Satellite Children: An Exploratory Study of Their Experience and Perception

by

Howard H. Irving, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

and

Shirley Chau, M.S.W.
A. Ka Tat Tsang, Ph.D.
Michael Benjamin, Ph.D.

Co-Investigators

Centre for Applied Social Research
Faculty of Social Work
University of Toronto

Patrick Au

Director, Chinese Family Life Services of Metro Toronto (CFLSMT)
Collaborative Partner

December 1, 1998

"Astronaut" Asian families are those in which one or both parents spend much of their time in Hong Kong or Taiwan, leaving their adolescent "satellite" children to complete their education in Canada. This arrangement affords the children more freedom than some of them can handle. At present, very little is known about the experience of these children. For this exploratory study, taped interviews with 85 "satellite" children were clear enough to allow transcription. Examination of 68 completed transcripts, using thematic analysis and an automatic computer package, NUD*IST, revealed that while most respondents were well adjusted, key problems included language, social isolation, redefinition of their roles in the family, and uncertainty associated with transmigration. The need for further research is clear, while a number of recommendations were advanced aimed at easing the transition difficulties of these and future "satellite" children.

RATIONALE, OBJECTIVES & RESEARCH METHODS

The Chinese communities in Vancouver and Toronto have grown with astonishing speed over the past decade. Much of this growth involves Cantonese-speaking immigrants from Hong Kong, while a second, smaller group of Mandarin-speaking immigrants originates in Taiwan. Irrespective of their origin, most of these immigrants quickly discover that Canadian employment and labour policies make it nearly impossible for them to earn the same high incomes that they had done in their home country. This circumstance has given rise to a number of different coping strategies, including the "astronaut" family phenomenon.

"Astronaut" families are those in which one or both parents spend much of their time in Hong Kong or Taiwan, leaving their adolescent "satellite" children to complete their education in Canada. Despite the rise in the number of such families, very little systematic knowledge is available about this family form, and especially about its consequences for adolescent social adjustment. What is know is disquieting, as a number of these adolescents seek assistance from social agencies serving the Chinese community.

This exploratory study sought to: (a) describe the coping strategies and social adjustment of satellite adolescents, (b) identify those processes or factors bearing on their adjustment, (c) construct a profile of successful and dysfunctional satellite children, and (d) disseminate this information to the appropriate agencies. Towards these ends, preliminary efforts involved: reviewing relevant literatures; meeting with representatives of agencies and institutions in Metropolitan Toronto’s Chinese community; and convening a focus group involving "satellite" adolescents. Based on these data, we constructed an interview schedule, trained a group of bilingual student interviewers, hired a student coordinator, created a sampling frame, and initiated the process of convenience "snowball" sampling. Of 94 interviews, 85 tapes were clear enough to allow transcription. Respondents were 16 to 23 years of age, and even divided between men and women. Analysis of 68 transcripts involved traditional (thematic analysis) and computer-assisted methods (NUD*IST).

Before summarizing the results, a word is in order concerning the central and exemplary role students and collaborators played in this project. The student coordinator, Shirley Lai, recruited respondents, scheduled interviews, sent tapes for transcription, and cleaned and collated data. Student interviewers underwent training, conducted interviews in English, Cantonese or Mandarin, and conducted themselves in keeping with the ethical guidelines. Their feedback to us indicates that they learned a great deal about doing research from their involvement in the project. As for our community collaborators, they acted as an invaluable resource to the project, both in helping us construct the interview schedule, in recruiting respondents, in referring us to others helpful in recruiting, and in giving us the benefit of their wide experience and intimate knowledge of the Chinese community in Metropolitan Toronto. Thanks to all!

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

The results are organized around the nine (9) themes that emerged from our analysis.

1. Background. Prior to immigration, most respondents were from affluent families, with fathers typically factory owners, businessmen or professionals. Wives typically worked, either assisting their spouses or as professionals in their own right. The children were students in an education system that was extremely demanding and highly competitive.

These arrangements meant that: (a) parents and children spent very little time together, (b) father was the head of the household, not just as the central source of income and prestige, but also as the key decision-maker and problem-solver, (c) members uniformly affirmed a traditional definition of the Chinese family characterized by harmony and mutual support, (d) many respondents had few friends, (e) contact with relatives was irregular, and (f) most respondents were relatively naive in the ways of the world, having had virtually all of their needs met by their parents.

