Home > Authors > Vikki S. Katz Ph.D. > Kids in the Middle: How Children of Immigrants Negotiate Community Interactions for Their Families (Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies)
Kids in the Middle: How Children of Immigrants Negotiate Community Interactions for Their Families (Rutgers Series in Childhood Studies)
Complicating the common view that immigrant incorporation is a top-down process, determined largely by parents, Vikki Katz explores how children actively broker connections that enable their families to become woven into the fabric of American life. Children's immersion in the U.S. school system and contact with mainstream popular culture enables them more quickly to become fluent in English and familiar with the conventions of everyday life in the United States. These skills become an important factor in how families interact with their local environments. Kids in the Middle explores children's contributions to the family strategies that improve communication between their parents and U.S. schools, healthcare facilities, and social services, from the perspectives of children, parents, and the English-speaking service providers that interact with these families via children's...