1ST GEN US TEENS & FINDING CULTURAL IDENTITY

First Generation American Teenagers Developing and Finding Their Cultural Identity

Marielle O. Djamou

Instructor: Mr. Falls

Global Connections
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Table of Contents

Abstract, Introduction 3

Limitations .5

Literature Review 6

Body: Statistics .8

Body: Identity.9

Body: Expectations of Parents & the Impact of Expectations on Children .10

Body: Adolescent Depression 13

Body: Generation Gap & Parental Disconnect .14

Body: Development & Appreciation of Culture 15

Conclusion 16

Bibliography 17
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Abstract

My purpose behind this project was that being a first generation American, I went

through the difficult journey of finding myself and understanding my culture throughout my life,

and I had the desire to explore the true meaning behind this topic. I also wanted to have the

insight of other first generation American teenagers to present that regardless of ones culture, we

all have similarities and differences that are unique, and must be respected. I also felt as though

immigrant children have no voice and never have the opportunity to voice this issue, so I wanted

to speak out for it. Throughout my research and planning, I learned not only more about culture,

but the effects of culture on psychology.

Introduction

What is biculturalism? Biculturalism is defined as having or combining the cultural attitudes

and customs of two nations, peoples, or ethnic groups (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016). As the rate

of immigrant growth in the United States increases, as do the number of first-generation

American children. A first generation American can fall into two categories; a person who moved

from their country of origin to the United States at young age, or a person, born in America from

parents who are from another country. Whereas this may appear fascinating to those with an

American only aspect of culture, but living a bicultural life is not as simple as it may seem. This

situation always generates a drawback as it affects the smooth development of these first

generation Americans, especially when they reach the adolescent age where they show evidence

of struggles of finding their true-identity.

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The reason rests upon the first generation Americans parents who remain spontaneous when

they raise their children; they transmit their own tradition and values faithfully to them. At times,

the relationship between these children and their parents becomes conflictual as the children face

adaptation problems. For instance, as foreign-born Americans they get influenced by their peers

to live a lifestyle as a true American.

The children themselves, being well aware of the strictness of their parents culture of origin they

criticize and reject it to contemplate the flexible one that their peers parents will show. The

impact is enormous on the children socially and emotionally as they try to fit in.

When these children get older and wiser, they realize how beneficial their biculturalism is to

them, they seize it and learn to truly love their culture both the American one and that of their

parents country of origin. This entire paper analyzes the topic of the impact of dual culture or

biculturalism on first generation American children as they grow up, and how it affects them

when they reach adolescence, making them appreciate their culture and aiding in finding their

cultural identity.
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Limitations

My limitations while doing this project were that I was unable to truly compare the difference

between an American household and that of another culture by perhaps doing a case study or an

observational study with both perspectives of each household, as well as lacking an interview

with peers who are first generation Americans to get their insight as I had a lack of time to gather

all of my resources, and a lack of enough resources itself. Since this topic is still being

researched currently as it is partially a psychological issue, there is limited research one may do.

Nevertheless, this may give me the opportunity in furthering my research and answering the

question of how different the lifestyle of a first generation adolescent might be as opposed to

someone with a deeper rooted American background. Although these are considered limitations,

it does not have that much of an impact on my research as my point is still proven, however, it

could have given more validity of my topic and research, than I already have.
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Literature Review

Each of these sources had an important contribution in the formulation of this paper. As this

paper is grouped by sections, each source had its own role in one of the sections. The first source

used was (Bicultural, n.d), a definition from the Oxford dictionary website. This was used in the

introduction to fully explain what a bicultural person is. Meanwhile, in the body, more sources

were utilized as there were more sections. The first portion of the body involved statistics, in

which the sources used were (Zong & Batalova, 2016), and (Hernandez & Denton & Macartney,

2008). These sources aided in explaining the trends of current immigrant, and immigrant children

representation in the United States with strictly quantitative information. The next topic, identity,

had more sources that were mainly qualitative, but had some quantitative aspects. (Maucci,

2014) was used and gave the insight of multiple children of immigrants, all of which were from

different ethnic communities, explaining the difficulty in finding and defining their culture.

