Research related to Southeast Asian immigrant families, as of 1993

University of Minnesota Children Youth and Family Consortium. Permission is granted to create and distribute copies of this document for noncommercial purposes provided that the Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project and CYFC receive acknowledgment and this notice is included.

For more information or for copies of the documents listed below, contact the SARS staff at (612) 625-5535.

Abbay, Krisna. 1992. "Leadership and Management: A Comparative Study of MAAs." RPN: Refugee Participation Network 13(June 1992):9-11. Contact: Refugee Studies Programme, Queen Elizabeth House, 21 St. Giles, Oxford OX1 3LA, United Kingdom.

Abbott, Douglas A., and William H. Meredith. 1985. Minority Families: Strengths of Four Ethnic Groups. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Family Relations, Dallas, 4-8 November 1985. ERIC, ED 268 424. Assesses family strengths, marital and parenting satisfaction for Chicano, Native American, Black and Hmong families.

Amerasian Resettlement Program. 1990. "Amerasian Resettlement: Enhancing the Homecoming." Conference proceedings, March 9-11, 1990. To obtain copies, contact Michael Kocher, Director, Amerasian Resettlement Program, InterAction, 200 Park Ave. S., Suite 1115, New York, NY 10003. Phone: (212) 777-8210. FAX: (212) 995-2942. (51 pp.) Free.

American Banker. 1984. "Twin Cities Credit Union for Hmong May Be Their Solution for Finding Loans: Helps Overcome Language Problems for Members of Indochinese Tribe." American Banker 140(December 17): 24.
First credit union run for and by Hmong, sponsored by Lao Family Community, Inc. of St. Paul. It will provide a safe place for Hmong to put pay and welfare checks and will eventually make small loans.

American Refugee Committee. 1987. Growing Older in America: Issues of Aging in the Southeast Asian Refugee Community. St. Paul: American Refugee Committee. Videocassette. Proceedings of a conference devoted exclusively to issues of older Southeast Asian refugees in Minneapolis/St. Paul area, October 15-16, 1987. Coordinated by the American Refugee Committee through a grant by the McKnight Foundation, the workshop's goal was to increase dialogue between mainstream service providers and refugee service providers through dissemination of knowledge, discussion of accessibility of social services, and exploration of beliefs/behavior which affect service delivery to this population. Presenters included Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese refugees. Sessions were the following: Southeast Asian Elders in Perspective, Learning the Basics: Introductory Information and the Aging Process, Older Refugee Program in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Spirituality and Tradition in Life and Death, Cultural Bridges: Volunteer Experiences with Older Refugees, Supporting the Family, Tensions between Generations, Demoralization/Coping Strategies, Continuum of Care: Service Options for the Elderly. This conference illustrates the important role that Minnesota has taken in assisting in the adjustment of the Southeast Asians, especially the older refugee.

Andersen, Karen. l983. "Great Branches--New Roots: Explores Hmong Family Life." St. Paul Park Bugle, March 1983.

Anderson, D. Michael. n.d. "Southeast Asian Refugee Family Stress, Coping and Adaptation." Unpublished paper. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. Program in Health Education. (21 pp.)
This paper examines stress-related psychological and social problems encountered by Southeast Asian refugee families and individuals in their attempt to overcome the crisis of forced relocation to a new land. The elderly retain conservative patterns, while children and teenagers, who are more loosely bonded to their traditions and beliefs, assimilate more quickly. The author reviews journal articles which cite sources of stress for adolescents, and identifies unaccompanied minors as the group that has the greatest need for social and psychological support. Support networks for the Hmong, Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Lao in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, are noted. (SARS abstract)

Asian American Press. 1993. "Clinton Pays Tribute to Vietnamese Girl Who Reunited Her Family." Asian American Press 4(47): 5.

Asian American Press. 1993. "Understanding Key to Helping Hmong." Asian American Press. 4(44): 4-5.

Bempechat, Janine, and Herbert Ginsburg. 1989. Underachievement and Educational Disadvantage: The Home and School Experience of At-Risk Youth. ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Box 40, Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027; phone (212) 678-3433.
An estimated 30 percent of all students in kindergarten through twelfth grade are currently at risk of being educationally disadvantaged. Research conducted over the past 30 years has identified educational, familial, and social factors which influence a child's education. This publication describes and analyses research findings and offers some suggestions on how to address the needs and problems of the growing numbers of at-risk youth. The focus is on poor and minority children.
The authors have divided the information into three distinct sections: 1) demographic factors; 2) problem behaviors; 3) specific educational programs and practices that have proven to be effective in increasing the cognitive development of at-risk youth are presented and analyzed.

Benson, Janet. 1989. "Households, Migration, and Community Context." Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506. (28 pp.). A paper presented at the 1989 annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association. The author's intent was to determine what influence the political economy of meat packing, the local labor and housing markets, and refugee legal status has had on immigrant adaptation and household structure in a small community.
This paper is the product of fieldwork conducted in southwest Kansas which was supported by the Ford Foundation during 1988-89 as part of a national study of American communities. The project's focus was on the Vietnamese and Laotian refugee households in a small Kansas town dominated by the meatpacking industry.
This project found the secondary migrants to the town to be highly motivated toward production but the primary goal for most of the population studied remained family rather than individual survival. The findings suggest that the extended family and other non-nuclear family households have facilitated Southeast Asian refugee adaptation to the United States. In conclusion, the author argues that it is the combination of cultural values and the insecure nature of refugee employment which has made Southeast Asian households mobile and flexible. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Benson, Janet. "Reinterpreting Gender: Southeast Asian Refugees and American Society." Kansas State University, unpublished ms. (18 pp.)

Bettenga, S. Maus. 1987. "Refugee Family Awaits Reunion." Countryside, September 16, pp. 1, 4.

Bishop, Kent Ausburn. 1985. "The Hmong of Central California: An Investigation and Analysis of the Changing Family Structure during Liminality, Acculturation, and Transition." Ed.D. dissertation. University of San Francisco. Available from University Microfilms International, Customer Service, P.O. Box 1764, Ann Arbor, MI 48106; phone 1-800-521-0600, ext. 451. Order No. DA8629401. (223 pp.)
"The study focuses on the changing Hmong family structure and explores the extents of role modification in family relationships, values, and traditions after resettlement in the United States," according to the author's abstract. Biographical surveys were completed by eighteen adults representing three separate Hmong clans. Additional in-depth interviews were done with two key informants. Liminality "is associated with the period when an individual or group moves from one fixed point in the social structure to another," Bishop writes. Significant role modifications were found. "Clan `head men,' `shamans,' and family `heads of households' have suffered the greatest loss of power and self esteem. Women in general, and wives in particular, have gained so much freedom that they often stagger under the weight of their new responsibilities and opportunities," the author writes. One of the subjects, Vang Kua, was a university graduate, the director of information at "Lao Family Organization," and the owner of a market. Another informant, Mai Vang, was a bilingual tutor who, at age 15, married her 30-year-old husband. She describes the mediation problems her family had when her husband's "second wife," after getting pregnant, took her husband to court. While most of Bishop's observations appear accurate, he generalizes to arrive at conclusions that do not always seem to describe the larger Hmong community, perhaps because of overreliance on two Americanized sources. For instance, he concludes that "exogamous marriage (marrying outside the clan) is no longer enforced or seemingly important," and "there is no evidence of the traditional animistic religion." He also contradicts himself, saying at one point that polygamy became more widespread during the war and at another point that it decreased. Bishop's dissertation is available from University Microfilms International, Customer Service, P.O. Box 1764, Ann Arbor, MI 48106; phone 1-800-521-0600, ext. 451. Order No. DA8629401.

Bond, Kate. 1990. "Amerasians and AIDS: The Need for Intensive, Targeted Prevention Efforts." Amerasian Update (September 1990): 1-3.

Boter, Babs. 1988. "Midwestern Americans or Southeast Asians?: A Discussion of the Problems of and Programs for Hmong Teenage Girls in the Twin Cities." Unpublished student paper. Minneapolis: American Studies, University of Minnesota. (14 pp. plus appendices)
Programs for teenage Hmong girls at Lao Family Community of Minnesota, Inc., in St. Paul, and the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women in Minneapolis were studied. The author compares the present-day programs to those offered to second-generation immigrant girls at the International Institutes at the beginning of this century. The program at Lao Family Community focuses "on contemporary and future issues of concern to the girls, such as parent-child conflict, early marriage, pregnancy, and life style and career choices," Boter writes. The program at the Association for the Advancement of Hmong Women provides some opportunities "to discuss social adjustment and family problems, but consists mainly of teaching Hmong and Laotian dances...." Boter notes that the girls in both programs seemed motivated and were unlikely to develop major social problems. Contact the author at 1387 N. Cleveland, St. Paul, MN 55108.

Boyer, Laura M. 1991. The Older Generation of Southeast Asian Refugees: An Annotated Bibliography. Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Occasional Paper Number Eleven. Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), University of Minnesota. Order from H.D. Smith Bookstore, 259 19th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55455, (612) 625-9541. (66 pp. including author and subject indices) $4.00.
Of all the Southeast Asian refugees, it is the elderly who are the most vulnerable and who have the most difficulty adjusting to life in the United States. Traditionally in East Asia, elderly people were revered and cherished by their families and society. Elderly refugees are losing this status and privilege of their age since resettling in the United States. Many are illiterate in their native language and are overwhelmed by the prospect of learning English. "The elders are forced to rely on children/grandchildren for much assistance. Thus, roles are reversed. Intergenerational tensions are exacerbated; and the respected elder role has become one without status....All this contributes to loneliness, homesickness, and depression."
Laura M. Boyer, Reference Coordinator at California State University, Stanislaus, compiled this bibliography for researchers, service providers, volunteers, and anyone interested in understanding the problems and special needs of elderly Southeast Asian refugees.
The 151 citations are organized by refugee group: Cambodian, ethnic Chinese, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese. There is also a section on general works concerning Southeast Asians. The literature reviewed and summarized was published between 1975 and 1990.
"Overcoming these issues/barriers and adjusting to Western culture will be a test of the strength and resiliency of these elders who have sustained losses, endured separations, been stripped of personal belongings, even dignity. As they find themselves strangers in a strange land, they attempt to cope with stressful situations--struggling with a new language, sacrificing to keep family intact as their role diminishes, striving to counteract sadness and isolation. Yet throughout these vicissitudes, they remain skilled in survival."

Brower, Imogene C. 1980. "Counseling Vietnamese." Personnel and Guidance Journal 58(10): 646-52. This general article is written for counselors working with Vietnamese students and their families. It provides specific information to help the counselor establish rapport, avoid misunderstandings, minimize transference dangers, and deal with Vietnamese attitudes toward sex roles and the individual-family relationship. One section of the article discusses explicit and implicit communications, with suggestions for the use of interpreters. [This article was reprinted in ridging Cultures: Southeast Asian Refugees in America, 1983, Los Angeles, Calif.: Special Service for Groups, Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center.] (TAC abstract)

Bruno, Ellen. 1984. Acculturation Difficulties of the Khmer in New York City. The Cambodian Women's Project, The American Friends Service Committee, 15 Rutherford Place, New York, NY 10003. 25 pp.
This report evaluates the problems faced by Cambodians in New York City. In addressing the concerns of youth, the author points out that Khmer children may miss school to accompany their parents as interpreters. Living in a degraded social environment, they adopt the values of the surrounding community without distinguishing between what is good and bad. The author observes a breakdown in sexual mores and a rejection of all that is Khmer. (SARS abstract)

Bui, Diana D. 1991. A Snapshot in Time: Improvements in the Conditions of Refugee Women and Children in Detention in Hong Kong. Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, c/o International Rescue Committee, Inc., 386 Park Ave. S., New York, NY 10016. Phone: (212) 679-0010. FAX: (212) 689-3459. (30 pp.) Free.
In May 1991, Diana Bui revisited Hong Kong to ascertain what changes had been made in the conditions of Hong Kong's detention centers since her earlier visit as part of the Women's Commission delegation in January 1990. This is a follow-up report to the Women's Commission Report on the Conditions of Vietnamese Boat People in Hong Kong_, described in SARS' Fall 1990 Newsletter_. According to Bui:"Conditions in the Detention Centres have improved dramatically since January 1990; in fact many of the Women's Commission recommendations have been carried out. Schools have re-opened....Women's income-generating projects are popping up all over the place. There are now three family planning teams, with a fourth anticipated. Parents can visit children in [the] hospital at least every other day. There are Vietnamese-language newsletters, with information on services and health education, in all four major Detention Centres.... Even these positive changes are now in jeopardy, given the rising influx of Vietnamese Boat People, averaging 165 per day this past May. Hong Kong has reached capacity. Given the Hong Kong Legislative Council's mid-May decision not to fund the opening of additional Detention Centres, programs will be cut back to make space for the new arrivals."

By, Pheng Eng. 1986. "Family Planning: The Perspective of a Cambodian Public Health Nurse." In Years of Horror, Days of Hope: Responding to the Cambodian Refugee Crisis , edited by B. S. Levy and D. C. Susott. New York: Associated Faculty Press, Inc.

Cabezas, Amado Y. 1979. "Asian Child Development Project: A Progress Report. " Paper presented at the National Association of Asian American and Pacific Education Conference, San Francisco, Calif., 25-27 April 1979. (18 pp.) Describes the research being conducted on the influence of the family on child development. The project is concerned with the welfare of Asian and Pacific American families, their family and parental needs, and a general knowledge of child development and child rearing processes in these families. (NIUCSEAS abstract)

Caplan, Nathan, John Whitmore, and Marcella Choy. 1989. The Boat People and Achievement in America: A Study of Family Life, Hard Work, and Cultural Values. The University of Michigan Press, 839 Greene Street, P.O. Box 1104, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1104. Phone: (313) 764-4394 or 764-4392. FAX: (800) 876-1922. (256 pp. including index) $29.95. Two rounds of surveys conducted in Seattle, Orange County, Chicago, Houston, and Boston provide the empirical basis of this study. The authors present five years of research on three ethnic groups, primarily comprised of the second wave of refugees: Vietnamese, Sino-Vietnamese, and Lao. The cultural values, family milieu, and psychological characteristics that contribute to the successes of the Indochinese "boat people" in the U.S. are examined in detail.
The book is divided into five chapters: The Boat People; Profile of the Refugees; Economic and Scholastic Achievement; Cultural Values, Family Life, and Opportunity; and Achievement in America. The appendix contains information on the sites and procedures used in the study. (SARS ABSTRACT) N.B.: The authors use the term "boat people" to refer to refugees from Laos and Cambodia, as well as from Vietnam.

Caplan, Nathan, Marcella H. Choy, and John K. Whitmore. 1992. "Indochinese Refugee Families and Academic Achievement." Scientific American 266(February): 36-42.

Capps, Lisa Louise. 1991. Concepts of Health and Illness of the Protestant Hmong. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas. Contact: University Microfilms International, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346. Phone: (800) 521-3042. (276 pp.) For the exclusively Protestant Hmong community in Kansas City, Kansas, perceptions of health and the causes of illness are based on a syncretized set of traditional Hmong and Christian concepts. One Hmong father's deadly cancer, for example, was perceived as being caused by an unconfessed infidelity. "The Hmong did not think that Xang had cancer, but that the illness was kem cev which occurred when he was with his girlfriend. Some community members believed that God left him and the Devil was then able to torture (tsis txog) him. When the Devil does tsis txog then a person will not die quickly, but have a long struggle with illness. It was believed that if Xang had asked forgiveness from God he could be forgiven and still have gone to heaven."
Lisa Capps, who first encountered the Hmong as a nurse practitioner in 1980, based her fieldwork primarily on the Protestant Hmong community in Kansas City. She also spent a month in a Blue/Green Hmong village in northern Thailand collecting background information. Fieldwork methods included a household survey, participant observation, and interviews with community leaders. She provides several examples of illnesses and the way they are perceived and dealt with by the Protestant Hmong.
"Sermons, prayers, and testimonies of faith and conversion deal with life crises of illness and misfortune and in many cases the loss of country and tradition. Sermons given by the Hmong pastor integrate traditional culture in Laos, and at the same time present themes relating to life in the United States, emphasizing elements of American life perceived as a threat to Hmong culture and family life. Sin is behavior that threatens the group and is seen as the cause of illness, misfortune, and in some cases even death. Sin threatens family integrity and destroys families. Doing good works, manifestying proper behavior toward family and others, maintaining a humble attitude, and demonstrating generosity are seen as necessary to receive God's grace and protection from evil.... Improper behavior draws one further from God, allowing the Devil to get closer to the person. When this happens, the person will fall further away, perhaps succumbing to malicious acts and suffering from illness and risking death.

Carlin, Jean E., and Burton Z. Sokoloff. 1985. "Mental Health Treatment Issues for Southeast Asian Refugee Children." In Southeast Asian Mental Health: Treatment, Prevention, Services, Training, and Research , edited by T.C. Owan,. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Mental Health. This chapter focuses specifically on the Southeast Asian refugee children as a special group. Areas which are discussed are present and future treatment issues, a summary of recent research data, and suggestions regarding psychotherapy and future research. Areas discussed in which treatment issues with refugee children may cause conflict are: language conflicts, cultural differences, career choices, selection of marriage partners, religious differences, lack of understanding of western-type treatment, identity problems, differences in viewpoints over the Vietnam War, and duty to the extended family. Relevant findings of a five-year follow-up study of Vietnamese refugee children are presented; information on children placed in foster homes and adopted children is included. Issues relating to the psychotherapeutic process with non-native English speakers are discussed, along with suggestions for future research with this population. (TAC abstract)

Chan, Kwok B., and Lawrence Lam. 1987. "Community, Kinship and Family in the Chinese Vietnamese Community: Some Enduring Values and Patterns of Interaction." In Uprooting, Loss and Adaptation: The Resettlement of Indochinese Refugees in Canada. , edited by Kwok B. Chan and Doreen Marie Indra. Ottawa, Ont.: Canadian Public Health Association. The dominant ideal structure of the Chinese family in Vietnam was three-generational, but it could be extended to include other close relatives or old friends who had been business partners of the family. The individual drew his identity from the family. Good relations with neighbors were also stressed; under the communist regime, neighbors were an important source of information and news. Parents supervised their children's selection of a mate in order to screen out anyone who might make maintaining family traditions problematic, thus precluding romantic love. Children were physically disciplined, most often by the mother, and parents could disown unruly children through a series of public announcements in the Chinese-language newspapers. Strains in the Chinese family included teenagers' dissatisfaction over their parents' refusal to share family secrets with them, and their criticism of parental control in choice of friends and marital partners. Chinese women seldom worked outside the home and practiced "liberation" through volunteer involvement in community development, the primary goal of which was to enhance their husbands' status in the community. (SARS abstract)

Chaturabhand, Preecha. 1988. People of the Hills. edited by Alan R. Randall & Suk Soongswang. Editions Duang Kamol, G.P.O. Box 427, Bangkok, Thailand. 199 pp. The way of living of the "People of the Hills" is very different from the Western norm. This book examines in non-technical language the sexual, marital, family and economic life of seven of the hill tribes living in the northern Thai hills. The simplicity of their lives is a relief from the social tensions and complexities of urban living. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Chhim, Sun-Him. 1987. " " Introduction to Cambodian Culture. San Diego, Calif.: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University. (60 pp.)
This book has chapters on Cambodia's physical setting, its historical setting, the Khmer concept of individual worth, the family, language, education, religion, art, literature, important Khmer ceremonies, Khmer holidays and festivals, and recreation and leisure.
The Cambodian family is generally conservative and stable, with the husband in charge of dealing with the outside world, and the wife in charge of dealing with the household. Children trace descent equally through mother's and father's lines. By age 10, girls can perform most household duties, and boys can tend draft animals and perform basic farming techniques. After reaching puberty, a girl observes a one-month period of seclusion. A teenage boy usually serves some time as a novice monk. Sex segregation during adolescence is the rule, and virginity of the bride is highly valued. Young men usually marry between the ages of 19 and 24, and young women between the ages of 16 and 22. In rural areas, the parents tend to choose the spouse, while the young people in urban areas generally make their own choice.
The Cambodian educational system before 1975 included compulsory elementary education. Many students dropped out after grade six and went back to field work. An examination determined which students could go on to secondary education. Teaching methods relied on memorization rather than intelligence and initiative, and there was a shortage of qualified teachers. The entire school system, which was regarded as "Western contamination," was destroyed after the Khmer Rouge took control in April 1975, and those in higher grades were condemned to die. (SARS abstract)

Chin, Shirley Y. 1991. Southeast Asians: A Cross-Cultural Curriculum for Prosecutors and Staff. San Diego District Attorney's Office. Contact: Shirley Y. Chin, 3121 Grim Ave., San Diego, CA 92104. Phone: (619) 531-2772. (125 pp.) $20.00. In order to help bridge the gap of misunderstanding between the Southeast Asian community and the U.S. legal system, Shirley Chin has compiled this handbook for Americans working in the legal system. She provides short overviews of the history, customs, religion, and the family system of the Vietnamese, Lao, Hmong, and Cambodians and includes interviewing tips for each ethnic group. In the section on the Lao, for example, she states, "Do not touch their heads; the Laotians[sic] believe that the soul resides there. In contrast, the feet hold a low status. Thus, it is rude to point or move something with your foot or to put your feet on the table....A Laotian is not lying or dodging the truth if he refuses to look you in the eye. It is a sign of disrespect to make eye contact....Due to Buddhist beliefs of moderation, the Laotians devalue and find distasteful open conflict. The United States legal system is adversarial in nature, which is difficult for Laotians to accept."

