Kinship and Cohort in an Aging Society: From Generation to Generation

10. The Transmission of Religion across Generations: How Ethnicity Matters

chapter ten The Transmission of Religion across Generations How Ethnicity Matters Norella M. Putney, Joy Y. Lam, Frances Nedjat-Haiem, Thien-Huong Ninh, Petrice S. Oyama, and Susan C. Harris How does racial, ethnic, or cultural heritage relate to the continuity of a religious tradition in multigenerational families? Have religious transmission patterns changed over time and between generations in ethnic families , particularly between today’s youth and their elders? The long-term processes of assimilation and acculturation in the United States suggest that the passing on of a religious tradition from great-grandparents or earlier generations to younger generations is unlikely or perhaps has disappeared altogether. But is this the case? As the immigrant experience has grown more distant, are third- and fourth-generation ethnic families less interested in transmitting their religious tradition to younger generations? Religion often serves as the framework for understanding a family’s or an individual’s unique ethnic identity. Many studies have observed the close linkage between ethnic and religious identities among immigrant families, how religion helps to ease and sustain an ethnic group’s adjustment or even survival in a new cultural and political environment, and how a religious tradition and its institutions serve as a vehicle for sustaining ethnic identity (Cadge & Ecklund, 2007; Ebaugh, 2003; Herberg, 1960; Min & Kim, 2005; Warner, 2005). 210 Religion and Families A racial or ethnic heritage may be nearly coextensive with or defined by a particular religious identity and its practices. The historical relationship between Hispanics and Catholicism is an example. While this close connection between religion and ethnic heritage is enduring in many multigenerational families, in others the connection has become attenuated or altogether severed for younger generations. When members of an ethnic family reject their religious heritage, convert to another faith, or marry someone of a different faith or of no religious faith at all, consciousness of their ethnic background may be weakened as well. Family dysfunctions may similarly intrude on the traditional linkage between religion and ethnic identity. In this chapter we focus on the interconnections of ethnic and cultural heritage , religious identity or affiliation, and the transmission of a family’s religious tradition across generations in eight multigenerational families from different racial or ethnic backgrounds: Hispanic, African American, Jewish American, Asian American, and Italian American. These families are three and four generations removed from their immigrant experience, with the exception of the African American families. Using data from the 38-year Longitudinal Study of Generations and in-depth interviews with a subsample of four-generation families of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds, we explore how a family’s racial, ethnic, and cultural heritage matters in the reproduction of a religious tradition across generations. Despite the extraordinary social and cultural changes of the past several decades, we suggest that in many ethnic families their religious tradition has been sustained or even revitalized as a central feature of everyday life. Background of the Study In exploring the intergenerational transmission of religious tradition in ethnically diverse families, we first discuss religious socialization in families, the central role of intergenerational relationship quality for religious transmission , and how these processes can vary by ethnicity. We then discuss the linkages between religious and ethnic identities as they relate to the immigrant experience in the United States. Massive immigration over the past four decades has greatly increased the ethnic and religious diversity of American families and communities. The effects of this surge of immigration are revealed in recent ethnic population figures and the changing religious profiles of ethnic groups, factors arguing for the relevance of ethnicity for understand- Transmission of Religion across Generations 211 ing religious transmission. Researchers have noticed a shift from ethnic assimilation to cultural and ethnic pluralism as the desired immigration goal. We comment on the implications of this change for religious continuity across generations. Religion and Families In the United States there has long been a synergistic connection between religious institutions and the family, which work together to ensure the maintenance and reproduction of beliefs and values in society through moral and religious socialization of the young. The influence of religion pervades almost every aspect of social life, including demographic patterns of marriage and fertility as well as education and occupational pursuits (Edgell, 2006; King & Elder, 1999; Roof, 1999). Religious beliefs and rituals enacted within the family have a definable impact on individual choices and trajectories across the life course. Central to this...