ABSTRACT
For the elderly in Southeast Asian refugee families, the experience of aging in America is very different from what they had expected for their second half of life. These elderly Southeast Asian refugees must cope with their rapidly acculturating younger family members, while having to take on different roles and expectations in a frighteningly foreign culture. The gap between the American experience of age, gender, family, and work roles and that of Southeast Asian cultures highlights just a few major differences. Life-course issues such as historical context upon migration, life stage, age at immigration, and acculturation opportunities will have a significant impact upon the adjustment and aging of these immigrants in America. Waves of Southeast Asian refugees who have come to American shores have differed dramatically, for example, in social class or urbanization, and these differences have influenced survival skills and adaptation to American life in predictable ways.
