GROWING-UP AMERICAN - THE CHALLENGE CONFRONTING IMMIGRANT CHILDREN AND CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS

Since the 1980s, immigrant children and children of immigrant parentag e have become the fastest growing and the most extraordinarily diverse segment of America's child population. Until the recent past, however , scholarly attention has focused on adult immigrants to the neglect o f their offspring, creating a profound gap between the strategic impor tance of the new second generation and the knowledge about its socioec onomic circumstances. The purpose of this article is to pull together existing studies that bear directly or indirectly on children's immigr ant experiences and adaptational outcomes and to place these studies i nto a general framework that can facilitate a better understanding of the new second generation. The article first describes the changing tr ends in the contexts of the reception the new second generation has en countered. The article then discusses the ways in which conventional t heoretical perspectives about immigrant adaptation are being challenge d and alternative frameworks are being developed. Thirdly, it examines empirical findings from recent research and evaluates their contribut ion to the sociology of immigration. Finally, it highlights the main c onclusions from prior research and their theoretical and practical imp lications for future studies.