Russian immigrant mothers in Portugal: integration and parental practices

Abstract

Russian diaspora in Portugal grew notably in these last decades, yesterday`s work migrants became long residents, brought their children and family and attracted increased flow of compatriots to the country. The purpose of this study was to understand the interdependence between the integration of the parents (primarily mothers) to the host society and their parental practices and change of parenting styles according to the classification introduced by Baumrind (1967) and using ecological approach. The integration level of Russian immigrants in Portugal was studied through such dimensions as housing, language, participation in the labour market, perception of Portuguese culture, values and lifestyle, social networks and contacts with home country. The aim was to discover how these dimensions influence the family dynamics (e.g. sharing of responsibilities and time management) and children`s experience in the new country (such as schooling, participation and friends-making). It was a qualitative research of 10 Russian speaking immigrant women raring children in Portugal, focusing on participant`s unique experience and perception of the new country. The data was collected in Russian language through in-depth individual interviews using semi-structured questionnaire, the data was also expanded by field notes made during observations and fieldwork data collected on-line. The results showed that parenting styles indeed could change due to immigration in the process of internalizing lifestyle and values of the host society, but at the same time they also depend on child`s age and mother`s socio-economic status in the host society and the feeling of empowerment/helplessness connected to it.