(Padilla, 2004) was another research paper about the same topic, of which included legitimate

research studies by old sociologists, the study of behavior with different cultures, and the true

impact of biculturalism. Later on, this source was used to further explain how bilingualism has

its own impact on culture, along with (Szentkirlyi, J & P, 2006). (Usborne & Taylor, 2010)

explains the relationship between self-esteem and self-clarity, and emphasizes on why knowing

identity is so important to others. (Toppleburg, MD & Collins, PhD, 2010) introduced bicultural

competency, and important concept for biculturalism in this essay. The second section of the

body discusses the expectations of parents and the impact of those expectations on the child.

(Harter, 1999) came from a novel called The Construction of the Self: A Developmental

Perspective, which outlined the psychological aspects of bicultural children, as opposed to their
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monocultural peers. (Toppleburg, MD & Collins, PhD, 2010) had another hand in this section,

aiding in explaining the composition of bicultural competency. The next section discussed

adolescent depression with (Differential Parenting of Children from Diverse Cultural

Backgrounds Attending Child Care, 2007), (Nuez, 2014), and (Tummala-Narra & Claudius,

2013, pg. 257 & 258), presenting what causes adolescent depression for children of immigrants,

why the parents have the mentality they do, and the depression symptoms of those children. The

following section of the body discusses the generation gap and parental disconnect between the

child and their family. (Padilla, 2004), (Abe, 2005), and (Birman, PhD & Poff, PhD, 2011) aided

in showing what may cause all aspects of the disconnection between the family and the child,

while also explaining how cultural understanding of their own culture has an impact on how

detrimental the disconnect may be. The final section of the body discusses the development of

the adolescent with (Hernandez & Denton & Macartney, 2008), (Szentkirlyi, J & P, 2006), and

(Toppleburg, MD & Collins, PhD, 2010) showing the overall benefits that bicultural children

possess, while (Maucci, 2014) the conclusion of self-identity and the assimilation of dual culture

by presenting quotes by first generation Americans. (Glick & Hanish & Yabiku & Bradley,

2012), (Parenting in America, 2015), and (Chang, 2007) were not presented in the body,

however, they served as a basis of research, later helping to formulate ideas for the body as these

sources had the same ideas as others, however not executed as well as the others.
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Body

There is no doubt that being a teenager is one of the hardest things one could ever fathom as it

involves a number of physical, psychological, and emotional changes. However, one of the major

aspects of adolescence is that one begins the search for his or her identity and his or her purpose

in this world. This situation appears increasingly difficult, especially that of foreign-born

American teenagers who still struggle to discern their true identity through biculturalism. How

does biculturalism impact the social and emotional development of first generation American

teenagers through the search of their cultural identity?

Statistics

The immigrant population in the United States is growing more now than ever before,

last reported in 2014 at 42.4 million, or 13.3 percent of the total United States population of

318.9 million. Immigrants in the United States and their children now number 81 million people,

or 26 percent of the United States population. 21 percent, or 63.2 million, reported speaking a

language other than English at home and in 2014, 17.5 million children, ages 18 and younger

lived with at least one immigrant parent. This accounts for 25 percent of 69.9 million children

under 18 in America (Zong & Batalova, 2016). Overall, children and youth living in immigrant

families are the fastest group of American children (Child Trends, 2014). Thus, this makes the

issue much more prominent and relevant.

