Segmented Assimilation Theory Research Articles

A Game of Catch-Up? The Offending Experience of Second-Generation Immigrants

Evidence continues to accumulate documenting a generational disparity in offending whereby second-generation immigrants (the children of immigrants) evidence a precipitous increase in offending compared with their first-generation, foreign-born peers. An understanding of this pattern is most often couched in terms reflective of segmented assimilation theory highlighting the unique assimilation experiences and challenges faced by the children of immigrants. Importantly, alternative explanations of this pattern exist, namely, those promoting a regression to the mean hypothesis—born and socialized in the U.S. mainstream, second-generation immigrants are simply native-born youth. Using data from nine waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this alternative hypothesis is evaluated. The differential influence of variables tapping into important family, school, peer, and neighborhood domains on offending trajectories are compared across second-generation immigrant and native-born subsamples. The results reveal a high degree of similarity comparing second-generation immigrants and native-born Whites. At the same time, differences are also observed when compared with native-born Black and Hispanic peers particularly among measures of more serious offending. Implications of these findings for theory and policy are discussed.

Educational and Occupational Ambitions among the Spanish ‘Second Generation’: The Case of Barcelona

Using the first wave of Longitudinal Study of the Second Generation (ILSEG in its Spanish acronym), this study examines the determinants of educational and occupational expectations among the children of immigrants in Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. With over one-in-four births in Catalonia belonging to foreign-born mothers, the multi-ethnicisation of the youngest segments of the Catalan population has become a demographic reality. We present a series of hypotheses about the key determinants of educational and occupational expectations based on the predictions of segmented assimilation theory, which we test through a series of multivariate regression analyses. By and large, our findings confirm the main propositions of this theory. A particularly interesting finding is that, although previous research suggests that mastery of the Catalan language is crucial for achieving social mobility in Barcelona, our findings show that knowledge of Spanish appears to be a stronger predictor of educational and occupational expectations than knowledge of Catalan. Implications of our findings for the socio-economic adaptation of immigrant youth, particularly in light of the enduring economic recession that Spain is undergoing, are discussed.

Mathematics Performance of Immigrant Students Across Different Racial Groups: An Indirect Examination of the Influence of Culture and Schooling

Immigrant students are commonly assumed lower performers in US schools. Their inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are often seen as obstacles to their successful school learning. However, whether and to what extent this assumption is sustainable for immigrant students' performances in mathematics is the question that has not been empirically explored. Proper answer to the question would help verify the popular assumption about the immigrant students and their learning in the mainstream US schools. Guided by the straight-line, segmented assimilation and cultural capital theories, this study examined this issue using US grades 4 and 8 datasets of Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 and 15-year-old dataset of Program for International Student Assessment 2009. It was found that there were substantial differences in the mathematics performances of students across different racial groups. Being immigrant students does not always mean they are lower performers than their mainstream peers. The immigrant students coming to the USA earlier did not always show worse mathematics performance over their immigrant peers who came to the USA later. These findings challenge the popular assumption that immigrant students' inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are obstacles to their successful school learning and call for a deeper understanding about the academic performance of immigrant students in different content areas and at various stages of immigration across different racial groups.

Confucius or Mozart? Community Cultural Wealth and Upward Mobility Among Children of Chinese Immigrants

Most studies of Chinese upward mobility focus on how immigrant community institutions sustain ethnic culture to foster educational success. In contrast, I analyze how community-based music schools develop a cultural strategy to guide immigrants to pursue enrollment in prestigious colleges by utilizing high cultural capital in classical music. Chinese immigrant families take advantage of information networks in these schools to develop a bonding form of social capital that allows not only middle-class families but also working-class families to redefine the meaning of ethnicity. This is theoretically surprising, because some theory predicts that middle class status is needed to benefit from such cultural capital. Through competence in Western classical music, Asian students signify their well roundedness, an achievement that goes beyond rote learning. Chinese families pursue this musical cultural strategy to incorporate themselves into mainstream educational institutions. Research on the strategic use of nonoppositional musical culture for educational mobility suggests the limitation of segmented assimilation theory.

