An Application of Bicultural Model to a Russian-American Immigrant Case Study

Abstract

Russian-Americans have lacked tthe advantage of continuous immigration to the United States. This is in contrast to many other ethnic groups who have been able to maintain a constant rate of immigration throughout the twentieth century. For Russian-Americans, this lack of continuous immigration has caused a number of problems. Lack of central communities, deficiency in English, and other social problems all have contributed to an inability to adjust rapidly to American society. In addition, conflicts are provoked by differential adjustment between the children and their parents, which strain the resources available to facilitate resettlement. The application of deAnda's (1984) bicultural model to Russian-American immigration in two Northwest communities with one specific case study, is used to examine the conflicts that can arise within the family, and demonstrates the importance of the individual variables that can promote or discourage effective adaptation.