Chinese Immigrant Families and Christian Faith Community: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Like most other immigrants, Chinese immigrants in the U.S. have experienced challenges in acculturation to the American mainstream culture. Major challenges for Chinese immigrants include identity problems, language barriers, relationships problems, and lack of economic and social resources (Families and change: Coping with stressful events and transitions (pp. 307–332). New York: Sage). With respect to social resources, the Chinese Christian Church plays an important role in coping, acculturation, and assimilation processes for many Chinese immigrant families (Sociology of Religion, 67, 149–159). However, for some, conversion to the Chinese Christian Church becomes an existential as well as a social force—a source of meaning in their new life, and a source of transformation of their marriage and family life. This qualitative study examines the social, cultural, and spiritual roles of faith community in Chinese immigrants' marriages and family lives. Also, the research‐based connections between: (i) families and religion, and more specifically, (ii) Chinese Christian families and religion are examined.

Generative Devotion: A Theory of Sacred Relational Care in Families of Faith

“…(Brown, Lu, Marks, & Dollahite, ; Chaney et al, ; Dollahite, & Marks, ; Lu, Marks, & Apavaloaie, ; Marks & Chaney, ; Marks & Dollahite, ; Skipper, Marks, & Chaney, ). Participants reported that they were part of a church family or faith community that allowed them to serve others in need and also to be served when difficult circumstances arose.…”

Perceived Spousal Religiosity and Marital Quality Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

“…Religion is a historically important coping mechanism among Black Americans, serving to mitigate the harsh consequences of discrimination and structural disadvantage (Taylor et al, ). So too, among Hispanics and Asians, does religion provide an ideological impetus for their relatively high degree of familism, serving to bond couples and their larger families as a unit (Bulanda & Brown, ; Lu, Marks, & Apavaloiae, ; Lu, Marks, & Baumgartner, ; Lu, Marks, Nesteruk, Goodman, & Apavaloaie, ; McLoyd et al, ). Drawing on deprivation theory , which suggests that religion is a particularly important coping and integrative force in the lives of economically marginalized groups (Lichter & Carmalt, ; Solt, Habel, & Grant, ), one would expect that spousal religiosity would exhibit a stronger, positive effect on marital outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, relative to non‐Hispanic White Americans.…”

Religion and Relationships in Muslim Families: A Qualitative Examination of Devout Married Muslim Couples

“…Research on religion and marriage has identified correlations between religious practice and enhanced marital quality, especially when those practices are shared [21]. Mahoney et al found that couples who pray for each other and attend religious services together seem to experience better marital quality [22].…”