Communicating Values Across Generations of Haitian Immigrants

Doucet, Fabienne, Dorchester MA

Investigators

Abstract

This Postdoctoral research fellowship research project investigates two aspects of Haitian immigrant experience: (1) ways in which values about education and educational achievement are communicated across generations of Haitian immigrants; (2) how the acculturation of children and older family members (i.e., parents, grandparents) to American society influence this process. Two groups of Haitian immigrants will be studied, one whose adolescent children are first-generation immigrants (Haiti-born) and another whose adolescent children are second-generation immigrants (U.S.-born). The first-generation immigrants will be recruited from current participants in the Harvard Immigration Project. The second-generation immigrants will be recruited from the Haitian community in the greater Boston area. Data will be collected using primary assessment tools from the Harvard immigration project: observations, interviews, focus groups, and academic records.