Cohn, Mary. 1986. "Hmong Youth and the Hmong Future in America. " In The Hmong in Transition , edited by Glenn L. Hendricks, Bruce T. Downing, and Amos S. Deinard,. Long Island, N.Y.: Center for Migration Studies. 5 pp.
The Hmong in America are a young and rapidly expanding population, with the proportion of relatively younger members of the community growing each year. Dropout rates among adolescents remain high in most areas. Nationwide the dropout rate for Hmong high school girls is at least 50 percent. Teenage marriage poses long-term problems for integration into American life: young men and women with education far below the norm for this society will continue to have difficulties competing for jobs, and large young families without two incomes may continue to live at the margins of poverty. (SARS abstract)

Collins, Thomas J. and Les Suzukamo. 1989. "Dreams in Exile: The Hmong in St. Paul." St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch, Sunday, November 26, 1989. edited by Howell, Deborah. St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch, St. Paul, Minnesota. These are the first and second special reports devoted to Hmong adaptation to being part of the St. Paul. The first report gives an overview of Hmong adjustment to the community and the second report revolves around life in a Hmong family. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Comerford, Susan, Victoria L. Armour-Hileman, and Sharon R. Waller. 1991 . Defenseless In Detention: Vietnamese Children Living Amidst Increasing Violence in Hong Kong. Refugee Concern Hong Kong, P.O. Box 71510, Kowloon Central Post Office, Kowloon, Hong Kong. (232 pp.) $10.00 plus $8.00 postage and handling.
More than 15,000 Vietnamese children, 7,000 under the age of five, live surrounded by concrete and barbed wire in over-crowded and dangerous detention centers in Hong Kong. June 17, 1992 marks the fourth year of incarceration for many. Alarm at the growing culture of violence in the centers prompted Refugee Concern Hong Kong to assess the psychological and physical impact of Hong Kong's detention policy on Vietnamese children and families. The study, conducted between September 1990 and May 1991, is based on data from in-depth interviews with Vietnamese in detention, child development experts, voluntary agency workers, and program administrators. It reveals that the psychological, emotional, and physical impact of detention on children and families is devastating. Depression, anxiety, lethargy, and hopelessness about the future are pervasive. At critical developmental stages, children lack exposure to anything outside of the detention environment. Values and behavior that underlie the Vietnamese family and community structure erode under the conditions of detention, and basic parental responsibilities may be neglected. As children view the powerlessness of their parents, they begin to model their behavior on that of the guards.
The study includes an historical analysis of the detention policy, a discussion of child development and detention, and an in-depth description of detention center conditions and resulting effects on traditional culture, family structure, education, and physical and mental health.(Abstract was submitted by Sharon R. Waller, Ph.D., who lives in Hong Kong.)

Cooper, Robert G. 1983. "Sexual Inequality among the Hmong." In Highlanders of Thailand. , edited by John McKinnon and Wanat Bhruksasri. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. The relationship between husband and wife in Hmong society has changed from one of cooperative partnership to one approaching an employer-employee relationship. According to the author, there is likely to be a greater degree of equality in the early years of marriage, when the husband is building his family, and when the wife is often pregnant. Differences in labor input tend to increase as the family grows. Cooper discusses bride-price, the fate of girls who get pregnant before marriage, and the emphasis on marrying a youthful bride, who will be able to bear many children. (SARS abstract)

Cooper, Robert, Nicholas Tapp, Gar Yia Lee, and Gretel Schwoerer-Kohl. 1991. The Hmong. Art Asia Press, Ltd. Contact: Suriwong Book Centre, P.O. Box 44, Chiang Mai 50000, Thailand. FAX: 66(53) 27-1902. (90 pp. including index and lexicon of Hmong terms.) $10.70 (takes 8-12 weeks). (We recommend contacting Suriwong Book Centre before sending a check to verify availability.)
This definitive work introduces traditional Hmong village life to westerners, non-Hmong, and to thousands of young Hmong who have grown up in the west without personally experiencing a traditional Hmong way of life. The authors, professional researchers with many years of experience working with Hmong people in Laos and Thailand, have deliberately avoided academic jargon in their text. This extremely useful book unfortunately is plagued with numerous typographical errors. Its availability outside Thailand is limited. We would suggest asking visitors or contacts in Thailand to obtain copies for you in book shops during their stay in Bangkok or Chiang Mai.Fourteen chapters provide insight into Hmong history, the establishment of house and household, lineage and clan, village life, courtship and marriage customs, economy, music codes, crafts, belief in the otherworld and communication with it, propitiating the spirits, shamanism, and death rituals. This work includes fine photographs and illustrations. According to Hmong myth:
"Once upon a time, the Hmong had a very valuable Book which told them many important things that it was necessary to know in life and during the great journey between death and rebirth. That Book was eaten by cows and rats. Since that time, no text has been able to represent a culture as rich in variety as that of the Hmong."
As Cooper points out in his introduction: this text is not, and cannot be, fully representative of the detailed Hmong Way. It does not seek to recreate that magnificent menu lost to the cows and rats, but to provide a taste of Hmong life and a basic knowledge of the structure of Hmong society.

Cox, Carole, and Donald E. Gelfand. 1987. "Familial Assistance, Exchange and Satisfaction Among Hispanic, Portuguese, and Vietnamese Ethnic Elderly." Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 2: 241-255.
This research focuses on intergenerational family relationships among Vietnamese, Hispanics, and Portuguese in Santa Clara Valley, California. Assistance patterns of the elderly with their adult children are examined. Data was gathered by interviewing 100 of each ethnic group, over the age of 60. All three groups of elders do have continuing relationships with their children, but differences exist. For example, the Vietnamese elders provide more advice and household help than the Hispanics or Portuguese but contribute the least financial assistance to their children. The adult Vietnamese children, in return, assist their parents with shopping, cooking, transportation. The Vietnamese elders do play a major role in teaching their native language to the younger generations. Other ethnic comparisons are made among the three groups surveyed.

Dam, Trung Phap. 1987. "Rehabilitating Amerasian Teenagers: A Report from Dallas." The Bridge 4(3): 2,18-19.

Detzner, Daniel F. 1992. "Life Histories: Conflict in Southeast Asian Refugee Families." In Qualitative Methods in Family Research , edited by Jane Gilgun, Kerry Daly, and Gerald Handel. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. pp. 85-102. How do refugee elders perceive conflict in Southeast Asian refugee families today? This issue is examined in a study of Cambodian, Hmong, Laotians, and Vietnamese, using life history research methods. Since it is difficult to obtain a random sample, 40 nominated subjects, aged 50 and over, in Minneapolis-St. Paul were interviewed during 1988-1989. Ten members - 5 females, 5 males - from each ethnic group were questioned for six hours each. Emerging from these life histories are two areas of conflict: family roles and gender roles.
Family conflict is determined to be a normative behavior, is usually overtly avoided within and without the family, and is closely related to filial piety. With the younger generation not living up to filial piety beliefs as expected by the elders, a clash between modern and traditional values" is occurring. Even though role loss leads to status loss, the elders are still trying to preserve traditional roles.
Gender conflict is manifested in (1) power/control between males and females, (2) obedience concept of wives and children, and (3) in-law difficulties. The male roles have lessened, but the female roles have increased. Detzner concludes that "it is perhaps through this process of conflict that adaptation and adjustment to dramatic social change is negotiated and mediated." Two case studies are also presented. This research is part of the SAFE Project - Southeast Asian Families with Elders.

Detzner, Daniel F. 1989. "The Roles and Values of Elderly Vietnamese and Cambodian Refugees." Paper presented at the 51st Annual Conference of the National Council on Family Relations, New Orleans, November 3-8, 1989. (37 pp.) Perceptions of refugee elders (aged 50 or older) concerning their roles (family/community) and their values (instrumental/terminal) are examined. Life history interviews were conducted with a nominated sample of twenty Vietnamese and Cambodian elders (aged 51 to 83) in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. This method provided "elders with opportunities to reminisce, to assume traditional role of teacher, to preserve . . . their historical experience, and to speak in their own voices." Roles performed by these elders fall into four categories: general family, children/grandchildren, parent/grandparent, community. Although elders do continue many important family and community roles, those most cited are not those with high status, e.g., food preparation, child care. Another research finding shows that men do not perform as many roles as women, with Cambodian men having fewer roles than the Vietnamese men. Both Cambodian and Vietnamese women perform the same range of roles. "Apparent that elderly refugee women have more significant functions within the family than men." Thus, it appears that adjustment for women has been easier than for the men. Instrument values--those which promote success in the West--were stressed. Vietnamese elders listed ambition, independence, and intellect while Cambodians mentioned intellect, obedience, and self-control. The terminal values--family security and inner harmony--reflected Eastern orientation/background. Detzner's research emphasizes the importance of understanding the impact on these elders and their families of this conflict between Western values and Eastern orientations. Pertinent literature review also included.

Donnelly, Nancy D. 1988. "Family Issues Arising After Resettlement." Seattle: University of Washington. Paper presented at the Southeast Asian Communities in the United States Conference, Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz., 5 March 1988. Contact the author at Anthropology Department DH-05, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. Resettled families bring with them from their homeland cultural models for family relationships that they try to reestablish in the new, alien environment. Some habitual relationships prove functional in the new location. But issues resulting from culture change arise within families, having to do especially with: (1) authority and prestige within the household, and (2) transmitting cultural values to children. Examples given in the paper are of Hmong families in the United States. The author addresses two issues that arise from altered family relationships: who has a right to live within the household and who respects and obeys whom.

Dorais, Louis-Jacques, Kwok B. Chan, and Doreen M. Indra, eds. 1988. Ten Years Later: Indochinese Communities in Canada. Montreal: Canadian Asian Studies Association. (200 pp.) Seven chapters of this book describe eight Indochinese communities, east to west, in large and small Canadian cities: Victoria, Lethbridge, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa-Hull, Montreal, Quebec City, and Moncton. The first chapter, by Norman Buchignani, develops a model of contemporary Indochinese family and community organization.The various authors concentrate on the Vietnamese and Sino-Vietnamese communities, although a few of them also discuss the much smaller Cambodian and Laotian communities. Suspicions between the North Vietnamese and the South Vietnamese and between the pre-1975 arrivals and the later arrivals are described. Community organizations have splintered over different political and religious beliefs. The Indochinese ethnic communities do not tend to work together; a cross-ethnic recreational program for youth in Manitoba, led by an ethnic Chinese person, was one of the few exceptions.The Vietnamese came with a higher education, on average, than the Sino-Vietnamese, and tended to find better jobs. The Sino-Vietnamese were more likely to live with an intact family, while nearly a fifth of the Vietnamese living in the small prairie city of Lethbridge had someone unrelated to them living with them. In many of the cities, a large portion of the Indochinese adults had no native friends or steady acquaintances. Intergenerational differences in adaptation were found, with the older generation insisting on cultural preservation.The book was published through a grant from Multiculturalism Canada. It is distributed by CASA Secretariat, Universit° de Montr°al, P.O. Box 6128, Station A, Montreal, QC, H3C 3J7; phone (514) 343-7951.

Downing, Bruce T. and Sarah R. Mason. 1982. "A Study of Lao Family Community, Inc. in Minnesota: An Ethnic Self Help Organization." Unpublished, Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project, June 1982.

Education Program Associates, Inc. 1986. "Booklets on Birth Control Methods." Education Programs Asociates, Inc., 1 West Campbell Avenue, Bldg. C, Campbell, CA 95008; phone (408) 374-1210.
This series of eight booklets on birth control methods is targeted at pre- and semi-literate populations. The booklets are based on the "Without Words" concept. They have limited text and extensive illutrations designed to be culturally appropriate. The titles of the booklets are "The Pill," Foam and Condoms," "Diaphragm," "Vasectomy," "Tubal Ligation," "IUD," "Natural Family "Planning," and "A Planned Family Is a Happy Family (Rationale for Family Planning)."

Edwards, Laura E., Carol J. Rautio, and Erick Y. Hakanson. 1987. "Pregnancy in Hmong Refugee Women." Minnesota Medicine 70(11): 633-637.
The course of pregnancy and maternal and fetal outcome in 648 Hmong refugee women was compared with a control population. Hmong women were five times as likely to have a history of previous perinatal loss. The data indicated a higher incidence of giving birth after age 35, grand multiparity [more than seven pregnancies], short stature, and late prenatal care was found in the Hmong sample than in the control group. Medical complications included anemia, tuberculosis, parasitic infestations, and malaria. Preeclampsia, hypertension, diabetes, urinary and vaginal infections, and gonorrhea occurred less frequently. The incidence of premature rupture of the membranes was one third that of the control population. The prematurity rate for Hmong infants was half of the control population, and fewer required NICU care. Contraception was accepted by 50 per cent of the Hmong women, but less than 10 per cent were still using contraception 12 months after delivery. (Publisher abstract).

Egan, Maura Goggin. 1985. "A Family Assessment Challenge: Refugee Youth and Foster Family Adaptation." Topics in Clinical Nursing 7(3): 64-69.
This study identifies adaptation patterns in foster families who took in unaccompanied refugee minors from Vietnam. Most of the 56 refugee youth who were interviewed for the study had come to the United States between the end of 1979 and June 1983. Using the Family APGAR tool (Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection, Resolve), the author found that one-third of the study families had satisfactory outcomes; almost half had minimal adaptation outcomes (at least one family member was dissatisfied with family functioning); and about one-fifth were in the perilous adaptation category (at least one family member was dissatisfied and there was a youth at risk for depression). Proportionally, Vietnamese and American foster families were equally represented in the satisfactory adaptation group, but twice as many American families as Vietnamese foster families were in the perilous adaptation category. The majority of foster families who had never raised teenagers were in the minimal or perilous categories, while parents who were raising a teenager of their own at the time they took in a refugee youth had more positive family adaptation. (SARS abstract)

Epstein, Steven, Rany Duong, and Catherine Wilson. 1985. "An Interview with Refugee Youth." Passage: A Journal of Refugee Education 1(3): 27-32.
Two Khmer, two Hmong, and two Lao refugee teenagers living in California and Illinois were interviewed about their home, school, and social life. The youth talked about pressure from their parents to do well in school. They expressed surprise at the rudeness of American students, concern about racial prejudice, and appreciation of American music and access to video tape recorders. The youth hoped to go to college. (SARS abstract)

Faller, Helen S. 1985. "Perinatal Needs of Immigrant Hmong Women: Surveys of Women and Health Care Providers." Public Health Reports 100(3): 340-343.
This study was an exploratory pilot investigation conducted in the Denver-Boulder area in 1981. Several interpreters interviewed thirty-two Hmong women in a variety of settings using three different interview styles: individual, spousal couple, and a group of women. Women were most responsive in the group setting. Problems in provider use of an interpreter are discussed. In addition to the interviews, a questionnaire was sent to fifty-one health care providers that represented the states with the largest Hmong populations. Those twenty-eight who responded identified family planning and nutrition as the foremost health problems among the Hmong. There were no infant deaths or incidents of maternal hypertension, toxemia or diabetes reported.

Faller, Helen Stewart. 1992. "Hmong Women: Characteristics and Birth Outcomes, 1990. " Birth 19(3):144-148. While it has been common in the last decade for Hmong refugee women to seek health care only late into their pregnancies (if at all) like other immigrant women, the Hmong women's relatively healthy babies and lack of prenatal health risks are unique.
In her recent study of Hmong women in a southeastern rural community in the United States, Helen Stewart Faller concludes: "The women enter the health care system during their second trimester...Although they do not ask for medical guidance for conception or confirmation of preg- nancy, they seem to comply with current U.S. Public Health recommendations. Their self-care practices are effective for healthy pregnancies, and the outcome of their pregnancies is good. They have not experienced symptoms of hypertension, diabetes, or Rh incompatibility. The babies are delivered in the hospital at term, with birthweights comparable with those of other healthy newborns. If their continued resistance to use of oral medications such as vitamins, iron, and contraceptive pills is a true problem, perhaps their actual need for these agents should be investigated. Vitamins and iron are not widely prescribed outside of the United States, and pregnancylike effects of oral contraceptives may indicate the need to consider reduced dosages for Hmong women, who tend to be of smaller stature than many other American women."

Fass, Simon. 1991 . The Hmong in Wisconsin: On the Road to Self-sufficiency. Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Report, 4:2. The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, 3107 N. Shepard Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211. Copies may be obtained free of charge when a written request is made. (35 pp.) This study, written by a political economist, looks at the positive economic progress of the Hmong population of Wisconsin, particularly noting the effects of the Key States Initiative (KSI). This federally-funded program supports a set of coordinated actions to increase the self-sufficiency of Hmong and other severely disadvantaged refugees. The author notes, "the essence of the approach is what one could best describe as a family economic development program... which adapt(s) itself to the characteristics of the family." It concentrates on job development and placement for multiple-wage earners, motivating them to take advantage of new opportunities. The cornerstone of the program's motivational component flows from having KSI carried out by mutual assistance associations (MAAs) so that it is a Hmong community effort to help itself.
While the Hmong use of public assistance still remains high in Wisconsin, during the period of the program it was reduced a dramatic 26 percent.

Finck, John. 1981. " " Clan Leadership in the Hmong Community of Providence, Rhode Island. Hmong Research Conference, University of Minnesota.

Finlay, Rosalind and Jill Reynolds. 1987. Social Work and Refugees: A Handbook on Working with People in Exile in the U.K. National Extension College/Refugee Action, 18 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 2HN, U.K. (225 pp.) »19.95. Social Work and Refugees is the result of a three-year project, "Better Social Services for Refugees." The handbook is intended to raise awareness of the needs of asylum seekers and refugees among those working in Social Services. The authors present a detailed and well-organized account of work with refugees in the U.K. The handbook contains seven sections: Introduction; Refugees in the U.K.; Responding to Needs; Dealing with Stress; Working with Families and Individuals; Training; and Resources. Though the focus of the publication is on people involved in social work in the U.K., the information and ideas which are presented are the culmination of input that has been gathered from refugees throughout the world. Social workers will find this handbook to be a fundamental resource. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Fish, Andrew John. 1991. "The Hmong of St. Paul Minnesota: The Effects of Culture, Gender, and Family Networks on Adolescents' Plans for the Future." Unpublished. Masters Thesis. Sociology Department, University of Minnesota. 59 pp.

