Summary
As inconsistent as the results are, with regard to the influence of generation conflicts and family related values on the health related well-being of parents, the comparison of the standardized regression coefficients clearly shows that discrimination experiences among Greek and Italian migrants at the work place, in the surrounding of the living place, at shopping etc., have a definite stronger influence on well-being than the remaining variables in the model. By the way, for mothers and fathers the migration situation is in a different way associated with health risk. For Turkish fathers, the relation to the society of origin is central: alienation feelings are connected with increased health risk. But it is interesting that an increasing alienation of their sons from Turkey has exactly the reverse effect. This result shows at least that the redemption and alienation of the second generation from the society of origin is not seen by fathers as a worrying problem. However, it may be a hint that (ritual) ties of the male adolescents to the culture of origin can be an indication for problem behaviour. The relationships between loosening ties to the society of origin of their sons and well-being is also valid for Greek and Italian fathers. This interpretation for the Turkish migrant group is supported by comparable findings for mothers: female migrants with daughters who speak comparably well Turkish mention higher health hazards. Furthermore, those mothers are more exposed to stress who have (especially) high integration expectations for their daughters. On the other hand, integration expectations of Greek and Italian parents for the adolescents have no influence on stress burdens and Greek and Italian language abilities of the adolescents have a decreasing effect on the experienced stress of fathers. In contrast to Turkish fathers, the health related well-being of Turkish mothers seems to be additionally dependent on their incorporation opportunities. Women with above-average German language skills report less health hazards. The main result of the empirical findings is that generation conflicts are relatively unimportant for the extent of health hazards in the migration situation as compared to other factors. Additionally, from these results there emerges a picture which corrects the up to now mainstream interpretations of the living conditions of migrant families, especially of Turkish women ([Bernhard Nauck], 1993): obviously it is not the "objective" multi-burdening of these mothers on the labour market (under comparably uncomfortable working conditions) and in the family household (with comparably big household sizes) which leads to increased psychophysical burdening symptoms. Also, a lack of cognitive competences (lacking of formal education) or strong traditional orientations (religious bonds and strong normative gender role orientation) does not seem to evoke a "culture conflict" which results in health hazards or stress symptoms. Instead, the findings indicate that the fundamental preconditions for the well-being of the Turkish families is in the family situation itself, within which the spousal relationship is of highest importance. Normative expectations towards motherhood and a supporting family climate play a role just as important for total health related well-being as a syncratic-cooperative style in decision making and division of labour. In the same way, it became clear that the supportive family system also accelerates the integration process of the second generation - therefore, the family situation always gets "critical" when the high achievement and incorporation aspirations of the parents are threatened. This second result is also valid for Greek and Italian migrant families. These findings replicate earlier investigations on interaction structure and satisfaction in migrant families ([Wilpert], 1980; Nauck, 1985; Nauck, 1989b; [Zapf] and [Brachtl], 1984). The "functioning" of the migrant family, on which the well-being of migrant parents is based, is indeed not without preconditions. It depends on the conditions in the particular living contexts: opportunities for gainful employment are as important as the absence of discrimination.
The paper investigates the connection between intergenerational relationships in migrant families and well-being. The study is based on samples of Turkish, Italian, and Greek migrant families in Germany. Within these families, a total of 1408 dyads of same-sex parent-child-dyads were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire, with the respective child being aged between 14 and 17 years. Additionally, Turkish migrant families ("movers") are compared to families in Turkey ("stayers"). The health hazards are measured by a list of psychosomatic symptoms, and a list of stress and burdening experiences; in the context of this study, both measures are used as a test, whether the development of the parent-child-relationships and the spousal relationships is undergoing severe conflicts, resulting in individual health hazards of the family members. Empirical evidence is provided, that the migrant situation is neither a major source for intergenerational conflicts nor for related health hazards. Instead, migrant families show a higher cohesion than non-migrant families. A major source of decreased well-being is obviously perceived discrimination in the receiving context.See the full content of this document
Extract
Intergenerative Conflicts and Health Hazards in Migrant Families
INTRODUCTION
In the beginning of the sociology of migration - it has been pointed out - that migration is a special occasion of life - because in an all-embracing way - it changes all aspects of the migrants' lives and demands high converting capacities. It is this assumption which is underlying the thesis of the "culture shock" caused by migration. Accordingly, the beginning of the integration processes can be characterized as an "anomic situation" for the immigrants themselves as well as for the members of the receiving society (Hoffmann-Nowotny, 1970, 1973). But, different studies on the integration of migrants have shown that the conflicts of the integration process vary both concerning their intensity and duration between different integration contexts, historical periods, and nationalities of immigrants. This means that migration does not automatically result in a "culture shock" or an "anomic situation".By attempting to explain potential conflicts caused by migration, sociology hence named a number of social structural conditions which modify the integration process and the conflict potential. It is deferred on that the course of the integration process strongly depends on the action possibilities which are offered by the particular affiliation context: if the opportunities of structural integration on the labour market are limited due to intensive competition, as it may be the result of already existing immigration, the integration process will be delayed and will proceed with more conflicts than in an open receiving context (Esser, 1985). Following this argumentation, it is assumed that in contrast to the integration process of subsequent waves of immigrants the integration process of the first immigrant groups may take a peaceful course. This is especially true if different waves of immigration can be easily identified as belonging to different nationalities and if the subsequent immigrant groups show a bigger "cultural distance" to the receiving society than the earlier ones. Then, the competitive threat on the labour market is an "ethnic" conflict and no problem of social structure. The numerous findings about categorical differences in the course of integration processes according to gender and generation membership, social origin, educational attainment, and the age of migration can be interpreted as the result of differentially dispersed action motivations and options. In this sense, the higher educational attainment accounts on the one hand for the enlargement of the migrants' action alternatives when acquiring cognitive skills for the affiliation of social relationships with members of the receiving society and also for the acquisition of job related skills and thus it can have the effect of reducing conflicts. On the other hand, a higher educational level produces an increase in the aspiration level for status mobility. If adequate opportunities are missing or even mobili...See the full content of this document
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