Cross-cultural Family Research Articles

Challenges and Opportunities in Cross-Cultural Family Research: A Critical Reflection

Challenges and Opportunities in Cross-Cultural Family Research: A Critical Reflection

Combating Trauma Through a Family Approach in Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You

The novel Everything I Never Told You by contemporary Chinese-American author Celeste Ng portrays the challenges faced by a cross-cultural family consisting of James Lee, a Chinese-American university professor, and his white wife Marilyn, in 1970s America. She explores the intergenerational trauma caused by cultural conflicts. Centered around the death of their daughter Lydia, the novel delves into the intergenerational trauma experienced by the members of this cross-cultural family due to familial and societal conflicts. It also depicts how the family members rebuild trust, reconcile with each other, and heal from their trauma. Through this portrayal, the novel highlights the pressing need, amidst cultural clashes and social transformations, to embrace an inclusive and forward-looking perspective to embrace and adapt to the transformative changes.

Latino and Non-Latino White Parents’ Experiences Raising their Child with ASD: An Exploratory Study

There is a dearth of research about the experiences of the Latino population in raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This includes a lack of cross-cultural perspectives and perspectives from fathers. Although there are similar experiences in raising a child with ASD among parents, we hypothesize that there will be different experiences due to culture. The current study is an exploratory qualitative research design, where we sought to understand the experiences of Latino and non-Latino White parents who are raising a child with ASD. Results indicated similarities across all families that include: self-efficacy beliefs, challenges, stress and coping, and goals and expectations. Different themes emerged in the Latino families that were not evident in non-Latino White families. Specifically, Latino families emphasized religion and faith, involvement and love, extended family support, Latino pride, and importance of collaboration. Implications are discussed for further cross-cultural family studies, the need to inform healthcare professionals on the early signs of ASD especially with regard to culture, and the importance of collaboration among parents and professionals.

Inclusive, Democratic Family–Professional Partnerships

Family–professional partnerships are vital to the provision of appropriate and effective special education services for young children. Despite the recognized need, teacher educators in early childhood and early childhood special education have faced challenges in preparing their students to partner with families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In this article, we assert that for pre-service early childhood/early childhood special education teachers to prepare for cross-cultural family–professional partnerships, teacher educators can take a democratic, inclusive perspective and address conceptualizations of culture and language. To this end, we first explain meanings of inclusive education and democratic partnerships. We then focus on conceptualizations of culture and language in developing cross-cultural partnerships. Finally, we provide recommendations to prepare pre-service teachers to form more democratic and inclusive cross-cultural partnerships with families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Japanese Women Migrants in Australia: Situating the Self between Ethnicity and Femininity

Based on fieldwork in Sydney, Australia, this paper discusses the ways in which Japanese women marriage migrants remold their gender identity in the process of settlement. Among recent Japanese migrants to Australia, women migrants, i.e., those who migrated to Australia on account of their marriage to an Australian resident or citizen, constitute the largest number. Their settlement experience suggests navigating relationships and interactions with the local ethnic Japanese community, their cross-cultural family, and the host community. In the process, they situate themselves in daily life through their gendered identity, which assumes as important a role as ethnicity. The maternal role is central in defining their identity in Australia, although for some, this essentialized identity creates ambivalence about the self in the host society.

Applying Cultural Humility to Challenging Cross-Cultural Family Meetings (SA507)

