Little Italies

• As Italian-American immigrants settled into the United States, they formed community clusters that became known as "Little Italies." These clusters were formed based upon family and "old-world" village connections. Part of the reason why "Little Italies" were formed was to provide a sense of belonging and shield some of the prejudice the Italian-Americans were subjected to by mainstream American society. Within each cluster, subgroups related to artistic, recreation, language and religion began to develop to foster the tradition of community loyalty.
  
  

Family Cohesiveness

• The notion of family in Italian-American culture is deeply rooted in the philosophy that life's tasks get accomplished together. To this subset of American culture, the family is tied together by blood and is extended to include those associated by marriage or distant relation. When families began establishing American roots, the common view was that the family was almost like a company. An individual may not have been acquainted yet with some of his relatives, but acceptance and cohesiveness as a member of the unit was almost guaranteed.
  
  

Traditional Gender Dynamics

• While males were considered to be the head of the household, it was the female who took charge of the family's life at home. Husbands and fathers held authority in public, rarely encountering questions of that position from their wives and children. Even though the male was responsible for directing the family, the female played a significant role in maintaining relations with extended family members, friends, and other societal connections. Dating was quite formal and marriages were sometimes arranged.
  
  

The Modern Italian-American Family

• The modern Italian-American family became more progressive in terms of its relations between the sexes and the idea of cohesiveness. Starting with the second-generation, families started to become more individualized. The ideas of neighborhood and family loyalty still remained strong. Eventually, the family unit began to more closely model that of the typical American family with both parents working outside of the home. Family size decreased and the idea of extended family togetherness declined.