Social networks and the maintenance of conformity: Japanese sojourner women

Abstract

Asian immigrant women have the lowest utilization of mental health services of any ethnic minority (Garland, Lau, Yeh & McCabe 2005). Because help seeking for distress occurs within social networks, we examined how social networks supported or disabled help seeking for Japanese sojourners living in the US. Unfortunately, most of the literature about Japanese social relationships focuses on men in organizational settings. This study used intensive ethnographic interviewing with 49 Japanese expatriate women to examine how social relationships influenced psychosocial distress and help seeking. We found that the women in these samples engaged in complex, highly regulated, complicated and obligatory relationships through their primary affiliation with other “company wives.” Like many immigrant women, increased traditional cultural norms (referred to in Japanese as ryoosai kenbo, or good wives and wise mothers), were expected from these modern women, and the enactment of these roles was enforced through scrutiny, gossip and the possibility of ostracism. Fears of scrutiny was described by the women as a primary barrier to their self-disclosure and ultimate help seeking. Understanding the social organization and support within the Japanese women's community is central to understanding how culturally specific social networks can both give support, as well as create social constraints to help seeking. Health oriented prevention programs must consider these social factors when evaluating the immigration stressors faced by these families.

Finding the Strength to Heal: Understanding Recovery After Gender-Based Violence

“…Although not in the initial aims, interview evaluations provided evidence that women found the CENI helpful in organizing traumatic experiences and articulating the meaning of low points. Several other studies using the CENI have reported similar findings (Saint Arnault & Fetters, 2011;Saint Arnault & Roels, 2012;Saint Arnault & Shimabukuro, 2012). It appears that by promoting self-awareness and meaning-making through empowerment and narrative self-disclosure, participants can gain insight to enable self-mastery and help-seeking decision-making.…”

The Clinical Ethnographic Interview: A user-friendly guide to the cultural formulation of distress and help seeking

“…The following describes the interview with extracts from the transcripts to illustrate type of data obtained. Analysis of findings from the use of this interview are the subject of other publications (Saint Arnault & Roels, 2011; Shimabukuro & Saint Arnault, 2011). …”

Floating on Air

“…visa status, regionality, immigrant community characteristics, age of children, income, and length of their time abroad). In our sample, critical immigration issues that interacted together included the community organization, visa restrictions, and the developmental phases of the women, as we have described elsewhere (Saint Arnault, 2002; Saint Arnault & Roels, 2012). However, in this study, we also identified that women needed skills to balance self and community expectations.…”

“…We do know that Japanese women are less likely than White women to seek help for high levels of physical and emotional distress (Abe-Kim et al, 2007;Saint Arnault, 2002;Saint Arnault & Roels, 2012;Takeuchi, Hong, Gile, & Alegría, 2007;Takeuchi, Zane, et al, 2007;Williams, 2002). Previous research has shown that there are cultural and social factors besides distress level that can explain help seeking, such as emotional expression rules, fears about burdening others, and stigma related to emotional distress (Saint Arnault, 2009;Saint Arnault & Roels, 2012). This research adds to this science by illuminating how Japanese women view their symptoms as a reflection of a personal inability to mobilize resources or minimize risks in their daily lives, and they therefore find that they need to work harder to negotiate those factors.…”