Experiences of 12 American families who hosted American Field Service (AFS) international exchange students (ages 16-18) are documented. The purpose of the study was to understand more fully the dynamics of the normal, reasonably satisfactory hosting experience. Each case study presents background information on the family, a narration of…

The dynamics of hosting foreign exchange students were studied by means of a longitudinal documentation of the experiences and feelings of 15 U.S. families before, during, and after the 10 months when they hosted an American Field Service (AFS) exchange student. Data were gathered by means of semistructured, open-ended, audio-taped interviews…