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Parenting Issues of
Newcomer Families in Ontario Workshop Organizers
·
Rich Janzen
MA, Senior Researcher, Centre for Research and Education in Human Services[1] ·
Joanna
Ochocka PhD, Centre Coordinator, Centre for Research and Education in Human
Services Workshop Presenters
Joanna
Ochocka, Centre for Research and Education Workshop Summary
In this
workshop we discussed the process and findings of a recently completed
provincial study on parenting issues of newcomer families in Ontario. Funded by
the Ontario Administration of Settlement and Integration Services (OASIS), the
study was carried out by the Centre for Research and Education in Human Services
(CREHS) and the Joint Centre for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS).
Principal investigators for the study were Joanna Ochocka, Rich Janzen, Paul
Anisef and Kenise Murphy Kilbride. The purpose of this study was to explore the issues faced by immigrant mothers and fathers across twelve language groups, and from three Ontario cities (Ottawa, Waterloo and Toronto). The research also explored the supports and resources that could assist newcomer parents in addressing their parenting issues. Wide-ranging recommendations were generated by a multi-stakeholder steering committee that guided the study. This committee consisted of immigrant parents from each of the study's three sites, a representative of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), a representative of the funder (OASIS) and the primary investigators. The research study used in-depth qualitative methods and a participatory action research approach (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Nelson, Ochocka, Griffen & Lord, 1998) to speak with over 300 recent immigrant parents who were in Canada for less than three years, and were from 12 diverse language groups. A total of 50 focus groups were held (half with mothers, have with fathers) in Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo, and another 48 individual interviews were conducted with immigrant parents in Toronto (36 mothers and 12 fathers). All interviews were conducted in home languages by trained researchers from that linguistic community. Additionally the study completed an in-depth literature review on immigrant parenting and held another 24 key informant interviews with service providers, academics and policy makers across the province. At the heart
of the presentation was a discussion about a framework for understanding
immigrant parenting developed by the study team, study findings and its
implications for public policy. A New Framework for
Understanding Immigrant Parenting
Given the limitations in existing parenting models to describe the immigrant parenting experience, we developed and tested a new framework for understanding immigrant parent. This framework includes the recognition of the immigration process on parenting and directly highlights the implications for public policy designed to support immigrant mothers and fathers.
The
framework begins with parenting
orientations. Orientations are the beliefs, biases and values that form a
parent's expectations for their children's behaviours and hopes for their
children's futures. Parenting orientations include the values parents want to
pass on to their children (what makes a "good" child), the qualities that
parents should adopt (what makes a "good" parent), and the aspirations or
future goals parents have for their children. Parenting styles
are the implementation of parenting orientations. Parenting styles include the
ways that parents relate to and interact with their children. In other words,
parenting styles are how people go about doing parenting; how they shape their
children and the relationships they build with them. The host country context is an intervention, or filter, potentially impacting the parenting orientations and parenting styles of newcomers. As people settling in a new country, immigrant parents have entered into a new context. They form opinions about what they perceive to be the "parenting ways" in this new host country. These ways of parenting might be similar or different to the ones that they themselves hold. Parenting modifications
are the changes that immigrants make in their parenting or understanding and
practice of parenting within their new host country. The immigrant settlement
process has frequently been described as a reciprocal relationship between
immigrants and the host society (e.g., Bourhis, 2000). This "two-way street"
understanding of settlement acknowledges that immigrants not only adapt to their
new home, but that they also influence and shape this society. The final
component in our framework deals with the parenting
supports needed for immigrant parents. We propose that parenting supports
are needed to: 1) help immigrant parents understand and settle within their new
host country, 2) help them through the process of parenting modifications, and
3) help encourage mutual exchange between immigrants and others in the host
country. Study Findings Parenting Orientations - Beliefs, Values and
Hopes When talking
about parenting orientations, study participants clarified the beliefs and
values that guided them as parents today. Three main themes emerged. The first
dealt with the value of respect (usually meaning submitting to authority
figures), the second with the importance of the family and the need to
contribute to family life, and the third with the passing of traditional
religion and culture on to their children. While the
themes of respect and family were common across all language groups, there was a
range of opinions on the significance of maintaining religion and culture.
