There has been a high increase in the rate of immigration into the US. The number of immigrant parents who are raising their kids in the country has also been on the rise. From the 80s, children of immigrants or immigrant children have become the most diverse and the fastest growing segment of the country’s child population. The 2000 US census indicated that about 20 % of the child population in the country is of immigrant parentage or are immigrants themselves ( Delgado-Gaitan & Trueba, 2011) . Contrary from their parents, the children of immigrant parentage or immigrant children, often have little connection to their countries of origin. Hence, they are less likely to refer to another country as a place where they would like to return to. Therefore, they are evaluated in terms and standards of the country where they are growing up. However, the parents and children of immigrants face various challenges as they adapt to the new culture. The essay will seek to analyze the challenges faced by the immigrant parents and children especially when either the parents or one parent is authoritarian.
Despite the fact that most refugees and immigrants perceive their immigration into the US as an opportunity for a fresh start, the parents often face struggles immediately they arrive into the US. The problems are complex and many. Authoritarian parents often have well-ordered and extensively structured environments for their families. Virtues that are emphasized by authoritarian parents include respect for tradition, authority, and order and work ( Fuligni, 2007) . Often, the authoritarian immigrant parents expect their children to respect the regulations without dissent or questions. In some cases, their parent style may involve physical punishment or spanking. There are often conflicting cultural practices when it comes to raising children. The adaptation of the immigrant families is dependent on cultural differences national origins, patterns of settlement and the socioeconomic backgrounds ( Fuligni, 2007) .
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Challenges facing Authoritarian Immigrant Parents
Most of the migrant parents who are in the country insist that the presence of an immigrant status has hindered them from being treated equally in the workplace. However, there are two kinds of immigrants. The first type includes the immigrants who arrived in the country a long time ago and have had the opportunity to master and adapt to the lifestyle. Furthermore, their children do not have the status of an immigrant or a refugee and have adapted quite well to the American culture ( Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. 2011) . The other type is the group that arrived in the country recently and is struggling to adapt to the culture of the American people. The first challenge that is faced by the new immigrants is speaking English. An immigrant parent, who cannot communicate effectively in English, faces various challenges when looking for jobs and communicating with other American people.
The immigrant parents often want to be treated equally with other people. They yearn to be given the same form of service that is received by other people. For instance, they expect to be offered the right medicines and proper treatment at the hospitals as everyone else. In most case, they are not allowed to continue their lives in their previous profession. For instance, an immigrant parent may have been a teacher or a school principal, but when they arrive in the US, they cannot continue in their previous professional and some are forced to work in hotels or factories ( Delgado-Gaitan & Trueba, 2011) . Furthermore, the parents are often concerned about the security of their families from the anti-immigrants. For instance, a white American neighbor once stood at the door and started shouting at his Congolese neighbor to go back to his previous home in Africa because the immigrants were increasing rapidly and making them feel like minorities in their country.
Most authoritarian immigrant parents often face difficulties when raising their children in a different country. The children often adapt to their new environment quite quickly and may adapt some behaviors that their parents cannot tolerate such as dressing, social interactions, or attitudes. Usually, the parents want their children to maintain their traditions and culture, but few children do that ( Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. 2011) . The authoritative parenting style does not involve negotiation or reasoning with their children. The rules should be followed exclusively. It is quite difficult to bring up their children in a culture that may contradict their norms and values. Most immigrant parents are quite protective of their children. They often do not argue. The authority of the parent is supreme. The children are not allowed to argue with the parents’ directives. The family talks are often quite serious and are usually not discussions but directives to the children on how they should behave.
