Immigrant Population: Filipino American Families
Sharon S. Joag

Ying, Y. W., & Han, M. (2008). Parental acculturation, parental involvement, intergenerational relationship and adolescent outcomes in immigrant Filipino American families. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 6(1), 112-131.

The above article studied 365 Filipino American adolescents, and their parents. The adolescents completed surveys, while their parents went through interviews, in order to study the hypothesis that immigrant Filipino parents’ acculturation would increase if the parents were more involved in all aspects of a child’s life, from school, to education at home and involvement in the adolescent’s social lives; this increased parental involvement would foster positive family relationships, as well as create a positive influence on the lives of the adolescents, by increasing their self-esteem, and decreasing any depressive symptoms.

One of the major weakness of the study was the limited and narrow population of Filipino American families that were studied.  The majority of the population were speaking English even before they came to the United States. The study measured acculturation primarily on the English speaking ability of the parents.  They are also highly educated, with approximately 43.8% of those studied having a Bachelor’s degree (Ying, 2008), and most had a higher overall income. All adolescents enrolled in the study were also enrolled in school.  The study excluded the adolescents who were not enrolled. A future study should include children who are enrolled in school and those that are not in school; also acculturation should be measured not just by English speaking ability of the parental figures, but also by the length of residence in the United States, or on immigration status of the parents. This would be a more interesting study, and I would be interested in understanding how these factors influence the outcomes of adolescents in the Filipino community, as “acculturation and traditional values [of Filipino Americans] intersect” (Garcia, 2015).

Filipino Americans have a hierarchical society, and a strong family structure, with language continuity for generations after the first generation immigrants came to this country (Ying, 2008). This creates a strong family network and bond, which is one of the major factors in keeping the mental health, and mental stability of the immigrant intact, which in turn leads to overall physical well-being. Filipino culture is “highly collectivistic, with the family as the center of life… [the members of the family are] socialized to sacrifice individual desires in the interest of family harmony. Agbayani-Siewert, 1994 (as cited in Ying 2008).

As future social workers, while helping Filipino American families, it is important to note the relevance of the Family Systems Theory, “where the family unit is the primary social system, including multiple generations as well as extended family…”(Lundy, 2018). Vastly different from the Filipino American culture, is the American culture which is “highly individualistic, and open expressions of feelings and thoughts are highly valued” Althen, 1988; Stewart, 1972 (as cited in Ying, 2008). This difference in cultures can cause a conflict of emotions and a tug of war between two opposing cultures, in the mind of the adolescent.  This intergenerational conflict can be approached and managed by first taking the time to understand the family dynamics.  A culturagram might by helpful in visualizing the family structure and getting a better understanding of the family as a whole (Hendricks & Congress, 2015).

 

REFERENCES:

Garcia, B. (2015). Theory and social work practice with immigrant populations. In Chang-Muy, F. & Congress, E. P. Social Work with Immigrants and Refugees, Second Edition. (pp. 87-108). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Chpt 4 Theory and Social Work Practice with Immigrant Populations

Hendricks, C.O., & Congress, E. P. (2015) Culturally competent social work practice with immigrant populations. In Chang-Muy, F. & Congress, E. P. Social Work with Immigrants and Refugees, Second Edition. (pp. 69-85). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Chpt 3 Culturally Competent Social Work Practice with Immigrant Populations 

Lundy, M. (2018). Practice with families. In Hilado, & Lundy, M. (Eds.). Models for practice with immigrants and refugees: Collaboration, cultural awareness, and integrative theory, (pp. 152-174). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. Lundy 2018 Practice with Families

Ying, Y. W., & Han, M. (2008). Parental acculturation, parental involvement, intergenerational relationship and adolescent outcomes in immigrant Filipino American families. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 6(1), 112-131.