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L108.1 Reese, L. J. (2001). Morality and Identity in Mexican Immigrant Parents' Visions of the Future. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,
Immigrants' penchant for evaluating their circumstances in the host country in terms of the life they knew in their native country has been described as a "dual frame of reference" (Suarez Orozco, 1989). Although the immigrant family may be living in crowded conditions and the parents working long hours for a minimum wage, they can nonetheless compare their circumstances to what they left in their home country and feel that they are better off in their new land. However, for first generation Mexican immigrant parents in the United States in the present study, for whom the traditional childrearing values of respect, obedience and family unity form a significant ethnic marker, the dual-frame of reference described above takes on an additional perspective. Although the home country is viewed as a land of economic hardship, it remains a treasured source of core moral values that continue to give coherence to everyday life. This study examines ways in which the twofold nature of the immigrants' frame of reference, in which the host country exemplifies both material good and moral decay, contributes to their differential adoption of U.S. customs and values as well as heightened insecurity regarding their children's futures. The adaptive struggle confronting Mexican immigrants in the U.S. is played out in moral terms: How does one raise children who surpass their parents economically but do not fall prey to the moral dangers of contemporary American society? |
