Abstract
This chapter discusses selected themes in the bicultural lives of predominantly working- and lower middle-class Chinese Americans coming of age in New York City, the largest “Chinese city” outside Asia. Findings are partially based on a series of autobiographical essays by, and interviews with, first- and second-generation immigrants. Their self-conceptions and life stories reflect the influence of competing Chinese and American visions of the good life, family relationships, child-rearing strategies, the importance of filial piety (xiao shun), gender-based ideologies and body images, and the nature of education. Many of the adolescents and young adults have had to deal with immigration-related challenges such as family separation due to migration, low family incomes, encountering racial-ethnic prejudice and discrimination, and cultural differences between parents and children. The chapter also includes a brief discussion of culturally appropriate mental health services for the Chinese-American community.
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Gielen, U.P., Palumbo, J. (2021). Growing Up Between Two Cultures: Young Chinese Americans in New York City. In: Chuang, S.S., Moodley, R., Gielen, U.P., Akram-Pall, S. (eds) Asian Families in Canada and the United States. Advances in Immigrant Family Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56452-0_5
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