Introduction
In this paper I will discuss examine how the unique cultural aspects of Korean-Americans and acculturation contribute to the high rates of depression and suicide ideation, using John Berry’s Four-Cell Typology as a model. I will also discuss how their culture influences views on mental health, and how these views determine their attitudes toward seeking treatment and mental well-being.
Psychological adjustment to acculturation is a key factor for Korean-Americans. Coming from a uniquely strong patriarchal and collectivist society, Koreans have deep religious roots in Confucianism that emphasizes obligation to family and society. It is no wonder then, that the process of acculturating into the individualistic, multi-cultural patchwork of America would be a variable in the high rates of depression and suicide ideation of this under-represented population.
Framework of Korean-American Culture and Issues of Acculturation
Koreans are the third largest and fastest growing minority populations in the United States. They are mainly middle to upper middle class, well-educated individuals who are strongly defined by their native culture. This population is defined by three groups: first generation- which are people born in Korea to Korean parents, who have immigrated and reside in the United States, and are either American citizens or have obtained permanent status. A very small part of this population is made up of college-age young adults who have student visas who may or may not have established family or social support. The second generation is comprised of individuals born in the United States to first generation Korean parents. There is a third group, who are individuals who have been in the United ...
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She clearly and logically illustrates her point of view. She writes, “cultural differences are assumed and expected. But when the cultures of individuals are under scrutiny, it becomes clear that cultural borders do not hold their dividing power.” (98) Combined with her ability to logically expound on her view of cultural borders, she uses several anecdotes to further her point. She identifies four individuals who exemplify multiculturalism. Each of these examples share a Korean heritage but have adopted many other cultural markers from additional sources including non-Korean parents, U.S. society, immigration, and through adoption. Chang poses the question, “Would it be possible for one to become culturally more Korean in the morning, German for lunch, ‘American’ in the afternoon, and back to Korean in the evening? In her conclusion and in answer to that question she states, “Once different standards are embraced by individuals, the differences are incorporated into their individual cultures…the cultural differences are reframed into multiculturalism.”
Culture is a collection of religion, traditions, and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture is created and maintained through the repetition of stories and behavior. It is never definite because it is continuously being modified to match current trends, however, historical principles are still relevant. With respect to mental illness, culture is crucial to how people choose to deal with society and the methods used to diagnose and cope with mental illnesses. In Watters’ The Mega-Marketing Depression of Japan, he focuses on how Japan and other cultures define depression, but also displays how the influence of American treatments in eastern countries eventually becomes the international standards. Even though the
...is a negative effect in the American orientation on adolescents. The also examined the indicators for adolescent adjustment, depression, and academic performance by looking at their test scores. These measures provided the view to the acculturation discrepancy hypothesis. The findings also supported that examining is needed specifically in the family as it serves as a mechanism to the relationship for family acculturation discrepancy.
According to the Pew Research Center data, recent trends shows that Asian Americans are the “the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States” ("The Rise o...
How and why does the Model Minority Myth continue to be believed and perpetuated in today’s American society? How do Asian Americans navigate living under the Myth and what are the consequences and effects of those navigations, especially regarding self-identity and mental health? How does the Myth affect the different ethnicities that are grouped under the umbrella term of “Asian”? The Myth was started in the late 1960’s with multiple newspaper articles published about the success of Asian Americans and how that success could be attributed to Asian cultural values. Due to this success, Asian Americans were generalized as a successful minority that did not face discrimination or racism since the Myth was characterized as positive and not hurtful. The Myth has continued to exist and be prevalent today, even with the scholarly understanding that it is indeed a myth. In my paper, I will claim that in order to navigate living under
In this paper I will be sharing information I had gathered involving two students that were interviewed regarding education and their racial status of being an Asian-American. I will examine these subjects’ experiences as an Asian-American through the education they had experienced throughout their entire lives. I will also be relating and analyzing their experiences through the various concepts we had learned and discussed in class so far. Both of these individuals have experiences regarding their education that have similarities and differences.
Because of these high rates of suicide and such low utilization of mental health services among Asian American families, it is important to determine the most obstructing underlying reasons or barriers of this underutilization to better assist and provide services to the Asian American community as well as attempt to minimize these barriers. To identify such hindering barriers that lead to the underutilization of mental health services, three empirical articles regarding this concept, most importantly their findings, will be analyzed. The most recent study pertaining to the topic of underutilization of mental health services was publish in 2015 by Meekyung Han and Helen Pong in the Journal of College Student Development. This study aimed to assess whether well-developed cultural contributing factors (stigma, acculturation, and preference for racially/ethnically concordant counselors) among Asian American four-year college students might also predict help seeking behaviors for mental health issues among Asian American community college
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).
For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and discrimination by other racial groups, they have succeeded socially, economically, and educationally without resorting to political or violent disagreements with the majority race. The “success” of the minority is offered as proof that the American dream of equal opportunity is capable to those who conform and who are willing to work hard. Therefore, the term ...
The general purpose of this study was to find out how attitudes and acculturation processes of people of African American descent impacted their willingness and attitudes toward receiving psychological help. While this was a broa...
Before I analyze how my social location has influenced my experiences, I need to talk about my family’s demographic characteristics in comparison to our community and the larger U.S. society: In my hometown, Asians make up the third largest racial group (23%). Whites make up 51.3% and H...
In Sherman Alexie’s novel Indian Killer, there are many characters who struggle with mental disorders. Alexie states “She was manic-depressive and simply couldn’t take care of herself,” this is just one of the mental illnesses suffered in the book (212). Mental disorders are prevalent in the United States. All races are at risk of mental illness. In the article "Mental Health and Substance Abuse Characteristics Among a Clinical Sample of Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Youths in a Large California Metropolitan Area: a Descriptive Study" Daniel Dickerson and Carrie Johnson state “AI/ANs [American Indians/ Alaska Native] between the ages of 15 and 24 have the highest suicide rates in the United States compared to other racial/ethnic groups” (Dickerson and Johnson, 56). Native Americans are highly perceptible to mental illness due to the historical trauma their culture has endured.
In chapter 28 of the Handbook of Multicultural Counseling, Rivera (2010) explained why there are multiple theories of acculturation in the United States. I can easily understand that acculturation is not a unidimensional process because I have seen and heard of individuals from other cultures coming to America who each react very differently when attempting to accommodate themselves to the traditional customs of the United States (Rivera, 2010). I assume that it can be extremely overwhelming to come into a culture that is so drastically unlike the one you grew up with. Conversely, while many acculturation models state that the integration strategy is the most preferred and successful approach to acculturation because it allows
The conflict between the intergeneration is a direct representation of the Western society. Vu & Rook (2013) stated “The second generation Vietnamese Americans experience supportive behaviors (e.g., affirmation of worth, provision of advice or assistance) and conflictual behaviors (e.g., criticism, failure to provide needed assistance, excessive demands) while acculturating” (p.228). Some of the families are less likely to accept the acculturation of the young to the Western society causing a lack of
Lee, Peter . 2000. "The conception of depression in Chinese American college students." Cultural Diversity and Ethnic minority Psychology 6: 183-195.