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Ethnic Clusters in Public Housing and Independent Living of Elderly Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union

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Abstract

The study examines the effects of ethnic clusters and independent living arrangements on adaptation of elderly immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. The multigenerational living arrangements were compared with independent living in a dispersed ethnic community and in an ethnic cluster of public housing. The residents of the ethnic clusters of public housing reported poorer health, were more reliant on government resources, and experienced greater acculturative hassles. However, public housing residents reported significantly larger Russian-speaking and American social networks, greater American acculturation, higher social support from neighbors, as well as lower cultural alienation. In contrast, the multigenerational living arrangements were related to greater social support from extended family and higher extended family satisfaction. While, the independent living in the dispersed ethnic community was associated with smaller American social networks and higher levels of cultural alienation. The results highlight how the ecologies of different living arrangements are reflected in the nature of acculturative, social, and psychological experiences of elderly immigrants.

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Notes

  1. During qualitative interviews, we’ve explored the issues of Jewish identity and behaviors as they pertain to the definition of ethnic cluster and social networks and found that elderly immigrants from the FSU did not use Jewish identity or behaviors to define their social networks or ethnic cluster boundaries. Rather, they perceived all immigrants or refugees from the FSU as ingroup members and defined ethnic clusters in terms of Russian language use. Furthermore, Jewish identity and behavioral acculturation measures were not related to the study’s constructs and outcomes and therefore were omitted from this paper.

  2. The snowball method was especially helpful in recruiting difficult to reach respondents in public housing projects, where participants mentioned other Russian-speaking residents who could not attend the data collection groups because of severe disability or being unavailable at the time of the data collection. Data from these respondents were collected individually.

  3. Because elders are lifelong Russian speakers, the Russian language subscale was omitted.

  4. We’ve explored the results with respect to American Jewish and non-Jewish network members, but failed to find significant results and therefore collapsed these two categories into American social network.

  5. All of the participants signed the informed consent and were reimbursed $5 for their participation. To protect confidentiality, the questionnaires and the qualitative inquires were anonymous.

  6. Although it may seem counterintuitive that elders living in an ethnic cluster report social networks that contain the largest number of Americans, the qualitative interviews revealed that elders knew many American elderly neighbors with whom they kept frequent contacts and attended the same informational and cultural events held at public housing projects.

  7. The intercorrelations of social support subscales indicate that neighbors support most strongly correlated with Russian-speaking friends and extended family support (See Table 3), suggesting increased social support from Russian-speaking neighbors among the public housing residents.

  8. The marketing efforts by Russian stores in New York to sell their products in other metropolitan areas; the increasing number of Russian stores in the metropolitan areas; and the efforts by social clubs and community organizations to promote cultural activities such as concerts, exhibitions, and informal gatherings among Russian-speaking immigrants might have allowed elders an easy access to Russian foods, groceries, books, periodicals, cultural events, and social activities.

  9. We have ruled out a possibility that those living in an ethnic cluster might report greater acculturative stress due to poorer health and to overlap in scales assessing health problems, distress reactions, and stressors (French et al. 1992; Johnson and Sherman 1997; Kohn et al. 1991; Kohn and Milrose 1993; Lazarus et al. 1985; Ngoc 1989; Dohrenwend et al. 1993). Even after controlling for the distress and illness, the acculturative hassles differences were still present between the ethnic cluster and the dispersed community.

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  1. Optimal Solutions Group, LLC, College Park, MD, USA

    Andrey Vinokurov

  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Edison J. Trickett

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Vinokurov, A., Trickett, E.J. Ethnic Clusters in Public Housing and Independent Living of Elderly Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. J Cross Cult Gerontol 30, 353–376 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-015-9271-z

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