Migration, Acculturation and Family Processes

Two articles are presented in this research bulletin. The first, entitled "Acculturation in Puerto Rican Families," assesses the degree of acculturation of 100 sets of married children of 100 Puerto Rican families living in New York City. Attitudes toward language, identity, and values are used as criteria. The specific values the study investigates are: (1) attitudes toward the family; (2) the presence or absence of a fatalistic outlook; (3) attitudinal preferences for Puerto Rican ways; (4) response to the "modernity" of American society; (5) trust of people outside the Puerto Rican group. The study concludes that the married children are much closer to mainland values and ideas than their parents are, but notes that none of the 100 chose an entirely American identity, indicating that, despite generational differences, they have still retained Puerto Rican culture as part of their identity. The second article, entitled "Kinship Networks and the Settlement Process: Dominican and Colombian Immigrants in New York City," uses recent data from a survey of Dominican and Colombian immigrants in New York City to examine the relationship between kinship networks and the migration and settlement process. The data show that chain migration characterizes these flows, inasmuch as these particular migrants are well linked into a migration system in which some relatives and friends precede them, some come with them, and still others subsequently join then in New York. Relatives present at the time of arrival provide multiple forms of assistance, particularly with accommodation and employment searches. In addition to receiving assistance during their settlement the migrants, particularly male migrants, continue to be an important link to relatives in the home country: they provide help for relatives who wish to migrate to New York and regularly send remittances to relatives in the home country. Furthermore, analysis of the data clearly demonstrates that familial aid received at the time of first arrival in the United States does have an impact on the subsequent course of events in the life-cycle of the immigrant. When the aid is more extensive, a tendency to remain within the portective confines of the immigrant community results, even when the different backgrounds among the migrants are taken into account. (RDN)