As immigration grows in the US, the many immigrants would experience the process of acculturation, the changes during adaptation to the new culture¹. However, it may not be an easy process, especially with the issue of the immigrant paradox, where immigrants may face worse health outcomes the more they acculturate¹. Compared to the first generation, later generation immigrants have more mental health issues, showing the worsening effects of acculturation. If acculturation is bad for immigrants, is it better to not go through the process?

Studies have examined the immigrant paradox and suggested how worse outcomes are more associated with later generation immigrants who are more acculturated^2,3,4. Children of immigrants often lose positive attributes such as optimism and determination that their parents had when they came to the US^2,3. Furthermore, immigrant parents had more protective processes while their children are more exposed to risks². Thus, immigrant children may be more likely to have worse outcomes than their parents. Compared to their parents, they also have more negative educational attitudes and are more influenced by negative peer culture³. These explain the children’s worse educational outcomes. In addition, children may face hardships during their transitional period into adults as they try to be integrated into society⁴. This process, called liminality, is incredibly lengthy and difficult for immigrant youths due to their immigration status⁴. It has negative developmental implications and causes these children to have poor senses of belonging and identity⁴. It is not getting any better for immigrant children, as stricter regulations further threaten their chances of attaining proper citizenship. Overall, evidence suggests that immigrant children, who are more acculturated than their parents, face worse outcomes as they acculturate.

With the consequences of acculturating in the US, is it better for immigrants to refrain from acculturation? The long and harsh process of acculturation may not even be worthwhile. For example, learning English as part of acculturation, though is important, is challenging and take a very long time to be proficient in⁵. On the other hand, retaining one’s own language and becoming bilingual may be the better option, since scores on a bilingual test have been found to be better than an English-only test⁵. Being bilingual can also give intellectual and mental benefits. Thus, it may be better for immigrants then to learn enough English to be bilingual. Would refraining from acculturation also apply in other aspects? Previous studies have shown immigrant parents, who are less acculturated, to have more positive health and educational outcomes compared to their children^2,3. If the children decide to acculturate less, they may have more protective processes and less risk factors like their parents. Immigrant youths overall also have more positive outcomes than native students³, giving less incentive to become more like natives.

The consequences of the immigrant paradox limit immigrants’ abilities to acculturate. This may discourage immigrants from acculturating at all. However, it is still necessary for immigrants to adapt into the US culture. For instance, despite the hardships of liminality, immigrants still need to go through the process to attain proper status in the country. Learning English is also still vital for success in the US⁵. It may be important to understand the methods in acculturating to take the proper course of action. An acculturation model has suggested how one could selectively retain aspects of the heritage culture and receive aspects of the receiving culture¹. With this, an immigrant could determine what practices, values, and identifications to keep and what not to keep from both cultures, based on what benefits them the most. The model has suggested biculturalism, the endorsement of both heritage and receiving cultures, to be the best method of acculturation, as it has been found to be the most facilitative of health outcomes¹. Biculturalism also provides advantages for social connections, intellect, and career. This may be the recommended approach to resolve the immigrant paradox.

1. Schwartz, S. J., Unger, J. B., Zamboanga, B. L., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65(4), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019330
2. Marks, A. K., Ejesi, K., & García Coll, C. (2014). Understanding the U.S. immigrant paradox in childhood and adolescence. Child Development Perspectives, 8(2), 59–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12071
3. Greenman, E. (2013). Educational attitudes, school peer context, and the “immigrant paradox” in education. Social Science Research, 42(3), 698–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.12.014
4. Suárez-Orozco, C., Yoshikawa, H., Teranishi, R. T., & Suárez-Orozco, M. M. (2011). Growing up in the shadows: The developmental implications of unauthorized status. Harvard Educational Review, 81(3), 438–472.
5. Suárez-Orozco, C., Suárez-Orozco, M. M., & Todorova, I. (2008). Learning a new land: Immigrant students in American society. Cambridge, MA, US: Belknap Press/Harvard University Press. (The Challenge of Language Acquisition)

