Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Transitions In Parenting Among Somali Refugee And Immigrant Families : Acculturation In The U.S. And The Preservation Of Traditional Culture And Values : A Project Based Upon An Independent Investigation, Judith Louise Wolf

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explores the changing experience of family life, acculturation, and preservation of traditional collectivist culture among Somali refugee and immigrant parents raising children in the United States. Resettlement in the U.S. forced many Somali refugees to transition to a new individualistic culture of family values markedly different from their own. Nine Somali refugee and immigrant mothers and fathers residing in Connecticut and western Massachusetts participated in the research. They answered open-ended interview questions focusing on the following topics: 1) Somali parenting styles and values, 2) the preservation of Somali language, identity, and Islam, 3) changes in family systems, …