The discipline techniques of authoritarian immigrant parents are also different from the American culture. The disciplining methods of immigrant parents are often prohibited according to the child protection laws. The challenges accelerate when child protection agencies become involves. In most cases, the immigrants have never had such protocols when dealing with their family issues. The inadequate knowledge or understanding of the country’s laws may cause mistrust or panic when the immigrant parents come into contact with the child protection services caseworkers. When the CPS caseworkers are involved, the immigrant parents often feel that the government is keen on taking away their kids ( Delgado-Gaitan & Trueba, 2011) . Some of them believe that when their children are placed temporarily in foster care, they may never see them or they have lost custody of their children. Most of the immigrant families do not trust the government because, in their home countries, they faced persecution from their government.
Due to the challenges that are faced by immigrant parents, there may be a need for educating immigrant parents. Similar to professionals who go back to school to refresh their skills, authoritarian immigrant parents may need to be given an education regarding the American culture and laws so that they cannot be frustrated by the culture and rules that they are not accustomed to. Furthermore, more refugee foster parents should be trained ( Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. 2011) . The CPS also needs to be trained regarding the culture of the people that they will be serving. They should be well trained regarding trauma that afflicts most of the immigrant parents. At times, they may decide to release the trauma and frustration through physically disciplining their children. It is critical that they understand the frustrations so that they could be of better assistance to the immigrant families.
In some of the cultures of the authoritarian immigrant families, a parent can take one of the branches of a tree and utilize it to correct their children physically. In their culture, it may be an accepted form of discipline and physical discipline may even be encouraged by their culture. However, in the US, the act of physical discipline is regarded as a felony because it is a form of child abuse. Physical abuse of a child may have negative consequences on their immigration status in the US. Such an offense can lead to a conviction or criminal prosecution of a parent ( Fuligni, 2007) . At times the parents may be deported, or t may prevent their family from attaining citizenship or permanent residency. Immigrant parents should be willing to adjust to the America culture for the safety and welfare of their children. Despite the glaring challenges, they should be ready to face them for the future of their children.
Challenges Facing Immigrant Children in Authoritarian Families
In most scenarios, immigrant children often have difficult names according to the American people. It is one of the difficulties faced by young immigrants in the US. Most Americans have short names that can be easily pronounced while those that possess long or difficult names are pressurized to make their names short so that they can be easily pronounced ( Fuligni, 2007) . During classes at school, some immigrant children may feel embarrassed when they have to repeat their names several times so that their fellow students or teacher knows it. At times other students laugh at the names of the immigrant children because they have never heard them before. Because such children come from authoritarian parents, they are often afraid to discuss the issue with their parents because their parents do not negotiate when it comes to respecting their culture.
Immigrant children from authoritarian families have more cases of aggressive adjustment and behavior because of the non-reasoning type of regulation, physical coercion, and verbal hostility that they were accustomed to at home. One of the traits of authoritarian parenting is an emotional reserve. The parents are quite directive and ignore the expression of warmth. The children may grow up lacking self-confidence because of the fear that they have of their parents. Such children may also fear to get close with other people. Also, the children make their decisions depending on their parents and not their personal beliefs ( Delgado-Gaitan & Trueba, 2011) . Their mannerisms are often reserved because they fear to show excessive displays of emotion because they fear it would “bring shame to the family.”
Moreover, most of the illegal migrants who had recently arrived in the US had limited social networks and extended families in comparison to other groups. Hence, they could get fewer people to assist them when they are taking care of their kids. Also, the immigrant parents often suffer from psychological trauma that results from working for long hours while earning low wages. They often live in apartments that are poorly maintained and overcrowded ( Fuligni, 2007) . Such environments may have a negative impact on the development of their children. The psychological and economic hardship of the parents may have a negative influence on the children’s development because it minimizes the amount of time they spend with the children. Furthermore, it may aggravate the regulations and emotional reserve nature of the authoritarian parents who may decide to express their frustrations on the children. It may also affect the child’s responsiveness, language development, and their warmth to other people. Most of the illegal immigrants are anxious while seeking help and the anxiety may affect their children.
