Segmented Assimilation Theory and the Life Model: An Integrated Approach to Understanding Immigrants and Their Children

Social Work ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Piedra ◽  
D. W. Engstrom
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Assimilation Theory ◽  
Segmented Assimilation ◽  
Life Model

Segmented Assimilation: Issues, Controversies, and Recent Research on the New Second Generation

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 975-1008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
The State ◽  
Assimilation Theory ◽  
Segmented Assimilation ◽  
Host Society ◽  
Future Studies

The segmented assimilation theory offers a theoretical framework for understanding the process by which the new second generation – the children of contemporary immigrants – becomes incorporated into the system of stratification in the host society and the different outcomes of this process. This article examines the issues and controversies surrounding the development of the segmented assimilation theory and reviews the state of recent empirical research relevant to this theoretical approach. It also highlights main conclusions from recent research that bear on this theory and their implications for future studies.

Forging a Diasporic Nigerian Ethnicity in the United States and Britain

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onoso Imoagene
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Assimilation Theory ◽  
Segmented Assimilation

Chapter 4 examines why the Nigerian second generation in both the United States and Britain did not forge a reactive black ethnicity as predicted by segmented assimilation theory. It describes how blackness can be constructed to be ethnically diverse. The chapter details how the Nigerian second generation are forging a diasporic Nigerian ethnicity in the United States and Britain via two simultaneous processes required in identity formation: signaling difference from members of other groups and establishing similarity to determine the boundaries of group membership. I thoroughly discuss the cultural, moral and socioeconomic boundaries established by the Nigerian second generation to delineate ethnic parameters between themselves and their proximal host. I also explain why the second generation in Britain does not draw as sharp of a boundary between themselves and their proximal hosts compared to their U.S. counterparts.

“You Are Not Like Me!”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onoso Imoagene
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Assimilation Theory ◽  
Segmented Assimilation ◽  
Key Factor

Chapter 2 shows how the proximal host is a crucial actor influencing how the second generation of Nigerian ancestry identify. How the presence of the proximal host affects identity formation among the black second generation is generally overlooked in segmented assimilation theory and is a key factor emphasized in beyond racialization theory. The chapter details how relations with the proximal host in childhood, particularly feelings of rejection and exclusion based on perceived physical and cultural differences, laid the foundation for developing a distinct ethnicity in adulthood. I discuss the responses of the proximal hosts in the United States and Britain to the Nigerian second generation when they were young. What was viewed as discriminatory responses by members of the proximal host by the Nigerian second generation fostered a feeling of being black but different among the Nigerian second generation. The tense relations between proximal hosts and the African second generation required the young Nigerian second generation to start the process of defining what being black meant to them and defining a diasporic ethnic identity differentiating them from their proximal hosts.

Religious discrimination in young Muslim assimilation in Spain: Contributions to Portes and Rumbaut’s segmented assimilation theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 599-616
Author(s):  
Jordi Collet-Sabé
Keyword(s):  
Assimilation Theory ◽  
Segmented Assimilation ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Significant Barrier ◽  
Discrimination Hypothesis ◽  
Different Origins ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Do So

This article aims to consider the role of religion in the integration process of children born to immigrants in host societies (second generation) in Spain using the theory of segmented assimilation of Portes and Rumbaut and Portes, Aparicio and Haller. It is based on an exploratory qualitative research project conducted in a medium-sized city in Catalonia that examined the integration of young people of different origins and the role religion played in this process. To do so, we proffer a religious discrimination hypothesis: a scenario in which Islam, but not other religions, can become a significant barrier to positive assimilation. According to the results, this ‘religious stigma’ scenario occurs in the majority of the young Muslims who were interviewed and across many aspects of their lives.

The Children of Immigrants’ Academic Self-Efficacy: The Significance of Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Segmented Assimilation

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Bondy ◽  
Anthony A. Peguero ◽  
Brent E. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Children Of Immigrants ◽  
Assimilation Theory ◽  
Segmented Assimilation ◽  
Fundamental Factor ◽  
Relevant Today ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Academic Self Efficacy

Academic self-efficacy reflects an adolescent’s level of confidence or belief that she or he can successfully accomplish educational assignments and tasks, which are also argued to be a fundamental factor in educational progress and success. Little is known, however, about the academic self-efficacy that the children of immigrants have, which is particularly relevant today in the midst of the current social, political, and economic debate over the influence of immigration in U.S. public schools. Segmented assimilation theory guides this study’s understanding of the children of immigrants’ academic self-efficacy. Analyses, which draw from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and multilevel analyses, indeed reveal imperative findings. Most notably, the association between academic self-efficacy and assimilation is moderated by gender, race, and ethnicity. This article also discusses the importance of understanding the schooling of the children of immigrants in the educational system.

THE RACIAL UNCONSCIOUS OF ASSIMILATION THEORY1

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moon-Kie Jung
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin America ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Assimilation Theory ◽  
Segmented Assimilation ◽  
Oppositional Culture ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Caribbean

AbstractIn the past two decades, migration scholars have revised and revitalized assimilation theory to study the large and growing numbers of migrants from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean and their offspring in the United States. Neoclassical and segmented assimilation theories seek to make sense of the current wave of migration that differs in important ways from the last great wave at the turn of the twentieth century and to overcome the conceptual shortcomings of earlier theories of assimilation that it inspired. This article examines some of the central assumptions and arguments of the new theories. In particular, it undertakes a detailed critique of their treatment of race and finds that they variously engage in suspect comparisons to past migration from Europe; read out or misread the qualitatively different historical trajectories of European and non-European migrants; exclude native-born Blacks from the analysis; fail to conceptually account for the key changes that are purported to facilitate “assimilation”; import the dubious concept of the “underclass” to characterize poor urban Blacks and others; laud uncritically the “culture” of migrants; explicitly or implicitly advocate the “assimilation” of migrants; and discount the political potential of “oppositional culture.” Shifting the focus fromdifferencetoinequalityanddomination, the article concludes with a brief proposal for reorienting our theoretical approach, fromassimilationto thepolitics of national belonging.

Working Side by Side

Kids at Work ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 64-82
Author(s):  
Emir Estrada
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Assimilation Theory ◽  
Segmented Assimilation ◽  
Child Work ◽  
Street Vending ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
The Family ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Business Negotiations

This chapter challenges segmented assimilation theory by looking at parent–child work relations. Unlike the parents in this study, all of the children I interviewed speak English and are familiar with American culture and technology, and the majority of the children are also U.S. citizens. These are resources unique to the children and I call these American generational resources (AGRs). I argue that children in street vending families share power in the household because they contribute to their family's income, and they are involved in business negotiations and decision-making processes. These children and youth speak English and enjoy legal status while most of their parents remain undocumented and are Spanish monolinguals. Segmented assimilation theory contends that this power imbalance in favor of the children could result in dissonant acculturation. Contrary to what segmented assimilation theory would predict, parents’ authority over their children is not diminished as a result of children's faster acculturation. Rather, parents who work with their children have more control over their children because they spend more time with them. In addition, children's AGRs are valued resources by their parents and are frequently useful for the family street vending business.

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