Including the Model Minorities in the Discussion of Immigration: Chinese Immigrant Children and their Challenges with the Acculturation Process
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Authors
Cheng, Fion
Issue Date
2014-10-10
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This work endeavors to find out what factors – internally and externally – affect the cultivation of self when the person in question is an immigrant child. Finding insight into the Chinese immigrant child and adolescent's experience in Canada will undoubtedly provide further direction for the creation of social and academic programs to help immigrant children become successful in their new home countries. Why is this topic important? Throughout the last several decades, Canada has accepted a growing number of foreign born citizens from Asia and other international locales, with the figures expecting to rise in the upcoming years. Due to the fact that a large number of immigrants are from countries where English is not their first language, I believe it is imperative to complete thorough research on the impact of immigration and acculturation on immigrant children, specifically, because we will inevitably have families of our own, and to become economically and psychologically healthy citizens, adults, and parents, appropriate supports need to be set up to help guide us through the already complicated process of developing one's identity through childhood and adolescence, without throwing on the often traumatic experience of immigrating. This thesis is structured around 3 central components: first, a review on the acculturation process for immigrant children in general and, subsequently, on Chinese immigrant children; second, a review of the services currently available to immigrant children at the community, provincial, and national levels; and thirdly, a discussion about the future direction of research and policy creation directed at aiding first, second, and third generations of immigrant children through this process.