Don't End Up in the Fields: Identity Construction among Mexican Adolescent Immigrants, their Parents, and Sociocontextual Processes

This grounded theory study of 16 Mexican immigrant adolescents and 20 of their parents examines how they construct relational identities within their families, at school, with friends, and in the larger society. Results focus on a core identity bind faced by the adolescents: immigration messages fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of marital and family therapy 2014-10, Vol.40 (4), p.484-497
Main Authors: Maciel, Jose A., Knudson-Martin, Carmen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acculturation
Adolescent
Adolescents
Choices
Educational Reform
Emigrants and Immigrants - psychology
Female
Focus Groups
Friendship
Hispanic people
Humans
Identity
Immigrants
Immigration
Interviews as Topic
Male
Mexican Americans
Mexican Americans - psychology
Mexico - ethnology
Noncitizens
Parent Participation
Parent-Child Relations - ethnology
Parents
Parents & parenting
Parents - psychology
Social Identification
Social identity
Teenagers
United States
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Summary:This grounded theory study of 16 Mexican immigrant adolescents and 20 of their parents examines how they construct relational identities within their families, at school, with friends, and in the larger society. Results focus on a core identity bind faced by the adolescents: immigration messages from parents that say, “don't be like me” and the societal message, “you're not like us.” Response to this bind was guided by two contrasting sets of identity narratives: Empowering narratives invited an intentional approach to school and life choices. Restricting narratives maintained an ambivalent approach to school and life choices. Resolution of the identity bind was a collective, ongoing process that has implications for Mexican immigrant families and the professionals who work with them.
ISSN:0194-472X
1752-0606
DOI:10.1111/jmft.12044