Fogleman, Billye S., and Vincent Nguyen. 1985. "Coping Strategies of Vietnamese to Changing Gender Roles and Statuses in a Southern U.S.A. Metropolitan Area." Paper presented at the 84th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C., 7 December 1985. (10 pp.) The authors interviewed 28 adult Vietnamese refugees to elicit coping strategies and sex role changes. They found that the Vietnamese highly value their young people because it is believed their education will gain future financial security and respect for the family. Children are freed from other responsibilities in order to complete their homework every evening and are taught to consider success in school their vocation. (SARS abstract)

Forrest, D.V. 1971. "Vietnamese Maturation: The Lost Land of Bliss. " Psychiatry 34(2): 111-39. Following a psychoanalytical framework, the author describes the maturation of boys and girls in Vietnam. From the early teens, boys are expected to contribute to the family's support and are armed in local defense forces. At age 6 or 7, girls begin to serve as substitute mothers for their younger siblings; in their teens, they do light manual labor or sell wares. During adolescence, there are strong taboos concerning nudity, toilet privacy, and touching the opposite sex. Touching those of the same sex is common, but homosexuality is practically unheard of. Poetry is part of a courtship that is marked by restraint. Boyfriend and girlfriend call each other "little sister" and "older brother." The American involvement in Vietnam and Westernization brought about these changes: (1) Adolescent peer groups were growing stronger. Availability of scooters increased independence from parents, and some delinquent "cowboy" gangs were formed. (2) The time it took to arrange a marriage was reduced from two to three years to one to three months, and fewer marriages were arranged by parents. (3) The miniskirt became popular and female dress less concealing. (4) Oldest sons, who are heirs to family land and occupation, were surpassed by their younger brothers, who pursued upward mobility through education. (SARS abstract)

Frank, Mary, ed. 1990. Newcomers to the United States: Children and Families. Binghamton, N.Y.: The Haworth Press. 89 pp. This book contains information on the social, educational and mental health needs of children and families of immigrants to the United States. Specific areas include current immigration policy, social factors influencing adaptation, the impact of immigration on family stability and educational issues of immigrant children.

Freeman, James M. 1989. Hearts of Sorrow: Vietnamese - American Lives. Stanford: Stanford University Press. (446 pp.)
From 40 Vietnamese men and women who were extensively interviewed by Freeman and his interpreters, fourteen narrators (aged 16 to 80) are included in this book. Sections are basically arranged chronologically with life before, during, and after the Vietnam War detailed, plus life in America. The words/life history of one narrator constitutes each chapter, with Freeman providing an introduction and each narrator usually appearing in several chapters. Of the fourteen narrators, six are elders: (1) South Vietnamese elderly civil servant, (2) elderly South Vietnamese rural woman, (3) North Vietnamese Chinese-Vietnamese elder, (4) North Vietnamese Buddhist nun, (5) Ex-Viet Minh resistance worker, and (6) South Vietnamese school teacher. Section VI is especially pertinent to understanding the emotions, difficulties of these elders as they strive to adjust. Five of the six older refugees provide much insight. The eloquent chapter titles speak for themselves: "I Will Die Lonely and Abandoned," "I Cannot Learn English," "I Want to Live Without Trouble," "My Daughter Neglects Me." Much has been written about the disintegration of the family/family problems arising only since coming to the U.S. Freeman cautions about that assumption since his research indicates that is it likely many of the problems started earlier in Vietnam and worsened after coming to the U.S. He chronicles one family's experience through Narrator I - an elderly South Vietnamese civil servant. These Vietnamese elders, representing various backgrounds, present through their narrations a poignant view of life as it was, life as it is, and the distant dream to return to Vietnam.

Gann, Peter, Luan Nghiem, and Stanley Warner. 1989. "Pregnancy Characteristics and Outcomes of Cambodian Refugees" American Journal of Public Health (9)79: 1251-1257. This study describes the perinatal charasterics of Cambodian refugees in Massachusetts. Data were abstracted from the records of 452 consecutive pregnancies among Cambodian women and 110 low-income Whites receiving obstetrical services at the same clinic and hospital in Lowell, Massachusetts. Pregnancies of Cambodian women were marked by a higher proportion of older mothers, grand multipapras, previous adverse birth outcomes, and short interpregnancy intervals. Maternal anemia (29.9% with hemoglobin <100 g/L) and inadequate utilization of prenatal care (32.3% with first visit in the 3rd trimester) as possible risk factors for the Cambodians. The prevalence of primary cesarean birth was only 6.3 percent in the Cambodians, compared to 15.6% in the comparison group, largely due to the infrequent occurrence of prolongued labor among multiparas. Despite the prominence of several risk factors for adverse birth outcomes in this population, major pregnancy complications were less common and the prevalence of low birth weight identified young maternal age and short stature as the strongest factors operative in the community. Many of the findings are consistent with a strong cultural emphasis on managing the size of the baby to avoid a difficult labor and delivery. [AUTHORS ABSTRACT]

Geddes, William R. 1976. Migrants of the Mountains: The Cultural Ecology of the Blue Miao (Hmong Njua) of Thailand. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Germer, Lucie. 1986. The Food Their Families Eat: Cuisine as Communication among Cambodian Refugees. Ph.D dissertation, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International. (229 pp.) The author uses a linguistic model to analyze the communicative functions of cuisine among Cambodian refugees of Salt Lake City, Utah. New dishes send new messages to family members and to the society from which the dishes are borrowed and adapted. The text includes anecdotes about a young Cambodian man who ate hamburgers to acknowledge that he would not return to Cambodia but stay in the United States and become a U.S. citizen; and another young man who publicly ate pizza in rebellion against the traditional ways of his parents, who wanted him to marry a girl they'd selected. Use of teenage children as translators and varying views of education are discussed. One father encouraged his children to talk about school because he hoped they would become intellectuals; another couple kept their children out of school often because they thought their daughter's worth would be measured by how well she could cook and clean, not by school attendance. Reactions to new American foods are measured. (SARS abstract; Dissertation Abstracts Order No. DA86-22422)

Goldrick, Richard. 1989. Chiang Mai and The Hill Tribes. edited by Wanna Nawigamune. Sangdad Publishing Co., Ltd. 8/50 Lat Phrao 23, Bangkhen, Bangkok 10900. Tel. 511-0246, 512-1804. FAX 662-512-1786. 96 pp.
Upriver from Bangkok, across the central plains, is Thailand's northern gateway, Chiang Mai. Recently, it became one of the largest cities in Thailand. This text, accompanied by beautiful photographs, describes the history of the region and the hilltribes who inhabit the area. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Goldstein, Beth L. 1985. Schooling for Cultural Transitions: Hmong Girls and Boys in American High Schools. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Wisconsin--Madison. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International. Dissertation Abstracts, DA 8601538. (313 pp.) This case study evaluates the educational experiences of Hmong students at two different high schools in a moderate-sized midwestern city. One, Logan (pseudonym), served a working class population and had a vocational/technical orientation. The other, Ashmont (pseudonym), served mainly college-bound children of professionals. At Logan, Hmong students were enrolled in English as a second language classes taught by a devoted Hispanic teacher and were mainstreamed in some classes. However, in the mainstream classes, they were grouped with low achievers, and the teachers generally spent more time on discipline than course content. The Hmong were directed into classes where teachers made grade concessions on the bases of effort and cooperation, and so the Hmong were able to attain passing grades without mastering the course material.
At Ashmont, the Hmong were in a separate Limited English Proficiency program and generally had the same teacher year after year. At both schools, the Hmong remained isolated from their American peers, even to the point that they ate their lunch separately in the ESL classroom because they felt uncomfortable in the cafeteria.
Hmong parents put greater pressure on boys than girls to complete their education; girls who dropped out of high school (85 percent from 1980-83) still played a vital role in the Hmong community, that of childbearing and attending to family needs. Hmong students found that high school attendance did not lead to social acceptance, but they believed that it was the key to economic success. Interpreting the aloofness of American students as hostility, they became all-the-more determined to preserve their cultural heritage. (SARS abstract; Dissertation Abstracts Order No. DA86-01538)

Gozdziak, Elzbieta. 1988. Older Refugees in the United States: From Dignity to Despair. Refugee Policy Group, Center for Policy Analysis and Research on Refugee Issues, 1424 16th Street, N.W. Suite 410, Washington, D.C. 20036; phone (202) 387-3015. (56 pp.) $7.50.
This report examines the special problems and needs of the refugee elderly in the United States. Issues discussed include topics involving financial insecurity, English, health, housing, transportation, and intergenerational tensions.
At present, U.S. refugee policies have been largely unresponsive to the needs of this small, but vulnerable, segment of the refugee population. The primary focus of the refugee resettlement program in the United States has been economic self-sufficiency. Therefore, refugee policies and services have been directed to the younger, more employable sector of the refugee population. Older refugees are often considered unemployable and as a consequence they have generally been given low priority for services.
In addition to addressing the needs of the refugee elderly, this report attempts to identify model efforts that are presently being made to resolve the issues which are of concern to this small population. The report is a helpful guide to relating to and working with the refugee elderly.

Grasso, C. M. Barden, C. Henry and M. G. Vieau. 1981. "The Vietnamese American Family and Grandma Makes Three." Maternal Child Nursing 6(3): 177-180.

Greenburg, Lisa Monzel. 1987. "Hmong Family Structure: A Historical and Contemporary Overview." Unpublished student paper. Contact author at 1032 E. Hawthorne Ave., Saint Paul, Minn 55106; Phone (612) 772-1971. Copies available for $6, including postage.
The male-oriented, patrilineal Hmong family and social structure is described in this report. Courtship, marriage, polygamy, and divorce customs are reviewed, with attention given to how these customs may conflict with laws in the United States. Polygamy is placed in context with a review of the literature on the practice of polygamy in other world cultures. "Hmong customs of brideprice, remarriage when the first wife is sterile, and additional marriages for prestigious men are all very much like in Africa. The reluctance of modern educated women in urban Africa to become married to polygamous men seems very much like the trend developing with young U.S. educated [Hmong] women," Greenburg writes. She makes several recommendations for therapists working with Hmong clients.

Hafner, James, Jeannine Muldoon, and Elizabeth Brewer. 1989. Southeast Asian Refugees in Western Massachusetts: Seen But Not Heard. The Asian Studies Program, International Area Studies, 73 Bartlett Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003. (54 pp.) $10.00. Checks should be made payable to The University of Massachusetts/Asian Studies Program. Expect 4-6 weeks for delivery. The Indochinese Needs Assessment Project (IRNAP), developed in 1988 by the Asian Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has released a report on the Southeast Asian refugee population in western Massachusetts. This document contains the summary findings of an eighteen-month study of Southeast Asian resettlement and adjustment in four counties. The specific populations examined in this study included the Khmer, Lao, Hmong, and Vietnamese.
The report presents a demographic profile of the Southeast Asian refugee population, noting the patterns of resettlement, migration and distribution of the refugee population, 1975-1988. A needs assessment of this population was conducted, providing an evaluation of the social, educational, economic, and health conditions. The intent of this project was to provide existing and developing service programs with current information on the needs and health status of the Southeast Asian refugee population living in western Massachusetts. Recognition of the heterogeneity and dissimilarities among the refugee groups included in this study can serve as a useful tool in future planning and policymaking. (SARS abstract)

Haines, David W. 1982. "Southeast Asian Refugees in the United States: The Interaction of Kinship and Public Policy." Anthropological Quarterly 55(July): 3.

Haines, David W., Dorothy Rutherford, and Patrick Thomas. 1981. "Family and Community among Vietnamese Refugees." International Migration Review 15(1-2): 310-19. edited by Stein, Barry N. and Sylvano M. Tomasi. Center for Migration Studies, 209 Flagg Place, Staten Island, New York 10304. (212) 351-8800.
This article focuses on the maintenance, extent, and structure of family and community ties among Vietnamese refugees in the United States. The findings from a series of field efforts in northern Virginia indicate the continuing and pervasive importance of both family and community. The family, in particular, extends well beyond the boundaries of the household, and is capable of furnishing significant amounts of emotional and practical support. Primary family relationships appeared to be with parents, siblings, and children. Children worked in the family businesses after school and on weekends and were taught by their parents not to be too individualistic. (Author/SARS abstract)

Haley, Nancy. 1983. Great Branches, New Roots: The Hmong Family. An Enrichment Guide. Hmong Film Project, 2258 Commonwealth Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55108. 20 pp. A guide to accompany the film of the same title. The film includes a series of interviews conducted in 1982-1983 with Hmong residents of St. Paul.

Hall, Sandra E. 1990. "Hmong Kinship Roles: Insiders and Outsiders." Hmong Forum 1: 25-39. Originally a student paper.
Hall, a St. Paul high school teacher, writes of changes in the Hmong family system since U.S. resettlement. "The Hmong began to express concern to American friends that a system which had resolved a family's practical and personal problems for centuries was not functioning as it had in the past. Hmong students increasingly brought problems to teachers and counselors, confiding in them what would previously have been confided to family members," Hall writes. The Hmong family system has a structure of "insiders" and "outsiders". The most "inside" group is the household, then all the descendants of a common ancestor, then unrelated clan brothers and sisters, then one's mother's clan. "Mutual Assistance Associations such as Lao Family Community are seen as closer to the `outsider' pole of the continuum because of their interclanal nature," Hall writes. American social agencies and sponsors are seen as even further outside.
Hall describes the traditional sequence of how marital problems are resolved between the two clans. She surveyed thirty-four Hmong high school students to see who they would go to for help if they had marital problems. A substantial number of males and a majority of females said they would go to the wife's family members first, even though tradition would demand they go to the husband's family first. Hall presents three case studies in which Hmong young people went to "outsiders" for help with problems, bypassing insiders.

Halpern, Joel M. 1978 . "Review of Migrants of the Mountains by W. R. Geddes." American Anthropologist 80: 448-449.

Hamline University. Selected Readings in Hmong Culture and Language. Course materials for Anthropology 622, "Introduction to Hmong Culture and Language." Center for Refugee Ethnography, Hamline University, 1536 Hewitt Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104. Phone: (612) 641-2900. (411 pp.)

Hamline University. Multidisciplinary Project on Gerontology. 1980. "Databook on Asian-American Elderly in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Area." St. Paul: Hamline University. (117 pp.)
Results of a needs assessment survey begun in 1978 by the Multidisciplinary Project of Gerontology at Hamline University. Funded by the Administration on Aging. Asian-American groups included Cambodians, Laotians/Hmong, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Filipinos over the age of 60. Surveys and personal interviews used. Information organized in over 200 tables by ethnic groups. Data collected in these categories: (1) general demographics, (2) financial, (3) living conditions, (4) family concerns, (5) health concerns, (6) nutrition/eating habits, (7) problems of refugees, (8) division of labor in home, (9) socio-cultural concerns, (10) assistance received, (11) help given, (12) opinions of social services, and (13) political concerns. Very extensive information has been tabulated.

Hammond, Ruth. 1993. "Clan Secrets." Twin Cities Reader, January 13-19, pp. 4-7.

Hammond, Ruth. 1989. "Rumors of War: Vang Pao." Twin Cities Reader, Oct. 25-31: 8-14; November 8-14: 8-14. 8 pp. The Rumors of War Part I and II. Part I is about the "Promises of a triumphant return to Laos keep Minnesota's Hmong refugees donating money to their resistance forces, dreaming of home, and quarreling about the motives of a legendary leader named Vang Pao." In Part II, the author examines Lao Family Community's possible association with Vang Pao's resistance movement.

Hayes, Christopher L. 1987. "Two Worlds in Conflict: The Elder Hmong in the United States." In Ethnic Dimensions of Aging. , edited by edited by Donald E. Gelfand. New York: Springer.
How are older Hmong refugees adapting to life in the U.S.? Nineteen elders (aged 40-78) were interviewed in greater Los Angeles area. Interviews focused on (1) life in U.S., (2) Hmong view of old age, (3) role of elderly in family structure, (4) intergenerational tensions, (5) relationship of elders to service providers, (6) assimilation/acculturation efforts. These elders have experienced a multitude of losses--loss of material possessions, loss of mobility, loss of religious and other customs, loss of status. This loss of status is very difficult for these aged Hmong. Some expressed fear of being placed in nursing homes. Many exhibit depression symptoms but do not seek services of mental health professionals. All those interviewed wanted to return to Laos although they realized it is not practical. Do not understand social service agencies. Hayes not too optimistic on "ability of the older Hmong to assimilate into American culture."

Hayes, Christopher L. 1984. A Study of the Older Hmong Refugees in the United States. Ph.D. dissertation. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Fielding Institute. (192 pp.) Available from University Microfilms International, P.O. Box 1764, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. $22.50 plus $2.25 shipping and handling. Dissertation Abstracts, DA 8516389.
For his study, Hayes interviews 19 elderly Hmong refugees in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, Cailfornia. "The findings of the study indicate that the older Hmong have experienced immense social and psychological upheaval, which has left them physically and financially dependent upon their children, physically and psychologically isolated, lacking self-esteem, and with few of the skills necessary for adapting to mainstream scoiety. It was further discovered that existing social service providers have little interest in or understanding of the cultural traditions and current plight of this population, and it was concluded that the most useful and acceptable forms of assistance come from within the Hmong community itself," Hayes summarizes. Hayes also found that the elderly Hmong suffered from loss of mobility, fear of crime, grief over loss of relatives and traditions, and inter-generational conflict.

Henkin, Nancy, Gail Weinstein-Shr, and Elzbieta Gozdziak. 1988. "New Branches . . . Distant Roots: A National Symposium on Older Refugees in America: Summary Report." Philadelphia: Temple University. (15 pp.)
Summary report of a conference, sponsored by Temple University and Refugee Policy Group held in Washington, D. C., June 1988. Older refugees not a high priority for services by agencies even though they face a proliferation of problems--isolation, loneliness, depression, lack of English skills, emotional problems. Many of these problems discussed in the following workshops: (1) language and literacy; (2) family, social supports and intergenerational relationships; (3) health/mental health; (4) employment/financial security. Southeast Asian refugees are prominent among those older refugees cited as examples. Also cited are outstanding programs for the elderly: Respected Elders Program, Women's Association of Hmong and Lao, Project LEIF (Learning English through Intergenerational Friendship). As the "graying" of the refugee population continues, recommendations to assist these elders are given in the form of answers to questions at the report's conclusion. Good overview of plight of refugee elders. Consult Older Refugees in the United States: From Dignity to Despair (116) for complete report.

Henry, Rebecca. 1991 . Measles, Hmong and Migration: Culture Change and Illness Management under Conditions of Immigration. Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For copies, contact the author at 5120 41st Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55417. (69 pp.) $10.00. In the spring of 1990, three Hmong children died and fifty-three were hospitalized during a measles epidemic in St. Paul, Minnesota. During the following summer and fall, Rebecca Henry interviewed nineteen Hmong families and three traditional healers to understand the practices they used in caring for their children during the epidemic.
"In this paper I hope to make Hmong parents' seemingly inexplicable practices in an epidemic crisis sensible to a western audience. One of my tactics is to place these apparently impractical responses in a framework informed by the literature on Hmong animism, and interpret parents' strategies and explanations as part of an Asian metaphorical logic that has little in common with the thinking of North American health officials."
Henry focuses on the Hmong perceptions and beliefs concerning measles and their use of agricultural terms, perceptions of time, and cosmological concepts in understanding and explaining illness. "Collectively, Hmong parents' practices in caring for their children during the measles epidemic made use of the full range of treatment options available in the city of St. Paul, both Hmong and Western. To imply that parents stubbornly limited themselves to `traditional' means of caring for their children would make Hmong immigrants appear dupes of their own `culture' which is certainly not the case....I have attempted to view their traditional practices through a closer attention to their animist cosmological understanding in order to gain a perspective on the issues of cultural change in which these parents are caught up."

Hirayama, Kasumi K. and Hisashi Hirayama. 1988. "Stress, Social Supports, and Adaptational Patterns in Hmong Refugee Families. " Amerasia Journal 14(1): 93-108. edited by Leong, Russell C. Asian American Studies Center, 3232 Campbell Hall, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024. This study is a result of a survey conducted in 1983-1984 which consisted of twenty-five Hmong male family-heads who had lived in the United States for two years or more and were residing in Memphis, Tennessee. The purpose was to examine the relationship that exists between stress and social support systems of Hmong refugees and to determine how these systems are related to family adaptational patterns. This study found the Hmong to be a highly organized and unified community. The authors suggest that other than the stressors in areas such as health and employment, the Hmong should be left to themselves for resolution, unless a specific request for assistance is made by a family or an individual. The Hmong are recognized as a very independent people who have a highly organized system of mutual assistance. The authors recommend that social service providers should encourage the Hmong to strengthen this existing network while also acting as a supplement to this network by acquainting the Hmong with the scope of external resources available in the larger society. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Hmong Film Project. 1983. Great Branches, New Roots: The Hmong Family. 42 min., color, 16mm. Rental: University Film & Video, University of Minnesota, 1313 Fifth Street SE, Suite 109, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Local (612) 627-4270. Minnesota Toll Free 1-800-542-0013. Out of State Toll Free 1-800-847-8251.
Film illustrates concept of Hmong family structure and its role in survival in an American city. Film begins with animated Hmong creation story.

