Two Cultures or One?

This article investigates the cultural identity of two female immigrants from Germany and Poland. Framing the study from the theories of assimilation and accommodation without assimilation, I use data in the form of observations and interviews to explore the ways in which each woman represents her own cultural identity. I draw on personal experiences, social networks, economics, language, and child rearing to show the factors that played into each woman’s struggle to assimilate or to maintain her native culture. The question is raised of how these women’s choices will affect their children as they develop their own identities