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Understanding Acculturation To fully comprehend the public health issue of poor mental health in Vietnamese immigrants in the United States, one must first understand the concept of acculturation. Recent studies of migrant health have posited that acculturation strongly influences health outcomes. Acculturation has been described by anthropologists since the early 1930’s as “those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous firsthand contact, with subsequent changes in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovitz, 1936, p. 149). Much of the public health research on immigrants focuses on the individual-level changes that occur with acculturation. …show more content…
In other words, recent immigrants to the United States will experience a dip in their mental health, but will regain their mental health as the years go on. This model differs from the popular lifestyle model of acculturation, which implies a decline in physical health with acculturation. Interestingly, much of the research on this model of acculturation derives from studies of Hispanic immigrant populations in the United States, which potentially limits its applicability to other ethnic groups, such as Vietnamese immigrants (Salant & Lauderdale, 2003, p. 72). These theories provide the foundation for making sense of the data surrounding mental health in Vietnamese immigrant communities, and for understanding how post-migration factors play a role in depression and …show more content…
The strong efforts at dispersion in the early resettlement period placed additional obstacles in the way of maintaining existing social relationships (Haines et al., 1981, p. 310). Shapiro et al. (1999) examined generational differences in psychosocial adaptation among Vietnamese immigrants to the U.S. and found that elderly immigrants encounter the greatest number of obstacles in mastering daily living skills such as new social customs and language acquisition. Middle-aged immigrants in the late 1990’s experienced the brunt of the trauma of the Vietnam war, and young adults felt they were caught between two cultures, and experienced chronic cultural conflict leading to mental distress (p.
Phillips, Delores B. "Quieting Noisy Bellies: Moving, Eating and Being in the Vietnamese Diaspora." University of Minnesota Press 73 (2009): 47-87. Print
...gical Distress and Adjustment of Vietnamese Refugees in the United States: Association with Pre- and Post migration Factors. American Journal Of Orthopsychiatry, 78(1), 109-120. doi:10.1037/0002.9432.78.1.109
Just like the durian, my Vietnamese culture repulsed me as a young child. I always felt that there was something shameful in being Vietnamese. Consequently, I did not allow myself to accept the beauty of my culture. I instead looked up to Americans. I wanted to be American. My feelings, however, changed when I entered high school. There, I met Vietnamese students who had extraordinary pride in their heritage. Observing them at a distance, I re-evaluated my opinions. I opened my life to Vietnamese culture and happily discovered myself embracing it. `
Migration has been found to have negative effects on mental health because of circumstances surrounding the move, circumstances of the actual passage, trouble adapting to the new culture, breaks in the migrant’s support system of friends and family, and disappointed expectations of social and economic acquisition.
A number of scholarly works have been implicated in the elderly Asian American mental health. Normal ageing could be assumed differently from people with dementia from the Asian origin creating stigmatization, aggravating severe chronic mental illness (Liu, et al., 2008). Asian immigrants with difficulty in English have made them prone to difficulties in communication creating disparities in the health status specially the mental health (Mui, et al., 2007). Recent elderly Asian immigrants have been experiencing acculturation stress, involuntary resettlement, and barriers in stereotypical intergenerational solidarity (Ng & Northcott, 2010). Education and self-efficacy had positive correlations with health promotion and mental well-being in Asian immigrants (Sohng, Sohng, & Yeom, 2002).
Rogler, L. H., D. E. Cortes, et al. (1991). "Acculturation and mental health status among Hispanics. Convergence and new directions for research." Am Psychol 46(6): 585-597.
The purpose of the assessment is to address the competence of different cultures. As a number of Haitian immigrants in to the United States, it continues to grow at a steady rate (DeSilva, Gonzales-Eastep, Grey, & Nicolas, 2006). It is very important that mental health providers become better informed, and develop the skill sets necessary to combine the providers’ and clients’ cultural backgrounds into the treatment (DeSilva, Gonzales-Eastep, Grey & Nicolas, 2006). I will be conducting an assessment on, Mrs. Hudson an Haitian American woman who was referred by her primary care doctor, because of symptoms that; she is experiencing when she leaves her home. This is Mrs. Hudson’s first time to a mental health counselor.