Holloway, Ailsa J. 1981. "Identification of Health-Related Helping Relationships Among Southeast Asian Refugee Families." M.A. thesis, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. (109 pp.)
This thesis supported the hypothesis that refugees from Southeast Asia depend essentially on their primary group and immediate social network for health-related help and support. Data were gathered from a convenience sample of twenty-two households in a low-income housing project in Seattle; ethnic groups included Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese. Data were gathered by the investigator through ethnographic observation and questionnaire; interviews were audio tape-recorded. The findings stressed the functional importance of lay health consultants within the study households. The discussion includes description of the informal social networks (within families and between friends), and patterns of help-giving and help-seeking in general, and for the care of persons who are ill.

Hoshino, George. 1990. Refugee Mental Health: "Off-the-Hip" Think Pieces. School of Social Work and Refugee Assistance Program, Mental Health Technical Assistance Center, University of Minnesota. Available through SARS. (113 pp.) $11.30. These "think pieces" were originally individual essays written for Technical Assistance Center staff at the University of Minnesota to stimulate ideas and discussion on refugee mental health issues. These innovative pieces include such topics as the therapeutic vs. policy view of refugee mental health, the use of bilingual paraprofessionals and bicultural interpreters, a conference paper on refugee mental health planning, family planning and refugee mental health, models and model-building in refugee mental health, and institutional racism.

Hughes, Mary K. 1990. Hmong Concepts of Parenthood and Family in the United States. Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Washington State University. Copies may be obtained for $10.00 by writing to Mary K. Hughes, West 1603 Main Ave., Spokane, WA 99201. Phone: (509) 533-3745. (108 pp.)
One of the many problems faced by Hmong parents adapting to a American society is confronting service organizations and individuals who assume that Hmong parenting should be the same as middle-class Anglo-Americans in the United States. Instead of having their needs respected and receiving support in being a parent, they may often be "pressured" into changing their parenting behavior to conform with norms accepted in American society. Studies of Hmong resettlement problems usually do not examine parenting and other issues from Hmong parents' perspectives and researchers have not gone to them directly to find out how they feel. Mary K. Hughes developed this study of the Hmong concept of parenthood in Spokane, Washington, by interviewing Hmong parents directly using surveys written in Hmong and speaking to them in their own language.
Hughes includes in her work an overview of parenting concepts gleaned from different types of studies and details her research techniques which combined traditional anthropological methods of data collection with the survey method. While there are differences in perspective between the older group of Hmong parents who were not fluent in English and had received little education and the younger group who were more educated and fluent in English, both groups shared two major concerns: 1) having enough money for their family's needs (what Hughes calls "money-gathering") and 2) that their children have too much freedom growing up in the United States. Her research work is complemented with direct quotes from Hmong parents expressing their concerns and frustrations of living in a society and economy radically different from their homeland in Laos.
"Too often, members of the dominant Anglo-American culture plan programs intended to assist or `reform' the Hmong without understanding who the Hmong are and without obtaining input from the Hmong who will be affected by the programs....Rather than using this information to determine how to better adapt Hmong parents' values to those of Anglo-American parents, and expecting Hmong parents to give up their cultural values, I would hope that Anglo-Americans would respect their differences and even learn from them."

Huynh, Dinh Te. 1987. Introduction to Vietnamese Culture. San Diego, Calif.: Multifunctional Resource Center, San Diego State University. (80 pp.)
This guide has chapters on Vietnamese culture, the individual, family relationships, community relationships, language and nonverbal communication, political and economic dimensions, nature, values, education, religion, philosophy, and arts.
In the eyes of her children, the Vietnamese mother has the same status as the father. Parents teach their children according to the principles of filial piety and social courtesy. Younger siblings must respect and obey the older siblings.
The Vietnamese educational system is based on the French model, with its concern for the full development of the individual, although the language of instruction changed from French to Vietnamese after French colonial rule ended in 1945. In the North, education was patterned after the Marxist model of political indoctrination. In the South, secondary school students could choose among four tracks: experimental science, mathematics, modern languages, and classical languages. In 1975, there were four state universities, ten private colleges and universities, and a number of institutes, national schools, and normal schools. (SARS abstract)

Indochina Refugee Action Center. n.d. "Agricultural Project: Lao Family Community, Inc. and Catholic Charities." In Survey of Self-Help Initiatives. , This is a portion of a document prepared by the Indochina Refugee Action Center, Refugee Community Development Project.
This entry summarizes the purpose, activites, client information, and history of the Agricultural Project located in Fresno, California.

Insight on the News. 1989. "A [Hmong] Clan Against All Odds."

Insight on the News (16 January) : 16-17.

International Catholic Child Bureau. 1990. "Pilot Parent Support Groups for Indochinese Refugees--The International Catholic Child Bureau, N.Y." Unpublished. Contact: The International Catholic Child Bureau, ICO Center, 323 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017. 9 pp.

Irvine, Martha. 1991. "Choua Lee's Success Highlights Hmong Women's Changing Roles." Minnesota Women's Press, 7(17): 1, 6.

Jamieson, Neil L., Nguyen Manh Hung, and A. Terry Rambo, eds. 1992. The Challenges of Vietnam's Reconstruction. Indochina Institute Papers, a joint publication of George Mason University with the East-West Center, Indochina Initiative, Honolulu, Hawaii.
In May of 1992, scholars and officials from Vietnam joined American researchers and professionals at George Mason University to examine critical issues concerning Vietnam's reconstruction.
The eleven conference papers presented in this volume are organized into three sections: "Political and Economic Factors and Prospects" which includes such issues as economic reform, Vietnam's relations with other Asia-Pacific countries, and the role of the private sector in Vietnam's development; "Population and Human Resources"; and "Environment and Natural Resources" which covers such topics as Vietnam's oil and gas future and the role of forestry in Vietnam's development.
"The assessment that we have just presented of Vietnam's development is not an optimistic one....we perceive many of the negative factors--rapid population growth, limited resources, environmental degradation, cultural, institutional, and ideological rigidities--as interacting in ways that produce negative synergy. Problems seem to feed on each other so that even what would seem to be positive steps in other contexts contribute to deterioration in the overall situation."
"It is not our intent, however, to portray Vietnam's situation as hopeless....If there is any chance for Vietnam to raise living standards to the level of its more prosperous neighbors, economic reform must be accom- panied by a creative process of political reform. Some process of change is needed that will encourage and provide for meaningful participation in the reconstruction of Vietnam by a wide range of Vietnamese intellectuals and technocrats, foreigners, and expatriate Vietnamese."

Kelley, Ninette. 1988. Working With Refugee Women: A Practical Guide. International NGO Working Group on Refugee Women, C/O World Council of Churches, Refugee Service, 150 Route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. (174 pp.) In November 1988, the International Consultation on Refugee Women was held in Geneva and attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies. The guide is a result of the presentations and recommendations that were made at this conference. Five specific topic areas are examined: protection, health, employment/development, education, and cultural adjustment. Also included are specific recommendations regarding NGOs, refugee women's groups, United Nations programs and governments working with refugees. The purpose of the guide is to increase awareness of the various issues and situations that confront refugee women. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Kiang, Peter Nien-chu. 1991. "New Roots and Voices: The Education of Southeast Asian Students at an Urban Public University." Ph.D. dissertation, Graduate College of Education, Harvard University. Contact: University Microfilms International, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346. Phone: (800) 521-3042. (354 pp.)
The challenges of college for a non-native speaker of English, compounded by feelings of cultural and social isolation, has caused some Southeast Asian students to be depressed, if not suicidal. This does not jibe with the "super-achieving whiz-kids" stereotype many Americans have of Asian students.
Peter Nien-chu Kiang became concerned about the college experience of Southeast Asian students when he began teaching at the University of Massachusetts/Boston in 1987. Kiang utilized six sources of qualitative data and three approaches to data analysis to find out how the Southeast Asian refugee students defined and dealt with such difficulties as cultural and linguistic barriers, racism, family problems, and feelings of social and academic isolation. As part of his research, he conducted a qualitative pilot study at the University to find out what graduating Southeast Asian refugee students believed their purpose was in going to college, how they changed during their college years, and what they expected for their future after graduation. Kiang asserts that the numerous problems students face can be analyzed as part of four distinct dimensions of each student's identity--as a Southeast Asian, as a refugee, as an immigrant, and as a racial minority.
"Individual coping strategies identified in this research, such as choosing majors in technical fields and not speaking up in class, though allowing for short-term and limited success in school, may actually compound their problems over the long-term and reinforce patterns of isolation that characterize Southeast Asian students' experience in both academic and social domains of college."
Kiang complements his research with insightful and revealing stories about his students: "She began her final project presentation with a poem written by another student who was too shy to recite it himself: 'I have seen starvation at sea,I have seen a man put his life at the bow, soHis children could know what Freedom means.I have seen pirates rape a young girl, then throw her overboard;The sea turned red and my anger raged...'
The room was still as she started to weep, unable to read any further. Her friend and project partner... reached out her hand in understanding.The poet didn't know that his words revealed the story of her own sister. Her classmates didn't know her story either, but could see her sorrow as the sea turned red. We sat quietly, feeling the moment another lesson in struggle and survival."

Killeen, David. 1981. "Traditional Hmong Child: A Concept in Transition." Unpublished student paper. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. (17 pp.)
This paper examines the traditional Hmong concept of the child within the ecological, cultural and familial contexts of the Hmong people. Children and the wife or wives are of great economic importance to the Hmong. Children start working at age four, with older siblings caring for the younger ones. Children are encouraged to be active, and boys are entrusted with a large knife and a tobacco pipe at an early age. The culture is one of strong family and village loyalty, with little loyalty to nations or governments, the author states. (SARS abstract)

King County Rape Relief. 1988. Helping Your Child Be Safe [parent video]. Be Aware. Be Safe [teen video]. Be Aware. Be Safe. A Presenter's Guide. King County Rape Relief, Box 300, Renton, Washington 98057. Twenty minutes each, color, VHS video. $100 each. A 21-page presenter's guide is included with the purchase of each video.
Two training videos for Southeast Asian parents and teens presenting sexual assault prevention information. The videotapes contain believable stories of sexual assault situations specifically designed to be appropriate and informative to a Southeast Asian audience.
Each 20-minute tape features the same three scenarios but with different beginning and ending segments; one suitable for discussions with parents and the other with teenagers. They illustrate possible situations in which sexual assault can happen as well as ways to avoid or cope with it if it occurs.
The realistic stories feature Asian-American actors in typical Asian-American settings. The videos are in English but the accompanying discussion guides are usefully written in Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Lao. The presenter's guide points out important issues of Asian attitudes towards family and sexuality which must be considered in any discussion of sexual assault within the context of living in America. The guides include definitions in the four languages of the important terms used in the videos.

Kirton, Elizabeth Stewart. 1987. "Dialogue between School and Home: Communication or Miscommunication?" Unpublished paper presented at the California State Department Conference "Special Education for a Changing Population". Social Process Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara. Available from Elizabeth Stewart Kirton, Social Process Research Institute, Dept. of Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106. (12 pp.)

Kubota, Jan and Kara J. Matsuda. 1982. "Family Planning Services for Southeast Asian Refugees." Family and Community Health 5(1): 19-28.

Kulig, Judith C. 1988. "Childbearing Cambodian Refugee Women." The Canadian Nurse 84(6): 46-47. (2 pp.) Thirty women and a Cambodian healer were interviewed to identify cultural knowledge of conception and its relationship to use of birth control among Cambodian refugee women. This article, along with "Conception and Birth Control Use: Cambodian Refugee Women's Beliefs and Practices", is based on the qualitative research study. "The open-ended questions indicated that none of the women understood the physiological process of ovulation," Kulig writes in "Conception and Birth Control Use." "Several of the older women believed that they were predestined to have a specific number of children. This was related to their Buddhist beliefs that, in their past life, if they were kind to another person, they could be rewarded by bearing many children in future lives." Younger women were more likely to be aware of Western forms of birth control, although most misunderstood how the methods worked. The women preferred the birth control pill and tubal ligation as methods of birth control. Khmer herbal medicines and a burning ceremony thought to prevent pregnancy are described. "Implications for the Cambodian woman include the need for teaching family planning though visual aids, explaining concepts simply, and linking the women's traditional beliefs with Western concepts," Kulig concludes.

Kulig, Judith C. 1988. "Conception and Birth Control Use: Cambodian Refugee Women's Beliefs and Practices." Journal of Community Health Nursing 5(4): 235-246. Thirty women and a Cambodian healer were interviewed to identify cultural knowledge of conception and its relationship to use of birth control among Cambodian refugee women. This article, along with "Childbearing Cambodian Refugee Women", is based on the qualitative research study. "The open-ended questions indicated that none of the women understood the physiological process of ovulation," Kulig writes in "Conception and Birth Control Use." "Several of the older women believed that they were predestined to have a specific number of children. This was related to their Buddhist beliefs that, in their past life, if they were kind to another person, they could be rewarded by bearing many children in future lives." Younger women were more likely to be aware of Western forms of birth control, although most misunderstood how the methods worked. The women preferred the birth control pill and tubal ligation as methods of birth control. Khmer herbal medicines and a burning ceremony thought to prevent pregnancy are described. "Implications for the Cambodian woman include the need for teaching family planning though visual aids, explaining concepts simply, and linking the women's traditional beliefs with Western concepts," Kulig concludes.

Kulig, Judith C. 1987. "Conception and Fetal Development: Ideas Shared by Cambodian Women." Unpublished report funded through a grant from the Alberta Foundation for Nursing Research. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Central Health Center, Edmonton Board of Health. Author has restricted any photocopying of this paper. She can be contacted at 22 Pergo Terrace, San Francisco, CA 94131. See also her published paper, " Conception and Birth Control Use: Cambodian Refugee Women's Beliefs and Practices," Journal of Community Health Nursing 5(4): 235-246. (73 pp.)
This qualitative study focuses on Cambodian refugee women's viewpoints on conception and fetal development. According to the author's abstract, "three categories of women were interviewed to ascertain the information. The categories were those women who were beginning to childbear in Canada, those who had given birth in Southeast Asia and could potentially continue to childbear in Canada, and those women who had given birth in Southeast Asia but were no longer fertile. In total, thirty women were interviewed. The information generated included the lack of consensus regarding the time ovulation occurrs, the use of traditional ceremonies and herbal medicines for the menstrual period, pregnancy and postpartum period, the lack of knowledge regarding how Western birth control works, and the numerous activities and restrictions to be followed during pregnancy. A crou khmer was also interviewed to clarify traditional birth control measures. There are implications for the care of these women, such as developing more culturally sensitive ways to discuss birth control, development of culturally appropriate nutrition information for pregnant Cambodian women and the use of elders in the dissemination of information to the younger Cambodian women. (SARS abstract)

Kulig, Judith Celene. . 1991. Role, Status Changes & Family Planning Use Among Cambodian Refugee Women. Dissertation for doctorate degree in nursing science, University of California, San Francisco. University Microfilms International, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Phone: (800) 521-3042. (371 pp.)
In Cambodia, women's roles were defined and controlled by its traditional cultural system. Since resettling to the United States, Khmer women's roles and status have changed to the point that Khmer men are feeling that the old order is being threatened. "Cambodian men are reacting by applying overt controls whereas the women are attempting to use covert controls. During this transition period, most young women are not able to take advantage of new opportunities because of the perceived need to control their behavior."
Judith Kulig examines this and other cultural issues affecting Khmer women especially as they relate to attitudes concerning family planning. For example, she shows that Khmer women are now realizing that large families are not practical in the United States as they were in Cambodia and they desire smaller families so that they can pursue other interests. Kulig provides background information on Khmer refugees and explores the Khmer traditional health care system and its interrelationship with Theravada Buddhism and Khmer folk religion. She traces the changes of Khmer refugee women's roles and status before the war in Cambodia, during, and after, as well as the effects of modernization and other opportunities which have manifested since their migration to the United States.

Kulig, Judith. 1990. "A Review of the Health Status of Southeast Asian Refugee Women." Health Care for Women International 11:49-63.
The author conducted a literature review on the health status of Southeast Asian refugee women. She identified six substantive areas that contribute to the knowledge of the health status of refugee women from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. They include: general information, childbearing issues, health beliefs and practices, health-illness focus, stress adaptation, and miscellaneous issues. Discussion is presented on each area, although the focus is on the childbearing role of women and the influence of cultural beliefs on health care delivery.
The author recognizes an increased sophistication regarding content and data acquisition over the last seven years. Several recommendations are offered for future research on the health status of these groups. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Kulig, Judith. 1989. "Childbearing Beliefs Among Cambodian Refugee Women." Western Journal of Nursing Research 12:108-118
Twelve Cambodian refugee women were interviewed to identify the cultural knowledge of conception and fetal development that is prevalent among this ethnic group. All of these women had begun childbearing in Cambodia and had the potential to continue after their resettlement in Canada. The findings offer information on cultural knowledge concerning conception, fetal development, prenatal care, and birth control. A correlation was found between the cultural beliefs concerning conception and birth control use, and fetal development and prenatal care. For instance, the women in this study believed that conception occurs when the body is cool and that the use of a herbal medicine serves to heat the body, thereby preventing conception. They also believed that regular use of birth control would not prevent conception because they regard conception as an uncontrollable and infrequent event. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Kunstadter, P. 1985. "Health of Hmong in Thailand: Risk Factors, Morbidity and Mortality in Comparison with Other Ethnic Groups." Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 9(4): 329-51.
Compares the demographic and health conditions among the Hmong in Thailand with other ethnic groups that closely resemble the ethnic origins of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States. Results show that the Hmong had large, extended family households, high birth rates, low use of contraception, young age at first marriage, and relatively low infant mortality rates compared with other highland minorities. Hmong use of tobacco and alcohol and other stimulants was lower than other ethnic groups and was more frequent among men than women. Findings suggest that relatively low morbidity and mortality among the Hmong as compared with other highland ethnic groups may be associated with low use of tobacco and alcohol and with the sharing of childcare responsibilities within the large Hmong extended family households. (POPLINE abstract)

Kunstadter, Peter et al. 1989. "Hmong Demography: An Anthropological Case Study. " In International Population Conference, New Delhi, 1989, vol. 3. , International Union for the Scientific Study of Population in Liege, Belgium.

Kunstadter, Peter. 1984. "Cultural Ideals, Socioeconomic Change, and Household Composition: Karen Lua', Hmong, and Thai in Northwestern Thailand. " In Households: Comparative and Historical Studies of the Domestic Group. , edited by Robert McC. Netting, Richard R. Wilk, and Eric J. Arnould. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Discusses community differences and changes in household composition in a mixed ethnic population in northwestern Thailand. Data were collected in the late 1960s and 1980-81.

Labor, Frank M., et. al., eds. 1964. "Miao-Yao." Ethnic Groups of Mainland Southeast Asia. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files.
Chapter entitled "Miao-Yao." Sections of this chapter include: historical background, settlement pattern and housing, kin groups, marrige and family, sociopolitical organization, religion, and economy. The chapter is divided to address each ethnic group individually.

Lao Family Community, Inc. 1980. "Description of the Organization, Santa Ana, California." Lao Family Community, 1140 South Bristol, Santa Ana, California 92704. (714) 556-9520. 30 pp.
This document was prepared for the Leadership Conference at the U.S. Coordinator's Office for Refugee Affairs. It includes background information on the organization along with its primary activities, sources of funding and involvement with other agencies. (SARS Abstract)

Lao Family Community, Inc. 1985. Traditions of the New Year. Sacramento: Lao Family Community, Inc.. Sixteen-page guide to the Hmong New Year. Available from Lao Family Community, Inc., 5838 Franklin Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95824.

Lao Family Community, Inc. 1981. Conference on Hmong Resettlement in the United States: National Conference Report 1981, Sponsored by Lao Family Community Inc. Santa Ana, Calif.: Lao Family Community. (124 pp.) This reports gives the recommendations of participants at the 1981 National Conference on Hmong Resettlement. Categories include adult education, employment, health care, mental health, development of Hmong leadership, resettlement strategies, social services, foundations, economic development, community action/volunteerism, and children and youth. Appendices list Lao, Hmong and American participants. The section on children and youth recommends that bilingual programs continue until 1991, that buddy programs be instituted to advance friendship between Americans and Hmong children, and that Hmong students be placed with age-mates but be provided with appropriate-level materials. (SARS abstract)

Lao Family Community, Inc. "Set of four audio tapes and booklets." Lao Family Community, Inc., Sacramento Branch, 5840 Franklin Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95824; phone (916) 424-0864. $25.00 per set.
A set of four audio tapes and booklets on birth control/family planning in the Hmong language. Among the sixty topics introduced and discussed are the following: prenatal care, annual exams, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, parental concerns, menopause, menstruation, cancer concerns for women and men, and birth control. For more information contact Mr. Yia Yang at the address given above.

