Socialization
------ American Born Chinese Children under Chinese Culture
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, socialization is “the process of learning interpersonal and interactional skills that are in conformity with the values of one's society” (American Heritage). It is a process of learning culture. During socialization, children will acquire attitudes, norms, values, behaviors, personalities, etc. within agencies of socialization, which were described as “Agencies of socialization are structured groups or contexts within which significant processes of socialization occur.” according to the sociology terminology (Gidden 1). Socialization always begins very early in life. It starts from childhood and continues throughout the whole life. During this process, they will be influenced through family and educational institutions (Shu 1). What happen to the American born Chinese socialization within the Chinese culture?
American born Chinese can be defined as the Chinese people who are born in American after their parents immigrated from the USA. More and more people immigrated to America, especially the Asian population. According to Shu-Ling Berggreen: “The Asian American population in the US ‘increased by 140 percent from 1970 to 1980 and then by 108 percent from 1980 and 1990 (to a total of approximately 7,273,662), making it the fastest growing segment of the US population.” (Berggreen1).
What happens to the American society? American society is like an ethnic melting pot, where all kinds of cultures are mixed together to form the multicultural diversity of America. It is an ”Ethno-cultural salad,” in which all other cultures lose their cultural identification and form a new American culture, At the same time, each culture still preserves its unique taste (Strussner3-4). Chinese immigrant families still keep their culture heritage through they live in America. In many big cities or the increasing number of suburbs, there are a lot of Chinese communities, which are called “China Town.” It serves as a cultural “home-base.” a sense of community or Chinese culture heritage. There, you can eat the yummy Chinese foods and enjoy unique Chinese culture or festivals.
Chinese children in this situation will be socialized and form a set of values, norms, behaviors and attitudes toward life. How does each “agencies of socialization” (such as family an...
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...iety, the ABC will suffer the culture identity and culture assimilation. Christina, a teen ABC, also express how she feel at school in the youth radio: “I hate being seen as ‘fake’ Chinese because I’m ABC. What’s even more confusing is dealing with homework and people at school on top of figuring out your cultural identity. If I was just ‘American,’ I wouldn’t have to think about if I’m Asian or Asian American or Chinese or Chinese American. I could just be a regular teenager.” (Kwong1). ABC is like banana, yellow on the outside and white on the inside. They tended to come upon a sense of ethnic identity sometime in their lives; it is called "Identity Crisis.” On the other hand, the teen ABC tries to assimilate into the American culture at school. They speak English instead of Chinese, even if they were sent to Chinese language school to learn Chinese. They feel that it is easier for them to speak English rather than go to Chinese school (Kwong 1).
In a word, both family and school play a crucial role in American born Chinese’s socialization process. Both of them influence ABC’s behaviors, norms and personalities.
The first Chinese immigrants to arrive in America came in the early 1800s. Chinese sailors visited New York City in the 1830s (“The Chinese Experience”); others came as servants to Europeans (“Chinese Americans”). However, these immigrants were few in number, and usually didn’t even st...
...at the Chinese were living outside of the work camps and Chinatown, "a small but ever-increasing number of Chinese came to view the United States as a country in which they could live, marry, and raise children. Living in America began to be accepted as a substitute for the traditional aim of returning to China."(Barth 212) If the Chinese never immigrated to the United States, we would not have what we have now.
The study conducted by Li, Costanzo and Putallaz examined the relationship between parenting styles, socialization goals and social-emotional adjustment amid Chinese and European American young adults. The article states that European American parents emphasize self-development goals in their children more so than Chinese parents as Western culture is more individualistic than collectivistic (Li, Costanzo & Putall...
Chinese parenting is competent at times but there are other times where it is more suitable to follow other forms of parenting such as the Western style.These findings have important consequences for the broader domain of parent-child relationships. Whether it is Chinese parenting or Western parenting the relationship between family members is crucial. According to Amy Chua, Chinese parenting is more effective in helping the child attain a better future through the parents’ interests, while Western parenting style reflects mainly the interests of the child.
Similarly, Wong also grew up in America with a traditional Chinese mother. In contrast, Wong’s upbringing involves her mother forcing her into attending two different schools. After her American school day, Wong continues on with Chinese school to learn both cultures. Her mother felt it was her duty to “[. . .] learn the language of [her] heritage” (Wong 144). This puts a burden on Wong as she starts to despise the Chinese culture.
While modern Chinese immigrants come to the United States seeking jobs as did their predecessors, new motivations have drawn families to the country. In the mid-1800s large numbers of Chinese people began to arrive in America. These immigrants were driven from their homeland by the opium wars, British colonization, peasant rebellion, floods, and ...