Many immigrants face significant challenges in moving to the United States, yet it is unfortunately common to hear insensitive remarks about immigrants. Many Americans are concerned with immigrants’ effect on culture, and ask reductive questions such as “How will they learn English?” Many claim that immigrants are not even trying to learn English or adapt to U.S. The reality is that many immigrants actually are trying. However, English is a difficult language to learn and can take years to master.¹ In terms of adapting to a new culture, it is not as simple as just learning English or understanding American social customs. There are many parts involved in interacting with and adapting to a culture different than one’s own, which is a process called acculturation.² People who question why immigrants can’t just learn English are being insensitive to their efforts, and are not recognizing that language acquisition resources are not accessible or equal for everyone, especially in regards to language education for immigrant children.¹

Acculturation does not only involve the learning of a new language, but also adopting the beliefs and values of the new country of residence. However, adopting these new beliefs does not equal losing the beliefs and values they acquired from their country of origin. The level of difficulty an immigrant may have acculturating to their new country of residence can depend upon how similar the new country and their country of origin are. As previously mentioned, many Americans judge immigrants negatively for speaking a language other than English. This means that for immigrants who come from an English speaking country to the United States, they may have an easier time acculturating and experience less discrimination, as language barriers are not an issue and they will not be judged based on language.²

Language acquisition and acculturation are long, difficult processes for immigrants. However, difficulties and discrimination that result from being unauthorized are some of the most limiting, and attitudes towards unauthorized immigrants are particularly negative in the United States today³. In 2014 there were 12.1 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S.⁴ These 12.1 million immigrants are experiencing unique stressors that accompany an unauthorized status. Many people do not take children into account when debating unauthorized immigration issues⁵, even though they are severely affected by growing up without authorization. Growing up in the U.S. as an unauthorized child or adolescent affects the ability to engage in activities or experiences that are considered important to an American’s identity, such as obtaining a drivers license or attending college. They also grapple with the issue of whether or not to expose their status to their friends—but it is also important to note that some unauthorized children are never told of their status until they are teenagers. Another unique stressor that unauthorized children deal with is the fear of themselves or their families being deported³. This fear unfortunately turns into a reality for many children, and has been the topic of news coverage constantly throughout 2018. Over the summer, unauthorized families who were detained at the Southern border of the U.S. were being held separately from each other. Children as young as only a few months old were being taken away from their parents for extended periods of time, which for such a young child is severely stressful⁶. Many unauthorized families watching these events unfold likely experienced an increase in the fear that already exists of being discovered and detained.

Overall, immigrants both authorized and unauthorized face a plethora of stressors, and many Americans are not sensitive to the length of time it can take to learn English or acculturate, nor to the fears that accompany being an unauthorized citizen. With so many immigrants in the U.S., it is imperative that people somehow become more educated about all of the different parts involved in immigrating and cultivate more empathy, instead of reducing the experience to “just learning English” or labeling immigrants as “alien”.

References

1. Suárez-Orozco, C., Suárez-Orozco, M. M. & Todorova, I. (2008). Learning a new land: Immigrant students in American society. Cambridge, MA, US: Belknap Press/Harvard University Press. From: The Challenge of Language Acquisition
2. Schwartz, S. J., Unger, J. B., Zamboanga, B. L., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65, 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019330
3. Suárez-Orozco, C., Yoshikawa, H., Teranishi, R. T., & Suárez-Orozco, M. M. (2011). Growing up in the shadows: The developmental implications of unauthorized status. Harvard Educational Review, 81, 438–472.
4. Baker, Bryan. (2017). Estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population residing in the United States: January 2014. Office of Immigration Statistics: Office of Strategy, Policy, & Plans, 1-9.
5. Yoshikawa, H. (2011). Immigrants raising citizens: Undocumented parents and their young children. New York: Russell Sage.
6. Domonoske, C. & Gonzales, R. (2018, June, 19). What we know: Family separation and zero tolerance at the border. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621065383/what-we-know-family-separation-and-zero-tolerance-at-the-border

There continues to be a growing wave of immigrants entering the US. However, the face of this current immigrant differs from prior decades in that the immigrant’s country of origin may be vastly different from the new culture⁴. This change has served to complicate the process of acculturation which is defined as a process of adopting cultural traits and patterns from another culture⁴. Earlier perspectives of acculturation noted the expectation that immigrants would naturally adopt the values, beliefs, and practices as well as the language of the new culture while letting go of their initial culture. However, current perspectives on acculturation recognizes that this process can occur in a variety of ways⁴. An individual can adopt the new culture while discarding the old, referred to as assimilation, adopt the new culture while retaining the old, referred to as integration, and may even reject both cultures which is called marginalization. There are individual differences in how people achieve social, psychological, and cultural adaptation of the new culture. Those that pursue the integration type of acculturation experience less stress than those who choose marginalization¹.Research has noted that the type of acculturation with the greatest degree of success with reduced stress is integration¹.