Segmented Assimilation, Transnationalism, and Educational Attainment of Brazilian Migrant Children in Japan

The process of international migration has recently become increasingly complex and diverse in many countries. In attempts to understand the complicated conditions for international migration, two important branches of theory have emerged: the segmented assimilation theory and theories of transnationalism. The segmented assimilation theory has emphasized that the trajectories of assimilation depend on the characteristics of the immigrants and the social environments for receiving these immigrants (Portes et al., 2005). The impact of transnationalism on educational attainment among immigrant children must also be considered, because recent technological developments in communication and transportation have enabled migrants to move regularly across borders and maintain their ties with people in the sending community (Tsuda, 2003). However, transnational activities among immigrants have not been conducted outside the local settings of immigrant communities (Itzigsohn and Saucedo, 2002). To understand the conditions for immigrants and their offspring, two important immigration theories must therefore be considered. These theoretical arguments, although useful in understanding immigrants in different settings, have been premised mainly on the experience of immigrants in the US. For instance, the model of downward assimilation in the segmented assimilation theory rests on the unique history of race relations in the US (Boyd, 2002). Widespread poverty and a high incidence of crime have been observed in American inner-city ghettos. While some immigrants in Europe reside in more deprived areas, these places have not been as seriously deprived, in terms of their social problems, as their US counterparts (Thomson and Crul, 2007). Furthermore, the segmented assimilation theory appears to neglect the national context within which immigrant children are accepted (Portes and Rumbaut, 2001). In contrast, research on immigrant children in European countries has revealed that national variations in educational systems can explain differing patterns of integration among immigrant children (Thomson and Crul, 2007). However, little is known about the integration of immigrant children in Asian countries, several of which have recently accepted large numbers of immigrants from other countries (Tsuda, 2006). The research on the educational attainment of immigrant offspring in Japan may contribute to the further development of immigration studies because the national context for the reception of immigrants differs widely between Asian and European countries (Skrentny et al., 2007).

Smoking Prevalence among Migrants in the US Compared to the US-Born and the Population in Countries of Origin

ObjectivesSmoking among migrants is known to differ from the host population, but migrants’ smoking is rarely ever compared to the prevalence of smoking in their country of origin. The goal of this study is to compare the smoking prevalence among migrants to that of both the US-born population and the countries of origin. Further analyses assess the influence of sex, age at time of entry to the US and education level.MethodsData of 248,726 US-born and migrants from 14 countries were obtained from the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) from 2006–2007. Data on 108,653 respondents from the corresponding countries of origin were taken from the World Health Survey (WHS) from 2002–2005.ResultsThe prevalence of smoking among migrants (men: 14.2%, women: 4.1%) was lower than both the US-born group (men: 21.4%, women: 18.1%) and countries of origin (men: 39.4%, women: 11.0%). The gender gap among migrants was smaller than in the countries of origin. Age at time of entry to the US was not related to smoking prevalence for migrants. The risk of smoking for high-educated migrants was closer to their US counterparts.ConclusionsThe smoking prevalence among migrants is consistently lower than both the country of origin levels and the US level. The theory of segmented assimilation is supported by some results of this study, but not all. Other mechanisms that might influence the smoking prevalence among migrants are the ‘healthy migrant effect’ or the stage of the smoking epidemic at the time of migration.

Balancing stigma and status: racial and class identities among middle-class Haitian youth

This article examines the identity formation of middle-class Haitian youth. Segmented assimilation theory predicts that the Haitian second generation will integrate into the black American underclass or maintain strong ethnic group identities. The black middle class, however, is an unexplored pathway of cultural assimilation. This paper uses the literature on the racial and class experiences of the black American middle class as a departure point for understanding the boundary work of middle-class Haitian youth. Based on qualitative interviews and a focus group, we uncover the mechanisms of identity formation for this invisible population. Racial, ethnic and class boundaries compel Haitian youths to create strategies of either empowerment or distancing. They negotiate between their middle-class status and ethnoracial exclusion in a racially segregated neighbourhood, an ethnically homogenous church and a mixed-race school setting. This study's findings extend our theoretical understandings of middle-class immigrants and their identity work.

