Examines questions central to understanding the migrant experience and family outcomes. Based on presentations and discussion at a national symposium on international migration and family change held at the Pennsylvania State University in 1995, the book divides its subject into 4 sections. Section 1 profiles immigrants and the immigrant experience as it pertains to families, with coverage of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of immigrants; a comparison of second-generation immigrants to other immigrant generations; an examination of the effects of migration on family dynamics; and discussion of the factors that undermine success of immigrant families. Section 2 focuses on child and adolescent development, including the psychological experience of immigration; factors that influence development of immigrant children; and conceptual models for analyzing life events and transitions. Section 3 which explores changes in family structure describes sociocultural change in Mexican, Chinese, and Vietnamese American Families; a research model for understanding the process of acculturation among Asian immigrants; and research challenges posed by such concepts as ‘bicultural’ and by generational change itself. Section 4 addresses public policy, encompassing welfare reform, legislative initiatives, and policy changes that could potentially aggravate the adjustment problems faced by immigrant families. Contents: Preface. Part I: Who Migrates, and How Does It Affect Family Outcomes? R.G. Rumbaut, Ties That Bind: Immigration and Immigrant Families in the United States. L. Jensen, Y. Chitose, Immigrant Generations. G. Jasso, Migration and the Dynamics of Family Phenomena. M.C. Waters, Immigrant Families at Risk: Factors That Undermine Chances for Success. Part II: How Does the Migration Experience Affect Child and Adolescent Development? C.G. Coll, K. Magnuson, The Psychological Experience of Immigration: A Developmental Perspective. L.M. Laosa, Research Perspectives on Constructs of Change: Intercultural Migration and Developmental Transitions. M.L. de Leon Siantz, Factors That Impact Development Outcomes of Immigrant Children. Part III: How Do Family Structure and Process Change Across Succeeding Generations? R. Buriel, T. De Ment, Immigration and Sociocultural Change in Mexican, Chinese, and Vietnamese American Families. C. Hirschman, Understanding Family Change Across Generations: Problems of Conceptualization and Research Design. N. Kibria, The Concept of “Bicultural Families” and Its Implications for Research on Immigrant and Ethnic Families. G.R. Sodowsky, E.W.M. Lai, Asian Immigrant Variables and Structural Models of Cross-Cultural Distress. Part IV: What Policies Enhance or Impede Immigrant Family Links to U.S. Institutions? M. Fix, W. Zimmermann, Immigrant Families and Public Policy: A Deepening Divide. S.M. Bianchi, Whither the 1950s? The Family and Macroeconomic Context of Immigration amd Welfare Reform in the 1990s. B.L. Lowell, Immigrant Integration and Pending Legislation: Observations on Empirical Projections. N.S. Landale, Immigration and the Family: An Overview.
