Parent/child relationships in a cross-cultural context: Jamaican -Canadian families from the child's perspective

The study explored the parent/child relationship in the context of cross-cultural relocation. In particular, the study explored the transmission of cultural values and beliefs and the redefinition and negotiation of these values and beliefs within an acculturation environment. Utilizing a grounded theory qualitative research approach, twenty adolescent/emerging adult children (aged between 18 and 26) of Jamaican immigrants of African descent living in Canada volunteered to participate in in-depth interviews. Informants were initially asked to recall various cultural or family practices in which their families engaged while growing up. Practices are considered by many researchers as the visible embodiment of cultural beliefs or values, and therefore, are often viewed as the best means for accessing the ways culture organizes and directs behaviour and thought (Goodnow, 1997; Weisner, 2005).;The study makes several contributions. Jamaican immigrant families living in Canada are relatively underrepresented in the current body of research. The parent/child relationship, specifically the ways in which they attempt to influence one another within an acculturation context, is an emerging issue within the research community. Theoretically, a model of the Jamaican immigrant parent/child relationship was constructed from the data collected that informs both developmental research (socialization and parent/child relations) and acculturation research (traditional models of cultural transmission).;Various practices, such as family meal times and food preparation, disciplinary episodes, family storytelling, religious practices, and chores provided insight into the transmission of values and beliefs and any changes that occurred in these values and beliefs due to the families' cross-cultural relocation. As these various practices were examined, several themes emerged: the focus within the Black-Jamaican family upon women (matrifocality); the need for children to respect their elders or other people in authority (respect); the construction of what it means to be part of the family (intentionality in family membership); and, family stories about the rationale for the cross-cultural relocation from Jamaica to Canada (stories of a better life). Woven throughout the above themes were the strands of adaptation to the adopted Canadian culture (acculturation) and the agency or influence that the child exerts on the parent/family (child influence/bi-directionality).