Tri-level Identity Crisis: Children of First-Generation Immigrants

This text captures the profound unacknowledged crisis that is unique to children of first-generation immigrants, by virtue of their being caught in a world of their parents' culture of origin and their social experience in the United States.

The book makes the case for three levels of adolescent crisis unique to this population, namely, the general developmental crisis experienced by all adolescents as articulated by developmental theories; the cultural identity crises experienced by ethnic minority persons as they encounter the layered racialization of American history; and, finally, the unique crisis that arises from conflicting cultural values and morals when first-generation immigrant parents, wanting to preserve native values, clash with their children, who seek belonging in the Western context in which they currently reside. The book traces the psychological, emotional, and social roots of the crisis.

The authors, representing immigrants from different continents, portray the unique, ethnic minority challenges they encounter in coming to the US, exemplifying further the tri-level crisis.

Finally, the book offers ways that parents can be proactive in helping their children navigate the potential tri-level crisis through ITAV (It Takes a Village) camps and family palavers.