Changing household dynamics: Children’s American generational resources in street vending markets

This article prompts a re-visioning of segmented assimilation theory by examining the household dynamics and consequences that occur when Latino immigrant children and youth become active contributors to family street vending businesses. Based on participant observation and 20 in-depth interviews with Latino children who work with their immigrant parents as street vendors in Los Angeles, the article demonstrates how adolescent street vendors contribute to household decisions. It is argued that children in street vending families share power in the household because of: (1) their contributions to their family’s income; (2) their involvement in business negotiations and decision-making processes; and (3) their ‘American generational resources,’ which include English language skills, citizenship, and technological and popular culture knowledge, all valued by their parents and useful for the family street vending business.

I processi di integrazione delle nuove generazioni letti attraverso il capitale sociale

The article presents considerations regarding the usefulness of social capital in studying integration paths, and it examines research data on the integration of the new generations in Italy, analysing a sample of 17,225 preadolescents (aged 11 to 14), of whom 13,301 were Italians, 2,921 foreigners and 1,003 children of mixed parentage. Data has been collected by a questionnaire translated and adapted from the one used by Portes and Rumbaut in the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) of 1992 in the United States. They are used to present the Italian situation in light of segmented assimilation theory. One first result is the underachievement of Latinos. Given this finding, an effort is made to consider various factors which contribute to shaping the socio-existential circumstances of this specific group. The second main result is that children of mixed couples were those most disposed to form intercultural relations. When distinguishing between those with an Italian father and a foreign mother and those, vice versa, with an Italian mother and a foreign father, forcefully evident is the central role played by the mother in the transmission of cultural elements and in the construction of a sense of belonging and identity. Third, focusing on social capital at family level and within the peer group, it has been revealed a greater cross-cultural propensity among the new generations than among previous ones: Italian preadolescents growing up in a multi-ethnic society are more open to, and willing to accept, the challenge of cultural diversity than are their parents. More in general, the new generations contribute to creating a more inclusive social space in which membership of social circles becomes more transversal with respect to cultural and ethnic origins.

Overcoming the odds: constricted ethnicity in middle-class Romà

How are different ethnic groups dealing with upward social mobility and assimilation? This is a large question that social research has tried to address in recent decades. In the United States, this issue has been framed by the theory of segmented assimilation. In Europe, regarding the Romà, the assumption still exists that upward mobility paths are intrinsically associated with a loss of ethnic identity, due to a process of full acculturation to the mainstream. In this article, through an analysis of 48 in-depth interviews with middle-class Romà in Spain, we identify other mobility paths, such as selective acculturation, that exist in addition to full acculturation. In this sense, we observe how symbolic differences exist between those middle-class Romà who live in an ethnic enclave and have a strong network of support and those who do not. In most cases, middle-class Romà tend to live outside the enclave and experience what we have called constricted ethnicity.

Self-Employment as an Indicator of Segmented Assimilation among Six Ethnic Minority Groups

Investigations of socioeconomic assimilation among immigrant and ethnic minority groups are often limited to analyses of labor market outcomes only. This study investigates the relationship between self-employment, as one overlooked indicator of socioeconomic integration, and segmented assimilation. Using 1980, 1990, and 2000 census data this research examines how length of residence in the US and nativity affect ethnic minority group differences in: 1) self-employment trends as a percentage of all men and women; 2) changes in these percentages from 1980 to 2000; and, 3) the odds of being self-employed compared with US-born non-Hispanic Whites. Drawing from segmented assimilation theory, findings demonstrate a mainstream assimilation trajectory as measured by self-employment participation for most ethnic minority groups, although there is some evidence that Filipino men may follow a downward assimilation trajectory. The delayed assimilation hypothesis associated with the “ethnic entrepreneurship” paradigm is not supported. Findings also reveal differences in self-employment participation by gender; however, women’s segmented assimilation trajectories are not markedly different from that of men with one exception: foreign-born Filipinas demonstrate mainstream assimilation. Evidence presented in this study encourages the use of self-employment as one aspect of socioeconomic assimilation.