Objectives 1. List new drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2012. For each drug, the participant will be able to describe the approved indication, unapproved uses of the medication, common adverse effects, and drug interactions. 2. For each new medication approved in 2012, describe the burden-to-benefit ratio and the role of the medication in caring for patients with advanced illness. 3. Analyze important drug alerts released by the FDA (Public Health Advisories) and their relevance to drug therapies commonly used in hospice and palliative care patients. Up to 100 new drugs are approved every year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some of these are new molecular entities and others are new formulations, new indications, generic drug approvals, or labeling revisions. Even if a drug is a ‘‘new’’ molecular entity, it may not be ‘‘improved’’ over molecular entities already commercially available. In caring for patients with advanced illnesses, practitioners must make prudent drug therapy choices. Part of this decision-making process is a careful assessment of the burden-to-benefit ratio, including the financial burden of using each medication. This concurrent session is a followup to previous years’ very popular updates on new drugs. For relevant drugs approved in 2012, participants will learn about the FDA-approved indication for using the medication, unapproved uses of the medication (particularly as it applies to palliative care patients), if it is a controlled substance and the schedule (if appropriate), adverse effects, major drug interactions, dosing, and financial implications of drug procurement and monitoring if relevant. Participants will learn what ‘‘NDA Chemical Type’’ (eg, new molecular entity, formulation, manufacturer, indication, or OTC switch) and ‘‘Review Classification’’ (priority, or standard review; orphan drug status) was assigned by the FDA. If available, participants will also learn the ‘‘new drug comparison rating’’ (1-5, 5 being highest in terms of drug importance). Most importantly, the participant will learn about the role of the new agent in caring for patients with advanced illnesses, and how this medication compares with medications already available. Public health advisories and drug-related rumors related to end-of-life care will also be discussed, and their impact on caring for palliative care patients. Inappropriate use of medications in hospice or palliative care patients may result in suboptimal symptom management. This is a session that every healthcare professional needs to attend!

Cross-Cultural Family Structure among Muslim, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon Communities in Rasulpur, Bangladesh

The purpose of this study was to compare family structure patterns among Muslim, Hindu, Santal, and Oraon communities in rural Bangladesh. For this we hypothesized that family structure patterns—marriage, family type and size, residence, role sharing, authority, communication, and property distribution—were not only significantly different but that these patterns of the family structure were also significantly interrelated among the ethnic communities in rural Bangladesh. In so doing 585 males of the ethnic communities selected by cluster random sampling were intensively interviewed with a semi-structural questionnaire in Rasulpur of Bangladesh. Results of Pearson chi-square testing suggest that the family structure patterns were significantly varied. The results of Spearman bivariate correlation coefficients also suggest that the family structure patterns were significantly interrelated among the communities in rural Bangladesh. Further cross-cultural research should be conducted on why and how family structure patterns are significantly different among the communities in Bangladesh.

An Analytical and Interdisciplinary Study to Develop an English Education Program for Children of the Cross-Cultural Family and Foreign Workers

An Analytical and Interdisciplinary Study to Develop an English Education Program for Children of the Cross-Cultural Family and Foreign Workers

Migrant Women Caught between Islamic Family Law and Women's Rights. The Search for the Appropriate ‘Connecting Factor’ in International Family Law

In recent decades ‘conflicts justice’ in the realm of international family law has undoubtedly gained momentum in most European immigration countries. This is largely due to an increase in the number of cases relating to family disputes among migrants submitted to the courts. In the first part of this contribution (§ 2: ‘The legal techniques at hand. The dramatic lack of adaptation of century-old techniques’) I briefly describe how ‘conflicts justice,’ in the domain of cross-cultural family relations, is facing the impact of an unprecedented cross-boundary mobility of people from all over the world. This cross-border mobility has engendered a new type of social and cultural pluralism in most European host countries. In the second part (§ 3: ‘The case of Moroccan women claiming protection under Belgian secular law’) I illustrate the discussion on possible legal solutions for handling the ‘conflicts justice’ consequence of this cross-border mobility by referring to the very problematic position of Moroccan women who have immigrated to Belgium.

Approaches to Madness Shared by Cross-Cultural Healing Systems and Strategic Family Therapy

This paper examines the common sense, naturalistic, and humanistic approach of healers of different cultures and of strategic family therapy with schizophrenia. The premises and techniques include family and community involvement, placing the cause outside the individual, no labeling, and a task oriented treatment. This approach encourages a positive view and may lead to a better prognosis of schizophrenia.

Key Issues in Cross-Cultural Family Research

As communication and collaboration among international family clinicians and researchers increases, opportunities for cross-cultural family research will also increase. Cross-cultural family research poses many theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic challenges. This article describes issues to be considered in approaching cross-cultural research. To illustrate these issues, the authors draw on their own research with Italian and American families in which intrafamilial child maltreatment is the presenting problem.

