Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community

Nancy J. Smith-Hefner. Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1999), 335 pp., $19.95 (paper), $55.00 (cloth).

This well-written book presents Smith-Hefner's excellent research on Khmer refugee adjustment to resettlement in the United States. It joins a body of literature on diverse resettled populations which sheds light on issues of transnationalism and major demographic changes in American society. Such work has important implication for public policy, the educational system in the United States, and for those involved in providing services to the everincreasing number of refugees and immigrants in America. The book makes a fine addition to the current literature on refugee adaptation in resettlement.

The author lists several important questions that the book addresses: What is it like to grow up as Khmer in the United States? What kind of person do Khmer adults hope to produce through socialization? What are their aspirations for their children in American schools and in American society more generally? How have...