Generation and Earnings Patterns among Chinese, Filipino, and Korean Americans in New York

By treating the 1.5 generation as a distinctive analytic category, this paper compares the effects of generational status on earnings among men of Chinese, Filipinos, and Korean descents in the New York metropolitan area. Our analyses of the 5 percent Public Use Microdata Sample data of the 2000 U.S. census show that all other background characteristics held equal, 1.5-generation Chinese and Filipino American workers make significantly higher earnings than second-generation workers. However, Korean American workers do not exhibit this 1.5-generation advantage. These findings support a segmented assimilation theory, the view that immigrant assimilation paths are not uniform across ethnic groups or generation status. Other findings suggest that bilingual ability would increase earnings only for the Chinese group.

Improving the parental self-agency of depressed Latino immigrant mothers: Piloted intervention results

Abstract Segmented assimilation theory posits that uneven rates of intergenerational acculturation—the process by which immigrants and their children learn the language and normative lifestyles of a new culture—can be detrimental to the parent–child relationship. This paper presents results on parental self-efficacy from an intervention study—Vida Alegre [Happy/Contented Life]—for depressed immigrant mothers that includes a three-session module based on Gottman & DeClaire (2001) concept of emotional bidding. Using a mixed-methods design, this study examines whether exposure to the intervention increased parental self-efficacy. Outcome data from the Parenting Self-Agency Measure (PSAM) administered at three points in time—pre-test, post-test, and 3 months follow-up—was analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test. Constant comparative analysis was used to code 3 focus groups and 10 post-treatment interviews. Results indicate a significant increase in parental self-efficacy between pre-test and post-test. An analysis of mixed methods results further highlights the importance of tailoring interventions to help immigrant parents reinterpret their child's communications to strengthen family relationships.

Segmented assimilation in Italy? The case of Latinos

The article presents results on the educational performance and social, cultural and psychological adaptation of children of immigrants from a quantitative survey conducted during the 2005/6 school year in schools with high percentages of immigrant students in Lombardy, a region of northern Italy. The sample consisted of 17,225 preadolescents (11–14 years old) divided among 13,301 Italians, 1,003 sons and daughters of mixed parentage and 2,921 of foreign parents. Data were collected by a questionnaire translated and adapted from the one used by Portes and Rumbaut in the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) of 1992 in the United States. They are used to present the Italian situation in light of segmented assimilation theory. The main similarity between California and Florida and Lombardy is the under-achievement of Latinos. Given this finding, an effort is made to consider various factors that contribute to shaping the socio-existential circumstances of this specific group.

The social context of assimilation: Testing implications of segmented assimilation theory

Segmented assimilation theory has been a popular explanation for the diverse experiences of assimilation among new waves of immigrants and their children. While the theory has been interpreted in many different ways, we emphasize its implications for the important role of social context: both processes and consequences of assimilation should depend on the local social context in which immigrants are embedded. We derive empirically falsifiable hypotheses about the interaction effects between social context and assimilation on immigrant children’s well-being. We then test the hypotheses using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Our empirical analyses yield two main findings. First, for immigrant adolescents living in non-poverty neighborhoods, we find assimilation to be positively associated with educational achievement and psychological well-being but also positively associated with at-risk behavior. Second, there is little empirical evidence supporting our hypotheses derived from segmented assimilation theory. We interpret these results to mean that future research would be more fruitful focusing on differential processes of assimilation rather than differential consequences of assimilation.

