Balancing Leisure, Community Ani) Cultural Traditions
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BALANCING LEISURE, COMMUNITY ANI) CULTURAL TRADITIONS: SOUTH ASIAN ADOLESCENTS IN CANADA BY SUSAN CLAUDIA TIRONE A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Recreation and Leisure S tudies Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 1997 @ Susan Claudia Tirone 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*l of canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. nie Wellington MtawaON KIAON4 Wwa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loau, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur foxmat électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othemise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. The University of Waterloo requires the signatures of al1 persons using or photocopying this thesis. Please sign below. and give address and date. ... III Balancing Leisure, Community and Cultural Traditions: South Asian Adolescents in Canada As young people enter their teen years, attitudes and behaviors are shaped by the variety and complexity of their daily lives. For teens from farnilies in which the parents did not originate in Canada, the complexities of Iife are further complicated. Leisure mearchers have not focused their efforts on the leisure of minority ethnic populations in Canada and have yet to develop an understanding of how the notion of Ieisure impacts on their lives. The purpose of this study was to explore leisure in the lives of teens and young adults who live in families that have their ethnic roots outside of Canada, specifically in South Asia. It expIored the ways in which leisure as it is known in the dominant culture, impacted the lives of the participants. It also expiored how aspects of Iife such as religion, farnily and cultural traditions impacted their leisure. Critical social theory, the structural-functional perspective of Van Dyke (1972) and social-psychological perspectives often used to define leisure dl contiibuted to the anaiysis and interpretation of the data- Purposive sarnpling was used to identify 15 study participants. Reflexivity on the part of the researcher and study participants dlowed for the collective and individual reflection and reconsideration of the interpretation of the results. The results of this study indicate that as individuals within the minonty ethnic culture move from their traditional "smallcornmunity" toward the "greater society" of the dominant culture. dissonance and conflict emerge. While family remained a valued and central aspect of their lives. conflict often resulted within farnilies as the participants attempted to balance their involvement in aspects of their traditionai cornmunity with leisure that is typically important to young adults within the mainstrearn. greater society. This snidy contributes to the development of theory related to the significance of leisure for this group. It also provides practirioners with a deeper understanding of the transition and additionai challenges faced by teens of minority cultures. as they seek to establish their individuality and self-identity in the context of the greater society while valuing the continuity afforded by leisure of the smdl cornmunity. 1wish to extend my most sincere thanks to those who assisted me dong the way to completing this thesis. Nabil Rehman. Manjit Singh. Dr. Susan George and Pradeep Nair were a11 supportive and extremely helpful when 1asked thern to assist me in recmiting participants for this snidy. Many thanks to Linda Moore for loaning me equipment for tmscnbing the interviews and to Sue Arai and Elaine Clark Rapley for many houn of listing as I developed the ideas that contnbuted to the thesis. To my cornmittee memben; Dr. Alison Pedlar (my advisor). Dr. Susan Shaw, Dr. Jin Zuzanek and Dr. Alicja Muszynski; 1 am grateful for their guidance throughout the three years of my Doctoral studies and for their tremendous support as 1 struggled with my studies and with this project. My special thanks to al1 of the Recreation and Leisure Studies graduate student colleagues, for their feedback and encouragement and to Dr. Mark Havitz who always loaned me articles and books and listened to my ideas. Without the assistance of these people this thesis would not have been possible. For Elizabeth and Danny Table of contents Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Statement of the problem 1 -2 Purpose of the smdy 1.3 The research population 1.4 The history of South Asians in Canada 1 -5 The research questions Chapter 2 The Research Process 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Reaching the participants 2.3 Information gathering 2.3.1 Analysis and interpretation 2.4 Three guiding perspectives 2.4.1 Social psychological theory of leisure 2.4.2 Critical social theory 2.4.3 The work of Edward Van Dyke 2.5 My place as researcher in the research process Chapter 3 Finding Balance 3.1 The dynamics of farnily interactions 27 3.1.1 Centrality of family 27 3.1.2 Seeking pnvacy 28 3.1.3 Parental involvement in the lives of the participants 30 vii 3.1.4 Value of open communication with farnily and friends 3 1 3.1.5 Respect and care within the f~ly 33 3.1.6 The care of eiderly, il1 and disabled relatives 36 3.1.7 Siblings and differential treatment of girls and boys 37 3.1.8 Leisure in the family 38 3.2 Religion and cultural traditions 40 3.2.1 The tradition of ananged meetings and arranged marriages 46 3.3 Education: The pursuit of the best possible life 3.4 Beyond the family: A growing awareness of Ieisure 3.4.1 Developing social necworks: an important aspect of the leisure experience 3.4.2 Dating: An important aspect of leisure 3.5 Television and its impact on life and leisure 3.6 Leisure in spite of constraints 3.7 Missing out on leisure 3.8 Racial intolerance 3.9 The issue of violence 3.10 Pursuit of personal identity 3.1 1 The struggle to sustain cultural continuity 3.12 The best of both worlds Chapter Four: Analysis and interpretation: The SmalI Community and The Greater Society 4.1 Finding balance 88 4.1.1 Literature on adolescents and farnily 9 1 4.2 Leisure: The small community and the mater society 97 4.2.1 The leisure literature 97 viii 4-32Leisure in the srnail community and the greater society 42.3 A Critical review of leisure in the context of this study 4.3 Beyond the family: Leisure and confiict 4.3.1 The conditions for conflict 4.3.2 Community, ethnicity and adolescence: A literature re ivi 4.3.3 A criticai review of the Iiteranire pertaining to adolescents and community 4.4 Living in two worlds 4.5 Summary Chapter Five: Conclusions and Implications 5.1 Addressing the research questions 5.2 The limitations of the study 5.3 The implications of the study Appendix A: An account of this study Appendix B: Recruitment letter Letter to participants and parents Agreement to participate Thank you letter Interview guides References List of Figures Figure I : The data collection process 11 Figure 2: Categories used for data analysis 18 Figure 3: Van Dyke's srnall comunity and greater society 24 Figure 4: Pursuing a sense of balance 89 Figure 5: Leisure in the small community and the greater society 102 Figure 6: Assimilation and conflict 107 Figure 7: Cornitrnent to farnily and culture: Missing out on leisure 109 Figure 8: Teeos and young adults facilitate move dong the continuum 124 Mode1 1 : Leisure in their lives: South Asian adolescents and young adults 128 Mode1 2: Conflict with the leisure experience 131 Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Statement of the problem As young people enter their temage years, attitudes and behaviours are shaped by the variety and complexity of their daily Lives. For teens from farnilies in which the parents did not originate in Canada, the cornplexities of Life are further complicated. Ethnic teens cannot help but be affected by the sarne issues faced by ail teens, but also by the expectations placed on them within their families. Expectations faced by ethnic teens may be culturaily distinct and are les kely to affect the [ives of teens whose families have a longer history in Canada. This study examuieci the issues, probIerns and the chaiienges faced by one group of ethnic teenagers in Canada, particularly as they were related to leisure. Bibby and Posterski ( 1992) refer to the teen years as a "the of rnultidimensional ernergence". Teens are no longer treated as dependent young children, and they have not yet attained adulthood. Therefore. the teen years involve a process of evolution which is profoundly affecteci by peers, the family, the education systen the media, religion and other adults with whom teens are in contact (Bibby and Posterski, 1 992). Studies like Bibby and Posterski's Teen Trends: A Nation in Motion ( 1 992) provide us with information about the social environment in which teens are living in the 1990s. From this study we have a general overview of what teens think about relationships, values. marriage and parenting, sexuality and religion as well as some idea of what teens hope for the future.