Upward or downward? The importance of organizational forms and embedded peer groups for the second generation

Abstract

Second-generation assimilation outcomes have been hotly debated amongst migration scholars. While there is a general tendency in the literature to emphasize the positive outcomes of ethnic religious organizational participation, this article explores how some youth downwardly assimilate even though they actively take part in such organizations. This project, on the greater Seattle area Vietnamese Buddhist youth organizations, explores how organizations of various forms, and the peer groups formed within these organizations, play a crucial role in mobility outcomes. Based on 53 interviews with second-generation Vietnamese Americans, this study shows how participation in organizations that are based on horizontal peer groups can result in various assimilation outcomes including the creation of oppositional youth cultures, while organizations centered on vertical intergenerational groups can induce normative values. This article suggests migration scholars refocus on studying the processes that lead to different assimilation outcomes.