Foreign-born Concentration and Acculturation to Volunteering among Immigrant Youth

Using children of immigrants sample from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study investigates how immigrant youth acculturating to the American social norm of volunteering and how the acculturation is modified by living in immigrant neighborhoods. Multilevel logistic regression produces distinct patterns for children living in high-SES and low-SES neighborhoods. In high-SES neighborhoods, being among foreign-born residents serves as a buffer against acculturating to the social norm for youth, and this buffer has an enduring impact when they enter into their early adulthood. Conversely, in low-SES neighborhoods, acculturating to this social norm is irrelevant to the proportion of foreign-born residents in their neighborhoods. However, the experience of growing up in such neighborhoods has the potential to enhance the acculturation to volunteering when the adolescents enter into young adulthood. The findings shed new light on segmented assimilation theory: that is, being among the foreign-born not only could prevent immigrant youth from downward assimilation, but also could restrict acculturation to positive social norms.

Etnische onderwijsongelijkheid in context: de rol van structurele gemeentekenmerken en etnische compositie

Using multi-level analysis of second-generation samples and a majority reference sample from the Belgian Census (N = 142485 in 201 municipalities), this article investigates the relations between structural municipality characteristics, ethnic density (local concentrations of the co-ethnic in-group) and second-generation school completion. Controlling for municipalities’ socio-economic composition, we find a positive association between municipality stability and quality and school completion. A pooled model moreover yields a positive effect of ethnic density on school completion. Separate analyses for each ethnic group, however, reveal differential results for the four groups under study in line with different modes of incorporation as described by segmented assimilation theory. Belgian majority residential concentration coincides with high neighbourhood stability and quality and high completion rates; whereas Moroccan concentrations overlap with low levels of stability, quality and completion. Among the Turkish and Italian second generation, neighbourhood structure moderates ethnic density effects on school completion.

Segmented assimilation and cross-national comparative research on the integration of immigrants and their children

In the study of immigrant integration – understood as the integration of immigrants and their offspring – segmented assimilation theory stands out as the most comprehensive, coherent and systematic approach in its field. It is much discussed, but also much contested. This article attempts a critical evaluation of the theory. It looks also at the question of whether the theory applies to Europe and whether it can thus be used in cross-national research.

Who intermarries in Britain? Explaining ethnic diversity in intermarriage patterns

This paper investigates trends, patterns and determinants of intermarriage (and partnership) comparing patterns among men and women and among different ethnic groups in Britain. We distinguish between endogamous (co-ethnic), majority/minority and minority/minority marriages. Hypotheses are derived from the theoretical literatures on assimilation, segmented assimilation and opportunity structures. The empirical analysis is based on the 1988-2006 General Household Surveys (N = 115,494). Consistent with assimilation theory we find that, for all ethnic minority groups, the propensity to intermarry is higher in the second generation than in the first. Consistent with ideas drawn from segmented assimilation theory, we also find that substantial differences in propensity to form majority/minority marriages persist after controls for individual characteristics such as age, educational level, generation and length of residence in Britain, with men and women of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi background having higher propensities to form endogamous partnerships. However, we also find that opportunity structures affect intermarriage propensities for all groups alike, with individuals in more diverse residential areas (as measured by the ratio of majority to minority residents in the area) having higher likelihood to form majority/minority partnerships. We conclude then that, beginning from very different starting points, all groups, both minority and the majority groups exhibit common patterns of generational change and response to opportunity structures. Even the groups that are believed to have the strongest community structures and the strongest norms supporting endogamy appear to be experiencing increasing exogamy in the second generation and in more diverse residential settings. This suggests that a weak rather than a strong version of segmented assimilation provides the best account of British patterns.

Intergenerational Assimilation by Intermarriage: Hispanic and Asian Immigrants

Using multigenerational data, intermarriage rates were examined among non-White, non-European immigrants to test two competing assimilation theories: classic assimilation theory and segmented assimilation theory. Later generations of Asian and Hispanic immigrants were more likely to outmarry than their first-generation relatives, an outcome predicted by both theories. High achieving Asians were not more likely to engage in outmarriage, whereas educational achievement was positively correlated with outmarriage rates among Hispanics. Classic assimilation theory predicts outmarriage only after structural assimilation is achieved; therefore, this study provided more evidence to support segmented assimilation theory. However, low socioeconomic status Hispanics and Asians were not more likely to outmarry non-Whites, as segmented assimilation theory would suggest.