Furthermore, the process of acculturation is impacted by factors which include: the individual’s ability to adjust, the level of familiarity with the new culture, existence of available resources, and the presence of existing barriers such as lack of citizenship⁶. Therefore, entering a new country is only the first step in the process of successful acculturation and learning a new language. The greater the difference in the two cultures, the harder it will be to assimilate and master a new language. Individuals may develop the ability to converse in English but a deeper level of understanding to allow them to succeed in school takes several years⁵. Both acculturation and mastering a new language occurs over time. In both of these processes, it is critical that there be existing resources to promote the learning process in order to reduce potential failure⁵.

A significant barrier faced by immigrants is their lack of citizenship and legal documentation. This dilemma impacts not only the individual, put the entire family. This is particularly true in children as they develop and seek to pursue higher education and independence. Their ability to successfully complete the goal of separation from family is obstructed by their illegal status⁶. However, despite barriers, immigrants adjust to a new environment with their children seeking academic advancement and improved educational outcomes. For example, in Latino/a immigrants children, a higher level of acculturation is associated with their ability and desire to pursue a college education⁷.

As acculturation continues, first and second generation children demonstrate a decline in academic success. This decline has been referred to as the immigrant paradox². There has been growing research that as children become removed from their parent’s initial incentive to migrate to a new country in search of greater opportunities and more exposure to American peers, they lose their enthusiasm and drive³. Therefore, it is critical that the process of acculturation be better understood related to a more integrated perspective of what factors either support or hinder successful acculturation. In addition, consideration must be given to supporting this process through the generations to provide early intervention and to counter the effects of the immigrant paradox². Both acculturation and the immigrant paradox must be better understood as these concepts continue to impact a family and a child’s development, not only upon entry to a new country but through their lifespan³.

References

1. Berry, J.W. (2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29,697-712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013
2. Greenman, E. (2013). Educational attitudes, school peer context, and the “immigrant paradox” in education. Social Science Research, 42(3), 698–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.12.014
3. Marks, A. K., Ejesi, K., & García Coll, C. (2014). Understanding the U.S. immigrant paradox in childhood and adolescence. Child Development Perspectives, 8(2), 59–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12071
4. Schwartz, S. J., Unger, J. B., Zamboanga, B. L., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65(4), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019330
5. Suárez-Orozco, C., Suárez-Orozco, M. M., & Todorova, I. (2008). Learning a new land: Immigrant students in American society. Cambridge, MA, US: Belknap Press/Harvard University Press. (The Challenge of Language Acquisition)
6. Suárez-Orozco, C., Yoshikawa, H., Teranishi, R. T., & Suárez-Orozco, M. M. (2011). Growing up in the shadows: The developmental implications of unauthorized status. Harvard Educational Review, 81(3), 438–472.
7. Vela, J. C., Johnson, M.B., Cavazos, L., Ikonomopoulos, J., & Gonzalez S. L. (2014). The effects of barriers, acculturation, and academic goals on Latina/o students’ academic performance. The American Counseling Association, 1-11. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/article_37.pdf?sfvrsn=6

In the United States, ¼ of the immigrants are considered unauthorized ¹ which are people who live within a country without having the legal authorization to do so. Approximately 5.5 million children and adolescents are growing up with unauthorized parents, about a million are unauthorized themselves.¹ The child may be an American in spirit, school, and their everyday experience but in the eyes of the law, they are not legal citizens and their family status hinders the regular stages of their development.¹ In some religions, there are rituals that mark new stages of life such as baptism, quinceaneras, and bar mitzvahs.¹ These rituals are called rites of passage. In America, there are legal rites of passage that an unauthorized child may not partake in, like getting a driver’s license, passport, even going to college.¹ This may lead the child to question their identity and where they belong. Children of immigrants are also being put into a position of interminable liminality¹ (practicing rites of passages to belong but the corresponding country does not acknowledge it and consider them illegal and cannot belong) by the legal status of themselves and their family.¹ American Identity is the degree of which the person feel connected and engaged with America and its history and traditions.² The children believe that they are American because they share America’s values, beliefs, and speak the language, but still, are seen as illegal because they do not have the legal documentation.¹ These issues call into question what it really means to be an American – if speaking the language, sharing the same values and beliefs as my peers is not enough, then why is a piece of paper all that it takes to help shape a national identity?

