The Colonial Immigrant & Family Acculturation: Latin American Transnational Families in a Global Economy Journal Articles uri icon

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abstract

  • The purpose of this paper is to re-conceptualize acculturation as a family process. Latin Americans who have settled in North America will be used as a case sample because they share the common thread of colonization and oppression. The application will be relevant to diverse groups from colonized spaces. It examines three theoretical frameworks: family systems, social psychology, and economic sociology. This reconceptualization contributes to the existing literature in five ways: (a) accounting for how immigrant experiences are shaped by the global economy, (b) highlighting the family context of migration, (c) conceptualizing the immigrant family as a dynamic system moving across time and borders, (d) providing opportunities for resource-focused research initiatives that account for complexities of the family during immigration processes, and (e) emphasizing ongoing violence and marginalization experienced by families throughout their migration journey due to being constructed as the racialized “other.”