FAMILY SECRETS - TRANSNATIONAL STRUGGLES AMONG CHILDREN OF FILIPINO IMMIGRANTS

In comparative studies of language proficiency and grades, Filipino se cond generation youth look relatively successful and assimilated, echo ing what we know about their parents: post-1965 Filipino immigrants ar e predominantly middle-class, college-educated, English-speaking profe ssionals who have integrated easily into U.S. society. Based on fieldw ork in two California sites, this paper examines some of the issues an d problems confronting second generation Filipino youth. ''The family' ' for many children of immigrants, yet it is also a deep source of str ess and alienation, which for some, has led to internal struggles and extreme despair as manifested by rates of depression and suicidal thou ghts. More specifically, by focusing on the gap between family ideolog y and practices, this paper suggests that many Filipino second generat ion youth struggle with an emotional transnationalism which situates t hem between different and often conflicting generational and locationa l points of reference.