137). On the other hand, family therapists working with Asian Americans have found the structural approach, combined with strategic interventions, to be helpful (Hays, 2008, p. 185). Sciarra (1999) found SFT was effective in helping immigrant families experiencing intrafamilial separation and reunion (para. 1). For example, parents, who arrive in the United States before their children often expect their reunited children will be immediately happy and grateful, and feel helpless and victimized by their children’s negative behavior, causing dysfunction in the family hierarchy (para. 4). Bicultural effectiveness training, used in the context of SFT, reframes the conflict between reunited immigrant parents and children as a conflict between cultures, and the result of this training is the “transition from intergenerational dysfunction to bicultural effectiveness” (para.
Before I was five, I thought I was Chinese. However, I wondered why I couldn’t understand the Chinese patrons of Chinatown restaurants. Upon learning my true ethnicity, I pulled out a mammoth atlas we had under the bed. My father pointed to an “S”-shaped country bordering the ocean, below China. It was then that I learned my parents were refugees from Vietnam. “Boat people,” my mother, still struggling to grasp English back then, would hear kids whispering when she walked through the halls of her high school. Like many refugees, although my parents and their families weren’t wealthy when they came to America, they were willing to work hard, and like many Vietnamese parents, mine would tell me, “We want you to be success.”
Mental illness is an addition to all of the previously listed perceived disadvantages of Native Americans by those of other ethnicities. Many believe that Native Americans are at a higher risk for mental illness than those of European descent. Many also believe that Native Americans have more people suffer from depression than their white counterparts (Stark & Wilkins, American Indian Politics and the American Political System, 2011). There have been studies conducted to test whether or not this is the case, with mixed results. Some studies say that Natives are at a higher risk and others say they are not. This discrepancy makes the answer unclear. If Natives are actually at a higher risk for and have more people suffering from depression than individuals of European descent, the question to ask is, “why?” Several factors play into depression and other mental illness, including biology, social standing, history, family, and any preexisting/comorbid diseases that could contribute to or cause depression.
Within the United States, the attitude towards Asian American immigrants have changed from being seen as a menace to society to becoming praised as the model minority. Under the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, the United States was looking to accept model immigrants by prioritizing those with higher education and desirable skills for the workforce. This immigration policy caused an influx of middle to upper class Asian immigrants to come to the United States, which is the root for the model minority stereotype that is attached to the Asian American community. Yet, the idea of being the model minority does not extend to all Asian immigrants especially those who came to the United States seeking refuge from various conflicts such as the Vietnam War. Thus, the model minority myth is damaging for the Asian American community because it ignores those who do not fits this stereotype which is reflected in Erika Lee’s book, The Making of Asia America, and the film Children of Invention.
Throughout their history in America, Asian immigrants have struggled in many different ways to encourage this country to accept and respect the diversity of its citizens. Through efforts in labor strikes and military aid such as that in World War II, the American society has gradually moved to accept racial minorities. Asian today have much more freedom than when they first began traveling across the Pacific. However, many still find that they are unjustly viewed by society and treated as “strangers from a different shore” (474).
The social problem we have chosen to address is the mental health status of refugees. Refugees are exposed to a significant amount of trauma due to fear, war, persecution, torture, and relocating. The mental health illnesses that can affect refugees due to exposure to traumas include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Research indicated that refugees relocating from war-torn countries are particularly vulnerable to mental health concerns because many have experienced early traumas and face further post-traumas after relocation (Cummings, et al., 2011). However, despite the prevalence of mental health issues concerning refugees, mental health needs often go unrecognized and untreated.
My specific task for the practicum was to develop a mental health component for Project RICE. I carried out my assignments under the supervision of a faculty member; Dr. Smith. Dr. Smith is a Professor of Applied Psychology. Dr. Smith conducts research on the impact of immigration, community contexts, individual differences, and racial minority status on the mental health of individuals and families.
Cultural Appropriation versus Multiculturalism In today's society, there are many different cultures that individuals identify with. Culture is very important to many people and is something that helps define who we are. When different cultures are respected and appreciated, it is a beautiful thing, it can bring individuals in society closer to one another. Ideally, this understanding of one another’s cultures can lead to multiculturalism.