Family and Kinship Patterns

Greek immigrants came from a society with a patriarchal and authoritarian family structure. Generally, females held lower status than males, marriages were likely to be arranged, wives were expected to be submissive to their husbands, and kin relationships were based on moral obligations and family honour. Kinsfolk, especially in rural areas, aided each other during family crises, matchmaking negotiations, and seasonal farm work. Such relationships gradually weakened after 1945 under the influence of urbanization, technology, and increased contact with other European countries.

Greek immigrants brought to Canada traditional customs and beliefs but discovered that most Canadians felt differently. In time Canadian values and institutions modified traditional family structures, and women began to enjoy higher status and more economic independence. Greek wives in Canada help to discipline and socialize children and assist their husbands in business, domestic decisions, and economic planning. Their participation in small businesses and employment outside the home have also increased their role.

Children are the centre of attention and interest in the Greek family. Early life involves a high degree of interaction (hugging, kissing, and playing) with parents and relatives. Such contacts extend even into adult life as expressions of solidarity and warmth. Greek immigrant parents, however, tend to demand conformity and respect from their children and often criticize the individualism and freedom enjoyed by most young Canadians. This difference results in family conflict. Many parents argue that an attachment to Greek values and institutions provides psychological security and social control. Striving for respectability and acceptance within Canadian society also accounts for parents’ concern over children’s behaviour.

In Canada Greeks have helped each other to adjust to the new culture. Settled relatives provided newcomers with shelter, helped them to find work, and later offered economic assistance. As soon as immigrants acquired some resources in Canada they sent financial aid to relatives in Greece to buy real estate, establish a business, remodel a house, or pay for the education of children. Such aid was especially appreciated during the 1950s and 1960s when Greece was recovering from World War II and civil war.

Solidarity among kinsfolk can also be expressed at social events. At baptisms and name days, for example, exchange of personal wishes strengthens and renews solidarity. Such occasions may include non-related families, especially those from Greek backgrounds.

Spiritual relationships – established through sacraments such as marriage and baptism – are also important in the family’s social network. Children’s godparents and wedding sponsors, for example, are considered members of an extended family network. Such a relationship involves mutual moral obligations and responsibilities, including provision of economic support when need arises. During the earlier periods of immigration, many Greeks were sponsored by spiritual kinsfolk already established in Canada. Thus, familial obligations and economic cooperation increased the Greek family’s contacts with kindred and other Greek Canadians. A family’s involvement in external social relationships (formal and informal) is expected to increase with socioeconomic status; the higher the social class, the greater members’ involvement in formal networks (as in participation in formal organizations) of the host society.

Marriages of Greek immigrants are primarily endogamous. Community studies confirm that Greek immigrants wish spouses, including their children’s, to be similar in ethnicity and religion. According to the 1981 census, 83 percent of the married Greek immigrant males had chosen spouses of the same ethnic origin, as had 92 percent of married females. The main reason for endogamy is to maintain Greek language and culture. Many Greeks believe that exogamists will inevitably maintain social distance from family and ethnic community and eventually be assimilated.

Despite pressures for endogamy, second- and third-generation Greek Canadians are more likely than immigrants to marry outside their ethnocultural group, especially since the early 1980s. At least 53 percent of the weddings performed by Greek Orthodox churches in Canada during the five-year period 1989–93 were interethnic. Interethnic marriages, however, can involve recruitment for the ethnic group.

In the last two or three decades the Greek family has been a relatively stable unit that provides members with security and identity. It has played an important role in maintaining the Greek language and culture in Canada through socialization of the young and has directed children to conform to the accepted standards of Canadian society and helped them to academic achievement. Though the Greek-Canadian family still possesses many of its traditional attributes, it is in transition, moving towards the North American model. The divorce rate will probably remain relatively low for Greek-born spouses, who have been influenced by the old country’s mores and believe that divorce is a disgrace. The second and third generations, more assimilated, will tend to have more marital dissolution.