2022.01 63-1 Studying the Parent-adolescent Interaction Experiences in a Taiwanese-Indonesian Transnational Marriage Family: A Case Study

The educational and upbringing experiences of transnational marriages between Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries have always been the focus of academics and helping professions in Taiwan. As children grow up to adolescence, the parent-adolescent interaction of these families is a topic that needs to be discussed. The purpose of this study was to explore parent-adolescent interaction experiences in a Southeast Asian transnational marriage family in Taiwan, including upbringing, coparenting and cross-cultural experiences. This study selected one Taiwanese-Indonesian transnational marriage family as a case, and semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with all family members, including parents and adolescents. The results are as followed: (1) Upbringing experiences: Parents had gradually changed their upbringing strategies when children grew up to adolescence-from strict disciplines to self-management. The division of parenting work "the father is responsible for family economy; the mother is in charge of care work" was the main upbringing strategy in the daily life or schoolwork. Also, as children grew up to adolescence and accepted school education, the discrepancy of Chinese speaking ability between Indonesian new resident mother and adolescents influenced their interactions. In other words, adolescents showed better Chinese speaking ability than Indonesian mother, and this difference in language proficiency not only overturned Indonesian mother's upbringing role but also affected her parenting authority, especially when quarrels appeared between mother and adolescents. (2) Coparenting experiences: Gender division of housework "male leads outside; female leads inside" was the pattern of parenting practice in this family. Indonesian mother was the main executor in parenting, but in order to facilitate the interaction between Taiwanese father and adolescents, she used her strategies positively, pulling father into parenting alliance. Also, affected unconsciously by ideology of patriarchy and thought of "the father is responsible for family economy", Indonesian mother intended to respect her husband in some crucial parenting decision-making, especially when it came to paying money. (3) Cross-cultural experiences: In this case, Indonesian mother had ethnic Chinese background, so all the family members felt few cross-cultural differences. But when Indonesian mother tried to teach some easy Indonesian words or sentences for her daughter and son at their very young age, it still showed parenting authority discrepancies between Taiwanese father and Indonesian mother-that was, Indonesian mother's native language was not accepted by Taiwanese father at the beginning. However, as pivotal opportunities appeared, like new resident culture courses in school, Indonesian language learning chance brought by Indonesian mother's relatives and adolescents going back to Indonesia with mother to learn Indonesian cultures through practice, Indonesian mother's native culture began to be taught in parent-adolescent interactions. Based on study results, two findings are as followed: (1) With related conditions such as co-parenting consensus, positive acts and cooperation of parents, good use of cross-cultural similarities, and acceptance of differences, it could form positive dynamic system and benefit parent-adolescent interaction in Southeast Asian transnational marriage families. (2) Due to the influence of gender culture and because Taiwanese father was the role of household maintenance and was familiar with local educational system, the phenomenon that new resident mother spent more time in parenting but Taiwanese father was the main decision maker and the career consultant became more obvious as children grew up to adolescence. Suggestions for counseling practices are also elaborated according to this study: (1) Counselors are suggested to give attention to how those different systems and factors bring positive influences to Taiwanese- Indonesian transnational marriage families. (2) Counselors are suggested to be sensitive to hidden power issues in Taiwanese-Indonesian transnational marriage families. (3) Related information and knowledge about Southeast Asian transnational marriage families are necessary for counselors. Also, counselors are suggested to inspect their own values and take good use of family system perspectives when conceptualizing clients or families.

Keywords
Adolescent, new resident, parent-adolescent interaction experiences, Southeast Asian transnational marriage family, Taiwanese-Indonesian transnational marriage.

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