Lao Family Community, Inc. 1982. "National Conference Report: Report on the Conference on Hmong Resettlement in the United States, June 1981." Santa Ana, California: Lao Family Community, Inc.

Ledgerwood, Judy. 1989. "Sri Grap Lakkhana: Khmer Images of the Perfect Woman." Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University. (19 pp.) Khmer rules for the proper behavior of virtuous women are reviewed, and the question of whether or not this ideal can be fulfilled in the American context is discussed. Given the opportunity, it is assumed than men and women will be unable to refrain from sexual opportunity, so there is a perception in the Khmer community that the mingling of the sexes and the mobility in American life have led to more sexual activity among women. This assumption stands in contrast to the author's observations of women's cautious behavior, although she notes that many Khmer women in the United States are marrying at dramatically younger ages (15 to 17 years old), as compared to a traditional marriage age of 18 to 22 years for women in Cambodia.

Lee, Gary Yia. 1981. The Effects of Development Measures on the Socio-Economy of the White Hmong. Ph.D dissertation. Sydney, Australia: University of Sydney, Department of Anthropology. (338 pp.)
The author studies a Hmong village in Thailand, Khun Wang, to discover the major characteristics of the community's economic system and to explore the ways in which it was affected by a government Crop Replacement Project intended to eliminate opium poppy cultivation. In examining the village, its social structure and world view, the author describes marriage among the Hmong of Khun Wang. Marriage rules of clan exogamy, cross-cousin marriage, marriage by capture, betrothal of small children, and elopement, are explained. Courting is accomplished with the boy crouched outside the girl's bedroom, playing music and whispering to her. He often covers himself with a red woolen blanket, whose size gives him status. If it is large enough for two persons, the girl might agree to spend the night in the bush with him. Courtship usually lasts from a few days to a few months. The girl may give consent to marriage before consulting her parents, but the young man must receive permission from his parents, who will help him pay the bride price. In marriage by abduction, the girl's mother chases after the abductors and hits them with a stick if her daughter wishes to be released. If the daughter is willing to go with the men, she hits her daughter for being too eager to get married. Marriage negotiations are described; a bride-price is settled upon but its payment is often postponed, perhaps indefinitely. Most young women marry between the ages of 13 and 21, while most young men marry between the ages of 16 and 21. Polygyny and divorce are rare. (SARS abstract)

?Lee, Gary Yia. 1985. "Hmong Social Structure and World View." Unpublished paper. Minneapolis, Minn.: Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project, University of Minnesota, 330 Hubert H. Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55455. (32 pp.)
The Hmong cannot carry on a Hmong existence without their kinship groups and a good knowledge of the family ritual system, states Lee, an anthropologist who is part of the group of Hmong who migrated to Australia. Lee writes of the prohibitions in the relationships between fathers and their sons' wives, the status of unmarried women, the circumstances which might lead a man to live with his wife's kinship group, and ancestral rites. He also describes the roles of wild and tamed spirits. He concludes that patrivirilocality does not prevent a Hmong man from having close relations with his wife's relatives. "A man may have obligations toward his parents-in-law and their descendants, but these obligations are not manifested in his religious ceremonies," Lee writes.

?Lee, May Cha. 1992. "A Survey of Hmong Youth." HAP Voice 3(3): 6.

Lee, Patricia A. 1986. "Health Beliefs of Pregnant and Postpartum Hmong Women." The Western Journal of Nursing Research 8(1): 83-93.
Accessed Hmong women by the snowball technique (10 percent refusal). With a bilingual male Hmong village health worker, interviewed forty-three pregnant women in their homes about the beliefs and health behaviors during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and care of the newborn. Similar interviews were conducted with thirty-four postpartum Hmong women to elicit their beliefs about breastfeeding, weaning, and family planning. Questionnaire items also addressed attitudes towards immunizations.

Leichty, M.M. 1963. "Family Attitudes and Self Concept in Vietnamese and U.S. Children" American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 33: 38-50.

Lemoine, Jacques. 1972. Un Village Hmong Vert du Haut Laos (A Green Hmong village in the highlands of Laos). Paris: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. (219 pp.)
This is an anthropologist's view of the technical environment and social organization of the Hmong. Tools and methods are described in the text and illustrated. A chapter on family life describes the courtship and marriage of Hmong adolescents. Parents pretended ignorance of the young people's nocturnal visits, but a girl who had a child without getting married was shamed. Girls were married at about the age of 14 or 15. When a Hmong woman's daughter married and left her parents' household for that of her husband, the woman would feel regret. In turn, she would treat her sons' new young wives who joined her household with severity. The equilibrium of a polygynous household depended on the attitude of the husband, according to the author. The rules of marriage and the bride price are described. In French. (SARS abstract)

Liem, Nguyen Dang, and Dean F. Kehmeier. 1979. "The Vietnamese. " In Peoples and Cultures of Hawaii , edited by J. F. McDermott. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii. In order to understand Vietnamese refugees in the U.S., especially Hawaii, the authors believe it is essential to understand their past. First section of this chapter looks at cultural/historical overview of Vietnam, profile of Vietnamese character, and migration to the U.S. The family, rather than the individual, is the basic unit of society; harmony in personal relationships is more important than personal achievements. Second section presents importance of religions and relationship to adjusting. Examined are the influences of Buddhism; Confucianism, e.g., Cult of Ancestors; Christianity; and Taoism. Problems/profile of elderly Vietnamese refugees who came to the U.S. briefly discussed. Unhappy, these elders tend to live in the past.

Liem, Nguyen Dang. 1985. "The Elderly Indochinese." In Guide to the Utilization of Family and Community Support Systems by Pacific/Asian Elderlypp. , edited by Lillian Fabros. Washington, D.C.: National Pacific/Asian Resource Center on Aging.
Five state-of-the-art papers examine the role of support systems for five Asian-American elderly--Chinese, Filipino, Indochinese, Japanese, and Korean. The paper on Indochinese elders covers these main ideas: (1) historical/cultural background, including traditions, religious beliefs, and importance of the cult of the ancestors; (2) summary of experiences of elders in America, such as adjustment difficulties, inability to learn the language, low self-esteem; (3) current situation evaluated in context of these support systems--family, community, linkage systems, self-help groups.

Lin, Keh-Ming, and Minoru Masuda. 1983. "Impact of the Refugee Experience: Mental Health Issues of the Southeast Asians." In Bridging Cultures: Southeast Asian Refugees in America. , Los Angeles, Calif.: Special Service for Groups, Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center. This paper explains to mental health workers the impact of the refugee experience on Southeast Asians' lives, as well as how the different cultural backgrounds of the refugees affect their adaptation, coping mechanisms, and interaction with government agencies. The family life, religion, language, educational system, and mental health practices of the major Southeast Asian refugee groups are explained. The research team did a longitudinal study of 250 Vietnamese refugees in Greater Seattle and found that they coped with stress by regrouping their families or, in the case of unaccompanied young men, creating "pseudo-families;" by working hard to escape worries, by placing their hope on the next generation, and by being fatalistic. Five types of acculturation patterns are described. (SARS abstract)

Long, Lynellyn D. 1993. Ban Vinai: The Refugee Camp. Contact: Columbia University Press, 562 W. 113th St., New York, NY 10025. (258 pp. including index) $16.50 (paperback), $45.00 (cloth).
With the recent closing of Ban Vinai refugee camp, Lynellyn Long has provided a very timely and well-written work in which she shares the history and insight into life at Ban Vinai through her personal experiences and research. Before conducting fieldwork at Ban Vinai, Long spent fourteen months in refugee camps in Southeast Asia and four years working with Southeast Asian refugees in Boston and San Francisco. She documents the lives of five households and everyday interactions in the camp, as well as interviews other relief workers and officials. Conducting interviews and collecting data at Chiang Kham, Site 2, Khao I Dang, and Phanat Nikhom refugee camps enabled her to compare the various experiences of the refugees and make observations and generalizations about them.
"In this book, I analyze the refugee camp experience along three dimensions: political economic, socio-cultural, and psychoanalytic. In the broadest sense, the `refugee' is a modern political economic and legal construction in an international system of nation states. From this perspective, refugees share common characteristics: their poverty, disenfranchisement, alienation, and dependency on international organizations....From a sociocultural perspective, refugee camps are unique human environments. Refugee camps share characteristics of other total institutions: prisons, asylum, and hospitals. These camps enforce a dominant Western bureaucratic and rationalized system on their inhabitants. Like inmates of other total institutions, refugees resist the institution's enforced socialization. Each refugee group also brings unique cultural traditions, beliefs, and practices, which allow them to resist the more Western forms of modernization. Refugees' cultural understandings and traditions also frame personal interpretations of the camp experience and interactions."

Looney, J., R. Rahe, R. Harding, H. Ward, and W. Liu. 1979. "Consulting to Children in Crisis. " Child Psychiatry and Human Development 10:5-14.
Describes a consultation experience in which a team of mental health professionals attempted to meet the emotional needs of Vietnamese children and adolescents in refugee camps in the United States. Differences between Vietnamese and American teenagers were observed, particularly in the Vietnamese youths' strong sense of family loyalty. Recommendations are given for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The consultants' basic function was that of translating knowledge of the familial and extrafamilial factors that influence growth into recommendations that had significant common sense validity for those individuals who had managerial responsibility, but who had no previous experience meeting the special needs of children. ((c) APA)

Looney, John G. 1979. "Adolescents as Refugees." Adolescent Psychiatry 7: 199-208. edited by S.C. Feinstein and P.L. Giovacchini. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Looney discusses his findings from his studies of adolescent refugees in the United States. He found that there are specific problems unique to adolescents, such as unrealistic expectations and lack of communication with parents. These problems are generally not addressed, however, Rooney speculates that it is the strong family and peer groups that enable the Vietnamese adolescents to fare as well as they have in a new culture. He calls for a follow up study to see how they have adjusted. (SARS abstract)

Looney, John G., Richard Rahe, Richard Harding, Harold Ward, and William Liu. 1979. "Consulting to Children in Crisis." Child Psychiatry and Human Development. 10(1): 5-13. Although community consultation is common for psychiatrists, such activity is usually carried out on an elective rather than emergency basis. In a world troubled by community disaster situations-children are often at risk. Psychiatrists, through the use of skillful crisis consultation, can be of great help to these young people. This report describes the efforts of mental health consultation team to meet the needs of a large population of children under acute stress. (AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT).

Loucks, Wendy, and Lily R. Wu. 1985. "Amerasian Children and Their Families from Vietnam." Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10010-1761. Phone (212) 532-6350. 9 pp. This report, Orientation Supplement #14, focuses on Amerasian children from Vietnam, mainly those being resettled with their families rather than those arriving as unaccompanied minors. The paper is divided into sections on life in Vietnam, transition to the United States, and a section on fostering adjustment to their new surroundings. The portion on adjustment contains separate lists of potential problems for both women and children. (SARS Abstract)

Lowry, Kathleen M. n.d. "The Role of the Birth Family in Vietnam on the Adjustment Process of the Unaccompanied Minor." Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota. This article explores the role of the birth family in the adjustment and adaptation of their child in foster care, and explores the approach of the Minnesota Unaccompanied Minors Program to the inclusion of Vietnamese parents in their case management of foster placements. Two reasons are to be explored in this paper: (1) to recognize and undersatnd the historical influences of the family upon the minor and (2) to recognize the current and continued influences of the birth family that need to be addressed through the social workers' case management techinques. [AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT].

Lum, Doman. 1983. "Asian-Americans and Their Aged." In Aging in Minority Groups , edited by R. L. McNeely and J. L. Colen. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Asian-American elderly are composed of several populations, ranging from retired, single male elders, who are primarily Chinese and Filipino, to the more recent Indochinese refugee. Purpose of this chapter is to present those sociocultural factors common to these Asian-Americans. The author discusses socioeconomic-political situations, social needs issues, traditional and changing family patterns, and Asian service delivery needs. Lum states that the elders are not a model minority but one in \'quadruple jeopardy"--poor, minority, old, and non-English-speaking. Elders have more needs than before but do not maintain the same status as previously. Church/temple and family, as well as preserving traditions and culture, still important to these Asia-American elderly.

Lutheran Children and Family Service of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1980. "Living with an American Family. " Prepared by Dale Dye; translations by Duong Quy Binh and Nguyen Duc Long. Washington, D.C.: Office of Refugee Resettlement, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (28 pp.)
Booklet written for Vietnamese adolescents who are living with American families. The booklet describes, in both English and Vietnamese, the structure and mores of American family and social life. Concerns common to teenagers are also discussed. Among the topics addressed are school, typical weekdays and weekends, forms of address, friendship, dating and courtship, dealing with anger and loss of face, trust, slang and idiomatic expressions, phone calls, table manners, and smoking. (NIUCSEAS abstract)

Lutheran Social Service of Iowa. n.d. U.R.M. Workshop: Foster Parent Manual. Lutheran Social Service of Iowa. 33 pp. This manual provides preparatory information about training and knowledge needed to have Southeast Asian Unaccompanied Minors into the home. There is some basic cultural background information in this manual, but not indepth. It also provide information for the Unaccompanied Minors information about their new families so they can feel better and more confortable in a new environment.

Lynch, Ernest Lee, and Ha Do. 1986. "Mental Distress Among Aging Vietnamese Refugees: A Model for Services." Master's project, California State University, Sacramento. (101 pp.) "Elderly Vietnamese [are] . . . akin to the deaf, the dumb, and the crippled" and endure "intense feelings of loneliness, helplessness, uselessness, emptiness, fear, and isolation." Within this context, the researchers' objectives are to examine mental stress among the elderly Vietnamese, aged 55-75, in the Greater Sacramento area; to explore the coping mechanisms they use; and to develop a program service model which would contribute to the successful adjustment of these elders. Data were collected from April 1985 - February 1986. Questionnaires were administered to three groups: elderly (sample of 90), children of elderly (sample of 35), and counselors of elderly (sample of 10). Personal observations and interviews were also used.
Selected demographic findings show that 46 percent were Buddhist, 34 percent Catholic, and 20 percent practiced ancestral worship. Thirty-three percent lived with their children; 56 percent rented; and 11 percent moved from one child's house to another. Stress-related results revealed (1) eighty-three percent did not discuss problems with children. (2) Seventy-seven percent had minimal command of English language. (3) Homesickness, loneliness manifested itself into headaches, fatigue, sleeping disturbances. (4) For these problems, 56 percent consulted a doctor; 28 percent consulted an herbalist; and the rest treated themselves. (5) Basic needs elders would like to achieve: sense of accomplishment, usefulness, independence, meaningful social relationships, emotional support.
Responses of children of these elders are revealing. (1) Thirty-six percent saw parents daily; 64 percent saw parents once a week or every other week. (2) Twenty-nine percent believed parents should live with children; 29 percent believed parents should live alone; 42 percent believed parents should live by themselves but near the children. (3) Sixty-four percent did not provide financial assistance. (4) Twenty-nine percent helped parents with transportation. (5) Only five percent sought their parents' advice. A model for a "culturally-sensitive coordinated program of social services for elderly Vietnamese" is presented (Appendix E). Services most needed are transportation, in-home health care, and recreational activities. Even though the authors state that 83 percent of the elders do not consult children with problems, they also conclude that children are generally the "first support system" for these elders and that both children and parents believe the parent-child relationship is important.

Marlowe, David H. 1977 . "Review of Migrants of the Mountains by W. R. Geddes." Journal of Asian Studies 36(3): 591-592.

McBogg, P., and D. Wouri. 1979. "Outcome of Adopted Vietnamese Children." Clinical Pediatrics 18: 179-183.

McCallin, Margaret. 1992. The Psychological Well-Being of Refugee Children: Research, Practice and Policy Issues. Contact: International Catholic Child Bureau, Inc. (ICCB), ICO Center, 323 East 47th St., New York, NY 10017. Phone: (212) 355-3992. FAX: (212) 754-4674. (369 pp.) Sharing deep concern for refugee children, participants in a September 1991 ICCB seminar focused their discussions on the psychological needs of children in refugee camps and in other settlements in countries of first asylum. One of the main goals of the seminar was to prepare a policy to promote psychological well-being for children in refugee assistance programs. The seminar papers published in this volume are organized by the three aspects of this goal: 1) The Context of Intervention; 2) Strategies of Intervention; and 3) The Response of the International Community. The first section contains chapters which cover such topics as the effect of dangerous environments on the development of children, the psychiatric results and psychosocial intervention for children who have been traumatized, and the impact of current and traumatic stressors on the psychological well-being of refugees. The second section includes chapters which discuss a multifaceted approach to responding to refugee children's psychosocial needs, a model for promoting a caring environment for children, and Vietnamese paraprofessionals in child welfare. The eight chapters in the last section concern such topics as a policy perspective for the psychosocial needs of refugee and displaced children, effective advocacy for the displaced, and the training of refugee settlement administrators."The past decade has seen significant developments in policies and guidelines for assisting children in the field. It is now time to bridge the most challenging gap in refugee child-care by implementing these policies in the field, worldwide. To generate even a basic level of awareness of the mental health and developmental needs of children in the midst of refugee movements, and to ensure that services are available for all refugee children, will be an objective that carries us well into the next decade and beyond."

McCoy, Damien. 1992. "The Influence of Structural Factors on the Emergent Ethnicity of Immigrant Groups: The Vietnamese in Sydney, Australia." Ethnic Groups 9: 247-265. This paper analyses the influence of the structural characteristics of Australian society on the maintenance and change of migrant Vietnamese kinship networks in Sydney. The salient feature of the Vietnamese migrant experience has been a resistance to cultural change, especially in primary (family) relationships. To the extent that there was found to be change, the emergent ethnicity and settlement experience were found to be significantly influenced by the political, socio-cultural and economic structures of Australian society. But while these structures were found to determine the direction of change, inherited culture, specifically traditional values, were found to influence the nature of change. That is, while the kinship changes that are taking place have been largely brought about by the structural characterisitics of Australian society, the immigrant's emergent ethnicity remains undeniably and distinctly Vietnamese.

McInnis, Kathleen M., Helen E. Patracchi, Mel Morgenbesser. 1990. The Hmong in America: Providing Ethnic-Sensitive Health, Education, and Human Services. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 2460 Kerper Blvd., P.O. Box 539, Dubuque, IA 52004-0539. Phone: (800) 338-5578. (254 pp.) $19.85 + $2.00 postage and handling.
In order to assist refugee workers and other professionals in understanding and meeting the needs of Hmong refugees, the University of Wisconsin-Madison offered a course, "Social Work with Refugees: Focus on the Hmong" in the summer of 1988. The publication, The Hmong in America, grew out of this course and offers information and recommendations for health and mental health care workers, teachers, police officers and others who provide services for the Hmong. Many of the principles outlined would also apply to other Southeast Asian refugees.
The first chapter, "Who are the Hmong?" by Kathleen McInnis, outlines the background history of the Hmong people. McInnis explores "What is Ethnic-Sensitive Practice?" in chapter two. In the third chapter, "The Hmong Family," McInnis explains the Hmong family structure as it existed in Laos and points out the major areas which have become problematic for the Hmong in dealing with American culture.
Helen Patracchi reviews Hmong traditional healing beliefs and practices and offers examples of ethnic-sensitive principles which could be used in meeting health care needs. This chapter is followed by a case history on Hmong and American medicine by Beth Morris. Morris outlines the complaints of a Hmong father whose daughter was hospitalized. He was unhappy that the hospital did not respect the use of traditional healing for his daughter. His negative gut reaction towards a doctor and consequent rejection was also labeled "an example of the simplicity of some Hmong values and their naivet about the meanings of credentials in American life...." (When a Caucasian American feels uncomfortable about a doctor and looks for another, it may be called "getting a second opinion.") "Mr. X justified the importance of his intuition by explaining that it was this same intuitiveness that provided safe passage for his family and himself across the Mekong River ten years earlier, despite encounters with enemy soldiers." (In an age when many Americans are no longer willing to surrender their identity and deny their own gut feelings to an outside authority--who may later be proven to be wrong, this Hmong father could be looked up to as an example of one who has truly developed intuition and self-reliance.)
In the fifth chapter, sections by several contributors cover different aspects of mental health care for the Hmong ranging from methods of assessing posttraumatic stress disorder, to the role of shamans in mental health, to a hypothesis that relates nightmares and sudden death syndrome. Problems Hmong students and parents encounter with the American educational system are discussed in chapter six. In chapter seven, McInnis addresses community service workers and the unique role they play in assisting the Hmong community. Other contributions to this chapter include a discussion of legal issues and a model for effective community practice.
The book's well-organized format facilitates its use as a teaching guide; each of the seven chapters begins with a list of learning objectives and ends with discussion questions, suggested projects, a summary of key points, and references. The poor editing, however, often distracts from the professional purpose and humanitarian intent behind this book.

