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The Puerto Rican Journey: Family Problems and Organizational Support Among Puerto Ricans in New York City
| Article
# : |
19051 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1991 |
3,615 Words |
| Author
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Joseph P. Fitzpatrick, S.J.
Father Joseph P. Fitzpatrick, S.J., is a professor in the
Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Fordham University
in New York City. He has written extensively on Puerto Ricans. |
From 1950 to the present day in the space of two generations, large number of Puerto Ricans have migrated from the island to the mainland. Today, between three and four million people travel annually between the United States and Puerto Rico: Some intend to stay on the continent, others retinent others return permanently to the island, while many others go back and forth visiting family and friends. Most new migrants to the mainland, especially those with children, find themselves in a strange and perplexing world. But, by now, New York's Puerto Rican community should have had time to identify its destiny in its new home. Nevertheless, three persistent problems beyond the natural struggles of acculturation trouble them: poverty (particularly among single-parent, female-headed families), the epidemic of drug use in the United States, and the tragic incidence of AIDS, especially among newborn children.
The institution that must serve as the greatest protection against such problems is the family. Among earlier immigrant groups, it was the stability of the family that enabled newcomers to face the problems of adjustment to the United States. Similarly, the style and structure of the traditional Puerto Rican family feel the shock of transition to New York. Consequently, in the daily problems of life on the mainland, the traditional Puerto Rican family struggles to retain some of the values and strengths that were forged by centuries of tradition and were common on "the Island."
Like earlier immigrant groups, Puerto Ricans in New York have established a number of support organizations intended to provide cultural and moral strength to their families and community. To what extent have these institutions proven successful? What problems still remain? In order to evaluate the present situation, something must first be said about the traditional family as it existed on the island.
Preeminence of the family
On the island, the all-pervasive resource for Puerto Ricans has been the extended family. This extraordinary network of brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts was available to assist in every difficulty a family faced. Families, no matter how poor, shared their resources for a member in need. If a mother became sick, a brother unemployed or homeless, a cousin pregnant before marriage, there were always customary ways of dealing with the problem. Whatever might happen in the world of public or private institutions, each family member felt secure, knowing that a brother or uncle was there to rely
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