2. Immigration. The decision to immigrate was made by one or both parents, typically without consulting the children, and with an eye to improving their children’s educational prospects or making a better life for the family. With little time to prepare, respondents were typically anxious about what lay ahead and sad about what they were leaving behind. As one respondent put it, "I was sad because I will leave my friends at home and a free life. I don’t like it here [in Canada]. I think it was a bad decision" (R58).

3. Adjustment. Adjustment is a process that unfolds through time, it being completed when respondents indicated that they felt comfortable and confident in Canada. While we judged all but five respondents as well adjusted, time to adjustment varied significantly, from a few months to three years. The single most important barrier to adjustment was language, as most respondents reported being unable to speak English on arrival. This was doubly significant, interfering with their academic work and dramatically slowing the feeling that they were part of the dominant culture. While they judged that participation in ESL classes was helpful, their involvement with other Chinese youth, with whom they spoke Cantonese or Mandarin, had the opposite effect. This reliance on Cantonese or Mandarin was a source of friction, both with their White peers as well as with "CBC’s" (Canadian-born Chinese), with some respondents noting that they were the butt of disparaging remarks they interpreted as racist. For example, one respondent said that, "my classmates called me names. There were many racist comments" (R18).

Well adjusted satellite adolescents may be characterized as follows: (a) originate in a well functioning family, (b) in which feelings of closeness and evidence of support remain stable or increase following immigration, © who have or can create a network of supportive friends, (d) who feel part of their surrounding community, and (e) whose financial resources are adequate or more than adequate for their present and future needs.

More generally, we now suspect that key predictors of adjustment include age on arrival and duration in Canada. Among our respondents, those who arrived as youngsters and have been here for up to a decade were the best adjusted, most fully assimilated and most assured in their Canadian national identity.

4. Resources. Adjustment was advanced by the resources at respondents’ disposal. These fell into three categories: technical, monetary and social. Family affluence meant that most respondents had ample monetary and technical resources. In contrast, the majority of respondents found social resources more difficult to come by, with 69% reporting inadequate social support from friends or family. For example, one respondents reported that, "my sister is so busy...now when I am sick I have to take care of myself and that is a big problem" (R27).

5. Self. Additional indicators of their adjustment included: self-esteem, sense of national identity, future plans, and time use. Low self-esteem, especially as regards academic performance, was commonplace, with about half the respondents making self-pejorative comments (lazy, not diligent). Respondents were divided as regards national identity, variously describing themselves as Hong Kong nationals, Canadians, half and half or confused. Such confusion was exacerbated by their transmigratory status, which made it difficult for respondents to know whether in the future they would remain here or return to Hong Kong or Taiwan, and which, in turn, interfered with their efforts at assimilation. Finally, time use related to family organization, time in Canada or gender. Women more than men were expected to help with household chores, thus adding to their isolation. For example, one respondents reported that, "I have to take my mom.... She lacks a sense of direction. I need to take her places" (R5). Similarly, a male respondent reported that, "I feel that since I am the eldest [child] of the three of us here, I have to take care of the house" (R13). In a related vein, the time needed to make friends meant that those here a short time were only beginning to establish a friendship network. Of those who had established such a network, respondents were unanimous in reporting that their greatest source of joy was time spent with their friends.

6. Family. Family arrangements varied considerably, although a visiting father with a resident mother was the most common pattern. This pattern was double-edged. It offered advantages in that members actually spent more time together than had been true in Hong Kong. However, it also offered disadvantages. In fathers’ absence, male respondents were forced to engage in tasks they either disliked or for which they felt unprepared. For example, one respondent stated that, "I think my family is lacking something. For example, it used to be that my father would do the maintenance on the house. Now, as he was not here I am the only male in the family, I needed to take up the job...sometimes I felt annoyed when there are so many things to do" (R79).

In addition, the place of father was ambiguous. His physical absence was a source of longing and loss, for many respondents sorely missed him. As one respondent put it, "I think a house without a father is not a safe place...there is no one to make decisions when big things come up" (R56). Conversely, father was very much present psychologically, with some respondents making almost daily contact with him, either by telephone, fax or e-mail.