Immigrant children did not make the choice to migrate to another country, as it was their parents’ decision and they should not have to struggle to define their identity simply because their family does not have the means of legally documenting their citizenship. ¹ Not only do the children grow up worried about their status but also the acculturation process. Acculturation is the changes that occur as a result of contact with people, and groups and who are culturally different.² Going through the acculturation process may lead to discrimination toward immigrants who are from lower socioeconomic status as well as against immigrants who are illegal and are viewed as a burden and a drain to the receiving country resources.² This discrimination may lead immigrants to have more problems adapting or resisting to adopt the practices, values, and beliefs of the receiving culture.²

Learning English is another complication for immigrant children and is an added stress on top of dealing with their legal status and the process of adjusting to a new country. Children of immigration reported that learning English was a harder obstacle than any of the other difficulties they faced during immigration.³ Immigrants are often criticized for not learning English quickly upon their arrival due to a lack of understanding and compassion, especially when considering how long it takes for a person to become proficient in a new language. ³ Despite the language barrier, studies show immigrant children, on the whole, perform surprisingly well in school compared to natives who come from the same socioeconomic status.⁴  This advantage of the immigrant children, who might unknowingly be considered educationally disadvantaged due to a shift in language and general unfamiliarity with the culture, is called the immigrant paradox.⁴ Though immigrant children may perform well in school they still face difficulties with their unauthorized status, acculturation process and being proficient in English.

References

1. Suárez-Orozco, C., Yoshikawa, H., Teranishi, R. T., & Suárez-Orozco, M. M. (2011). Growing up in the shadows: The developmental implications of unauthorized status. Harvard Educational Review, 81(3), 438–472.
2. Schwartz, S. J., Unger, J. B., Zamboanga, B. L., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65(4), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019330
3. Suárez-Orozco, C., Suárez-Orozco, M. M., & Todorova, I. (2008). Learning a new land: Immigrant students in American society. Cambridge, MA, US: Belknap Press/Harvard University Press. (The Challenge of Language Acquisition)
4. Greenman, E. (2013). Educational attitudes, school peer context, and the “immigrant paradox” in education. Social Science Research, 42(3), 698–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.12.014

Examining immigration holistically – while piecing it apart.

Information about immigration is everywhere, whether you welcome it or not. From hot button and emotion-evoking topics like family separation and detention to the hyperbolic promises made by Donald Trump regarding a wall between the United States and Mexico. There are many opinions and many sides. It is easy to utilize the plight of immigrants as a political bargaining chip; the United States has done so for many decades. Attitudes towards immigrants vary and may be passed down through generation, transmitted from parent to child¹. But, what happens when we return to the root of this wedge issue and realize that immigrants are humans- constantly developing humans. They are children, young adults, adults, and elderly who chose to emigrate from their heritage country and establish a life in the United States. It is dangerous not to know what all immigrants face. It is also dangerous to assume every experience is the same.

Every person that settles in a new country has a different story, a different future, and different characteristics that make up their immigrant experience.  Race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexuality are just a few things that negotiate people’s experiences and identities. Let us turn to developmental psychology for a few suggestions on how to best aid the people that cultivate greatness in this country.

A holistic lens.

There are broad challenges and processes that almost all immigrants must face. Immigrants go through acculturation, which is the merging of the culture from one’s home country and their new culture². Immigrants are oftentimes more resilient in the face of adversity³. In popular media, we have seen examples of this resilience come out of the horrors of child detention and troubles at the border or the strength of immigrant communities despite political oppression. Immigrants are strong. This isn’t to say they don’t need systematic and interpersonal support. Studies have shown that immigrant children develop better when they are near familial and parental support⁴. Attitudes towards immigrants also improve via inter-group friendships and exposure to immigrants⁵. Additionally, as mentioned above, parents have a substantial role in the way their children perceive immigrants¹. If we choose to raise children in this world, why not try to educate and rid ourselves of bias? Your children will be affected, whether you realize it or not.

Piecing it apart.

