Abstract
Despite the pivotal role that parents play in their adolescent children's lives, intervention programs aimed at at-risk, immigrant youth have often neglected the role of the parents. Informed by an ecological perspective, the current study explored how the intersecting experiences of parents and adolescents in the Ethiopian immigrant community in Israel inform adolescent risk and resilience. A sample of 55 parents and adolescent children, who were involved in a program serving at-risk families, and eight service providers participated in five focus groups. Grounded theory analyses of transcripts provided insights into family processes in which the experience of disenfranchisement of parents (due to societal and familial processes) transacts with feelings of isolation and withdrawal of their adolescent children. We documented five issues that reinforced this core pattern: Stigma and discrimination, cultural and language differences between parents and youth, disempowerment in interactions with authorities, parental role strain, and negative influence of the neighborhood. We also documented three resilience processes that counter this pattern (community cohesion, cultural socialization and ethnic and cultural pride, and vigilant parental monitoring). Results suggest a need for family-based intervention programs that can counter reinforcing cycles of disenfranchisement and build on families' resilience resources.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 711-730 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Family Process |
Volume | 63 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 6 Jul 2023 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 The Authors. Family Process published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Family Process Institute.
Keywords
- Ethiopian
- disenfranchisement
- family-based intervention
- focus groups
- immigrant parent-adolescent relationships
- risk and resilience processes