7. Social Life. As noted above, friendship networks reflected respondents’ time in Canada. Such friendships were tied to school and/or church, were invariably same-sex, and involved other Chinese youth who spoke the same language. The following remark makes clear how important such friendships were: "sometimes I am so depressed that I don’t want to do anything, not even go to school. Luckily I have a group of friends" (R76). While a substantial minority reported having White friends, these friendships were almost always less close, both as a function of language and culture. Few respondents had an ongoing romantic relationship.

8. Education. Respondents were unanimous in noting that their weak language skills were the key impediment to academic achievement. Even so, the majority of respondents posted average grades in the "B" range or higher. This was especially true in courses such as mathematics or science that were not too closely tied to mastery of English. For the most part, teachers and other staff were seen as supportive and helpful, while a minority were seen as biased against Chinese youth. For example, one respondent remarked that, "Once I was late. My teacher scolded me and asked me not to talk in class. The other day a white student was late. He just asked her to take a seat" (R28).

9. Community. Given their language and culture, most respondents felt part of the Chinese community and showed it by their membership in the Chinese church, their time spent in Chinese malls, and/or their time spent as volunteers for Chinese agencies. Conversely, the majority felt cut off from the dominant culture, based on the language barrier, what they saw as a lack of common interests, and mutually held negative stereotypes. For example, one respondent observed that, "there is also the communication problem with the Canadians because they don’t approach you. I never tell them my feelings" (R26).

CONTRIBUTIONS TO RESEARCH AND POLICY

We undertook this exploratory study because very little was known of "astronaut" families and their "satellite" children. In distilling what we have learned, we close with a range of research questions and a handful of policy recommendations.

Research Questions. By their nature, exploratory studies raise at last as many questions as they answer. This study is no different. While we have learned a great deal, we still know very little about six topic areas: (a) the marital relationship, and how this may facilitate or impede the adjustment of spouses and children; (b) the key attributes of poorly adjusted "satellite" children; (c) the perceptions and experiences of their teachers and other school staff; (d) the perceptions and experience of ESL staff; (e) the role of home care agencies; and (f) the salience of age on arrival and duration in Canada to child adjustment. In future research, these concerns suggest several changes to the current research design, including a different sampling frame, a different and more focused interview schedule, the inclusion of standardized measures (for example, of adjustment), and a broader focus on the entire family system.

Policy Recommendations. The thrust of these data is that despite the many challenges of immigration to a new land, and in the absence of one or both parents, most "satellite" adolescents managed to land on their feet in Canada. Their relative success may be attributed to the interaction among four factors: the extraordinary strength and flexibility of the Chinese family, the support provided by the Chinese community, the available resources that buffered these youth from many of the strains to which other, less fortunate immigrants are heir to, and their socialization into a work ethic which treats tireless and unending effort as the primary route to success.

That said, most respondents indicated that the process of acculturation was invariably very difficult, both for themselves and indirectly for their parents. Accordingly , these data suggest a handful of policy changes aimed at making the process less onerous. These changes would include: (a) assistance to parents, especially fathers, in their efforts to secure employment, including language training for adults, and assistance in job search skills; (b) social support for adults, especially mothers, who, in the absence of their spouse, found adjustment to Canada particularly difficult; (c) increased opportunities for these adolescents to connect as quickly as possible with non-Asian youth, perhaps by means of volunteer placement, community service, and/or non-Asian "buddies"; (d) school-based life skills training for adolescents; (e) higher-level connections between Chinese and non-Chinese service agencies and institutions; (f) opportunities for adolescents, perhaps in a group setting, to work through their ambivalent feelings about their transmigratory status; and (g) greater dissemination of studies such as this to agencies and institutions currently serving these youth, such as Chinese service agencies and the schools.

DISSEMINATION PLAN

As of this writing, we are preparing to send copies of this report to all of our community collaborators. Over the short term, that is, the next three months, we will be preparing a paper for submission to an intercultural journal. Over the longer term, that is, six to 12 months, we will be completing a fuller analysis of our data, including the 21 tapes that have yet to be transcribed. With that analysis in place, we plan to produce a series of papers touching on family and immigration themes, both theoretical and applied. In all such publication efforts, we will credit CERIS for its kind support of this important project.

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