Chinese Adolescents' Adaptation in New York City - Uwe Gielen & Ting Lei St. Francis College
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Uwe Gielen
& Ting Lei
St. Francis College
City University of New York
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/01/16/author_zoom.jpg
Chinese Adolescents’
Adaptation in New York CityBackground Prior studies attributed academic achievement in Chinese American adolescents to: - a strong sense of family obligation - parents’ value on education - peer support - traditional attitudes (eg. respect for elders such as teachers) - Confucian work ethics (cf. Fuligni, 1997, 1999, 2002; Gielen & Lei, 2007; Suarez-Orozco, 2007; Tseng, 2004)
Purpose • To explore the psychocultural and psychosocial adaptation of male and female Chinese-origin adolescents in NYC. • To understand the familial, peer-related, cultural, and individual origins of their academic performance.
• To compare 3 groups of adolescents: those that were born in the U.S., those that came to the U.S. before age 1, those that came after age 11. • To discuss research findings in scientific articles/book chapters and in a book for the general reader.
Methodology
• Ethnographic Observations:
- Conducted in the major NYC Chinese enclaves
• Research Instruments:
1. Background Information Questionnaire: 14
questions
2. Sentence Completion Task: 30 questions based
on projective technique
3. Qualitative Interview: 41 semi-structured
questionsSample Background Questions
• How old were you when you came to the United States?
• What language(s) are spoken at your home?
• What language(s) are spoken among your friends?
• Which language do you feel the most comfortable
speaking?
• What is your father’s profession here in States?
• What was (is) your mother’s profession overseas?
• Do your parents live together? (Still married?)
• Where in New York City do you live?Sample Sentence Completion
• I feel happiest when
• I admire a person who
• In life the most important thing is ______
• Sometimes I worry that _______
• When I think of my mother ________
• My best friend is a person who _________
• Education ___________
• Making money __________
• The most important thing children should learn is that
__________
• My favorite teacher tells me that _____
• When I receive a poor grade I ______
• One good thing about Chinese culture is ________
• One not so good thing about Chinese culture is _______Sample Interview Questions
• Why did your family come to the US?
• Do you feel they made a sacrifice when they came here?
Do they ever mention making a sacrifice to you?
• What is your religious background? How important is
religion in your household?
• Describe your three best friends.
• How were you brought up? What do you think is most
important about your upbringing?
• How do your parents react to your accomplishments? Do
they often praise or reinforce you?
• Are there displays of affection in your family?
• If you have a personal problem, to whom would you go?
Why?More Interview Questions • What are your obligations to your family? • What are parents’ expectations for boys and girls? • How do you feel about dating? What do your parents tell you about dating? • Do your parents emphasize school activities? What about extracurricular activities? • How did your school experience in China differ from school here in the West? • What is the role of the teacher in both cultures? • What influences did your teachers have on you in both cultures? • Do you know what Filial Piety is? Is it evident in your life?
Population Background
Gender and Immigration Age
Group 3
Group 2
Female
Male
Group 1
0 20 40 60 80
# of people
Group 1: Born in USA
Group 2: Came to USA before 11-years-old
Group 3: Came to USA at or after 11-years-oldResidence
Before 11 After 11
Born in US
Brooklyn Queens ChinatownLanguage Preference
Most Comfortable Language is English
60
48.8
Percentage of Participants
50
40 36.6
30
20
14.5
10
0
Born in US Before 11 After 11Language Spoken at Home
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% mandarin
50% Cantonese
40% other
30%
20%
10%
0%
Born in US Before 11 After 11Fathers’ Professions
60
50
% of People
40
30
20
10
0
Born in US Before 11 After 11
% middle class overseas % middle class to working classMothers’ Professions
60
50
40
30
% of People
20
10
0
-10 Born in US Before 11 After 11
-20
-30
% middle class overseas % middle class to working classParents’ Marital Status
Divorced (3)
Divorced (2)
Married (1)
Divorced (1)
Married (2)
Married (3)The Role of Parents
http://www.bjreview.com.cn/report/images/Perception and Reality
90 83
80 76
73
70
70 65
60
Percentage of 50
40
Participants 40
30
20
10
0
Born in US Came before 11 Came after 11
Admired parents the most Influenced by parents most“Sacrifice”
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Born in US Before 11 After 11
% of people who felt parents made a sacrifice
