Differential Adjustment Among New Immigrant Family Members

Certain members of new immigrant families have access to the skills, education and collective traditions that allow their quick economic adjustment to American society. At the same time, however, such families also contain individuals who encounter major difficulties in adapting to the new country. These difficulties—the dependency of youth and the aged, intergenerational conflict, role reversals, and status loss—often result from the rapid adjustment experienced by other family members. Such problems affect not only the individuals themselves, but, strain the entire immigrant family unit.