Identity

From birth, these citizens live the biculturalism at home. It is when they reach the age to go to

grade school that everything changes. Consumed by the monoculture of their friends and peers,
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they start to believe that it is something abnormal. When they compare, they always find their

culture very strange without truly understanding its meaning; or analyzing its benefit that

determines their true identity. The usual questions are what are you? and where are you

from? those queries never fail to be asked to a first generation American. Their simple answer

of which state they are from never suffices, because, according to their peers they look so

different from them. In a New York Times article, children of immigrants were interviewed about

their identity, and the difficulties of being bicultural. Of those who were interviewed, one said

that they were stuck in an uncomfortable in-between, a place from which I am still trying to free

myself. Another explained that being a child of immigrants means constantly having to defend

your place as an American. One more stated that technically, I am an American, but that label

doesnt quite seem to fit. For much of my childhood I felt the tension between the culture I was

immersed in at school and the culture my mother kept alive within our home (Maucci, 2014).

From these perspectives, it is clear that while growing up, understanding and accepting ones

own culture is most difficult with the pressure of acceptance from peers and attempting to

identify oneself, but also the desire to find a purpose and a place as an American. The topics of

ethnic socialization, ethnic identification, and biculturalism have taken an increased importance

in ethnic psychology (Padilla, 2004, pg. 16) in 1928, a sociologist named Robert Park did a study

on children of immigrants, and described them according to the theory of the marginal man. In

1937, Everett Stonequist continued this theory of the marginal man, explaining that without

making a satisfactory adjustment to another finds himself on the margin of each, but a member of

neither (Padilla, 2004, pg. 17). According to Erikson (1998), adolescence is a time when the

crisis of identity is most paramount in the mind of the young person (Padilla, 2004, pg. 21).

However, in the case of bicultural children, the ability to adjust to a new culture mainly depends
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on the support of the caretakers. In the American school system, programs like ESL (English as a

Second Language), and other bicultural education programs have the goal of the

Americanization, which is the assimilation to the American culture while still valuing ones

own cultural diversity with both school and peers being a main source of cultural assimilation

(Padilla, 2004, pg.24). Bilingualisms impact on how well the child will assimilate dual culture

starts directly from home. As language is a part of culture, bilingualism develops a broader

cultural understanding and multicultural sensitivity, greater tolerance and social harmony. It also

aids in stimulating creativity, raising self-esteem, and developing a greater social sensitivity. As

long as the bilingual child is exposed to both cultures in a natural way, both will become a part of

their identity (Szentkirlyi, J & P, 2006). As the relationship between cultural identity clarity and

both self-esteem and well-being is consistently mediated by self-concept clarity (Usborne &

Taylor, 2010), it is therefore essential for first generation Americans to achieve bi-cultural

competence, the outcome of the dual culture process (Toppleburg, MD & Collins, PhD, 2010).

Expectations of Parents & Impact of Expectations on Children

Although the case depends on the family and their values and morals, it is typically the

immigrant families who have the tendency to be stricter in the fashion of raising their children,

because of strongly rooted traditions, religion, etc. The overall goal of the parent is not only to

instill them with the values that they were once taught, but also to make sure that the child does

not forget their origin, which may become stressful in the case of the child. A first generation

immigrant will necessarily experience challenges and stressors that will not be the case for

someone born in the country to parents, also born in the United States, whose ancestors came to

the nation several generations ago (Harter, 1999, pg. 319) This impacts their development both

socially and emotionally. Compared to white students, there were less positive developmental
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trends for the Hispanic American and Asian American adolescents. Possible explanations include

lack of academic success, as well as the failure to live up to the associated expectations of

themselves and others (Harter, 1999, pg. 325), with these expectations usually set by the parents.

Overindulgent parents insist on their child excelling to show them off in comparison to their

peers, which can lay the groundwork for potential distortions in the self (Harter, 1999, pg. 331).

