Mothers’ Dreams, Children Realities: The Case of Uprooted Families from South Lebanon

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12142
• Date: 01 June 2016
• Author: Therese Dabbagh,Jenny Kurman,Dorit Roer‐Strier
• Published date: 01 June 2016

Mothers’ Dreams, Children Realities: The Case of

Uprooted Families from South Lebanon

THERESE DABBAGH*

DORIT ROER-STRIER

†

JENNY KURMAN

‡

In this exploratory qualitative study, 15 mothers and 18 adolescents who, as family

members of the South Lebanon Army, were uprooted from that country and now living in

Israel, were interviewed separately. The mothers described their image of the adaptive

adult, which stressed the positive values of loyalty to the family, orientation toward the

group, respect, and acceptance of hierarchy and guided their child-rearing goals and

socialization. The children shared similar attitudes about the importance of family loyalty

and orientation toward the group, but differed from their mothers with regard to the issues

of respect and obedience. We discussed the notion of “liminality,” to further our under-

standing of the families in transition and suggest how it applies to the uprooted members

of South Lebanon army. We suggest that different time orientations and contextual factors

influence the participating mothers’ image of the adaptive adult and the degree to which

their children accept it. Implications for research and interventions are also explored.

Keywords: Uprooted; Immigration; Socialization; Adaptive Adult Image; Culture Change

Fam Proc 55:354–367, 2016

The socialization literature concerning immigrant families is growing rapidly. How-

ever, there is a scarcity of studies on uprooted families, who are defined as the group

of migratory individuals who moved involuntarily from one society to another and who

tend to see themselves as being in the new country temporarily. Uprootedness create s

challenges for personal and family development. Following immigration, individuals often

struggle to adapt to their new country of residence while simultaneously maintaining

significant aspects of their culture of origin, such as traditional values and ethnic identity

(Kwak & Berry, 2001). The uprooted families experience a loss of country, family, and way

of life. Indeed, hopelessness along with a sense of isolation are very frequent among

uprooted (Kotze, Hulme, Geldenhuys, & Weingarten, 2013).

Life in a new location can also lead to encountering child-rearing ideologies and prac-

tices that differ from those acceptable in the country of origin (Khawaja, White, Schweit-

zer, & Greenslade, 2008). A basic theoretical concept for understanding the coping

strategies used by these parents is reflected in the term “adaptive adult” (Roer-Strier,

1996). According to this concept, parents rely on their vision of a future “adaptive adult” in

socializing their children. With regard to the raising of children, the socialization litera-

ture describes two forms of discrepancies. The first is between the parents’ goals and ideol-

ogy in raising their children and those of the society of settlement (Kwak, 2003); and the

*Department of Social work, University of Haifa, Israel.

†

Department of Social work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.

‡

Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Israel.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Therese Dabbagh, Allenby St., 68 A,

Haifa, Israel. E-mail: terez.dabbagh@gmail.com.

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Family Process, Vol. 55, No. 2, 2016 ©2015 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12142