While there are many broad suggestions and processes that can be applied to immigrants and their experiences as a whole, we must avoid lumping all 43.7 million first and second-generation immigrants in this country together. Developmental psychology has offered several models for examining the human experience. The two models used to study immigrant lives incorporate a multilayered and reciprocal approach^{4 6}. That’s to say they don’t discount things like race, experiences of discrimination, gender, the neighborhood, education, and healthcare system they exist in. These models also take into account the indirect processes that affect their daily lives, such as the relationships with parents and teachers.

With these models, we should be starting to understand that with many factors and forces affecting a single person, human experience is not homogenous. So, neither is the more specific immigrant experience. This hopefully will help with the other trap we sometimes fall into: assuming all immigrants are the same. Unfortunately, the current political climate has fostered attitudes that believe immigrants are infiltrating the United States and stealing jobs, corrupting values, and even committing crimes at a higher rate (not true, obviously).  About 1.9 million immigrants come to the United States each year. It is absurd to think they all fit into one category. According to research, something called ‘context of reception’ has a great effect of immigrants’ ability to successfully integrate into their new country². The way immigrants are received – oftentimes based on their accents, country of origin, socioeconomic status, and race – matters! So what can we do? If American is striving to be great, we must embrace, accept, and promote the developmental health of immigrants in this country. Development is life-long. We must educate ourselves on the overarching challenges that all immigrants face, then work to view each experience as unique and individual, piecing it apart.

Looking for some organizations to get involved? Check these ones out. 

References

1. Gniewosz, B., & Noack, P. (2015). Parental influences on adolescents’ negative attitudes toward immigrants. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(9), 1787-1802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-05-0291-3
2. Schwartz, S. J., Unger, J. B., Zamboanga, B. L., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65(4), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019330
3. APA Presidential Taskforce on Immigration (2013). Crossroads: The psychology of immigration in the new century. Journal of Latina/O Psychology, 1(3), 133–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000001
4. Bronfenbrenner, U. (2000). Ecological systems theory. In A. E. Kazdin & A. E. Kazdin (Ed) (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Psychology, Vol. 3. (pp. 129–133). Washington, DC, US; New York, NY, US: American Psychological Association.
5. Zalk, M. H. W., & Kerr, M. (2014). Developmental trajectories of prejudice and tolerance toward immigrants from early to late adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(10), 1658–1671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0164-1
6. García Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., & Garcia, H. V. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67(5), 1891–1914. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131600

During the first quarter of 2018, 264,000 immigrants had already received permanent residence in the United States. However, obtaining legal residency does not mean that the challenges associated with immigration are over. Upon moving to the United States, many immigrants are still forced to face the challenges of poverty and discrimination(1). Recently, the Trump administration has proposed a new law that will decrease legal immigrants’ abilities to receive green cards if they have used social services in the past. Therefore, many low-income families who are hoping to receive a green card will be less likely to use these social services, therefore, among many other things, leading to increased poverty levels and worse health outcomes. If this law is to be passed, it will be developmentally very detrimental to immigrants in the United States.

In order to truly understand some of the impacts this law could have we can look at it through the lense of developmental psychology. According to classical theory of developmental psychology, this law may have several long-term impacts on the development of those who are affected. First, the political environment plays a significant role on the development of an individual. On a broad scale, the political environment trickles into and impacts the more direct aspects of a person’s life(2). For example, in the case of this proposed law, a family may choose to opt out of using necessary social services. Therefore, this could lead to greater amounts of stress and financial difficulties among these families. Second, classical theory has also indicated that racism, prejudice, and discrimination also play important roles in human development(3). In relation to political environment as previously discussed, this law is inherently discriminatory because it singles out a group of individuals with legal residence in the United States. Therefore, not only will discrimination occur on a more direct level, but it will happen on a much larger scale.

Although this law has not been passed yet, it’s proposal has already caused significant changes in the use of social services. In fact, 18 states indicated that they have seen at least a 20 percent drop in enrollment of social service programs since the proposal was announced.

In order to help this issue, we must also understand how we can help non-immigrant individuals form more positive attitudes towards immigrants. Some research has focused specifically on adolescence as a very formative time in an individual’s life when it comes to forming attitudes of immigrants. For example, one study found that friendships with immigrants during adolescence can be an important buffer of negative attitudes(4). Therefore, we should focus on improving the attitudes of adolescents for more long-term positive effects.