Participants who emigrated from regions with strong religious traditions (e.g,
Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia and the Punjab) tended to place a very high value on
teaching both religious and cultural values. At the
other extreme were parents who stated that teaching religion and their
traditional language was not a priority. In fact, one facilitator went so far as
to say that learning English was the most important priority for her
participants and their children. As mentioned earlier, all parents stressed
teaching children to respect others and to understand the importance of the
family. Parents
also articulated what hopes, dreams and aspirations they held for their
children's future. Most participants were very optimistic of their
children's future in Canada for their families here in Canada. The most common
hopes that parents, particularly fathers, had for their children centred on
their long-term economic security and on getting a good education. Education was
usually seen as the key to an economically successful future and parents often
held high educational goals for their
children. Other hopes and aspirations for children included maintaining good
values, being healthy and happy, and that children would contribute back to
society. Parenting Styles - Shaping ChildrenWhen talking
about parenting styles, participants often mentioned two prerequisite roles that
parents needed to adopt. One role was to be a "provider and protector" of
their children, the other was to provide "unconditional love". In addition
to these two prerequisite parents spoke of four main types of parenting actions
to help them to shape their children. These main types of actions include
"responding to bad", "preventing bad", "presenting good", and
"promoting good". Parents from all cultures generally performed all types of
actions. The
first three main categories of parenting actions (i.e., responding to bad,
preventing bad, presenting good) can be seen as dealing with issues of morality.
That is, parents saw their role as helping their children to understand the
difference between what is good and what is bad. The final main category of
parenting action (i.e., promoting good) was different in nature. The "good"
being promoted was less to shape good behaviour than to shape well-adjusted and
productive adults. For
most participants, shaping their children meant teaching children the difference
between right and wrong (I.e., responding to bad, preventing bad, presenting
good). Mothers tended to use a broader variety of discipline methods, while
fathers focused on more intensive methods such as lecturing their child or
corporal punishment. Canadian Context - Perceptions of Canadian ParentingImmigrant
parents talked about Canada emphasizing similarities and differences between
socio-political, educational, cultural, and lifestyle factors. Major
similarities in parenting with other families in Canada included emphasizing the
well being of their children. Parents also wanted their children to become
respectful, responsible and productive. Major
differences included immigrant parents believing that they were stricter in
discipline, and having closer families. "Normal" relationships where the
father earns for a wife and the mother takes care of children, are challenged in
Canada as well as the idea of "dating," which is opposite to the way many
parents were raised. Parents
also highlighted differences in education, seeing immigrants as placing a
greater emphasis on
education and school. Fathers were more critical towards Canadian education than
mothers. In the view of many immigrant parents, sex education was inappropriate,
as was the dating behaviour of boys and girls in public. Modifications - Parenting in TransitionMost parents admitted that their methods, styles and attitudes towards parenting had undergone major changes with varying degrees, depending on the personal circumstances, individual experience, age of children and duration of stay in Canada. They admitted that they were consciously making parenting changes not necessarily in harmony with what they knew or believed. Some parents found it hard to reconcile their cultural ways of parenting with those of Canadians. Often parents wanted their children to fit in, but they did not want them to act in the "Canadian" way. They also found it hard to raise kids traditionally according to their old culture because the "Canadian" ways of parenting were supported by institutions and the community.The
process of modification involved an ongoing negotiation between what people
believed to be good parenting and what they saw others believe to be good
parenting. Because immigrant parents typically did not have much exposure to the
"Canadian" way of parenting, the process of learning and modifying was often
painful and slow. Many
immigrant parents resisted the power reversals in family roles they experienced
since coming to Canada. These related to children playing important adult
functions as translators, interpreters, negotiators or information providers.
Role reversals were also experienced between mothers and fathers.
Parents spoke of giving more freedom to they children since living in
Canada. Parents of older children (born outside Canada) showed preferences to
stronger control of their children than those having younger children (born
outside or in Canada). Parenting Contributions - Benefits to Host CountryStudy
participants mentioned four main areas. The first dealt with the behaviour of
children with immigrant parents believing that Canadian children could learn
more about being polite, showing respect to elders, eating healthier and obeying
laws. The second area focused on emphasizing that children should take care of
older parents and other less fortunate in society. The third area of
contribution was in the greater emphasis of education and taking a greater
interest in a child's education. Finally, immigrant parents also believed that
Canadian parents could learn about how to be more directive in their parenting
role. Immigrant Parenting
Supports with Implications for Policy
The
workshop ended by exploring the implications of the immigrant parenting
framework for public policy. These implications are based on the study
recommendations which highlight three main themes relevant for government
policy. These include a call for parenting supports that 1) help immigrant
parents understand and settle within their new Canadian context, 2) help them
through the process of parenting modifications, and 3) help encourage mutual
exchange between immigrants and other Canadian parents. The diagram below summarizes their opinions. Notice that the three main components of support correspond to our immigrant parenting framework (i.e., Canadian context, modifications and contributions).
Last updated: December 4, 2007 |
