Acculturated Latino Adolescents

The Statue of Liberty is a lie. She stands tall and proud, asking for the world’s tired, poor, and “huddled masses”; and yet the Immigration Acts passed between 1875 and 2005 have told a different story. Time and time again only certain people, ironically dependent on their wealth and ethnicity have been welcome. “Undesirables”, which included anyone who was not white and some Eastern and Southern Europeans, were either rejected from immigrating or despised in society (Bromberg). This attitude of the wanted and unwanted has continued long after slavery, the World Wars, and the Red Scare. After 1965, most immigrants to the United States were non-European and non-white (Osundeko 13). Their attempts at acculturation were barred by racial discrimination,
Acculturation is vital to adapting to a new environment, but it causes difficulties for parents, children, and the relationship between them. In a large study of Latino families, acculturation was found to have both positive and negative effects. The study found that more acculturated Latino adolescents exhibited higher rates of problem behavior. The causes included higher exposure to discrimination and negative stereotypes, a greater susceptibility to peer pressure, and lessening family cohesiveness as traditional values were lost and parental authority waned. Because the adolescents adjusted more rapidly then their parents, the values they absorbed from their environment clashed with those they were taught at home, causing parent-child alienation and youth maladjustment. Those less acculturated may remain invested in traditional values of respect and familial harmony, while those more adjusted may worsen relations with the more direct communication valued in the United States. However, acculturation may not be the only cause of conflict among Latino generations. As adolescents age, they naturally demand more autonomy, and this will cause conflict, though in these cases there is the added factor of rejection of traditions. This new independence is more cultivated under more highly acculturated parents, who tend to be less involved and monitoring. Because English proficiency is viewed as the best marker of acculturation, children of less adjusted parents have the added stress of acting as translators and interpreters from a young age. In this case, parents with higher levels of English proficiency, and thus acculturation, would benefit their children by obviating this role, as well as being able to obtain more resources and facilitate