Though the immigrant parents want the best for their child and hold them at a high pedestal so

that they can do better, this pressure of pleasing their family at times may put significant amounts

stress on the child whether it may be earning good grades, or heavy restrictions on what they are

able or unable to do, in comparison to monocultural Americans who may have much more

freedom. Second culture contact may result in challenging and/or overwhelming demands,

known as acculturative stress. Acculturative demands are met by the immigrants who vary

degrees of bicultural competence which results maladaptation with their mental health

implications. The dimensions of bicultural competence involve language competence, knowledge

of cultural beliefs and values, positive attitudes towards both majority and minority groups,

bicultural efficacy, role repertoire (a full supply of what one can do), and a sense of being

grounded, which involves support networks in both cultures (Toppleburg, MD & Collins, PhD,

2010). Without these, not only does this make it harder to find a silver lining with both cultures,

it also puts a strain on the relationship between the parent and the adolescent. A heavy burden is

placed on the child who must serve as a cultural and linguistic broker while in the process of

being socialized to culture (Padilla, 2004, pg. 25). As an example of different styles of parenting,

according to Sung (1985) Chinese immigrant children are discouraged about socializing outside

of their family until a later age. Along with this, Chinese parenting styles are much more

authoritative with permissiveness, coupled with a high degree of emphasis on filial piety and
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parental warmth, whereas American parenting emphasizes on joint decision making and mutual

respect between the parents and the adolescents (Padilla, 2004, pg. 26). This again, presents what

these first generation American teens compare their cultures to at times wishing that their parents

could be as lenient as their American peers. There are instances where immigrant parents tend to

pressure their children to follow their customs by warning their children to steer clear of social

relationships, especially dating members of ethnic groups. At times, according to Olsen (1997),

the pressure to conform to home culture is much harder on females than males, and it is

especially more difficult for those of traditional cultures like Muslims and Hindus who adhere to

much stricter gender roles than other immigrant groups (Padilla, 2004, pg. 30). Girls often have

no choice and are forced to conform with the consequence that they may have behavioral

competence in the culture of their parents but often feel a degree of resentment towards them

(Padilla, 2004, pg. 31). The overall strict parenting styles of immigrant parents have negative

effects especially on the adolescents. This is a time period where children decide to act out in

spite of their parents regulations. Another impact of these parenting styles and expectations may

also lead to stress, causing depression among these adolescents as they wish not to disappoint

their parents, but live their lives the way they deem correct as advised or viewed by their peers.

These issues create a barrier between the parent and the child when he or she disobeys his or her

biculturalism resulting a total disconnection between the parent and the child which may

generate the generation gap.

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Adolescent Depression

It has been proven in a study done by Chao (1995), that immigrant parents do not value the self-

esteem of their children as much as Anglo-American parents do. Among the Anglo-American

parents, 64 percent considered the self-esteem or sense of self of their children as a goal,

compared to only 8 percent of Chinese American parents, with the same results coming from

Puerto Rican parents (Differential Parenting of Children from Diverse Cultural Backgrounds

Attending Child Care, 2007). First generation American teenagers tend to believe that their

parents do not care for their emotional well-being as opposed to Anglo-American parents tend to

be which is another source of conflict between their parents and other related cases such

depression are worth mentioning. Each of every immigrant parent has his or her own reasons to

migrate to the United States. One of them typically is to guarantee a better opportunity to ones

child (Nuez, 2014), and the other, is to believe in the American dream and venture in it to

ensure the abundance of living for kids and their parents of all origins in the United States. Thus,

if the child complains about something, the immigrant parents view it differently; they ignore

their complaints that send a different message to adolescents who may believe that their parent

do not care about their well-being to better assist them. Another area where children of

immigrants accumulate causes of their distress is at school where instances of discrimination are

mostly displayed by monocultural adolescents that affects both the physical and psychological

well-being of the bicultural adolescents. Seeming subtle and overt forms of racial and ethnic

discrimination are unfortunately not isolated facts but rather recurrent experience for those

foreign-born citizens. Recent studies have found numerous cases of discrimination experienced

by them. This may be especially problematic during adolescence as this is a critical period in

which youth explore their identities and are increasingly sensitive to others perceptions of them
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(Tummala-Narra & Claudius, 2013, pg. 257 & 258). This also has an impact on the identity of

the adolescent as the attempt to disown their culture in order to be accepted by their peers.

