Immigrant adolescent girls of color: Facing American challenges.

Abstract

A major task of adolescence is the development of a personal identity; events and experiences occurring during that period have enormous power in shaping the developing identity. Adolescents' relative receptivity to the impact of social events, filtered through their families, is mediated by their life stage and has an impact on their individual personality development, including their values, expectations about the world, and themselves (Stewart & Healy, 1989). Ethnic heritage is another powerful influence in determining one's identity, as it is an important factor in developing a sense of belonging (McGoldrick & Giordano, 1996) as well as contributing to issues of inclusion and exclusion. These are major challenges for all adolescent girls, but in particular for immigrant adolescent girls of color who risk rejection and isolation because of discrimination.One purpose of this chapter is to address the unique experiences of adolescent immigrant Asian, Black, and Latina girls, as those experiences contribute to and ultimately influence their identities and development.The framework for this chapter first includes providing a backdrop for the issues specifically involving immigrant adolescent girls of color. Thus, we

Club Amigas: a promising response to the needs of adolescent Latinas

“…Research has consistently shown that the ability to adapt to life in the USA while retaining one's cultural heritage is essential for successful acculturation and may increase the chances of success in school (De las Fuentes & Vasquez 1999; Castro et al. 2000).…”

Gendered Perspectives in Psychology: Immigrant Origin Youth

“…For immigrant youth, this task can be particularly challenging considering the multiple worlds they traverse and live in and the contradictions between the host culture and their native culture and discrimination from the host society ( e.g. , Aronowitz, 1984; Vigil, 1988; Grinberg and Grinberg, 1990; Kohatsu, Suzuki, and Bennett, 1991; Goodenow and Espin, 1993; Phelan, Davidson, and Yu, 1993; Florsheim, 1997; Phinney and Landin, 1998; De Las Fuentes and Vasquez, 1999; Suárez‐Orozco, 2000, 2001; Talbani and Hasanali, 2000). When there is too much cultural dissonance, when cultural guides are inadequate, and when the social mirror reflects negative images, adolescents may find it difficult to develop a flexible and adaptive sense of self.…”

“…For many girls, bridging the different cultures can be very challenging during adolescence, because of the inherent cultural clashes and conflicts between the American culture and their home culture ( e.g. , Sue and Sue, 1973; Kim, 1981; Sung, 1987, 1985; Rosenthal and Feldman, 1992; Goodenow and Espin, 1993; Uba, 1994; Waters, 1996; Florsheim, 1997; De Las Fuentes, 1999). Ginorio and Huston (2001) in their AAUW report of Latinas in education found that many Latina girls experienced a “bifurcated self” due to the centrality of family and religion in their lives and the varied expectations of school and peer groups.…”

The Transformation of Girls to Women: Finding Voice and Developing Strategies for Liberation

“…The research on voice is in its infancy, particularly as it relates to diverse populations, and counselors need to use multiple lenses to interpret recent research findings and how they might apply to girls across cultures. As de las Fuentes and Vasquez (1999) noted, "ethnic heritage is a powerful influence in determining one's identity as it is an important factor in developing a sense of belonging as well as contributing to issues of inclusion and exclusion" (p. 131).…”