McInnis-Dittrich, Kathleen. 1990. "Working with the Hmong Community in the Small City." In Ninth Conference on the Small City and Regional Community. , edited by Miller, E.J. and R.P. Wolensky. Stevens Point, WI: Foundation Press, Inc. pp. 29-36.

McNall, Miles and Timothy Dunnigan. 1993 . "Hmong Youth in St. Paul's Public Schools." CURA Reporter 23(1): 10-14. Contact: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA), University of Minnesota, 330 Hubert H. Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: (612) 625-1551. FAX: (612) 626-0273. Free.
While Dufresne's study focused on the needs of high school Hmong students, this comparative study focused on 1,105 ninth grade Hmong and non-Hmong students (as well as their parents) in St. Paul, Minnesota and followed their progress and expectations throughout high school. (The study report does not mention at what point the Hmong students entered into the American school system--an important factor to academic adaptation and progress as outlined in the above study.) The Hmong students, who spent over twice the amount of time doing homework as their non-Hmong peers, had significantly higher grade point averages than the non-Hmong.
"These grades should be viewed with some caution, however. On the one hand, it may be that teachers' expectations for the Hmong were somewhat lower than for other students....On the other hand, another study reporting Hmong scores on standardized achievement tests showed high scores, suggesting that high grades in school may realistically reflect Hmong achievements."
Although the parents of the Hmong students were poor and had little education, they supported and encouraged their children to do well in school. Having peers with educational aspirations also seems to be another important factor in the academic success of Hmong and other minorities.
"Our data reveal that the adult Hmong in St. Paul have had considerable difficulty in adjusting to work life in the United States. The level of unemployment is high and incomes are below the poverty line. Hope for improvement in their economic circumstances appears to lie with the younger generation....The ways in which members of the younger generation reconcile their own educational goals, as well as their parents' high aspirations for them, with their obligations to the larger kin group will likely be important determinants of their eventual economic and social attainments in this new country."

Merchant, Grace, and Jeff MacDonald. 1989. Suggested Approaches to Family Planning Workshops: Lao, Mien and Hmong Family Project. International Refugee Center of Oregon, 1336 E. Burnside St., Portland, Oregon 97214; phone (503) 234-1541. (33 pp.) $10.00.
The report on workshops contains curriculum guidelines regarding family planning that are currently being used by the Multnomah County Health Division in Portland, Oregon. Suggestions are given on possible approaches to organizing workshops and relevant subject matter. Separate workshops have been developed for adults, teens, women and men. Other service providers throughout the U.S. may find these guidelines useful in establishing effective outreach programs.

Merchant, Grace. 1987. Lao, Mien and Hmong Family Research Project. Multnomah County Human Services Department Health Division and International Refugee Center of Oregon, 1336 E. Burnside St., Portland, Oregon 97214. (96 pp.) $7.50. In 1984-85 the Oregon Department of Human Resources published statistics which reflected a high incidence of early teen pregnancy in the Lao, Mien and Hmong populations in Multnomah County. In response to these findings, the Multnomah Country Department of Human Services contracted a six-month study on the specific marriage and family expectations of these three groups. The purpose of this study was to stimulate information and ideas that could be incorporated in the development of feasible intervention strategies for the reduction of the incidence of sub-16-year-old pregnancies.
The recommendations support the generally accepted solutions of outreach programs, culturally sensitive counseling and access to extended family units. The major proposal was to establish a training program in the area which would disseminate the needed family planning information to various sectors of the Southeast Asian population. A large part of this process is the involvement of community volunteers and service providers trained to present the material in an acceptable manner. The need for trained Southeast Asian volunteers and interpreters to find native language expressions that convey the information accurately was also stressed.

Metzl, Jamie F. 1988. "The Transition of Hmong Immigrants to the United States: Oral Histories from Providence, Rhode Island." Jamie Metzle, 7 Pitman Street, Providence, RI 02906. 86 pp.
This compilation of eight interviews with Hmong residents of Providence focuses on cultural adaptation. The subjects of the interviews were four university students at Brown, one doctor, two clan leaders and one 'medicine woman.' The author concedes that this selection does not fairly represent a cross-section of Hmong refugees in the U.S. He does believe that their experiences speak of the general transition to life in America and their relative successes offer a greater degree of contrast between traditional, transitional and current life styles. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Meyers, Cheryl. 1992. "Hmong Children and Their Families: Consideration of Cultural Influences in Assessment." The American Journal of Occupational Therapy 46(8):737-744.

Minister of State Multiculturalism. n.d. "A Guide to Working with Cambodian Refugees." Canada: Minister of State Multiculturism. pp. 16.
This guide to Cambodian culture includes a brief history, an overview of language, names, family and social structure, religion, education, climate, political orientation and suggested readings.

Minnesota Department of Education. 1977. A Handbook for Teachers of Vietnamese Refugee Students. Prepared by Tam Thi Dang Wei. St. Paul: Minnesota State Department of Education. (130 pp.)
This handbook reviews the world of the Vietnamese child in Vietnam in the areas of religion, values, customs, behavior expectations, and education. The values of self-effacement and filial piety are among those explained. The Vietnamese have a deep love of learning; the author believes this learning is sometimes too theoretical and is not of practical use in the work world. The Vietnamese look at all the alternatives, contrary to the "monistic" approach of Americans. Life is regarded as a blend of good and evil. Students have a passive learning style, and do not have elective courses in high school. Case studies of Vietnamese students having trouble because of cultural conflict in American schools are given. (SARS abstract)

Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). 1990. Limited English Proficient (LEP) Parent Involvement Project. Contact: Diane Pecoraro, Adult Refugee Education Specialist, MDE, Community Education and Learner Services, 993 Capitol Square Bldg., 550 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101. Phone: (612) 296-7500. (37 pp.) Free.
Many immigrant and refugee parents feel helpless and inadequate in helping their children adapt to a new culture and educational system. The goal of the LEP Parent Involvement Project is to affirm the importance of parents' role in raising their children, encourage them to teach their children about their culture and to be proud of it, and to support and be involved in their children's education even though they themselves may not be fluent in English.
Available in Lao, Hmong, Vietnamese, Spanish, and English, the LEP Parent Involvement Project is divided into three modules:

1. Culture: Bridging the Old and New Cultures: Learn New Things but Keep the Old; 2) Schools Are Part of the Culture; and 3) Parents are Teachers. The lessons consist of short introductory readings for each topic, written exercises which are used as a springboard for discussion, and stories which pose a problem for the group to explore and discuss.

"It is hoped that as families develop skills and gain confidence in parenting in a new culture, they will want to become more actively involved in their children's learning, both at home and at school."

Mollica, Richard F. et al. 1991. Repatriation and Disability: A Community Study of Health, Mental Health, and Social Functioning of the Khmer Residents of Site Two, Volume 1: Khmer Adults, Volume 2: Khmer Children (12-13 Years of Age). Contact: Theresa Ross, Indochinese Psychiatry Clinic, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, 77 Warren St., Brighton, MA 02135. Phone: (617) 782-6711. FAX: (617) 783-5690. (Vol.1 73 pp., Vol.2 31 pp.) $50.00 for both volumes. In order to assist the United Nations and other international authorities in developing and implementing an effective repatriation program for Khmer refugees, a team of researchers from the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (Harvard School of Public Health) conducted a survey of Khmer residents in the Site Two refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border.
It has been estimated that more than 150,000 Khmer displaced persons living in Site Two have experienced serious multiple trauma, long-term confinement and chronic dependency upon international assistance for almost a decade. More than 75,000 children under the age of 17 living in Site Two have experienced limited vocational, cultural, religious and moral education. Recent studies by the WHO (World Health Organization) and WFMH (World Federation for Mental Health) of the mental health conditions existing in the Khmer border camps revealed an entire population at risk for long-term chronic social disability.
If Khmer refugees are to reestablish themselves successfully in their home country, repatriation programs need to be established to assist them in this transition.
"...those most severely affected by their trauma, such as victims of sexual violence, persons with head injury, the chronically mentally ill, and abused children, will need the help of trained Khmer health workers capable of working within the community context. It would be a mistake to recreate a specialized mental health system which ostracizes and separates these people from others, after all they have already survived. There is an urgent need to respond to the broad spectrum of emotional upset of Site Two residents, from those who need family support to those requiring intensive and specialized services. This can best be accomplished by providing the Khmer with concrete opportunities capable of increasing social functioning, social competence, and an overall sense of community trust and psychosocial well-being."

Morrow, Robert D. 1989. "Southeast Asian Child Rearing Practices: Implications for Child and Youth Care Workers." Child & Youth Care Quarterly 18(4):273-287.

Moua, Dang, and Betty Seal. n.d. "Understanding Your Lao Students." Mimeograph. Long Beach Unified School District, Education Department, Office of Consultant, Foreign Languages, ESL, Bilingual-Bicultural and Indian Education. (5 pp.) This paper gives a point-by-point list of differences between Lao and American schools in the areas of dress and behavior. There are also explanations of Lao Hmong names, family, home and food. (SARS abstract)

Muir, Karen L. S. 1988. The Strongest Part of the Family: A Study of Lao Refugee Women in Columbus, Ohio. AMS Press, 56 East 13th St., New York, NY 10003. (191 pp. with index) $38.50.
Traditionally, Laotian women were considered the "strongest part of the family" in their native country and were responsible for the well-being of their families. What happens, then, when they are forced to leave their homeland and extended families with inherent support systems? Are they no longer the strongest part of the family in their new roles in the United States?
Karen L.S. Muir gathered ethnographic and demographic data on the Lao refugee population in Columbus, Ohio, and investigated the adjustments and changing roles of Laotian women through a series of open-ended interviews and participant observation. Most of the women she interviewed (via an interpreter) had been in the United States for two to three years. Columbus is one of the ten major reception centers in the U.S. for various Southeast Asian refugee groups.
Muir discovered that Laotian women have been able to retain their traditional roles as the backbone of the family by being responsible for the family finances, providing food, clothing, housekeeping, and taking care of the children. Through providing social networks, they often form the heart of their community. "Women are involved with wage labor, public assistance programs, American patrons, American churches and the American educational system." They are also the guardians of Laotian traditions and culture--ensuring the survival of their cultural identity.
This book not only offers insight into Laotian women, it also provides information on Laotian customs, religious beliefs, and daily habits. There are numerous personal anecdotes as well as tables and maps supporting Muir's conclusions.

Muir, Karen Lynn Stickney. 1984 . "The Strongest Part of the Family: A Study of Lao Refugee Women in Columbus, Ohio." Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting, Denver, CO., November 1984. Author can be contacted at 860 Cherlyn Court; Columbus, OH 43228. 11 pp.

Mydans, Seth. 1989. "Hmong Refugees Resist Adopting Birth Control." New York Times, 27 August: 11. Yia Yang, promotes birth control among Hmong refugees. The Hmong have one of the highest birth rates in the world at 9.5 children per woman. The article gives cultural reasons for resistance to family planning. (SARS Abstract)

Nann, R.C. 1982. Uprooting and Surviving: Adaptation and Resettlement of Migrant Families and Children. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel.
Empirical observations about the phenomenon of migration and the adaptive patterns of migrants as they settle into a new environment. Chapters are diverse and include reports from a variety of regions around the world. Topics include ongoing experiences such as: the adaptation of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States; the experience of immigrant populations in North America, Europe, and Asia; the changing mobility and life styles of West Africans; the status of foreign workers in Europe; and the special problems of children and youth. A common theme is the effect of change on individuals, families, and communities involved in the process of migration and resettlement. (POPLINE/TAC Abstract)

Nash, Jesse W. 1992. Vietnamese Catholicism. Art Review Press. For copies, contact the author at P.O. Box 1493, Harvey, LA 70059. (203 pp.) $9.05 plus $1.50 for postage and handling. Cultural anthropologist, Jesse Nash, explores and elucidates the ways the Vietnamese community in New Orleans practices and adapts Catholicism vis ã vis their traditional culture. His thoughtful and oftentimes lighthearted analysis not only provides insight into Vietnamese Catholicism, but sheds light on issues concerning the entire Vietnamese community as well.
He also provides details about his methodology in the appendix. "The Vietnamese family, especially the Vietnamese father, has weathered a barrage of changes in the last hundred years, the havoc wrought by colonization, Western and communist, the development of a world-wide ambivalence toward the family in the mass media, `individualism' of one stripe or another, and various political systems, claiming to represent the first allegiance of the individual and limiting the family's legal charge over children. That the community of trust still exists now in New Orleans means that these trends have been less than successful. Perhaps the greatest challenge though lies here, in American secularization, the `de-mystification' of the family, the severing of the conjugal from the metaphysical, and the trivialization of the sacred..." The New Orleans Vietnamese have not succumbed to these trends and have maintained their ethnic identity.

National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education. 1980. Selected Bibliography on Asian and Pacific American Children and Families. Asian Pacific American Education Occasional Papers. Berkeley, Calif.: National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education. (49 pp.) This is an annotated bibliography of recent articles, books, and scholarly papers on Asian and Pacific American children and families. Works are divided by topical area, with a primary focus on literature related to the education of Asian/Pacific American children and families. There are four main topical divisions: (1) education, (2) family, (3) mental health, and (4) social issues. Under the category of education, subtopics include achievement, bilingual education and English as a second language, the classroom, materials, research, and school programs. Topics listed under family include the elderly, parent-child interactions, and socialization and acculturation. The section on mental health lists works on attitudes, cognitive development, communication, mental health issues, and personality. The final section on social issues is divided into works on communities, demography, the media, social economic studies, Vietnamese refugees, women, and youth. (ERIC abstract; Order No. ED-205 632; microfiche only)

National Indochinese Clearinghouse. 1983. "Perspectives on a Cross-Cultural Problem: Getting to Know the Vietnamese." In Bridging Cultures: Southeast Asian Refugees in America. , Los Angeles: Social Work with Southeast Asian Refugees, Special Service for Groups, Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center. [Reprinted from the National Indochinese Clearinghouse, Center for Applied Linguistics, Indochinese Refugee Action Guide No. 13, 1976.]
This article describes the Vietnamese characteristics of thrift, industriousness, patience, determination, endurance, love of learning, and deep respect of the learned. The Vietnamese take a pluralistic approach to life and seldom choose one thing to the exclusion of all others. They are more protocol-minded in their interpersonal relations than are Americans. Because they are heart-oriented, the Vietnamese have been able to retain strong friendships and extended family bonds in spite of the hardships of war. (SARS abstract)

Nyce, James M., and William H. Hollinshead. 1984 . "Southeast Asian Refugees of Rhode Island: Reproductive Beliefs and Practices." Rhode Island Medical Journal 67(8): 361-366. Many western obstetrical practices are in conflict with traditional Hmong beliefs. Health care workers need to recognize and respect the traditional beliefs and practices of the Hmong.

Office of 01Refugee Resettlement. 1987. The Adaptation of Southeast Asian Refugee Youth: A Comparative Study. Final Report. Report prepared by Ruben G. Rumbaut and Kenji Ima for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Family Support Administration, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, by the Southeast Asian Refugee Youth Study (SARYS), Dept. of Sociology, San Diego State University, San Diego, Calif. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. This study includes quantitative findings on the comparative educational and occupational adaptation of Southeast Asian students, as well as a series of in-depth qualitative interviews with a sample of Vietnamese, Khmer, and Hmong refugee youth. The youth in the study were born in Southeast Asia but "formed" in the United States, and are in some ways marginal to both the new and the old worlds.
A survey of eleven high schools in San Diego showed that although Vietnamese made up 10.9 percent of the graduating class of 1986, they made up 23.4 percent of the valedictorians and salutatorians in those schools. Other data compare the grade point averages, dropout rates, suspension rates, achievement scores, and occupational aspirations of all major Indochinese ethnic groups. The Vietnamese had the highest average grade point average, followed by Chinese-Vietnamese, Hmong, Khmer, and Lao. The Vietnamese were also the most likely to be suspended from school, followed by the Lao, Khmer, and Hmong. Southeast Asians were far more likely to be suspended for fighting than white students. San Diego schools reported increasing physical retaliation by Indochinese students in response to name-calling and physical abuse.
The researchers believe that the coming generation of Southeast Asians will have a future much improved over that of their parents and families because of their high grade point averages, ambitious occupational aspirations, and comparatively low rates of juvenile deviance. Those most at risk for not making it were a significant proportion of Lao youth, who had the lowest grades, least ambitious occupational aspirations, and highest rates of school suspensions and juvenile delinquency among the Indochinese ethnic groups. The Hmong were seen to have difficulties making a successful transition into post-secondary schooling. The Khmer were most at risk for dropping out of school, and some Vietnamese youth, particularly those without parents, were at risk for juvenile delinquency. (SARS abstract)

Office of 13Refugee Resettlement. n.d. "A Guide to Budgeting For the Family." Washington, D.C.: Office of Refugee Resettlement. (38 pp.)

Office of 15Refugee Resettlement. 1984. The Hmong Resettlement Study. Executive Summary. Washington, D.C.: Office of Refugee Resettlement. Prepared by Stephen Reder, project director, Literacy and Language Program, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, OR, in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn., and Lao Family Community, Inc., Santa Ana, Calif. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. ERIC Order No. ED-267 154. (52 pp.) This document presents a summary of major findings of the Hmong Resettlement Study, a national survey of the conditions, issues, and problems affecting Hmong resettlement in the United States. The summary is organized within the framework of three major questions: (1) What has been the resettlement experience of the Hmong? (2) What resettlement efforts and economic strategies have provided effective results for the Hmong? and (3) How might current strategies be changed to result in more effective resettlement and long-term adjustment of the Hmong? Among the most important findings of the study is the variability of Hmong resettlement in different locales. It is generally concluded that economic prospects are most favorable for school-aged Hmong, for whom assimilation is much easier. The report emphasizes findings relating to secondary migration, the movement of Hmong away from their initial resettlement site. Other issues discussed include: (1) how Hmong are faring in terms of employment, dependence, and adjustment; (2) the areas of employment in which Hmong have been particularly successful; (3) impediments to effective resettlement; (4) problem-solving approaches; (5) external and internal regulation and public policies affecting the Hmong; (6) economic development and employment projects; and (7) the Hmong's concerns for their future lives. (ERIC abstract)

Office of 16Refugee Resettlement. 1985. The Hmong Resettlement Study. Volume I: Final Report. Washington, D.C.: Office of Refugee Resettlement. Prepared by Stephen Reder, project director, Literacy and Language Program, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, OR, in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project, University of Minnesota, and Lao Family Community, Inc. Santa Ana, CA. (298 pp.) ERIC, ED 267 151.
Volume I of the report deals with the background of the Hmong, Hmong resettlement in the United States, how the Hmong are faring in the United States, and summary and recommendations. The education of Hmong children is examined on pp. 160-199. An estimated 300-350 Hmong were attending college in the United States at the time of the study. Expectations for girls to go to college were quite low. Hmong students had formed organizations that cut across kin ties, and youth were emerging as community leaders. (SARS abstract)

Office of 18Refugee Resettlement. 1985. The Hmong Resettlement Study. Volume III: Exemplary Projects and Projects With Unique Features of Programmatic Interest. Washington, D.C.: Office of Refugee Resettlement. Prepared by Stephen Reder, project director, Literacy and Language Program, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, OR, in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Refugee Studies Project, University of Minnesota, and Lao Family Community, Inc. Santa Ana, CA. ERIC, ED 267 153. Describes exemplary resettlement projects in housing, employment, education and training, income supplementation and economic development, provision of health and legal services, Hmong community formation.

