Structural arrangements of Indo-Guyanese family: An assessment of the assimilation hypothesis

Pluralism Assimilation and the Indo-Guyanese family ii ABSTRACT Despite the acknowledgment of pluralism, Caribbean family literature often focuses on the Afro-Caribbean family and does not satisfactorily address the issues of the Indo-Caribbean family. This paper examines whether the Indo-Guyanese differ from the dominant culture of the Anglophone Caribbean in the structural arrangements of the family. Findings from secondary analysis of cross-sectional data of Guyana collected in 2004, suggest that the Indo-Guyanese significantly differ from the Afro-Guyanese in the structural arrangements of the family. Indo-Guyanese were more likely to be in marital unions and have longer marriages than the other racial groups, even when controlled for age. These differences suggest that the present day Indo-Guyanese have not assimilated into the dominant Creole culture, but have retained their cultural traits at least in the structural domain of the family. Hence it was concluded that " Guyanization " appears to be an ongoing process rather than a completed phenomenon in the familial domain of the Indo-Guyanese. familiar de los Indo-Guyaneses.