Accessing Assets: Immigrant Youth's Work as Family Translators or "Para-Phrasers"

Orellana, Marjorie Faulstich; Dorner, Lisa M.; Pulido, Lucila

doi:10.1525/sp.2003.50.4.505

Cited by 264 publications

(200 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…By virtue of their position as brokers, these children may gain access to far more information about the adult world than other children typically enjoy, and some have argued that putting children in this bridging position can result in strain, stress, and confusion (40). However, a review of the empirical evidence shows that most children in this position remain firmly loyal to their families (41,42). † † Thus, rather than being neutral brokers, when these children act as representatives of their families they may be able to avoid some of the instability associated with the pure form of brokerage.…”

Section: Resolutions To This Tensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stabilizing brokerage

Stovel

Golub

Milgrom

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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A variety of social and economic arrangements exist to facilitate the exchange of goods, services, and information over gaps in social structure. Each of these arrangements bears some relationship to the idea of brokerage, but this brokerage is rarely like the pure and formal economic intermediation seen in some modern markets. Indeed, for reasons illuminated by existing sociological and economic models, brokerage is a fragile relationship. In this paper, we review the causes of instability in brokerage and identify three social mechanisms that can stabilize fragile brokerage relationships: social isolation, broker capture, and organizational grafting. Each of these mechanisms rests on the emergence or existence of supporting institutions. We suggest that organizational grafting may be the most stable and effective resolution to the tensions inherent in brokerage, but it is also the most institutionally demanding.networks | trade | brokers B rokers frequently play a critical role in facilitating the movement of goods and information. Demand for brokers who connect otherwise unconnected parties is particularly strong in settings where information is scarce or difficult to interpret, transactions are rare or complex, or the institutional environment supporting exchange is poorly developed. However, the broker's position is inherently weak, because the relational and informational conditions that stimulate demand for brokerage may simultaneously undermine other actors' confidence in the broker. Hence, brokerage is a fragile relation. Based on the empirical literature in a wide variety of fields, we observe that, despite brokers' structural liabilities, brokerage relationships can be stabilized in durable forms that encourage trade even when generalized trust is low or property rights are poorly enforced. The general solution to stabilizing brokerage is the recruitment of supporting social institutions that, in one way or another, enhance actors' confidence in the broker's future behavior. The first aim of this paper is to review the economic and sociological sources of brokers' weakness. We then identify and discuss three analytically distinct social arrangements that can stabilize brokerage relationships into more durable institutions: social isolation, broker capture, and organizational grafting. Each of these mechanisms depends on the emergence or existence of institutions that reduce uncertainty. What Is a Broker?Before reviewing why brokerage is a fragile relation, we must ask, what is a broker? The simple answer is that brokers trade over gaps in social structure (1-3). Unlike patrons, true brokers do not put their own resources at risk; rather, they have access to resources that are embedded in other persons, positions, or groups (4).* More formally, we can define brokers as intermediary links in systems of social, economic, or political relations who facilitate trade or transmission of valued resources that would otherwise be substantially more difficult. The crucial characteristics of brokers are that they...

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Section: Resolutions To This Tensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stabilizing brokerage

Stovel

Golub

Milgrom

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…For example, youth from immigrant families often act as interpreters for their parents and help with the translation of official documents (Buriel et al 1998;Orellana et al 2003). Similarly, adolescents from Latin American and Asian backgrounds spend a significant amount of time caring for their siblings and doing household chores such as cooking and cleaning (Fuligni et al 1999;Hardway and Fuligni 2006).…”

Section: Family Assistance and Academic Achievementmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Longitudinal Daily Diary Study of Family Assistance and Academic Achievement Among Adolescents from Mexican, Chinese, and European Backgrounds

Telzer

Fuligni²

2009

J Youth Adolescence

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A longitudinal daily diary method was employed to examine the implications of family assistance for the academic achievement of 563 adolescents (53% female) from Mexican (n = 217), Chinese (n = 206), and European (n = 140) backgrounds during the high school years (mean age 14.9 years in 9th grade to 17.8 years in 12th grade). Although changes in family assistance time within individual adolescents were not associated with simultaneous changes in their Grade Point Averages (GPAs), increases in the proportion of days spent helping the family were linked to declines in the GPAs of students from Mexican and Chinese backgrounds. The negative implications of spending more days helping the family among these two groups was not explained by family background factors or changes in study time or school problems. These results suggest that the chronicity rather than the amount of family assistance may be difficult for adolescents from Mexican and Chinese backgrounds.

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“…Some effects of parent acculturation on their children can start very early in the child's lives, including at preschool ages and it is known that as part of the acculturation processes, English proficiency is a key factor for the potential social upward mobility of Latinos in the United States. For example, and critical to this study, older siblings in Latino families play important roles as "linguistic bridges" and "cultural brokers" into the predominantly Englishspeaking U.S. school system (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 1992;García, 1983;Orellana, Dorner, & Pulido, 2003;Pérez-Granados & Callanan, 1997). Siblings are a potential family social resource that needs to be investigated in order to understand language development.…”

Section: Latinos In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%