1. The APA Presidential Task Force on Immigration. (2013). Crossroads: The Psychology of Immigration in the New Century. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 1, 133-148. doi: 10.1037/lat0000001
2. Bronfenbrenner, U. (2000). Ecological systems theory. In A. E. Kazdin & A. E. Kazdin, Encyclopedia of Psychology, Vol. 3. (pp. 129–133). Washington, DC, US; New York, NY, US: American Psychological Association.
3. Coll, C. C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Waski, B. H., & Garcia, H. V. (1996). An Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children. Child Development, 67, 1891-1914.
4. Van Zalk, M. H. W., & Kerr, M. (2014). Developmental Trajectories of Prejudice and Tolerance Toward Immigrants from Early to Late Adolescence. J Youth Adolescence, 43, 1658-1671. doi: 10.1007/s10964-014-0164-1

American society has experienced a growing immigration population with an estimated number of 39.9 million immigrants. These immigrants arrive primarily from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean with diverse levels of education, skills, values, and customs¹. These immigrants face multiple challenges which includes: unfamiliar customs, language, economic burdens, and discrimination. This can result in stress to the family as they seek to overcome these barriers. This process of adjusting to a new culture is referred to as acculturation. Developmental psychologists must gain an increased understanding of acculturation in order to understand its impact on the immigrant family and more importantly on a child’s development. Acculturation is impacted by both the individual’s ability to cope and the attitudes of the receiving society. This interactive process can also be referred to as proximal processes, reinforcing the importance of the interaction between the individual and their environment and its impact on development³.

The level of stress experienced by the family, particularly children, is directly impacted by discrimination. For Developmental psychologists, an understanding of this is critical as children are faced with the burden of discrimination while attempting to meet the expectations of adolescence. Although discrimination is not a new phenomenon, the growing differences between the immigrant population and society increase the likelihood of discrimination¹. The negative view of immigrants is reinforced by daily depictions of immigrants in the current media as dangerous, uneducated, and threatening to American values. Immigrants are perceived as competing for employment, available community resources, and an overall financial burden to society¹. It is noted that the existence of barriers such as discrimination will impact a child’s development and the ability to meet their developmental expectations⁴. Therefore, Developmental psychologists must be proactive in increasing their knowledge of the impact of acculturation and in providing culturally sensitive services to minimize negative outcomes. One such intervention is to promote intergroup relationships amongst adolescents which can increase understanding and reduce the likelihood of discrimination⁷.

A key developmental task in adolescence is the development of attitudes particularly towards different groups such as immigrants. Interactions amongst immigrant children and nonimmigrant peers can also reduce fear and isolation in the immigrant child, reducing the possibility of psychological distress⁴. An educational effort was recently noted when action was taken by Starbucks to retrain its employees following an incident of discrimination which occurred in Philadelphia⁶. Although this intervention targeted adults, it did reinforce the importance of aggressively intervening to reduce discrimination through educational efforts⁶. Developmental psychologists must support opportunities for education which target parents, children, and institutions which interact with the immigrant population⁵. A particular area of concern that requires further exploration is how individual characteristics can influence a child’s development of attitudes such as discrimination⁷. Therefore, psychologists must develop programs that are individually tailored to increase tolerance in early education before adolescent attitudes are firmly established. Such an effort was noted in a recent article in US News and World Report that discussed how to raise tolerant and inclusive children. The author recommended that elementary school educators and professionals increase a child’s exposure to individuals of different races and cultures while exposing them to more diverse ideas. This early intervention was felt to increase the existence of tolerant and inclusive behaviors².

As the numbers of immigrants are anticipated to continue to rise, both Developmental psychologist, educators, and the public must work together to reduce discrimination and its negative impact on the immigrant family, child, and society. Discrimination impacts the physical and emotional well-being of both the immigrants and the receiving society, resulting in both short term and long term consequences¹.

