need for autonomy (in her identity and her sexuality) and her deep respect for the value of family unity that origi- nated in her family’s cultural socialization. Culture plays a role, too, in that family honor is linked to chastity of wife and daughter. In many traditional 316 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING cultures today (e.g., Kurdish, some Arab groups) teen girls and young women who are seen alone with a boy/man dishonor the family and are pressured to commit suicide (commonly dousing themselves with kerosene and setting on fire). In other ethnic groups, such as Asian Americans, a similar generational dynamic between need for autonomy and respect for family values takes place between adolescent boys and girls and their parents. Strong cultural conflict with parents who exert their old cultural ideals rigidly and shelter offspring against external dangers correlates with suicidal attempts in youth following a disciplinary crisis (Lau, Jernewall, Zane, & Myers, 2002). Therapists must be cognizant of these dilemmas between the old and new ways, and the force of contextual risks. However, therapists need to be mind- ful not to condone threatened harm or self-harm as either respecting or defy- ing a family’s culture. Rather, therapists need to help families move beyond either/or positions and help adolescents and parents find both/and solutions to honor traditions and build a bridge toward modern cultural norms, so as not to inflict harm on loved ones. New studies strongly suggest that families that embrace biculturalism; that is, adolescents who attempt to maintain strong ties to their parents’ cul- tures, and have parents who reach out to learn the skills of the new culture, perform better academically, face less anxiety, and adjust more easily socially (Santisteban & Mena, 2009; Smokowski, Buchanan, & Bacallao, 2009). The Transnationalization of Adolescence. Recent developments brought about by global communication technologies allow for transnational expo- sures in the lives of immigrants that create a new cultural scenario for the second generation. A comparative study of adolescence in New York and in Ticuani, Mexico (Smith, 2006) uncovers many interesting aspects of ado- lescence in transnational contexts. In New York, adolescent girls are locked down, parental controls are intense, and adolescence is experienced as a very constraining life stage. However, when the adolescent girls and boys go to Ticuani, their parents’ hometown in Puebla, Mexico, it is like going to live in a better neighborhood. In Ticuani, parents and grandparents grant a lot more freedom to girls and boys during their summer visits, because they experience a much greater sense of safety and familiarity there than in New York. Thus, second-generation adolescents have to find a way to integrate these two sets of experiences and parental directives, complicating their life-cycle predicaments between dependency and autonomy. Contextual protections also play a role, in that adolescents have more caring people around them in Ticuani than they do in New York, where their immigrant parents work more hours farther away and there is a less rich com- munity of relatives and acquaintances around to keep an eye on youth. So paradoxically, in their parents’ country, they have both more personal free- doms and more caring involvement from adults than in the United States, where they could presumably have more material resources.  Immigrant Family Processes 317 IMMIGRANT FAMILIES’ RISKS: RELATIONAL STRESSES Sometimes families’ brave and complex attempts at integrating continuity and change, and restoring a sense of narrative coherence, falter in the face of intense loss or unbearable ambiguity. Among several categories of disruptive outcomes, I discuss three types of situations to illustrate how the ambiguous losses in migration are compounded by a confusing family context, a lack of clarity as to who is in and who is out of the family system or subsystems. Boss (2006) labeled this phenomenon “boundary ambiguity.” In my clinical experi- ence, situations that heighten the risks of boundary ambiguity for immigrant families often include reluctant or unprepared migrations, separations and reunions in the nuclear family, and family life-cycle transitions. Reluctant and Unprepared Migrations In family migrations, not all family members have equal say over the decision to migrate. There may be subtle power lines and asymmetries that involve gender and generation. Among those coaxed into migration somewhat against their will are children and adolescents, wives who reluctantly follow their husbands, and older parents, who are hastily convinced by their adult children to take on the journey, often after losing a spouse (Falicov, 1998a; Falicov, in press). In such situations, migration loss is further compounded by the lack of readiness to migrate and the constant ambivalence about the decision. The reluctant immigrant may feel torn by family loyalties, inconclusive good-byes, and lingering ties and obligations to family members left behind. It is not surprising, therefore, that coaxed or reluctant individuals experience more ambivalence and difficulties of adaptation than those who actively elect to migrate. They often present with clinical symptoms of depression, anxiety, or psychosomatic problems. Separations and Reunions among Nuclear Family Members When a father or a mother migrates