Filipino American Community Research Articles

Religiosity, spirituality, and help‐seeking among Filipino Americans: Religious clergy or mental health professionals?

AbstractData from structured interviews with 2,285 respondents for the Filipino American Community Epidemiological Survey (FACES) were used to examine help‐seeking for emotional distress among Filipino Americans. The influence of religious affiliation, religiosity, and spirituality upon help‐seeking from religious clergy and mental health professionals was assessed after controlling for need (e.g., negative life events, SCL‐90R scores, and somatic symptoms), demographic (e.g., age, gender, marital status, education, county of residence, generational status, and insurance coverage), and cultural variables (e.g., loss of face and language abilities). Rates of help‐seeking from religious clergy versus mental health professionals were comparable (2.5% vs. 2.9%). High religiosity was associated with more help‐seeking from religious clergy but not less help‐seeking from mental health professionals, whereas high spirituality was associated with less mental health help‐seeking. Implications for understanding how religious variables affect help‐seeking were explored. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 32: 675–689, 2004.

The Filipino Americans (review)

It is estimated that Filipino Americans are currently the largest Asian American group in the United States. Despite this, books and articles that center on the Filipino American community are still relatively sparse. In the past few years, though, this trend has been steadily changing. It appears that scholars and/or activists have effectively made the case that the once "forgotten Asian Americans" can no longer be forgotten. In addition to classic historical accounts by authors such as Carlos Bulosan and Bienvenido N. Santos, more recent works have examined a variety of topics such as: the daily lives of newer Filipino immigrants, 1 the formation of community, 2 and the Filipino diaspora. 3

DOING CULTURE WORK: NEGOTIATING TRADITION AND AUTHENTICITY IN FILIPINO FOLK DANCE

This article uses ethnographic interviews to examine the production of Filipino traditional dance in three separate settings in the Filipino American community: community associations , student ethnic organizations, and professional dance companies. Participants in each setting have used tradition making to pursue different cultural purposes: nostalgia in community associations; the celebration of ''cultural identity in student ethnic organizations; and a technically distinct cultural representation among professional dance companies. At issue is the social construction of and the negotiation of appropriate cultural resources to reproduce the past in the present , that is, a living tradition in each cultural context. Anselm Strauss's (1963, 1978) concept of the negotiated order is used to analyze the static and dynamic qualities of tradition making and to better understand the social construction of local authenticity in each setting. selection of what constitutes tradition is always made in the present: the content of the past is modified and redefined according to a modern significance. Linnekin, Defining Tradition If we recognize that all cultural traditions are constructed , then the goal of presenting authentic traditions can be understood as primarily a rhetorical strategy. Lu and Fine, The Presentation of Ethnic Authenticity This article looks at the social reproduction and reenactment of a cultural tradition. Conventionally, the reproduction of a cultural tradition relies the presumed past existence of a symbolically significant set of cultural practices, for example, culturally meaningful activities, rituals, objects, values, and ideas, that constitute an important community focus and have been codified in such a way that they can be passed on or handed down from an earlier generation to a more contemporary one. How easily such an ostensibly straightforward social * Direct all correspondence to: Samuel Gilmore, School of Social Science, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697; e-mail : sgilmore@uci.edu. Sociological Perspectives, Volume 43, Number 4, pages S21-S41. Copyright © 2000 by Pacific Sociological Association. All rights reserved. Send requests for permission to reprint to: Rights and Permissions, University of California Press, Journals Division, 2000 Center St., Ste. 303, Berkeley, CA 94704-1223.

A Glorious History, A Golden Legacy: The Making of a Filipino American Identity and Community

(1998). A Glorious History, A Golden Legacy: The Making of a Filipino American Identity and Community. Amerasia Journal: Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 192-217.

Depression and Other Mental Health Issues: The Filipino American Experience.

In this book, Aurora Tompar-Tiu and Juliana Sustento-Seneriches present the results of a comprehensive five-year study to reveal the psychological, social, and cultural influences that affect the mental health of Filipino Americans. The book offers practical strategies for treating mental disorders in the Filipino American community and outlines how treatment can be made more accessible and effective. The book is filled with vignettes that speak to the psychological well-being of Filipino Americans. It describes, for example, how it is common for not to express negative feelings openly. The authors' sensitive research on this aspect of their culture explodes the common myth expressed in such comments as Filipinos don't suffer from depression . . . they always look so happy. The book offers numerous examples that demonstrate the difficulties of cultural adjustment - losses experienced in the immigration process, changes in traditional male-female roles, shame-evoking situations in the workplace - that can lead to depression, anxiety, and brief reactive psychoses. Psychiatrists, psychologists and any professionals who work with Filipino Americans will find this book a valuable tool for providing more accurate assessment of their mental health status and ensuring delivery of appropriate culturally sensitive services.

Dual Chain Migration: Post-1965 Filipino Immigration to the United States

In analyzing Filipino migration to the United States since 1965, the authors identify two distinct chains of immigrants. One derives from the Filipinos who entered the country prior to 1965; the other comes from the flow of highly trained professionals who immigrated during the late 1960s and early 1970s. "To establish the historical basis for the two patterns of immigration that unfolded in the post-1965 period, the article begins with a brief examination of Filipino immigration to the United States. An analysis of the modes of entry used in both chains follows this overview. The study concludes with a discussion of the degree of convergence in these two chains and the consequences of each for contemporary Filipino-American community development." Data are from published U.S. census material and from Immigration and Naturalization Service reports and tapes dating from 1972 to 1985.