who are demographically almost identical to White middle-class nuclear families
(same percentage of married couples, two-parent families, and male heads of house-
hold), show some differences in orientation and family style.
Suzuki (1985) studied Chinese American and Japanese American families and
found that the roles and responsibilities of various family members are based on
the Confucian principles that have informed Chinese society for 2,000 years.
They are more collectively based than Euro-American families, emphasizing the fam-
ily as a unit rather than a group of individuals. Grown-up Euro-American children
may reject their parents’ wishes, saying “I have to live my own life,” but Chinese
and Japanese American children are more concerned about not bringing shame or
dishonor to the family. If Mom and Pop say that they should go to medical school,
they’re going to medical school, regardless of how much they might long to audi-
tion for American Idol.
Euro-American families tend to be democratic, with every member having a voice
in such decisions as what to have for dinner or where to go on vacation. In contrast,
Chinese and Japanese American families are more hierarchical. Parents and older sib-
lings exert full authority over children and younger siblings and require respect and
obedience from them. The only exceptions are made for gender—in some situations,
boys may have authority over their mothers and older sisters.
The Hispanic Family
Like Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans trace their ancestry to many different cul-
tures with different languages, religions, and different family systems: Cuban fami-
lies are very different from Puerto Rican families, which are very different from
Chicano families, and so on (Baca Zinn, 1995; Carrasquillo 1994). Also like Asian
Americans, the more recently Hispanic Americans have arrived in the United States,
the more closely their family system resembles that of their original culture.
Demographically, Hispanic families fall somewhat between Euro-American and
African American families. Most are nuclear families, but they do have characteris-
tics of extended families, with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and more distant relatives
living close together, visiting each other frequently, and bearing some of the respon-
sibilities for child rearing and emotional support.
They tend to be hierarchical by age and gender, like Asian American families, but
here, too, Hispanic families exhibit significant variation. Chicano and Puerto Rican
families are more egalitarian than Dominican and Cuban families; and those from
South America are somewhat more likely to be middle class, smaller, and more egal-
itarian than those from the Caribbean.
Gender equality also increases with length of residence in the United States. The
longer the family has been in the United States, the more egalitarian it will tend to
be. The families of second- and third-generation immigrants tend to be more egali-
tarian than families of older generations (Chilman, 1999; Wilkinson, 1999). This is
probably the result of social mobility rather than ethnicity—the longer the residence
in the United States, the more likely is the family to belong to the middle class.
Forming Families
Sociologists study the variations in the family form and also the processes by which
we form families. To most of us, it probably seems pretty straightforward: After a
few years of dating, you become increasingly serious with one special someone, you
FORMING FAMILIES 391