Parenting Experiences of 1.5 Generation Kowi Parents

Abstract

This research investigates 1.5 generation Kowis’ experiences of parenting and their perceptions of influences on their parenting. The phrase “1.5 generation” generally describes those children of migrants who arrive in their new host country aged between 5 and 17. The 1.5 generation “Kowis,” or the 1.5 generation Korean–Kiwis, may be defined as New Zealanders of Korean descent with dual identities. Individual interviews of up to two hours were completed with eighteen 1.5 generation Kowi individuals who had arrived in New Zealand before 2002. On arrival they were aged between 5 and 17 and are now married with children and living in four major cities (Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch) in New Zealand. A constructivist approach to grounded theory methods of analysis was used, enabling information to be gained about the unique dynamics and complex issues involved in Kowis’ parenting. The results of this study demonstrate that Kowis live in a creative tension between multiple, complex and unique cultural influences on their personal identit ies and their worldviews established at childhood. The circumstances have a profound impact on their parenting practices. This study reveals that Kowis’ journey of identity formation and re-formation as migrant children is a key to understanding their present parenting patterns. This finding highlights the importance of supporting migrants from an early stage of migration while they are forming and re-forming their identity and are adapting to the new culture. Tailored support and guidance for migrants and their families as a whole comes across as critical in this study. This study also demonstrates how the influences of socio-cultural environments could enhance or limit the effectiveness of parenting. Kowis experience parenting stress and anxiety when placed in a cultural environment with contradictory values, without guidance and support and/or when culturally incompetent professionals demonstrate a lack of understanding. The current study reveals that Kowis can progress from their parents’ deficiency model to their own model of competency and richness in parenting when supported appropriately. It highlights their potential to relate to their children’s experiences in a more profoundly understanding way than is often the case when based solely on their own childhood experiences of migration and adaptation. This study clearly identifies further paths for investigation in many aspects of migrant family functioning and their parenting.