References

1. APA Presidential Taskforce on Immigration. (2013). Crossroads: The psychology of immigration in the new century. Journal of Latina/O Psychology, 1(3), 133–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000001
2. Borba, M. (2018, April 13). How to raise tolerant, inclusive kids. Retrieved from https://health.usnews.com/wellness/for-parents/articles/2018-04-13/how-to-raise-tolerant-inclusive-kids
3. Bronfenbrenner, U. (2000). Ecological systems theory. In A. E. Kazdin & A. E. Kazdin (Ed) (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Psychology, Vol. 3. (pp. 129–133). Washington, DC, US; New York, NY, US: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10518-046
4. García Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., & Garcia, H. V. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67(5), 1891–1914. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131600
5. Gniewosz, B., & Noack, P. (2015). Parental influences on adolescents’ negative attitudes toward immigrants. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(9), 1787–1802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0291-3
6. Lardieri, A. (2018, April 17). 8,000 Starbucks stores will close to conduct racial bias education. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-04-17/8-000-starbucks-stores-will-close-to-conduct-racial-bias-education
7. Zalk, M. H. W., & Kerr, M. (2014). Developmental trajectories of prejudice and tolerance toward immigrants from early to late adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(10), 1658–1671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0164-1

I cannot even begin to express to you how important and critical it is for developmental psychologists and the public to understand immigration in America. America was built on immigration¹. People migrate to America from around the world: Spanish, Dutch, French, English, Germans, Eastern Europeans, Africans, Indians, Asians, and the list continues¹. The number of immigrants in America has grown enormously from being approximately 39.9 million in 2013² to becoming approximately 43.3 million in 2017⁴. All these immigrants have different levels of skills, education, languages and yet they have been represented within politics and media in a negative way; a problem that needs to be solved². Now, especially with the president, Donald Trump in office speaking very negatively about immigrants and changing people’s attitudes about them, it is very important for everyone to understand immigration. But before we begin to understand immigration we must define the different types of immigrants.  There are the immigrants who voluntarily left their home country to permanently reside in the new country. They move to a different county for many reasons: a better life, better jobs, better education, and marriage etc⁹. Refugees are those who were forced to leave their country due to wars or national disasters and the government agrees to let them and Asylum seekers are who voluntarily leave their home county due to fear or violence and they seek safety in a new country⁹. Every immigrant has his/her own unique experience in the new county and it is so important to look at their development and the changes that they go through.

As people, we are growing and changing every day and development psychology looks at how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have changed over time⁸. Our development also happens with our individual personality and our interaction with our environment³.  Not only do we use Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory⁷ to understand how our environment influences out development but we have to use other factors (race, ethnicity, gender, and social class) ⁵ that also have an influence on our development. According to García-Coll et al., the environment plays a role in our development but not just the environment but also things like experiencing dissertations, dealing racisms, managing emotions, and personality⁵.  We also have to look at where did the person come from and what they look like. Those things play a big role when it comes to discrimination. For example, a white immigrant from a Europe country who speaks English experience is going to be very different from a person of color from a non-Europe country who speaks little English to no English⁵ . It is very important for research to start being more culturally bound to study specific people and their experiences.

As I mentioned above about Trump changing people’s attitude towards immigrants. There is a very interesting cycle happening here: Trump influence the parent’s attitudes toward immigrants and then the parents influence their children’s attitudes. There are a lot of ways that parents influence their children’s attitudes. Parents can just express their opinions very openly, they can consciously or unconsciously partake in discriminations towards immigrants⁶. According to Walter van Zalk & Kerr, 2014 research shows that adolescents that have a relationship with an immigrant are more like to show tolerance towards immigrants. By encouraging non- immigrants to make friends with immigrant, prejudice will decrease and tolerances will increase¹⁰. Unfortunately, that is not the case with Trump being in office saying very negative things about immigrants. I am not sure what our future looks like anymore.

References

1. Abad, C. (2018). The United States Was And Continues To Be Built On The Backs Of Immigrants. Retrieved from https://www.theodysseyonline.com/american-history-immigrants
2. (2013). Crossroads: The psychology of immigration in the new century. Journal Of Latina/O Psychology, 1(3), 133-148. doi: 10.1037/lat0000001
3. Bronfenbrenner, U. (2000). Ecological systems theory. In A. E. Kazdin & A. E. Kazdin (Ed) (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Psychology, Vol. 3. (pp. 129–133). Washington, DC, US; New York, NY, US: American Psychological Association.
4. CAP Immigration Team, & Nicholson, M. (2018). The Facts on Immigration Today: 2017 Edition – Center for American Progress. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2017/04/20/430736/facts-immigration-today-2017-edition/
5. García Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., & Garcia, H. V. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67(5), 1891–1914. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131600
6. Gniewosz, B., & Noack, P. (2015). Parental influences on adolescents’ negative attitudes toward immigrants. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(9), 1787-1802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-05-0291-3
7. HQ, P. (2013). What is Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory?. Retrieved from https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/bronfenbrenner-ecological-theory/
8. McLeod, S. (2017). Developmental Psychology | Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/developmental-psychology.html
9. Schwartz, S. J., Unger, J. B., Zamboanga, B. L., & Szapocznik, J. (2010). Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research. American Psychologist, 65(4), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019330
10. Zalk, M. H. W., & Kerr, M. (2014). Developmental trajectories of prejudice and tolerance toward immigrants from early to late adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(10), 1658–1671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0164-1

