Additional Cultural Insights

    Immigrants face acculturation and familial stress due to finding jobs, learning a new language, and facing discrimination. I feel bad about those people who are immigrants that come to our country and find it hard when seeking greater opportunity. It must take great courage to leave family in order to seek for a better life. I believe having feelings of loneliness, being scared, etc. is completely normal due life's reconfigurations. How we respond to those shifts in our life determines the result. To cope, Mexican immigrants relied on their traditional belief of Familism. At times, it seemed that it did not all quite work out. That sort of "puzzle piece" seemed to fit better in Mexico. Conflict between parents and children began to occur as parents asserted their authority. They laid down restrictions without question. For this being, parents feared that they would become Americanized, or liberal. Becoming liberal meant that children might get into drugs and do poorly in school. Additionally, if they get into trouble, they put their family at risk if they are not legal immigrants (Bacallao 152). Children typically become acculturated faster than adults which creates the acculturation gap. Clashing cultures creates stress. As parents seek to maintain their cultural norms, they create rigid boundaries. Rigid boundaries has resulted in more happenings of behavioral problems and rebellion among the children (Bacallao 142).

     Yes, it is important to consider what cultural values we allow to instill in our children. I agree with Smith in The Family System's Theory, that seeking balance is important between having an open and closed system. According to the Family System's theory, it's better to adopt an open system using negentropy which accepts outside information and altering patterns instead of entropy. That way we can negate further problems and stress. Those children from Mexico need good friends and ways to help them to adjust to the environment.

     Ultimately, I believe that it takes a village to raise a family. It's sad that Americanization is used as a term to describe something that does not define us in what America truly stands for. America is a place of freedom and opportunity. Yes, we have our freedoms, but our foundation is also build on a sense of God and moral values. Those values do not entail do what you want, murder, and steal, and do drugs in the pursuit of happiness. Hopefully, we can rely on our moral conscience to choose between good and evil. Hopefully, we can develop that conscience by the values parents are able to teach their children by spending time with them. Yes, there are some aspects of American society such as drugs and absence of values, but most children get into this because they are looking for a sense of identity or do not have a parent around (Bacallao 157). There are organizations, clubs, and religious affiliations to help children build friendships and a sense of community. This would be a good example of negentropy. I believe there must be a balance between open and closed family systems: instilling important values in our children so that they may choose right from wrong, and allowing them to be involved in the community (Smith). 

References

Bacallao, M.L., Smokowski, P.R. The Costs of Getting Ahead: Mexican Family System Changes After Immigration. Available from https://byui.brightspace.com/content/enforced/287582-Campus.2017.Fall.FAML160/FAML%20160%2001%2c%2014/Lesson%2003-%20Social%20Class%20%26%20Cultural%20Diversity/The%20Costs%20of%20Getting%20Ahead %2c%20from%20Smith%2c%20et%20al.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=IwA2PV5IibsGtaUCjtXs0ZbtW

Smith, S.R., Hamon R.R., Ingoldsby, B.B., & Miller, J.E. Family Systems Theory, Chapter 5 of Exploring Family Theories. Retrieved from https://byui.brightspace.com/content/enforced/287582-     Campus.2017.Fall.FAML160/assets/The%20Family%20as%20a%20Psychosocial%20System.PD   F?attachment=1&_&d2lSessionVal=3VOboZULSrr7SzByUKiKj4Tla