Since the early years of the new (post-1960s)
immigration to the United States, sociologists
have analyzed a range of topics related to the
family. These include how family networks
stimulate and facilitate immigration, the role of
family ties and networks in helping immigrants
get jobs and housing, and how families develop
strategies for survival and assist immigrants in
the process of adjustment and advancement
(Foner 1997; see also Clark et al. 2009). In
recent years, there has been a growing interest
in the nature of intergenerational relationships
in immigrant families, especially between
immigrant parents and their children, many
of whom were born and largely raised in the
United States. This is a welcome development.
Intergenerational relationships in immigrant
families help to shape the contours and tra-
jectories of individual lives and also affect
involvements outside the confines of the family
(Foner 2009c).