With the growing number of immigrants to the United States, immigration is gaining attention as it becomes a controversial issue. It is necessary to provide information on the backgrounds and issues of immigration to properly address struggles immigrants face in many contexts¹. Furthermore, immigrant children’s developmental process should be examined, as current conditions may impact how they grow up. A theory-supported integrative developmental model is constructed to inform of factors influencing the growth of minority children². Among the factors, environment is a large component in the model, where the surrounding environment in which the child interacts with may promote or inhibit development. Constant interactions with the environment, or proximal processes, are crucial in determining how a child develops, as maintaining healthy proximal processes can tremendously help with development³.

As the environment is considered a major factor in immigrant children’s development, the characteristics of the environments children live in should be assessed. The common issue posing as an obstacle for a good environment is prejudice and discrimination. These negative attitudes play a large part in the integrative developmental model and have roles in forming promoting or inhibiting environments for minority children². Such attitudes against immigrants are prevalent as they are frequently communicated, like how United States President Donald Trump constantly denounces Mexicans, inciting negative views toward them. This leads to disadvantages, stress and worry, and poor physical and mental health for immigrants¹. For example, daily life events and unfair conditions are told to create stress and impact health in rural immigrant communities. Studies discovering the roots of these attitudes are imperative. For this purpose, some studies have found intergroup friendships, personality, and parents to have the largest influences on attitudes toward immigrants^4,5. Parents may pass down negative attitudes to their children during adolescence, but children having friends with an outgroup member may reduce such attitudes.

Knowing how negative attitudes against immigrants in children form, authorities can devise interventions to reduce such attitudes, and in turn provide better growing environments for immigrant children. Studies implied that prejudice is mostly influenced in early adolescence^4,5. Therefore, interventions should be aimed to influence attitudes during this time. Furthermore, since parents transmit negative attitudes to their children⁵, they should be targeted as part of the interventions. In addition, to further reduce prejudice, interventions could provide opportunities promoting intergroup friendships, as it tremendously helps in facilitating attitudes⁴. Family and peers are part of the microsystem, the direct surrounding environment, of Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model, a model depicting influences of different environmental systems on a person’s development⁶. This may explain the large impacts of parents and friendships on attitudes. Based on this, interventions can target parts of the system to effectively eliminate negative attitudes against immigrants. Since schools and neighborhoods are parts of the microsystem and of the promoting or inhibiting environments in the integrative model, they should also be closely assessed and shaped into suitable environments for immigrant children. Using the above suggestions, interventions need to soon be developed to combat negative attitudes against immigrants, as the current anti-immigrant trend in the US could likely be long lasting. If interventions can effectively reduce negative attitudes in children, the trend could be cut short by the growing generation of youth with more positive attitudes. So far, good progress is being made. There are programs such as workshops supporting immigrant students, which provide opportunities to build inclusive environments and promote knowledge and empathy regarding immigrants. Such efforts would help improving attitudes and create promoting environments that immigrant children need. Looking forward, if the country continues to put effort into tackling negative attitudes and their causes, it would help providing quality environments for immigrants.

References

1. APA Presidential Taskforce on Immigration (2013). Crossroads: The psychology of immigration in the new century. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 1(3), 133–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000001
2. García Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., & Garcia, H. V. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67(5), 1891–1914. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131600
3. Bronfenbrenner, U. (2000). Ecological systems theory. Encyclopedia of Psychology, 3, 129–133.
4. Zalk, M. H. W., & Kerr, M. (2014). Developmental trajectories of prejudice and tolerance toward immigrants from early to late adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(10), 1658–1671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0164-1
5. Gniewosz, B., & Noack, P. (2015). Parental influences on adolescents’ negative attitudes toward immigrants. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(9), 1787-1802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-05-0291-3
6. Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development, 1, 993-1028.