first, leaving family or children behind to be reunited at a later time, the family membership confusion that ensues may be mild and temporary or prolonged and intense. Even when a parent remains connected through monetary remittances and occasional contact, if lengthy time passes, the family left behind may feel abandoned, or find internal or external substitutes to supplement the functions left vacant. At the time of reunification, boundaries and relationships need to change again to allow for reentry of the absent member into the family system. Meanwhile, confusion may reign as to whether an absent mother or father is truly a part of the system and can be reincorporated again (Artico, 2003; Falicov, 2007; Hondagneu- Sotelo & Avila, 1997; Suárez- Orozco, Todorova, & Louie, 2002). Among the motivations for leaving children behind is to avoid exposing them to the dangers of illegal passage, the economic hardships, the instability 318 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN FAMILY FUNCTIONING of parental employment, and the lack of adequate caretaking in the new coun- try. Sometimes a child may be left behind with a grandparent to assuage the immigrant’s guilt about leaving, and to symbolize that migration is provi- sional and experimental rather than permanent. However, these separations and subsequent reunifications complicate the experiences of loss and recon- nection, and raise issues of inclusion and exclusion for members of the three generations, heightening the possibility of family conflict after reunification (Falicov, 1998a, 2007; Hondagneu-Sotelo & Avila, 1997). Recent data on separations in preadolescents, adolescents, and young adult children whose parents have migrated away show that not only are they deeply affected by their parents’ absences, but they also acquire con- siderable influence over time to affect their parents’ decisions to stay or to return (Dreby, 2007). Although these stresses present significant risks, many families cope successfully with separations and reunifications, and are able to maintain a healthy family life that may include multiple caretakers for the same child (Suárez- Orozco et al., 2002). For those who suffer negative effects, family therapists are developing models of intervention with behav- ior problems in adolescents who have experienced immigration-related sepa- rations (Falicov, 2007; Mitrani, Santisteban, & Muir, 2004; Santisteban & Mena, 2009). Life-Cycle Transitions Like all families, immigrant families undergo major life-cycle changes, such as birth, leaving home, illness, and death. These transitions involve stress- ful reorganizations of the family. When nonambiguous, irretrievable losses occur in the life of an immigrant family—perhaps the death of a relative back home—the uncertainty of old good-byes accentuates migration loss. The immigrant family may even experience the appearance of other ambiguous losses (e.g., a teenager leaving home or a spouse separating and divorcing) as more stressful than if they had occurred in a context that did not involve migrations (Falicov, 2002). Family transitions that involve members of the family who have stayed behind in the country of origin may be particularly stressful. Many immi- grants postpone visiting an aging parent for lack of money or time; sometimes they avoid thinking about the topic, because they may feel overwhelmed by guilt at not being able to do as much as expected for their loved ones at a dis- tance. When a death occurs, they may feel profound regret and sadness at not having made the effort to see more frequently their parent, sibling, or friend. They may worry about not being present to help other family members with the loss, and endure unbearable loneliness at not participating in communal grieving. Renewed questions about the wisdom of the decision to migrate and where one really belongs—with the family back home or the present one— further complicate the feelings of emptiness and despair.  Immigrant Family Processes 319 CONCLUSIONS Many immigrant families deal in flexible and creative ways with the losses, risks, and gains of migration. They are able to restore a sense of coherence to their lives by developing dual visions and lifestyles that preserve central themes of a cultural family life, while incorporating new ideas and skills. They are also able to make positive existential meaning out of the experience of migration, while being aware of obstacles and social injustices. The emergence of new rituals that re- create cultural and social spaces, rekindle the past, and maintain long-held spiritual beliefs and religious or health practices, actions that in the past had been regarded as deficits or rigidities, can be interpreted in a “both/and” frame as active attempts at restitution that bolster rather than constrain family adaptations. Immigrant families face a number of possible relational risks tied to the difficulties of integrating culturally different gender and generational expec- tations, an integration made much more difficult by contextual stressors of poverty, racism, and discrimination. While separations have always been at the core of migrations, transnational scenarios have changed the players and processes of the migration discourse. Consistently, studies show that bicultur- ality has significant health and mental health advantages for the first and the second generation. 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