% of people whose parents mentioned making a sacrificeTraditional Values
Percentage of people who know what filial piety is
100 97
100
86
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Born in US Before 11 After 11Great Expectations
Parents' Expectations
40
35
35
30
24 24
# of People
25 23 Career
19
20 Good life
15 Other
10 6
5 3
0 1
0
Born in US Before 11 After 11Raising the Children
% of People Who Felt They Had a Strict Upbringing
100 95
Percentage of People
90 83
80
70
60
49
50
40
Born in US Before 11 After 11Family Dynamics
% of People Whose Families Did Not Display Affection
50
45
40
35
Percentage
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Born in US Before 11 After 11Punishment for misbehavior
Misbehaving punishment
% o f p e o p le in e a c h g ro u p
100 88.37
76.66 77.41
80
60 physical punishment
non physical punishment
40
22.58 not punishment
16.67
20 6.97 6.66
4.65 0
0
Born in US came to US before Came to US after
11 11
groupsSchool and Friends
Language with Friends*
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% English
50% Cantonese
40% Mandarin
30%
20%
10%
0%
Born in US Before 11 After 11
* Excludes “others” category – 2 in “Before 11” category and 1 in “After 11” category
spoke a language other than the three listed here with their friends.Love and Friendship
100
90
80
70
60
Percent
50
40
30
20
10
0
Born in US Before 11 After 11
Have Non-Chinese Friends Yes to Interracial DatingExtracurricular Activities
% Who Engage in Extracurricular Activities
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Born in US Before 11 After 11School, Work, and Family
Part time work 56
Obligation to support
29
family now
Help or check homework 113
Obligation to do well in
106
school
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
# of participants who responded yesDisplay o affection • I was raised in a pretty traditional Chinese family. The way they see things, their point of view is different form mine. Family…the way they treat their family. Maybe they show more discipline and their parents they love you but they don’t say it. • But how do you know? I can feel it like when they talk you can actually feel. Most Chinese people are like that.(21 years old male)
Parent’s expectations • Why do your parents want you to go to school? They think if I don’t go to school I won’t find a good paying job, a secure job, that’s what they think. But my point of view I don’t see that is the necessity of going to school and end up like with no retirement. That’s the way I think. Cause recently I encountered this statistic I found mostly 95% of the people after retirement they just got nothing .So I’m afraid because I want to retire myself and my family. My mom and my dad and I’m scared that I wont be able to do that.(21 years old , male)
Support of parents • Why? Because I don’t want my parents to work after 60…I mean 60is already late for me. Maybe in a couple of years, I guess hopefully I can retire them maybe in 4 years, 5 years as soon as possible.(21 years old, male )
School • Why did your family come to the United States? I did not really know in the beginning but later on I realized that it was for us, for college. They want us to go to school, so its very obvious. I went to an American Catholic school in Taiwan, it was an international school. So we spoke English throughout. We lived there for 8 years.(22 years old, Female)
School • But your parents must be proud of your accomplishments, right? With your school? You know, one of the reasons why I decided to go to Columbia-not USC .i wanted to apply USC because I wanted to stay in California-but Columbia just sounds like a much better school, not only for networking but it also gives me a chance to see a different level.
• Did your parents prefer for you to go to USC? No , actually they did not really say it but they want me to go to Columbia. It’s pretty obvious . • Why is that? It’s just that they talk about it. Like when my mom talks on the phone with friends or relatives, you can tell. She has a reason to brag.
Future Career • In terms of your future career, your finance or your ability? What is for them is suitable? • They just find that I should find something better. Instead of going to art school they want me to go to university. Something that will either go into business, accounting or go into a professional field • What's your mayor now? • I major in religion and philosophy. This is more like a steeping stone for me. I am seriously considering graduate school, but I haven't really decided.
• What are you going to study in graduate school? • I was planning on going to law school but at this point it doesn’t really matter. I mean my parents have always wanted me to do something within business field but I never liked it. I think that if I’m in a good school it doesn’t matter what I study, like they are more lenient about that now.
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