Counseling the Culturally Different: Theory and Practice

Issues and concepts in cross-cultural counselling: the politics of counselling barriers to effective cross-cultural counselling cross-cultural communication counselling styles sociopolitical considerations of mistrust in cross-cultural counselling racial/cultural identity development cross-cultural family counselling dimensions of world view the culturally-skilled counsellor. Counselling specific populations: counselling American Indians counselling Asian Americans counselling Black Americans counselling Hispanic Americans critical incidents in cross-cultural counselling.

Chinese Fisher Families: Variations on Chinese Themes

Recent accounts of Chinese families, e.g. in the cross-cultural family therapy literature, perpetuate a rather negative and oversimplified stereotype of “the Chinese family”. Extreme patriarchal, conservative patterns of behavior are said to lead to poor communication, tensions, bitterness and psychological problems. South Chinese fishing families work according to a different ideal of behavior, and the ideal is often approximated in practice. It allows good communication and flexible interpersonal behavior in a traditional context. Other such traditional yet humane ideals are noted. Chinese families can draw on theirown traditions for good models, rather than needing to adopt western models of family behaviour, as some family therapists advise.

Cross-Cultural Family Therapy with Southeast Asian Refugees

The article examines the relationship between family therapy and Southeastern Asian Refugees (SEAs). There is an exploration of the family constellation for SEA Refugees and an outline of a three phase developmental family acculturation model. The clinical implications of providing therapy for the SEA Refugee family are discussed including treatment issues and the western therapist's role. Examining western family therapy within the Context of culturally sensitive eastern healing practices is explored with an emphasis an appropriate integration to best serve needs of SEA families.

Cross-cultural family therapy: The escape model

Abstract Family therapists are commonly from the middle-class and represent the majority culture. They are educated in majority institutions, supervised by trainers from the dominant culture, and taught culturally grounded, normative, family behavior. These therapists may have little knowledge of subcultural values and how those values affect family functioning. This paper focuses on the problems that family therapists may have in adopting culturally sensitive perceptions and appropriate techniques. Critical issues in culturally conscious family therapy are discussed, and classical family therapy techniques as they might be modified for Mexican-American or Appalachian families are presented.

The Military Family in Review: Context, Risk, and Prevention

The authors review the research literature concerning the prevalence of psychosocial dysfunction in military families and describe background factors affecting the incidence of dysfunction in military settings. They review available research concerning specific risk factors, including father absence, war and combat stress, geographic mobility, retirement, cross-cultural family constellations, and authoritarian military structure. They discuss variables that may mediate the effects of these risk factors, describe preventive principles and approaches, and clarify issues requiring further investigation.

Answer to Stephen J. Bahr's "Comment on 'The Study of Family Power Structure: A Review 1960-1969'"

The history of science shows that whenever a was formulated, accepted, and satisfactorily used for some time, when finally all the necessary evidence accumulated that showed the inadequacy or powerlessness of the to explain the available data, still the resistance was high. Scientists like to cling to the old, like a child to his blanket. Mr. Bahr should not feel bad for falling in this category, he is in very good company! Theories die hard! Actually, Blood and Wolfe's resource theory (Blood and Wolfe, 1960) has admirably served its function since it stimulated a number of important cross-cultural family studies. As a matter of fact I have been one of

Contextual Analysis and Theory Construction in Cross-Cultural Family Research

Contextual Analysis and Theory Construction in Cross-Cultural Family Research

Determining Nonequivalent Measurement in Cross-Cultural Family Research

English and Spanish questionnaires designed to measure family and social-psychological variables were randomly distributed to bilinguals to determine the proportions of items and scales which produced nonequivalent scores after using back translation procedures in the questionnaire construction. The nonequivalent rate for demographic items was below that expected by chance while the nonequivalent rate for family and social psychological items was greater than chance with approximately 25 percent of items and scales producing nonequivalent measures. The data point to the need for cross-cultural family researchers to pretest their instruments on a group of bilinguals and then discard those items and/or scales which produce nonequivalent measures before the research is carried out. This is seen as a necessary step in the research process in order to increase the probability of equivalent measurement across cultures.

Some Comments on Christensen's "Normative Theory Derived from Cross-Cultural Family Research"

Some Comments on Christensen's "Normative Theory Derived from Cross-Cultural Family Research"