Fung, H. (1999). Becoming a moral child: The socialization of shame among young Chinese children. Ethos, 27(2), 180-209.
Amy Chua (2011) names off three reasons that support her argument in why Chinese children are more successful. First, she mentions that Westerners worry too much on how their child will accept failure, whereas Chinese parents assume only strength in their child and nothing less. For example, if a Western child comes home with a B on a test, some parents will praise the child on their success and some may be upset, while a Chinese parent would convince their child they are “worthless” and “a disgrace.” The Western parents hope to spare their children’s feelings and to be careful not to make their child feel insecure or inadequate, while Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they believe their children can get them (Chua, 2011). Secondly, Chinese parents believe their chil...
She self-identifies as Chinese-American because she “feels Chinese inside” even though she considers herself to be very assimilated into the American culture. This coincides with one of the four types of ethnic self-labels for second generation immigrants that Portes and Rumbaut analyze: national origin, hyphenated, plain American and pan-ethnic. These identifies arise from reactions to specific external events, internalization of racialized categories or life experiences (Feliciano Lec. 1/25/2016). The reason she still identifies as Chinese is because she was raised to think that way; she grew up in a Chinese dominated community both at home and in school. She also believes that because she is not of a mixed ethnicity, it is easy for her to self-identify as Chinese-American. When asked what makes her American, she responded that it is because she lives in America and she follows many American social norms. She does not believe that citizenship has anything to do with being American, it is just a form that acknowledges that you can receive certain benefits that non-citizens do not have the privilege
First, we studied the various conflicts that Chinese Americans face. One way that we did this was by watching a movie regarding this subject called Joy Luck Club, which contains several stories, each one showing different conflicts. The first conflict that we saw was that many times, Chinese Americans do not want to be recognized as Chinese. They feel that it would be easier if they were recognized as American. They do not want to have anything to do with their Chinese side. We saw an example of this in the movie when one of the daughters, Lena, tried to open her eyes as far as possible so that she would appear American. The parents of Chinese American children also face conflict in that they want their children to succeed and have as much opportunity as possible, and so many times they alienate them from their Chinese identity.
Oftentimes the children of immigrants to the United States lose the sense of cultural background in which their parents had tried so desperately to instill within them. According to Walter Shear, “It is an unseen terror that runs through both the distinct social spectrum experienced by the mothers in China and the lack of such social definition in the daughters’ lives.” This “unseen terror” is portrayed in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club as four Chinese women and their American-born daughters struggle to understand one another’s culture and values. The second-generation women in The Joy Luck Club prove to lose their sense of Chinese values, becoming Americanized.
Chinese-Americans authors Amy Tan and Gish Jen have both grappled with the idea of mixed identity in America. For them, a generational problem develops over time, and cultural displacement occurs as family lines expand. While this is not the problem in and of itself, indeed, it is natural for current culture to gain foothold over distant culture, it serves as the backdrop for the disorientation that occurs between generations. In their novels, Tan and Jen pinpoint the cause of this unbalance in the active dismissal of Chinese mothers by their Chinese-American children.
Lei, Ting. "Being and Becoming Moral in a Chinese Culture: Unique or Universal?" Cross-Cultural Research, Feb94, Vol. 28 Issue 1, p58.
Jin Wang, the main character in American Born Chinese transforms in order to deal with stereotypes and prejudice. After moving from Chinatown San Francisco to a new school, Jin realizes he is the only Asian other than Suzy Nakamura (31). Jin immediately faces racial stereotypes and slurs, such as “Chinese people eat dogs”, and arranged marriages (31). Even the teachers have preconceived ideas about Jin’s heritage. His third grade teacher Mrs. Greeder has little understanding of the pronunciation of Jin’s name and from where he moved, thinking he came “all the way from China” (30). In order to integrate in his new environment, he assimilates himself into American culture, transformed into a “regular” American. After stereotyped for eating dog, Jin is seen eating without chopsticks, part of his Asian tradition, and begins to eat “normal” American cuisine, such as sandwiches (37). When Wei Chen arrives, Jin tells him “(he’s) in America” and to “speak English” (37). Even though Jin is fully capable of communicating with Wei-Chen, he decides to abandon his previous culture. Jin chooses to fully transform into an American. He tries to completely dispose of his Asian identity and develop a new one. In order to do this he develops the n...
Comparison of American and Chinese Cultures Cultural differences are apparent from one group of people to another. Culture is based on many things that are passed on from one generation to the next. Most of the time, people take for granted their language, beliefs, and values. When it comes to the cultural differences of people, there is no right or wrong. People should be aware of others culture and respect the differences that exist between them.