Office of 33Refugee Resettlement. 1989. "Refugee Program Update." Office of Refugee Resettlement, Family Support Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 19 pp.
The article gives an update on refugee policies and programs such as admissions, grants, conferences and reports. Also included as appendices are copies of the Senate Bill S.1248, the Refugee Resettlement Extension Act of 1989, and several fact sheets from the Family Support Administration division of the Department of Health and Human Services. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Okura, K. Patrick. 1981. "Indochinese Refugees: Families/Children in Turmoil. " Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Ortho-psychiatric Association, New York, New York, 28 March to 1 April 1981. (8 pp.) Many Indochinese refugees in the United States suffer from serious social adjustment problems. These adjustment problems appear to reflect the stress of adapting to American life rather than chronic dysfunction. Particular groups of Indochinese who appear to experience social adjustment problems that are more severe in terms of intensity, frequency or duration are considered "high risk" subgroups. These include: (1) unaccompanied Indochinese children in American foster homes; (2) homebound women and the elderly; (3) drifters, largely consisting of former servicemen; (4) the uneducated; and (5) ethnically isolated refugee groups. Mental health providers should make use of culturally acceptable counseling techniques that integrate traditional values and social practices when handling the Indochinese client. In addition, since most mental health problems reflect family tension and conflict, treatment involving the entire family is preferred. Group counseling activities although under-utilized, have proven effective in many areas of social adjustment when conducted with culturally acceptable techniques. Group day treatment has also been beneficial for those suffering from reactive and chronic psychoses, chronic depression, isolation, fears and phobias, eating disorders, and anxiety reactions. (ERIC abstract; Order No. ED-206 790)

Olney, Douglas P. 1982. "Hmong Genealogy." Unpublished. This work represents the results of an initial inquiry into the organization and history of a single Hmong family. It also represents the ideas of Hmong kinship as presented by two Hmong men, father and son, with some inference from the investigator.

Olson, Bonnie L. 1983 . "Hmong Men as Family Planners."

Outsama, Kao. 1977. "Laotian Themes." New York: Regional Bilingual Training Resource Center, Center for Bilingual Education, Board of Education of the City of New York. (34 pp.)
The author gives an overview of Laotian customs, such as limits on displays of affection, celebrations, daily habits, cooking and eating, greetings, and courtship. He then describes the educational system and learning styles in Laos. (SARS abstract)

Phommasouvanh, Bounlieng. 1983. "Aspects of Lao Family and Social Life." In Bridging Cultures: Southeast Asian Refugees in America. , Los Angeles: Social Work with Southeast Asian Refugees, Special Service for Groups, Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center.
This article explains Lao family structure and obligations, Buddhist beliefs, etiquette, and the nature of the New Year's celebration. Lao parents prefer to live with the youngest daughter and her husband. The father-in-law is the most respected and influential person in the family. Men do heavy work and have a great deal of privilege, while the women's role is largely confined to the home, although women control the purse strings. Parents teach their children basic trades and moral values. Laotians, who were mainly farmers, valued education and put money aside to send their children to school. (SARS abstract)

Podhisita, Chai, Peter Kunstadter, and Sally Lennington Kunstadter. 1990. "Evidence for Early Fertility Transition among the Hmong in Northern Thailand." Journal of Population and Social Studies 2(2): 137-155.

Pollak, Seth D., and Janine Bempechat. 1989. The Home and School Experiences of At-Risk Youth: An Annotated Bibliography of Research Studies. ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Box 40, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027; phone (212) 678-3433. (36 pp.)
This bibliography contains annotations of 33 major research studies on social factors that impede disadvantaged children's ability to learn and succeed in school. A wide range of educational, familial, and social influences are examined. Most of the studies were conducted between 1982 and 1989.

Prendergast, Nancy. 1985. A Vietnamese Refugee Family in the United States from 1975-1985: A Case Study in Education and Culture. Ph.D. dissertation, Loyola University, Chicago, Ill. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International. The study investigated the effectiveness of particular educational programs for the Vietnamese refugee based on an in-depth study of one Vietnamese family's ten-year experience with resettlement camps, English as a second language programs, college education, and college reeducation in the United States. The success or failure of American education for the refugees was determined by their assessment of it. Five members, encompassing three generations, of a Vietnamese extended family living in a Chicago suburb were interviewed and observed over a ten-month period. Their life histories were collected through case study data gathering which included observations of the family, interviews with the subjects, open-ended questionnaires, review of their available written documents, and review of published source material.
The following conclusions were drawn from the study: (1) Refugee camps set up for the first wave of refugees arriving in the United States in 1975 adequately met the physical needs of the refugees but did little else to educate and orient them to life in the United States; (2) The role sponsors played in the education and resettlement process of the refugees varied greatly depending on the sponsor. The subjects of this study encountered one very negative and one very positive experience with different American sponsors; (3) American higher education posed several problems for the subjects of this study--among the most prominent were the refugees' inadequate linguistic and cultural background for the American classroom; (4) Social class was directly related to the subjects' decision to seek college degrees in the United States and to consciously and aggressively pursue better-paying and more progressive employment; (5) Employment for the Vietnamese refugee wife caused some conflict and tension between the husband and wife; (6) The extent to which the three generations of refugees adapted to and accepted life in the United States was directly related to their age. (Dissertation Abstracts; Order No. DA85-17366)

Program for the Introduction and Adaptation of Contraceptive Technology (PIACT). 1985. What Is Family Planning? This booklet was produced by the Program for the Introduction and Adaptation of Contraceptive Technology (PIACT) for Planned Parenthood of Seattle-King County, 2211 East Madison, Seattle, Washington 98112.

Program for the Introduction and Adaptation of Contraceptive Technology (PIACT). 1985. How Can We Plan Our Family? This booklet was produced by the Program for the Introduction and Adaptation of Contraceptive Technology (PIACT) for Planned Parenthood of Seattle-King County, 2211 East Madison, Seattle, Washington 98112. 30 pp.

Rathbun, C., Di Virgilio, and S. Waldfogel. 1958. "The Restitutive Process in Children Following Radical Separation from Family and Culture." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 285: 408-415.

Reed, Tipawan Truong-Quang. 1978. "The Hmong Highlanders and the Lao Lowlanders." In Second Annual Asian Forum on Transcultural Adaptation: Asian Students in American Classrooms: Proceedings. , Chicago: Illinois Board of Education, Bilingual Section, pp.14-17. Reed charts the differences and similarities between Hmong and Lao culture. In both cultures, the men do the heavy work, and the women take care of domestic chores. There is considerable freedom in marriage choice. Polygamy, although not common, is practiced by some wealthy people in both cultures. In Hmong polygamous marriages, all wives share one household, while in Lao polygamous marriages, the wives live in separate households. The Hmong trace their descent patrilineally, while the Lao distinguish relatives bilaterally. Hmong children learn responsibility at an early age, but Lao children are not pushed to perform household tasks. Most Hmong are animists, while Lao are Theravada Buddhists. Young Lao men are encouraged to enter the monastery for at least three months. The Hmong love freedom, prize hard work, and are known for their courage and ability to organize. The Lao have a strong sense of fatalism and place great emphasis on recreation and pleasure. They avoid conflict and they tend to work only as hard as necessary. The author comments that the Hmong may have more difficulty than the Lao adjusting to an urban environment, but the Lao may find it extremely difficult to adjust to the more regimented way of life in the United States. (SARS abstract)

Refugee Action. 1987. Last Refuge: Elderly People from Vietnam in the U.K. Derby, England: Refugee Action. (33 pp.) Report addresses problems/needs of elderly Vietnamese refugees in the United Kingdom. Aims are to determine number of elders, what efforts made to help them, what services needed, and recommendation of a Residential Centre. Ages included men over 65/women over 60; however, authors recommended all over 55 should be included. Importance of family stressed. "Anguish and difficulties of the elderly are greatest when the traditional structure of the family leaks down and results in family stress and conflicts." Elders may be viewed as a burden and even abused. They are like people "under house arrest." How can their needs to met? They need a place for both meals and socialization. Luncheon Clubs help fulfill this need. Transportation, health care, and spiritual needs must also be considered. In addition to the Luncheon Clubs, importance of Vietnamese Community Groups is discussed. An original recommendation is the establishment of a residential centre to provide a place where elders could go for one/two weeks vacation with cultural/religious activities provided. Residential centre might even provide some permanent residential care. There is a need for housing projects since some older Vietnamese are living on their own to avoid family conflicts. Sixteen recommendations are given, divided into three categories: (1) social services/health authorities, (2) housing agencies, (3) central government.

Richie, Beth. 1988. Understanding Family Violence within U.S. Refugee Communities. Refugee Women in Development, Inc., 810 First St. N.E., Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20002. (63 pp.) $8.00.
Refugee Women in Development (RefWID) has developed a curriculum for social workers, resettlement agencies and refugee mental health workers who are involved with refugee families affected by domestic violence. The curriculum is directed at providing refugee service providers with information and guidelines to address the needs of battered women in refugee communities. It contains exercises, resource lists, suggestions for designing programs and a bibliography. Ideally, the guide can be used to train a group of 20 to 25 men and women over a two and a half day period. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Rick, Kathryn, and John Forward. 1992. "Acculturation and Perceived Intergenerational Differences among Hmong Youth." Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 23(1): 85-94.

Robinson, Phyllis. 1992. The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus: A Shared Learning Workshop': Exploring the Role of Khmer Duan Chee (Nuns) and other Khmer-Buddhist Women as Social Care Providers. Contact: Phyllis Robinson, P.O. Box 86, Shutesbury, MA 01072. Phone: (508) 544-7994. (27 pp.) $15.00 (make checks payable to Phyllis Robinson). In traditional Cambodia, the Buddhist temple was the heart of the community. Now residing in refugee camps, many Khmer still turn to the Buddhist monks and nuns for support and counsel during this difficult period in their lives. Phyllis Robinson was struck by the "strength and commitment" of Khmer Buddhist nuns both in refugee camps and in Khmer Buddhist communities in the United States.
A workshop was held at the Site Two refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border during March and April of 1992 to explore the potential role of Khmer Buddhist nuns (duan chee) and other Khmer Buddhist women in providing support systems for Khmer families in the camps and eventually in Cambodia as well. Khmer Buddhist women learned about mental health counseling and Buddhist principles of healing during the workshop. In The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus, Robinson reports the results of this workshop and includes demographic, interview, and journal entry information along with her own observations. It is hoped that similar projects will be established in other settings.
"The situation for repatriated Khmer women and in-country Khmer women, particularly widowed women who are heads of households with children, is serious. A 1990 UNICEF study showed 64% of the Khmer adult population in Cambodia to be women, with 35% heading households; 60% of farmers are female. The statistics for repatriated Khmer support these figures with added problems. The transition to life outside the camps, even with U.N. support, is rife with continuing mental anguish....It is apparent that Khmer women would benefit from the support of trained social care providers; women and men who can identify inner and outer resources and put them to use in their communities....I recommend that the temple and the duan chee in particular be given the support of a `shared learning process'. This process however, must step out of the workshop and into immediate and ongoing application of what is learned. Follow-up for participants and continual feedback must be part of subsequent designs. Skilled expatriate Khmer women should be recruited as workshop leaders and facilitators, as well as trained Khmer women from within the country."
The participants in this workshop formed an organization called "Sakyadhita/Cambodia" and are hoping to continue their education as social workers through the Buddhist temples in Cambodia. They are in need of individuals or organizations who will sponsor them for further training. For more information, contact Phyllis Robinson at the address or phone number provided above.

Rumbaut, Ruben G. 1984. "Migration, Adaptation and Age: A Study of Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese Refugee Families." Conference paper, Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Cross-cultural study of Southeast Asian refugee groups in San Diego.

Rumbaut, Ruben G., and John R. Weeks. 1986. "Fertility and Adaptation: Indochinese Refugees in the United States." International Migration Review 20 (Summer): 428-465. edited by Stein, Barry N. and Sylvano M. Tomasi. Center for Migration Studies, 209 Flagg Place, Staten Island, New York 10304. (212) 351-8800.
Analyzes fertility levels of Indochinese refugees in the U.S. and examines the influence of adaptation and adjustment processes on these levels. Hmong have the highest fertility level.

Rutledge, Paul. 1988. "Traditional Patterns and Belief Orientations: The Prognosis for Vietnamese Acculturation and Assimilation in the United States." AJT 2(2): 516-545.

Rynearson, Ann and Manisha Dasai. 1988. "On Gender, Age and Refugees: Renegotiating Roles and Identities." Unpublished. Paper presented at the 87th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association. 17 pp.
Age and gender are subjects of recurring interest in the rapidly growing field of refugee studies, but there has been little work on integrating these concepts beyond the strictly local ethnographic level. This paper reviews the broader literature on age and gender as they relate to the refugee experience and traces these themes in previous work on refugees in the United States. (Author abstract)

Rynearson, Ann Manry. 1985. "`I Miss My Mother': Women in Lowland Lao Refugee Families." Paper presented at the 84th Annual Meetings, American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C., December 1985. (20 pp.) The author's telephone number is (314) 773-9090.
Rynearson presents evidence that the pressure on Lao women in St. Louis, Mo., has increased due to the absence of other women in the household with whom to share housework. Most young Lao women need to and like to work. Older women attend to child care while the younger ones work. Rynearson discusses the work roles of a Lao woman in Laos, from the time of childhood to old age, and the materialism of Lao refugees in the United States. (SARS abstract)

Scott, George M., Jr. 1986. Migrants without Mountains: The Politics of Sociocultural Adjustment among the Lao Hmong Refugees in San Diego. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, San Diego. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International. (514 pp.) Dissertation Abstracts Order No. DA86-11289)
The author examines culture change and continuity in the San Diego Hmong community, in the areas of economy, marriage and family, religion, art, and political organization. The emergence of strong, youthful leadership in the Lao Family Community self-help organization is contrasted with the traditional kinship-based authority system. The greatest change affecting Hmong childhood and adolescence is compulsory school attendance, which provides the young with knowledge and skills their parents do not possess. The children's Americanized behavior angers the parents, and the parents' traditional behavior embarrasses the children. Growing friction between the siblings was also observed because of the unequal amounts of work that boys and girls do in the home. Traditionally boys and girls performed an equal amount of work; in the United States, girls are still expected to do the housework, but boys lead relatively carefree lives. (SARS abstract)

Seelbach, Wayne C., and Ann H. Die. 1988. "Family Satisfactions and Filial Norms Among Elderly Vietnamese Immigrants." Journal of Aging Studies 2: 267-276. A descriptive study of sixty Vietnamese elders, aged 57-85, concerning proximity to and personal contact with children, siblings, and parents; satisfaction with family relationships; and filial responsibility norms. Median age was 70; ninety-seven percent spoke little or no English. Data gathered by questionnaire, which was translated into Vietnamese, and administered by personal interviews. Seventy-five percent of the elders lived in the same house with their children although no elders lived with a sibling. Most elders (90 percent) saw their children daily. The other 10 percent saw their children at least once to several times a week. Results of questions concerning family satisfaction provided a paradox. Ninety-three percent indicated they were happy or very happy with their family relationships; but their responses were quite different when asked how often they felt they were part of a happy family. Families, however, remain extremely important to these elders. Concerning filial norms, the sampled elders believe their children should care for them when physically unable or if they decide they do not want to live by themselves. Several recommendations were made for additional research.

Sherlock, Donna L. 1989. Travels To The East: February 13, 1989 - March 15, 1989. The Saint Paul Foundation, 1120 Norwest Center, St. Paul, MN 55101. (612) 224-5463. 78 pp. Ms. Sherlock, a Program Officer with The Saint Paul Foundation, has worked closely with refugee organizations during the past several years. In 1989 she traveled to Southeast Asia. This short report is an overview of her trip, describing what she saw, learned and felt during her travels. The report also offers insights into recent events and current conditions in Vietnam and Cambodia, and discusses information relevant to the local refugee communities. (SARS ABSTRACT)

Sigmund, Suzanne. 1991. "A Voyage Home to Vietnam." Asian Pages 2(8): 1-3.

Skjervold, Christian K., and others. 1975. "Minneapolis Multi-Ethnic Curriculum Project--Family Unit." Minneapolis: Minneapolis Public Schools, Minnesota Department of Intergroup Education. (61 pp.)
The student booklet presents short case studies illustrating the family unit of the Minneapolis Multi-Ethnic Curriculum Project for secondary schools. Thirteen brief chapters describe family life and patterns of different ethnic groups in the United States. They present stories of individuals in groups such as Puerto Ricans, Swedish Americans, Jews, Vietnamese refugees, Japanese Americans, Blacks, Italian Americans, Armenian Americans, American Indians, and Chinese Americans. (ERIC abstract; Order No. ED-183 481)

Smith, Harvey H., Donald W. Bernier, Frederica M. Bunge, Frances Chatwick Rintz, Rinn-Sup Shinn, and Suzanne Teleki. 1967. Area Handbook for South Vietnam. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
This extensive description of the social, political, economic and legal systems of South Vietnam has a section on social systems which contains detailed information about language, social structure, family, living conditions, religious values, and education in South Vietnam during the 1960s. (CEEDE abstract)

Smith, Maureen. 1979 . "Mountain People from Laos Build Community in Minnesota." Report: A publication for the faculty and staff of the University of Minnesota, November 1979.

Sogabe, N.C. 1984. "Hmong Children in the Minneapolis Schools." Unpublished student paper. Minneapolis, Minn.: College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota. (98 pp.) Sogabe concludes that Hmong children in Minneapolis schools are less prepared for the transition to American life than other immigrants because of their extended family system, early marriage age, large families, and their lack of education, culturally appropriate job experience, and English skills. The bilingual program in the Minneapolis schools provides highly structured English learning but does not provide a meaningful context for conversation, in Sogabe's estimation. The author cites the need for texts and lessons that are culturally and linguistically appropriate to the Hmong, and the need for schools to train students how to deal with home-school conflict and how to participate successfully in both cultures. (SARS abstract)

Spring, Marline. 1992. Hmong Family Planning in America. Video Orders, Amos Deinard, M.D., Community-University Health Care Center, 2001 Bloomington Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55404. Checks for orders should be made out to the University of Minnesota. (12 mins., includes translated English script.) $75.00 for first tape, $40.00 for additional tapes. Phone: 627-4774. FAX: 627-4205.
In their native Laos, Hmong women had their children about three years apart. But in the United States, many Hmong women give birth every eighteen months. Since frequent pregnancies can put a strain on a family's finances and can add to the stress of adapting to life in the United States, researchers at the University of Minnesota developed two videos on family planning and birth control for the Hmong. Through interviews with several Hmong families, Hmong Family Planning in America contrasts the difference in the quality of life for those who planned their pregnancies and those who did not. All of the videos in this series are in Hmong.

Spring, Marline. 1992. Contraceptive Information for Hmong Couples. University of Minnesota (22 mins., includes translated English script.)
Filmed in a classroom setting, Contraceptive Information for Hmong Couples introduces family planning and birth control to Hmong men and women. Couples in the class discuss. their fears and misconceptions about certain contraceptives and learn the facts about them. This is a companion video to Hmong Family Planning in America.

Stein, R. A. 1972. Tibetan Civilization. Contact: Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA 94305-2235. Phone: (415) 723-1593. (334 pp.) $12.95.

Sutherland, John E., et al. 1983. "Indochinese Refugee Health Assessment and Treatment." Journal of Family Practice 16(1) 61-67. Requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. John E. Sutherland, Division of Family Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. "This report reviews data from 426 refugees who underwent comprehensive examination and treatment at the Mayo Clinic. Health problems identified were primarily selected contagious illnesses and stress syndromes with functional complaints. Counseling was necessary in 17 percent of adults for psychosomatic problems or psychiatric disorders. When family-planning issues were applicable and addressed, 80 percent of women chose some method of contraception. The prevalence rate of intestinal parasites was 82 percent, and pathogens necessitated persistent treatment and follow-up. Tuberculosis skin-sensitivity testing was positive in 54 percent; the risk of active disease warrants prophylactic treatment until age 35 years. Hepatitis antigen was positive in 13 percent; precautions should be taken for potentially exposed professionals.
"Hematologic genetic disorders were very common and accounted for most of the 25 percent incidence of microcytosis. Physicians should become aware of cultural attitudes and treatment acceptance among Indochinese patients and should carefully investigate for infectious diseases." (Author's Abstract)

Teng, Ung, Jourdain, Alain and Bourdillon, Franýois. 1984. "Un Regard Sur la Contraception des Femmes Cambodgiennes Residant en France." ASEMI (Asie du Sud-Est et Monde Insulindien) 15(1-4): 293-302. edited by E.H.E.S.S./C.N.R.S. This study, conducted through questionnaires, shows that the use of contraceptives among Khmer women living in France depends on their degree of education but has no relation to their age level.

