Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Children of immigrants--United States; Africans--United States; Africans; Children of immigrants; Communication in families; Intercultural communication; United States;

Abstract

This research examines intercultural communication's role in resolving and managing conflicts between African immigrants and their U.S. -born children. Marriage and close family ties are the backbone of selection in U.S. immigration law. Over 90% of immigrants in the U.S. raise families within the host culture, making immigrant families an area worthy of study. Unfortunately, families are the least studied areas of immigration. Assumptions that immigrants assimilate completely into the host culture through intermarriage and raising children/families are being debunked. Recent studies on immigrants show that their ethnic cultural values are retained for many years, and passed on to children born and raised in the U.S., over generations. Knowing this, the researcher is interested in finding out: What differences exist between African and U.S. cultures in the way children are raised? What conflicts exist between African immigrant fathers and their U.S.-born children due to differences in cultural upbringing? What role will intercultural communication play in managing these conflicts between African fathers and their U.S.-born children? Based on intercultural communication theories, the researcher examines the strength of African culture, and its effects on family communication in the host culture. This approach recognizes that culture greatly influences a person's communication patterns, and that cultural differences may lead to miscommunication and conflict. Using participant observation and interviews, these challenges will be examined from a communication perspective. Selected African immigrants and their children (8 years and older), were observed and asked questions that examined their attitude toward cultural transmission and ways in which cultural values have been maintained in the families. Using the findings, the paper discusses intercultural communication's role in managing immigrant family conflict. This takes intercultural communication one step beyond the professional realms of business and psychology. The study promotes a greater understanding of family communication in immigrant families, and hopefully contributes to a better understanding of cultural differences.

Year of Submission

2000

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Communication Studies

First Advisor

Roberta Davilla

Second Advisor

Daya Shankar

Third Advisor

Joyce Chen

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2000

Object Description

1 PDF file (104 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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