Second Generations: Past, Present, Future

This paper has a doubting, though friendly, look at the hypotheses of "second generation decline" and "segmented assimilation" that have framed the emerging research agenda on the new second generation. We begin with a review of the basic approach, outlining the logic of argument, and specifying the central contentions. We then head toward the past, in search of material that will illuminate both the parallels and points of distinction between the immigrant children who grew up in the first half of the 20th century and those who will move into adulthood during the century to come. Last, we return to the present, inquiring both into the characteristics of those children of immigrants who might find themselves at risk, and the precise source of any such peril.