Culture, migration, and family-value socialization: A theoretical model and empirical investigation with Russian-immigrant youth in Israel

Introduction Values are a core component of culture (Hofstede, 1980; Schwartz, 1999). Early theorists described values as the cultural heritage, passed from one generation to the next, that allows individuals to function efficiently in their social environment and to preserve the structure of society (Mannheim, 1952; Mead, 1934). Cross-cultural studies of intergenerational value transmission are few in number, however. This chapter addresses some of the core issues relevant to the study of value transmission across cultures. We focus on the interplay of culture, migration, and parenting style as they relate to socialization processes. We first propose two different processes through which parenting style and culture may affect value socialization. We then consider the role of parenting style in diverse cultures, focusing on Russian-immigrant and veteran-Israeli youth. Then we examine acculturation attitudes and acculturation contexts as they relate to value socialization in immigrant families. Finally, we briefly discuss implications of the findings for cross-cultural studies of value socialization. The family is an open system in which parents and children influence one another and in which input from the environment influences them both (O’Connor, Hetherington, & Clingempeel, 1997; Whitchurch & Constantine, 1993). Figure 12.1 presents five contexts that constitute this system: parental, child, parent-child dyadic, family, and ecological. Ecological refers to the wider community and culture in which the family is embedded (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). For each context, Figure 12.1 specifies a nonexhaustive list of the aspects likely to affect parent-child value congruence.