According to the census data, the children of immigrant families are estimated to increase to 30 % by 2017. The ethnic minority groups are growing quite rapidly in the US, especially the Asians. The rapid increase in immigration indicates that more parents and children will have to adapt to the American culture. Such families have to withstand financial stress, discrimination, and isolation by the majority ethnic groups. Another study was conducted on 444 adolescents who were immigrants from China. The study revealed that the teenagers who had knowledge of the financial stress being faced by their families were more likely to have depression ( Delgado-Gaitan & Trueba, 2011) . If the children come from authoritarian families, their cases of depression are more severe than if they came from a permissive family. Furthermore, they had a lower school performance in comparison to other immigrant families that did not face financial difficulties. Therefore, immigrant parents should ensure they make proper arrangements to ensure their children are secure from some of the challenges that are avoidable.
As authoritarian immigrant parent attempt to maintain their ethnicity, there is always the second generation decline. Their children often attempt to invent or reconstruct their ethnicity. Most children face a lot of pressure from other children to assimilate. The formal pressure often occurs at school while the informal pressure occurs through the media and American peers ( Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. 2011) . In most cases, they may be overwhelmed by youth freedoms and culture that were not allowed in the home countries or are not allowed by their parents such as personal choices regarding sex, dressing, and dating. At times they become rebellious against their parent's efforts to maintain their cultural identity. When the children do not obey the regulations of their authoritative parent, they are often scolded and given stories of the importance of culture and tradition. In some extreme cases, the authoritarian parents may decide to disown the rebellious children.
However, not all the effects of authoritarian parenting styles are negative. It was evident that there is an overrepresentation of Chinese immigrants in the country’s elite universities. In most cases, the get better and higher math and SAT scores. It is evident that most children of Asian immigrants outperform other ethnic groups in science and math. The popular belief is that the Asian immigrants often have a higher IQ than the native-born counterparts. However, the study reveals that their performance is no due to high IQ levels but the parenting styles ( Delgado-Gaitan & Trueba, 2011) . Most Asian immigrants come from authoritarian or authoritative parents who are more strict and demanding in comparison to the western mothers. Authoritarian parents who set high bars for their children tend to be more successful. They often spend adequate time pushing their children to achieve, study, or practice. The authoritarian parents often focus on the efforts of their children rather than the innate ability. Also, due to fear and respect for their parents, the children will work hard and support each other in school leading to better performance.
Summary
The essay has analyzed the challenges faced by the authoritarian immigrant parents and children. Despite the fact that most refugees and immigrants perceive their immigration into the US as an opportunity for a fresh start, the parents often face struggles immediately they arrive into the US. The problems are complex and many. There are often conflicting cultural practices when it comes to raising children. Most of the migrant parents who are in the country insist that the presence of an immigrant status has hindered them from being treated equally in the workplace ( Fuligni, 2007) . Immigrant children from authoritarian families have more cases of aggressive adjustment and behavior because of the non-reasoning type of regulation, physical coercion, and verbal hostility that they were accustomed to at home.
The discipline techniques of authoritarian immigrant parents are also different from the American culture. In most scenarios, immigrant children often have difficult names according to the American people. Authoritarian parents who set high bars for their children tend to be more successful. They often spend adequate time pushing their children to achieve, study, or practice. Ultimately, their children are more successful academically than their counterparts. ( Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. 2011) . The research indicated that the children of poor immigrant families could not afford programs that could stimulate the development of their children. According to the census data, the children of immigrant families are estimated to increase to 30 % by 2017. The country should have proper measures that will assist immigrant families to integrate with the American population while having programs that will encourage the native-born Americans to appreciate diverse cultures.
References
Delgado-Gaitan, C., & Trueba, H. (2011). Crossing Cultural Borders: Education for Immigrant Families in America . Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc., 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007.
Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. (2011). Gender and cultural adaptation in immigrant families. Journal of Social Issues , 57 (3), 511-521.
Fuligni, A. J. (2007). The academic achievement of adolescents from immigrant families: The role of family background, attitudes, and behavior. Child development , 68 (2), 351-363.
