This ethnographic project examines sexual communication and negotiation in the context of the political economy of migration. Using participant observation as well as in-depth and life history interviews and secondary sources, the research goals are to explicate the meanings and practices related to gender and sexuality among the transnational population of mid-life heterosexual Mexicans in New York; map ideologies and practices regarding family size and family planning, including histories of negotiation within the context of relationships and couples, embedded within processes of sexual socialization and historical-political-economic structures in the selected population; map experiences with accessing health care services, in the context of this community of low-wage, undocumented, uninsured workers; and explicate the relationships between gender, sexuality, reproduction, parenthood, and labor migration, within the political economy of Mexican migration to New York. The research population consists of Mexican-born women and men in Queens, New York City, ages twenty-two to forty-five. This project aims to contribute to our understanding of how culture changes through interactions between agents and structures; to contribute to an area of sexuality research that has received insufficient attention, which intersects the fields of gender, migration, demography, and health; to increase our understanding of sexual communication among mid-life cohabiting adult migrants; to identify gaps between service needs and utilization; and to offer suggestions on how to improve health programs and services for this emerging immigrant population.

This study investigated the challenges and parent-adolescent relationship factors that contribute to resilience and the successful adjustment of Bangladeshi families following immigration to Canada. The systems framework of family resilience (Walsh, 2006) was used to interpret how Bangladeshi immigrant adolescents and parents experienced and navigated immigration challenges. Using a qualitative approach, four adolescent girls and four parents of adolescents were interviewed to inquire into their experience of challenges related to adolescent development, the immigrant experiences, and parentadolescent relationships influencing their post-immigration adjustment. Immigrant adolescents faced language and cultural barriers, bullying and discrimination in their school environment while rituals, customs and values from their culture of origin diminished. They felt pressured by their parent’s career expectations and felt they suffered gender discrimination in the family. Parents faced economic and career challenges and a difficult parenting experience. Optimism about the future, parental encouragement, mutual empathy of each other’s struggles, sharing feelings, open and clear communication, flexibility in parenting style and anchoring in cultural values and religious beliefs helped parents and adolescents become more resilient in maintaining a positive outlook with a positive view of their immigration. In some cases, the challenges of immigration pulled the families closer together in mutual support. It is hoped that findings from this study will assist in developing effective social programmes to ease adolescents’ and parents’ transitions among immigrants and to promote resiliency in immigrant families. / ix, 133 leaves ; 29 cm