Journal of Education and Human Development

Family Life Course Development Framework Applied: Understanding the Experiences of Vietnamese Immigrant Families
Natalie Ha

Abstract
Baumrind’s (1971) conceptualization of authoritarian parenting style has been utilized to characterize the parenting practices of Vietnamese American parents, who are known to practice strict discipline and have high expectations of their children. Research has documented the success of Vietnamese parents utilizing authoritarian practices with their children, especially in academic endeavors. Yet, research has tended to generalize the success of authoritarian practices for all Vietnamese American youth. There is a gap in the literature on the success of developmental outcomes for Vietnamese American adolescents. The point of interest is to investigate whether authoritarian parenting practices are effective for Vietnamese American adolescents as they once were as children. For adolescents, forming an identity is an important developmental task. Adolescents are influenced by their peers and question the traditional values of their families, which can lead to intergenerational conflict. Therefore, it is hypothesized that Vietnamese American adolescents who are more acculturated to the dominant culture, with parents who adhere strictly to authoritarian parenting practices, may experience higher levels of family conflict. Therefore, exploration of how authoritarian parenting practices can affect Vietnamese American adolescent’s developmental processes, which include but are not limited to areas of academic success, acculturation levels, and mental health, is important.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v3n4a27