The Italo-American Teen-Ager

Abstract

In Italy, the Italian peasant family of the turn of the century had been a patriarchal, well-integrated economic unit. Adolescence as an age grade was almost nonexistent. When these families emigrated to the United States, they were drawn to the cities, and the family-community-centered life they had led in Italy was no longer possible. The response of the first generation teen-ager in the United States was charac terized by cultural conflict, and the street corner gangs re sulted. The second generation teen-ager, much more a product of lower-class urban American society than the tradi tional Italian culture of his grandparents, yet still faced with less than complete acceptance by the dominant culture, chose one of three characteristic modes of adjustment. Some re jected any continued identification as Italo-Americans; others sought to re-embrace the Italo-American cultural pattern. Most attempted a compromise by seeking integration into American culture while retaining contact with the immigrant family and way of life. These modes of adjustment have also influenced the third generation teen-agers of these families. Those characteristics which set them apart from other teen agers result from the general position of Italo-Americans in the social structure. As the process of assimilation continues, these differences will disappear.