Degree Name
Master of Arts
Document Type
Thesis
Date Created
12-1-2020
Department
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sociology, Sociology Student Work
Abstract
While biculturalism is considered the preferred strategy of acculturation for most, the existing research does not address the degree to which immigrant mothers support bicultural acculturation of their children and how these mothers enact biculturalism. Although existing research demonstrates that parental involvement and social capital of immigrant parents are important for the success of their children, studies do not delineate the personal meanings and the process of maternal involvement in the acculturation of their children into American society. This research addresses these questions and describes maternal goals towards acculturation and depicts how Russian immigrant mothers facilitate acculturation of their children in the U.S. with respect to family social capital, family activities, and amount of parental involvement. The study employs a qualitative research design. Nineteen semi-structured interviews with Russian mothers in the immigrant community of Denver, CO, were conducted and analyzed. The research explores acculturation preferences of Russian mothers towards their children. It describes how Russian mothers in the Denver immigrant community access and accumulate family social capital. The study applies Berry’s acculturation theory to examine parental goals and strategies with respect to the acculturation of their children. In this context, based on the work of Coleman (1988), Clark (2006), and Strobel (2016), this research discusses the personal reasons and meanings of keeping Russian language in the context of bonding family social capital. The study looks at the bridging aspects of family capital of Russian immigrant mothers, their involvement in children’s education and what social networks and their resources use to facilitate the acculturation of their children. The research describes ethnic parental networks of Russian parents as a valuable resource in facilitating acculturation of Russian children.
Keywords
acculturation; immigrants; children; mothers; Russian; school; after-school activities; maternal goals; parental networks
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Recommended Citation
Goncharova, Anna, "Facilitating the Acculturation of Children Among Russian Immigrant Mothers" (2020). Master's Theses. 189.
https://digscholarship.unco.edu/theses/189