Ethnicities and social adjustment in Canadian adolescents

Abstract

Canada is a complex plural society made of groups with multiple ethnic and linguistic origins. It is uncertain whether government support for multiculturalism is reflected in retention of ethnic identities in the majority of the population in the face of both acculturative social forces and publicly expressed political arguments against multiculturalism. The degree to which ethnic identity or identities are retained in young people is explored through secondary analysis of data gathered on some 2,100 Alberta adolescents, with analysis of various kinds of social adjustment that may be linked to expressed ethnic origins or ancestries. Nearly half of the adolescents retained a single ethnic allegiance, with the remainder expressing multiple ethnic identities. Many non-random patterns were found in terms of association of declared ethnic allegiance and variables such as home language; religious affiliation and observance; scholastic achievement; sexual behaviour; alcohol and drug use; family structure; and parental education family discord, and selfesteem. Three groups (South Asian, Chinese, and Spanish and Portuguese) emerged as having strong family systems, conservative social habits and high achievement aspirations. Correlation of variables across ethnic groupings indicated a coherent pattern, with students of German, Polish, and Italian ancestry forming a group; Dutch and Ukrainian-ancestry students another; French, Scots, and Irish-ancestry a further group; and Scandinavian and English-ancestry students another group. The results are promising enough for us to propose that further research on comlex ethnic identities and social behaviours in youth should be undertaken.