Place, Age, and Culture

Abstract

The social ties that exist within an ethnic group are highlighted through the perceptions of adolescent children of Lebanese immigrants and examined to discern the process of acculturation and the negotiation of ethnic identity. The adolescents studied live in an ethnic community that continues to receive immigrants. They attend school where the majority of the students are of the same ethnic group. They are the first generation in their family to grow up in America. These conditions produce a unique intersection where place, age, and culture converge. Interviews were conducted with 20 Arab American adolescents from this ethnic community. They elaborate on factors that frame their identities through accounts of their social relationships. Positive and negative perceptions of living in an ethnic community are discussed. The parameters of ethnic identity formation and evidence of selective acculturation are detected through the adolescents’ descriptions of their social relationships within this ethnic community.