Matching Items (4)
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- All Subjects: belonging
- Creators: Nakagawa, Kathryn
Description
Twenty-five percent of Americans are first- or second-generation immigrants (US Census, 2012). Thus, it is likely that many Americans identify with at least two cultures, that of the mainstream United States culture, and their ethnic culture from which they came, making them bicultural. However, current understanding of the impact of biculturalism on psychological functioning is quite limited in scope, as few studies have examined this association longitudinally or considered the moderating role of the cultural environment. The present study proposed to take a more comprehensive approach in understanding the consequences of biculturalism on psychological outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and substance abuse symptoms) among Mexican American adolescents, as they belong to one of largest and fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States (US Census, 2013). The present study had two major goals. The first was to examine the influence of biculturalism on depression, anxiety, and substance abuse symptoms longitudinally over the course of two years. It was hypothesized that overall, biculturalism will lead to less depression, anxiety, and substance abuse symptoms. The results partially supported these predictions. For males, biculturalism was related to significantly fewer anxiety symptoms, but not for females. Further, no main effects of biculturalism were found for depression and substance abuse for males or females. The second goal of the study was to examine the potential moderating role of the cultural environment on the influence of biculturalism on mental health symptoms. It was hypothesized that bicultural individuals will exhibit less mental health symptoms in bicultural environments (person-environment fit) compared to more monocultural individuals (person-environment misfit). However, no differences are expected to ii emerge between bicultural and monocultural individuals in monocultural environments, as both groups should be well adapted in these settings. The results did not fully support these predictions. Though, biculturalism for male adolescents was related to significantly fewer anxiety symptoms in home environments where parents reported moderate degrees of biculturalism, and females' biculturalism was related to significantly fewer depression symptoms in neighborhood environments that were relatively bicultural; no effects of biculturalism were found in environments that were the most bicultural. The implications of the findings are discussed.
ContributorsBasilio, Camille D (Author) / Knight, George P. (Thesis advisor) / Kwan, Virginia S.Y. (Committee member) / Roosa, Mark W. (Committee member) / Gonzales, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
A preliminary critical ethnographic study was conducted to garner Punjabi Sikh U.S. young adults’ understandings and experiences with their cultural, religious, gender, and sexual identity development. Nine participants from King County, Washington were interviewed and engaged in a weeklong self-reflective journal writing activity. This data was then analyzed alongside existing scholarship. This study indicates that participants experience challenges in navigating their bicultural identity, grappling with the historical and present trauma their communities endure. Additionally, to navigate such challenges, Punjabi Sikh U.S. young adults invoke various methods to negotiate their various cultures, identities, and desires, and remain resilient.
ContributorsSahota, Komalpreet Kaur (Author) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Shabazz, Rashad (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Marlon (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Belonging to a tribe or American Indian Indigenous group in the United States, even if one has already been enrolled or accepted into the community, is a lifelong endeavor. Belonging may be achieved by meeting specific criteria during one life stage yet one must continue to behave and act in ways that align with community expectations to maintain a sense of belonging throughout all life stages. This descriptive qualitative case study presents the findings of in-depth interviews, with five individual tribal members, two male and three female participants, ranging in age from 25 to 55, who are college graduates and tribal members. The study aimed to understand the different forms and ideas of belonging for tribal members, how the notion of belonging is understood and achieved over the life course, and how phenotypic arguments, blood quantum, the role of schooling and demonstration of tribal knowledge influences the extent to which belonging is earned and how that can change over time. The study sought to answer the following questions: How do tribal members define “belonging”? How and in what ways do tribal members learn how to become members of the community? And, what can tribal communities and tribal members do to foster a sense of belonging for members who have left to obtain professional or academic training and seek to return to serve the nation?
The study focused on participants the Gila River Indian Community, a tribal community in southwest Arizona with approximately 23,000 enrolled members, who completed a higher education degree and sought to return to serve as professionals and/or leaders at their tribal nation. Interviews were conducted off-reservation in the Phoenix metropolitan area within a 30-day window and held during the month of September
2015. Interviews were analyzed using three iterative levels of content analysis. Findings suggest there can be three methods of belonging within Gila River: belonging by cultural practices, belonging by legal definition, and belonging by both cultural and legal definition. However, the three methods of belonging do not automatically equate to being accepted by other tribal members.
The study focused on participants the Gila River Indian Community, a tribal community in southwest Arizona with approximately 23,000 enrolled members, who completed a higher education degree and sought to return to serve as professionals and/or leaders at their tribal nation. Interviews were conducted off-reservation in the Phoenix metropolitan area within a 30-day window and held during the month of September
2015. Interviews were analyzed using three iterative levels of content analysis. Findings suggest there can be three methods of belonging within Gila River: belonging by cultural practices, belonging by legal definition, and belonging by both cultural and legal definition. However, the three methods of belonging do not automatically equate to being accepted by other tribal members.
ContributorsMolina, Mario (Author) / Brayboy, Bryan (Thesis advisor) / Moore, Elsie (Committee member) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
ABSTRACT
This study focused on the experiences of biracial Asian/white young people in Arizona – specifically, their racial identity; the formation of that identity over time; their sense of belonging in their state and nation; their views on the common societal conceptions of what it means to be an American; and their own conceptions of Americanism. Prior research indicates that racial identity formation for biracial people is usually a process over time as they work through prevalent racism, mono-racism, and mono-centricity. Anti-Asian sentiment and legislation, miscegenation laws, and rules of hypodescent (one-drop rules) also have deep historical roots in the U.S.
This history has left a wake in which all Americans still live and operate today. However, there is also literature that suggests that current society may be headed in new directions. Multiracial people have been the fastest growing demographic in the last two Census polls, and research suggests (and my study corroborates) that the biracial experience often comes with not only challenges but also myriad benefits, to both self and others.
My research is qualitative in nature, and each of the eleven respondents in the study participated in a first interview, a second interview (two weeks later) and a focus group. Abductive coding of the resulting transcripts was around five main themes and twenty sub-themes. The findings both reflected some of this nation’s fraught history (reflected in “American = White” and “Whiteness as Default” subthemes) and provided a hope for the future (especially in the subthemes of “Protean as Strength,” “Dual Perspective,” “Dual Empathy,” and “Self as Quintessential American”). My conclusions indicate that as multiracial people become increasingly common in the U.S. population (as is predicted on a grand scale) and given some of their strengths and unique perspectives on race, their very existence might aid in eradicating racism in society as a whole. Multiracial people may indeed be the quintessential Americans of the future and that may bode well for race relations more generally.
ContributorsChoi, Suzanne Carroll (Author) / Swadener, Elizabeth B (Thesis advisor) / Adelman, Madelaine (Committee member) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022