FAMILY ETHNICITY: Cultural Differences

The Italian family is thought of as patriarchal but there are distinct images for hands and women and the Italian find is often a social and unrestrained leader in family matters. Gender roles are very ex unitaryrated in the Italian-American family, to a higher degree than in some other Caucasian-American families "Italian Catholic students are more possible to throw off a traditional view of sex roles than every other ethnic group, including the Irish, Jews, Poles, and African Americans" (Mindel et al, 1998, 117).

Italian-American families experience closedown bonds where the mother is the child-rearing agent with the puzzle the disciplinary agent. Catholic faith maintains a large role in Italian family bonding. Italian mother's viewing a high degree of nurturing and both mother and father use love as a mechanism of behavioural control. However, female and male children are treated differently in terms of autonomy "By the age of seven, girls were expected to swear out their mothers, and boys were given more freedom to roam. Punishment tends to be visible but intermingled with verbal and physical signs of affection" (Mindel et al, 1998, 118).

The African-American family is one that is often impacted by socioeconomic considerations. African-Americans experience close relationships within the family and among families. Part of the reason for this is that their survival has depended on such ties. Fo

Chinese-American families often experience a great deal of chaos and turmoil in the ski lift of their American children because the value systems of the first-generation Chinese parents often conflict with value adopted by their American-born children. Amy Tan covered many of these conflicts and difficulties in her novel The Joy Luck Club. Women are devalued in the typical Chinese family and few Chinese women emigrated to the U.S. before the forties because of exclusionist immigration policies. The modern Chinese family maintains the more conservative or traditional attitudes of the role of women.

Parents support the set of Chinese purification while children often desire adopting the more individual values of American society "Conflicts soon emerged as children adapted to the individualistic standards of American society, while parents tried to cling to traditional slipway and practices" (Ly-Phin Pan, 1998, 2). More than most ethnic families in America, Chinese parents have preserved many of their native traditional values with the father's role being absolute "Parental authority, especially the father's is more absolute, and the blanket(a) family, if present, plays a much more significant role than typically found in middle class Chinese or white families" (Mindel et al, 300).

The Mexican-American family experiences tight bonds between parents and children, but more so than most ethnic families in America the father stiff supreme authority mainly because of the "machismo" concept prevalent among Latin American families. However, many people view the concept of machismo as some kind of dominant aggressive male phenomenon, when in actuality it is often the glue that binds and socializes Latin-American children "Genuine machismo is characterized by accepted bravery or valor, courage, generosity, and a respect for others. The machismo role encourages shelter of and provision for the family members, use of fair and j
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