Parenting their adolescents: The experiences of Jordanian immigrant women in California

Abstract

Having their children enter adolescence presents new demands on the role functions of Jordanian immigrant women in the United States. Such demands require modifications in traditional parenting approaches. The authors attempted to uncover and describe the experiences of Jordanian immigrant mothers (N = 30) in parenting their adolescents in the United States. Content and narrative analysis revealed the dynamic processes that the mothers used in raising their children. They continuously attempted to balance the need for their teens to maintain a Jordanian ethnic identity and the need for them to become integrated into the new community. Their parenting was driven by an attempt to avoid loss of honor and bad reputation. Four aspects of the maternal role emerged from the analysis: mothering through nurturing the adolescents and promoting cultural identity, disciplining for cultural adherence, advocacy and mediation, and vigilant parenting. The findings support a dynamic interplay between cultural and structural conditions in shaping the experiences of Jordanian immigrant women.

Cognitive Appraisal of Stress and Health Status of Wage Working and Nonwage Working Women in Jordan

“…Independent group t tests revealed also that single women significantly experienced more social stress than married women. These findings are in line with findings of qualitative studies conducted with Arab American women in California (Hattar-Pollara & Meleis, 1995a). Single women are more likely to be guarded and watched by male members of the family and are more likely to experience constraints in their daily lives.…”

A model of mother–child adjustment in Arab Muslim immigrants to the US

“…Two of the three components of the mother-child relationship we measured - - Togetherness or the type and frequency of activities the parent and child engage in together and Parent as Mediator or the extent to which the parent encourages or aids the child in maintaining peer relations - - have been noted in the literature as strategies for Arab mothers to protect family honor. Specifically, Arab Muslim mothers promote adherence to Islamic rules about proper behavior by engaging in activities together with their adolescents and mediating peer relationships by socializing with other Arab Muslim families with adolescents who share similar norms and values (Haddad & Smith, 1996; Hattar-Pollara & Meleis, 1995). …”

“…Rearing adolescents in Euro-American countries also poses demands for Arab Muslim immigrant mothers. Immigrant mothers are torn between helping their adolescents become part of a new country while also instilling values and norms from the homeland (Garcia Coll & Pachter, 2002; Haddad & Smith, 1996; Hattar-Pollara & Meleis, 1995; Kulwicki, 2008; Kwak, 2003). In addition to this more complicated aspect of parenting, immigrant mothers are also coping with their own personal stressors associated with uprooting from their homeland and resettling in a totally new and sometimes hostile environment (Abu-El-Haj, 2006; Aroian, 2006; Bacallao & Smokowski, 2007; Marvasi, 2006; Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 2001).…”

“…Low maternal distress and fewer child behavior problems serve as the indicators of adjustment for mothers and children, respectively. We focused on mothers rather than on both parents because Arab mothers, like those in other cultures with segmented gender roles, have greater responsibility for child rearing, even when they are carrying out the wishes of their husbands and extended family (Hattar-Pollara & Meleis, 1995; Kulwicki, 2008; Telsiz, 1998). …”

Social Information Processing and Reactive and Proactive Aggression among Children with ADHD

“…The Arab family serves as the primary and basic institution in which beliefs, norms, values, and traditions are taught and shared between generations (Patai, 2002). Children are raised according to cultural norms and traditions that are necessary for their developmental milestones (Hattar-Pollara & Meleis, 1995). Any display of disrespectful behavior reflects poorly not only on the individual but, perhaps more importantly, on the family.…”