Date of Award
12-2009
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Chwalisz, Kathleen
Abstract
Intergenerational family conflict is an important experience to study in Hindu Asian Indian families, given the process of acculturation that occurs for immigrant families as well as how Hindu religious beliefs influence duties towards the family (dharma). The current study was designed to understand the various factors that influence intergenerational family conflict including acculturation and religious values in Hindu Asian Indian families. This study is a qualitative group (family) interview investigation conducted in order to identify sources of intergenerational family conflict, understand the retention of cultural values within a family given the process of acculturation, understand if and how Hinduism (religious values) plays a role in intergenerational family conflict and family cohesiveness given acculturation, and find strategies families use to overcome identified sources of intergenerational family conflict. A grounded theory approach was used to study the different families (cases). Separate results for parents and siblings are presented and overall findings are discussed. A theory about understanding conflict for the Hindu Asian Indian family is presented.
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