The impact of international migration on family models

Abstract

This article addresses the problem of the impact of international migration on the evolution of family models. In particular it examines the formative influence of women’s migration on the evolution of family organization and sexual mores. It utilizes the relevant concepts pf „folways” and „sex mores” coined by William G. Sumner, as well as William Thomas and Florian Znaniecki's theory on disorganization in immigrant families. The findings of the three-month fieldwork carried out by the author in Vienna among Polish immigrants provides the empirical background of the article. The discussion of the fieldwork findings focuses on the variety of the family models developed by Poles in Vienna, and on their responses to the existential situation of being between „two worlds”.