Cultural Control and Internalized Colonialism What Messages Puerto Ricans Internalize about Their Culture?

Multiple psychological frameworks have been developed to conceptualize how people internalize colonial logics about their cultural identity and culture, and how these logics in turn influence their psychological wellbeing. The extant literature has also offered various empirically supported frameworks to understand the role colonialism may have on the cultural identity and psychological wellbeing of Puerto Ricans, a community still enduring colonial oppression. This study analyzes cultural control as a mechanism of internalized colonialism, or more specifically, what messages Puerto Ricans internalize about their culture. The current qualitative research involved individual phone interviews with 12 self-identified Puerto Ricans living in Arizona and Florida. This study used qualitative thematic analysis of the transcripts, and hypothesized that Puerto Rican participants will internalize colonial logics. This study contributes to the foundational understanding of Puerto Ricans’ perception of culture, so a more complete framework can be utilized by clinicians who provide therapy to this unique and understudied population.