| In this paper, I focus on the assimilative paths of second generation immigrants using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study. Primarily my goal is to determine early factors that put these youth at risk of downward assimilation. I use incarceration (in early adulthood) as a conservative measure for downward assimilation. While I recognize that this, in actuality, underestimates the extent of downward assimilation, I feel that it is the most efficient theoretical measure because of its extreme negative, long-term occupational, economic, and social effects. I use logistic regression to analyze a number of independent variables in my attempt to determine some of the early, significant predictors that place adolescents at risk for a downward path into the lower realms of American society. Ultimately, I examine race, length of time living in the U.S., educational-related variables (highest expected education in high school and educational goals of peers in high school), family dynamics/composition (time spent together, parental SES and job-loss), dissonant acculturation (how often parents and children clash over their differences), and feelings of discrimination. With the exceptions of parental socioeconomic status, all of these variables yield significant findings. |