Although peers support does not correlate to depressive symptoms but discrimination have more

of an effect on girls than boys (Tummala-Narra & Claudius, 2013, pg. 258). In a study done with

adolescents of immigrant origin, over three quarters of the ethnic minority youth had faced

discrimination where depressive symptoms arose (Tummala-Narra & Claudius, 2013, pg. 263).

This proves that adolescents of immigrant origin experience the most difficulties in development

for being different, as opposed to other Americans.

Generation Gap & Parental Disconnect

The more foreign-born citizens persist in disconnecting themselves from their culture, the

trickiest the relationship between the parent and the child becomes (Padilla, 2004, pg 26). A

study of Asian, Latino, and Filipino students by Tseng and Fuligini (2000), presents a trend that

the more the parents and adolescents both speak the native language at home, the more cohesive

they are in the family with less conflictual aspect. Even if the parents speak the native language

to their children and they respond only in English the family will still experience conflict

because the children still display a cultural disconnect (Padilla, 2004, pg. 27). In related studies it

was found that differences in language acculturation across generations in the same family result

in tension and conflict between the young and the old (Padilla, 2004, pg.32). It is for this reason

that immigrant parents are insistent on the bilingualism of their children. Although it is important

for families to hold on to their traditional values and traditions, but the new culture of the new

nation comes into play and makes its way into becoming a part of culture. The younger members

of the family are much more willing to be accepting of it whereas the older members do not due

to their strongly centered values (Abe, 2005, pg. 2). The children generally adopt the American
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culture much faster than the parents and those before them. This aspect may cause a disconnect

in the relationship with their parents who make the adolescents have little to no interest in their

culture of origin. The only possible way to solve an issue of this type is when both the parent(s)

and the adolescent(s) find a way to set a balance between both cultures in order to keep harmony

within the family (Abe, 2005, pgs. 2 & 3). Parents and children may also misunderstand one

another because of cultural differences where parents also expect a better rendering of their

culture from their citizen children.

Development & Appreciation of Culture

As the number of these challenged adolescents increases it becomes unbearable by the

first generation American. Hopefully, when these citizens become older and grow wiser they will

learn to accept and love themselves as children of diverse background and will own and cherish

the culture which shows their identity. That will lead them to a firm stage of bicultural

competence which will ensure their recovery. Biculturalism always has a positive impact on its

recipient academically. The example of adolescents of immigrants descent has shown higher

math scores than that of the monocultural citizens (Child Trends, 2014); they are best students

then ahead in school and have the opportunity to get the best job opportunities (Szentkirlyi, J

& P, 2006); they have higher IQ scores, and have a better understanding of other cultures and

their environment as a whole (Toppleburg, MD & Collins, PhD, 2010). In the interview for the

New York Times, a few individuals gave their insight on the blending of both of their cultures.

One said, You should not have to let go of your roots to be a part of American society. Another

stated that It definitely takes mental fortitude to know where you stand and what you want to

stand by. I can now stand for more than one thing (Maucci, 2014). This thoroughly provides the

answer to how biculturalism impacts the development of first generation American teenagers.
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Although difficult at the start, with family support, all aspects bicultural competence, and an

open ness of mind, one can easily comprehend the sheer privilege of being bicultural. Shouldnt

the nation promote biculturalism with its various population?

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the biculturalism of first generation American teenagers has more benefits

as the teenagers grow and finally achieve bicultural competence, as they finally understand the

meaning behind their culture and identity. This goes back to the correlation between self-esteem

and self-clarity as finally having a true sense of identity taches one to respect not only their own

culture of the culture of others. With the difficult and at times strict parenting styles of the

immigrant parents, self-hate and resentment towards ones own culture, depression, rebellion

against parents, family disconnect, the long and tiring psychological journey ends. Thus, giving

on the peace of mind to truly understand oneself, and purpose not only in America, but in life.
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