Book

A portrait of third generation Italian-American family life: interviews and observations with six families

University MicrofilmsAnn Arbor, Michigan • Published In 1991 • Pages:

By: La Russo, Maria grace.

Abstract
La Russo presents a portrait of the Italian American familyin the early 1980s. The information was obtained through participant observation and open-ended interviewing with six middle-class third generation families (Introductory, p.viii). In three of these families both parents were employed in full-time jobs, while in the other three, more traditional in structure, the husband was employed as a full time-wage earner and the wife was a homemaker. Three subjects were selected as the focus of this study: marital roles, child socialization, and kinship relations. La Russo's author's findings indicate that all six families have departed from traditional patterns of family life, generally associated with the earlier generations of Italian Americans, and instead have adopted a more mainstream American cultural pattern emphasizing educational achievement and economic upward mobility.
Subjects
Observation in research
Interviewing in research
Life history materials
External migration
Acculturation and culture contact
Sociocultural trends
Ethos
Household
Family relationships
culture
Italian Americans
HRAF PubDate
2000
Region
North America
Sub Region
Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Types
Educator
Indigenous Person
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 1991
Field Date
No date
Coverage Date
1980s
Coverage Place
New York, N.Y., United States
Notes
[by] Maria grace La Russo
UM 8811703
Includes bibliography
Thesis (Ph.D.) - Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1
LCSH
Italian Americans