Immigrant Issues
This article focuses on issues facing immigrant adolescents. It summarizes demographic profiles of immigrant families and demographic forces that shape the immigrant experience for adolescents and their families. It describes how immigrants' experiences may differ depending on factors such as the country of origin, the country of destination, the length of time an individual has been in the country of destination, and the level of acculturation. Following this is a description of adolescents' acculturation and identity formation and a discussion of how several major life domains, including family relationships, peer relationships, romantic relationships, education, health, and risk-taking behaviors, are affected by adolescents' experiences as immigrants. The entry then turns to a summary of legal and policy issues facing adolescents, ranging from access to services in their country of destination to potential mismatches in definitions of abuse and neglect between their country of origin and country of destination. The article concludes with methodological issues in the study of immigrant adolescents. Throughout, attention is devoted to ways that socioeconomic status, language proficiency, level of acculturation, and other factors affect immigrant adolescents' experiences. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
