ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the proximate causes of Ghanaian migration to the United States and the West as a whole. It highlights the social and cultural processes influencing the decision to travel abroad. The book explains the structure and composition of the Ghanaian immigrant families and highlights the sociological continuity of family roles among the immigrants and the power and status relations that are forged in the interactions between women and men. It examines the processes involved in the shaping of the immigrants' ethnic and racial identities, and the institutional apparatus that they form to negotiate entry into the affairs of the host society. The book highlights how the youth define, represent, and bring meaning to their own identities. It explores the social and cultural nexus of the relationships that immigrant youth form with other teenagers, including their first-generation parents, and the society at large.