Terry, Dick. 1985. Hmong New Year. Lao Family Community, Sacramento, and Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. 25 min., color, video. Lao Family Community, 5838 Franklin Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95824.
Contains scenes of Sacramento Hmong New Year, 1985, and footage of traditional ceremonies.

Thao, T. Christopher. 1987 . "Torn between Cultures: Southeast Asian Immigrants in Minnesota." The Bench & Bar of Minnesota (October): 21-26.
Thao, the first Hmong-American lawyer, describes several cases in which Southeast Asian cultures are in conflict with the American legal system. In a few cases, Hmong clients in court have asked judges to permit a curse, so that whoever was lying would die. Southeast Asians are often not aware of their legal rights, and misunderstandings of the law may lead to tragedy. Hmong marriage traditions and family values are explained.

Thao gives attorneys advice about working with interpreters and listening to clients who may prefer indirect methods of communication.

Thoen, Gail Ann. 1982. "Asian Refugee Students: Innovative Programming for America's Newest Immigrants." Unpublished paper. Sponsored in part by the University of Minnesota Small Grants Program. Alexandria, Va.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service. (14 pp.)
An experimental course on Asian-American women, offered by the Department of Family Life at the University of Minnesota, is described. The curriculum innovation was designed in response to the Asian refugee settlement in the St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, area. The undergraduate course used a 1982 anthology containing works focusing on Asian women's experiences here and abroad. The course begins with tracing the history of Asians in America and concludes 10 weeks later with a lecture and demonstration on assertiveness training for Asian refugees. An interdisciplinary approach is used and additional topics include: Asians and California anti-miscegenation laws; the life history of a Filipina in Hawaii; family structure and acculturation in the Chinese community in Minnesota; Asian and white interracial relationships in dating, marriage, and divorce; Asian women and family law; and nursing care for Indochinese refugees. The course faculty, a Caucasian female and a Japanese male, served as role models for the students, hopefully illustrating how issues of sexism and racism could be publicly discussed, argued, and overcome based on classroom dialogues. A student evaluation was accomplished using a questionnaire that dealt with students' diverse backgrounds and their levels of English proficiency, along with the professors' judged competence and course content. A summary is presented of the responses from the 80 refugees, who ranged in age from 17 to 55, with a mean age of 22. Most students emigrated from Vietnam, but Laos and Cambodia were also well represented. (ERIC abstract; Order No. ED-219 030)

Tollefson, James W. 1989. Alien Winds: The Reeducation of America's Indochinese Refugees. Praeger Publishers, One Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010. (224 pp.) $39.95. Alien Winds presents the first critical analysis of America's overseas processing centers for Southeast Asian refugees. Based on twenty months of work in refugee camps from 1983-1986, Tollefson challenges the widely accepted belief that the refugee education program results in successful resettlement. The author contends that in its zeal to Americanize Southeast Asians, this program seeks to replace ties to their traditional community with a committment to the myths of American success ideology and the moral principle of self-sufficiency.
He concludes that the program actually disempowers the refugees by robbing them of their sense of community, and often their dignity. Without regard to skills or education it prepares refugees for long term employment in dead end minimum wage jobs which results in economic crisis for most refugees' families. Recommendations for overseas processing centers and for domestic resettlement programs are included.

Tran, Duong Van. 1977. "Some Aspects of Cultural Adjustments of Asian Children in American Schools." In Forum of Transcultural Adaptation: Asian Children in American Classroom: Proceedings. , edited by . Chicago: Department of Transitional Bilingual Education, Illinois State Board of Education.
American orientation toward the future means that there is rapid change not only in technology but in human relationships, with an emphasis on the dissolution of the child's dependence on the parents. In contrast, dependence and attachment to the extended family are built into Asian child-rearing practices. The author discusses how this and other cultural differences affect the Asian child at school. Textbooks, by omission or by perpetuating stereotypes, lower the Asian child's self-esteem. Counselors may believe that Asians are too quiet and passive and thus direct them away from professions that involve articulation and verbal skills. The author argues order to have a positive influence on Asian children's self-image and aspirations for the future. (SARS abstract)

Tran, Thanh V. 1991. "Family Living Arrangement and Social Adjustment Among Three Ethnic Groups of Elderly Indochinese Refugees." International Journal of Aging and Human Development 22: 91-102.
Data have been analyzed from the Office of Refugee Resettlement's Southeast Asian Refugee Self-Sufficiency Study (1985) for this article. The author examines family living arrangements and social adjustment. Social adjustment is defined as "the refugees' sense of satisfaction with life and the living environment in American society." The sample was comprised of 258 persons, 55 years or older; 31 percent were Vietnamese, 32 percent ethnic Chinese, and 37 percent Lao. Living within a nuclear or extended family helped with a positive social adjustment. However, living with several families in the same house or having children under 16 in the same living arrangement resulted in a negative or a lower sense of adjustment. Ethnicity was shown to have no effect on social adjustment.

Tran-van-Trai. 1950. The Annamese Patriarchal Family. Trans. C. A. Messner. New Haven: Human Area Relations File. Trans of La Famille Patriarcale Annamite. Paris: P. Lapagesse. 1942. (360 pp.)
Provides insight into understanding the historical position of the family and social life and customs in Vietnam. In this standard work, topics include the patriarchal family, marriage, birth, and death. Among the sources cited is the Code Annaimite, a legal code adopted during the Nguyen Dynasty in 19th century Vietnam by Emperor Gia Long. Especially relevant are the sections on filial piety, ancestor worship, and death, including death ceremonies, mourning rites, and Annamese tombs. The influence of Confucianism in Vietnamese society is also evident throughout.

Tsuchida, Nobuya, ed. 1982 . Asian and Pacific American Experiences: Women's Perspectives. Minneapolis: Asian/Pacific American Learning Resource Center, and General College, University of Minnesota. 255 pp.
This collection of articles about and first hand accounts by Asian and Pacific women immigrants to the United States spans their history since the 1850's, beginning with the first Chinese immigration to California. The volume includes testimony regarding Japanese internment during the Second World War and more recent treatment, prejudices and accomplishments of Asian women in the United States.
One interview was conducted in Minneapolis with Choua Thao, who was the only woman board member of Lao Family Community in Minnesota until her term expired in 1981.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement Region V. 1987. "The Refugee Family: Region V Consultation Report. Report from Region V Consultation, Rosemont, Ill., 7-9 December 1987." Arlington Heights, Ill.: S.T.A.G.E.S. Project, Northwest Educational Cooperative. (102 pp.)
The underlying assumption of this consultation was that "the family is the fundamental unit of economic and social survival and the refugee family structure is the strongest resource it brings to this new culture. Services then should aim to strengthen the unit, not simply address the problems of the individual."
More than 200 representatives from agencies and mutual assistance associations--refugees and Americans--divided themselves into groups devoted to the problems of women, men, youth, and elderly. The groups' recommendations are contained in this report. Among them are that conflict resolution skills should be included in English as a second language curricula; more support should be given to help men deal with institutional discrimination, racism, minority status, and diminished social status; education should include information on American values of parenting; and bilingual counselors should be available for home visits to the elderly.
For further information or to obtain a copy of the report, contact the S.T.A.G.E.S. staff or Linda Mrowicki, Northwest Educational Cooperative, 1855 Mt. Prospect Rd., Des Plaines, IL 60018; phone (312) 870-4100.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).3. 1985. Refugee Women. A Round Table Organized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Geneva. 87 pp. In this United Nations round table discussion, representatives of several countries examined the situation and problems specific to women refugees. Under the assumption that the refugee family is a social unit, with specific roles for women, the Commission emphasized specific programs for refugee women in areas of health, education, economic production and social participation.

Unze, David. "Hmong Community Task Force Resource Guide." St. Paul, MN: Ramsey County Community Human Services Department, 160 E. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55101; phone (612) 298-4490.
A task force on early marriage in the Hmong community has met periodically over the past year and a half in Minneapolis-St. Paul. "The group was drawn together by a common concern regarding the economic, social, legal, medical, and educational effect caused by early teen marriage in the Hmong community. From our perspectives, existing resources are not having an impact on a significant percentage of the Hmong community in addressing these issues," wrote the group's founder, Doug Unze, a social worker in child protection services. Group members represent a variety of social, health, legal, and educational resources in the Twin Cities. The group attempts to effect change regarding the early marriage issue through educational outreach in the Hmong community and among service providers. Unze has compiled a "Hmong Community Task Force Resource Guide" which lists twenty local agencies that provide services in the areas of family planning, sexuality education, and early marriage. The task force would appreciate hearing from any other Hmong community in the United States that has developed successful strategies for discouraging early marriage. Contact Doug Unze, Ramsey County Community Human Services Department, 160 E. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55101; phone (612) 298-4490.

Vang, Tou-Fu. 1985. "The Hmong from Laos." Unpublished paper: Lao Family Community, Inc., 220 South 9th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
Included are two version of this paper. The more lengthy one includes information on the Hmong in Minnesota and lists the goals and officers of The Association of Hmong (AHM) in St. Paul.

Vang, Tou-Fu. 1983. "The Hmong of Laos." In Bridging Cultures: Southeast Asian Refugees in America. , Los Angeles: Social Work with Southeast Asian Refugees, Special Service for Groups, Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center.
The author traces the history of the Hmong and explains their culture, family structure, and religious beliefs. The Hmong put family, group, or clan before self-interest. The pursuit of individual goals is frowned upon as selfish. Everyone in the extended household takes part in the informal education and training of the young, and the young respect and obey the elders unquestioningly. (SARS abstract)
NOTE: This may be the same article that appears in Whitemore, John An Introduction to Indochinese History, Culture, Language, and Life.

Vang, Vang. 1982. "Vaj Huab Muas and His Descendants." Unpublished notes.

Vangyi, Shur Vang. 1980. "A Guide to Understanding Dating and Marriage in the Hmong Culture." New York, N.Y.: Scientific Foundation. 22 pp.

Walter, Ingrid. 1981 . "One Year after Arrival: The Adjustment of Indochinese Women in the United States, 1979-1980." Unpublished. Lutheran Council in the U. S. A., Department of Immigration and Refugee Services, Lutheran Center, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010. 60 pp.

Weeks, John R. et al. 1989. "High Fertility Among Indochinese Refugees." Public Health Reports 104(2): 143-150. This paper examines patterns of fertility among refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, groups which have exhibited high levels of reproduction since their arrival. Data are drawn from sample surveys in San Diego and San Francisco, CA. Fertility levels were found to exceed five children per ever-married woman, a level that is consistent with perceptions of ideal family size in the homeland. Fertility levels were significantly higher among rural second-wave refugees than in the more urban first-wave groups.
One explanation for the high fertility is that couples have migrated from areas where fertility is high, and they have not yet adapted their reproductive behavior to the low fertility environment of the U.S. This possibility is reinforced by a general gender preference for boys and exacerbated by the fact that, while a majority of women are aware of methods of fertility control, access is still limited by cultural and financial barriers. The motivation to use family planning still appears to be relatively low. The data suggest that this refugee population will continue to put pressure on maternal and child health resources. However residence in the U.S. could lead to desires to limit family size, thus increasing demand for methods of fertility control. (Publisher Abstract).

Weinstein-Shr, Gail, and Nancy Z. Henkin. 1991. "Continuity and Change: Intergenerational Relations in Southeast Asian Refugee Families." Marriage and Family Review 16: 351-367.
This article examines intergenerational relationships among Southeast Asian refugees in the U.S. (1) Problems/resources in adapting to American life are outlined. Problems include financial security, physical and mental health, language/literacy skills. Resources include importance of the family unit; kinship and extended groups, e.g., Hmong clans; local community organizations that assist members of the refugee community, e.g., Mutual Assistance Associations. (2) Many changes in refugee family roles have occurred since coming to the U.S. Traditionally, elders garnered respect, duty, filial piety. But a gap now exists between the traditional roles of their native land and the roles they face in America. Elders are more dependent on children/grandchildren, do not understand American culture, and are unable to read/speak English. This limits "their credibility" when advising families. They attempt to maintain the role of preserving traditional customs/values, but grandchildren may reject this cultural past. "Greatest discrepancies exist between traditional role expectations and role realizations for elders." Other generations also affected. Adult children find themselves in the middle. Since many cannot help with homework, they are afraid they will lose respect of their children. The children are trying to "reconcile two sets of values." It is important that social service agencies should look closely at the family as a unit and at the adaptation methods used by these refugees.

Westermeyer, Joseph. 1990. "Motivations for Uprooting and Migration." Proceedings of a Conference Sponsored by Hogg Foundation for Mental Health and World Federation for Mental Health edited by Wayne H. Holtzman and Thomas H. Bornemann. Contact: Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 78713-7998. Phone: (512) 471-5041. (348 pp.) (chapter itself is pp.78-89) $9.00.

Williams, Molly Ann. 1990 . "Families in Refugee Camps." Human Organization (Journal of the Society for Applied Anthropology) 49(2): 100-109. Society for Applied Anthropology, P.O. Box 24083, Oklahoma City, OK 73124. Phone: (405) 232-4902. FAX: (405) 232-3152.

Wong, Anna. 1980. A Study of the Initial Adjustment to the American Society of Six Chinese Immigrant Females in High School. Ph.D. dissertation, The Wright Institute, Berkeley, Calif. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International. (214 pp.)
This study explored various aspects of the immigrant adolescent girls' entry into the American society. The respondents were three immigrants from China and three refugees from Vietnam. In reviewing the process of cultural and social transition for these youths, emphasis was placed on identifying factors which aid, and factors which hinder their adjustment to the new society. Areas of concentration in the study were: (1) adjustment to a new social circle--establishment of friends and social activities; (2) integration into the school system; (3) language differences and their impact on effective functioning in the American society; (4) changes in family relationship and structure; and (5) future roles in the new society.
Generally, the responses from the immigrant families indicated limited or inadequate knowledge of the United States prior to immigration; the myth of the "golden mountain" still largely persists in the minds of most immigrants. The results of this study indicated that the insulating mechanism of the close-knit Chinese community into which the immigrants entered provided an effective buffer against having to deal with foreign cultural patterns in the new country. At the same time, there were tremendous shortages in housing, employment, and relevant educational opportunities for the new immigrants. Deficiency in the English language was described by the respondents as their primary difficulty in adjusting to the American society. Not knowing English largely contributed to their isolation from the larger society, and forced many of the new immigrants to remain within the boundary of the already crowded Chinatown area. This isolation also promoted illusory expectation of American life outside of the Chinese community. Thus, the immigrant youths were presented with a limited spectrum of available resources and future opportunities both within the Chinese community and in the school system.
The results also indicated differences between youths from China and Vietnam in their expectations, cultural patterns, educational backgrounds and family structure. The continuous large influx of immigrant youth, as well as the diversity of their needs created demands far exceeding available resources within the public school system to provide relevant educational content and comprehensive orientation for these youth to American society. (Dissertation Abstracts; Order No. DA81-04798)

Wood, Susan P. 1981. "Cambodian Families in a Refugee Processing Center: Parental Attitudes and Childrearing Practices." M.S. thesis, School of Nursing, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
The researcher conducted structured interviews with 202 families in which there was at least one child under the age of 7 years in a processing center in Thailand in 1982. Cambodian staff observed and recorded information in breast-feeding, toilet-training, discipline, and children's responsibilities in the homes of new families. Open-ended interviews were also conducted with professionals in education, health and social services, and randomly selected Cambodian parents in three other refugee camps in Thailand. Results are framed against a social-political-religious background of the Cambodian people. The findings are presented in terms of attitudes toward children, including parent-child relationships, attitudes toward men/sons and women/daughters, sex differences in childrearing, and family size and family planning. In addition, childrearing practices are analyzed and discussed. In addition, the researcher noted that disruptions in the families' lifestyles were "enormous."

Wood, Susan. 1983. Cambodian Families in a Refugee Processing Center: Parental Attitudes and Childrearing Practices. Rhode Island Group Health Association, 530 N. Main St., Providence, RI 02904.
Intended for Americans involved with the resettlement of Cambodian refugees in the United States, the booklet aims "first, to provide a brief cultural-political framework within which to understand the Cambodian people; second, to describe the attitudes and beliefs of the Cambodians toward family life; and third, to provide information on specific childrearing practices." Wood's conclusions are based partly on interviews conducted with over 200 families in May and June, 1982, in Kamput, SaKaeo, and Phanat Nikom refugee camps. The interviews concerned issues such as the relationship between parents and children, sex roles, family size and family planning, childbirth customs, feeding practices, toilet training, and discipline.

Wright, Alan G. 1986. "A Never Ending Refugee Camp? The Explosive Birth Rate in Ban Vinai: An Examination of its Consequences and the Roles of the Family Planning and Health Care Agencies in Relation to It." Unpublished paper. Available for $7.00 from Alan Wright, 1156 N. Marquette Street, La Salle, IL 61301. 127 pp.
Former Ban Vinai nurse calculates that at present birth rates, the population of Ban Vinai, the major Hmong camp in Thailand, will be 82,000 in 2001. Health and environmental conditions will worsen.

Yale Southeast Asia Studies. 1986. "A Review of Vietnamese Culture and Society." The Vietnam Forum Summer-Fall. edited by Wolters, O.W., and Huynh Sanh Thong. The Vietnam Forum, Yale Southeast Asia Studies, Box 13A Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520. (280 pp.)
This issue contains 13 papers on Vietnamese history, culture, kinship and family, poetry, and folklore.

Yee, Barbara W. K. 1989. "Impact of Immigration and Aging Policies on Adaptation by Southeast Asian Refugee Elders." Paper presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Minneapolis, November 17-21, 1989. (12 pp.)
Aging and immigration policies should be sensitive to cultural factors related to the adaptation of Indochinese refugees. Yee has conducted multicultural research for over ten years concerning adaptation control perceptions of the older refugee. Yee's following studies are summarized: (1) Caucasian, Vietnamese, and Japanese women (aged 51-91) (1979, 1984); (2) British, Vietnamese, and Japanese women (aged 40-94) (1984); (3) refugee needs assessment (aged 18-95) (1985). Of special interest are results concerning the Vietnamese elderly. Overall, these Vietnamese felt less control over their lives and more helplessness than the other populations. Yee concluded by looking at implications of immigration policies. As these refugee elders try to reunify their families, special programs are needed for the new elders coming into the U.S. "Educating elder refugees about American ways will help. [They] understand their own family members better, thus perhaps, averting possible family conflict." All elders will need more professional assistance as the family no longer feels the traditional responsibility to take care of its own.

Yee, Barbara W. K. 1982. "The Golden Years: Myth or Reality for the Asian/Pacific Elderly." P/AAMHRC Research Review 1 (July): 7-8.
The "golden years" represented good years for Asian elders; however, first generation Asian/Pacific elders in the U.S. now find themselves in a youth dominated society. This paper addresses (1) national characteristics of the Asian/Pacific elderly; (2) outline of Asian population in Denver area; and (3) summary of author's research about Vietnamese, Japanese, and Caucasian women.

Yee, Barbara, and Peter W. Van Arsdale. 1978. "Breakdowns in Traditional Culture and the Effects of Learned Helplessness among Vietnamese Elderly." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, April 2-9, 1978.
Does learned helplessness exist among elderly Vietnamese? A study, using 30 female Vietnamese elders, over 50 years of age, was conducted. Scales, administered in the subjects' homes by Vietnamese speakers, covered family relationships, relationships with friends, health, financial situation, intellectual functioning, living situation, and daily activities. There was no significant correlation between learned helplessness and the above categories. Even though the major hypotheses were not upheld, it did demonstrate that these elders are not happy. The researchers discuss reasons for the results and make suggestions for improving future research. Introduction to this paper provides a good summary of the family, specifically the elderly, in Vietnam, stressing importance of filial piety and reverence for one's ancestors.

Yu, Elena, Stephen S. Fugita, Thomas Prohaska, and William T. Liu. 1988. Ethnic Elderly Needs Assessment: Final Report. Chicago: Pacific/Asian American Mental Health Research Center, University of Illinois. pp. 102-107, 324-383. Who are the ethnic elders in Chicago? How can one include them in "mainstream" services while remaining sensitive to their cultural beliefs? These were the goals of a needs assessment conducted in 1988 involving the following groups: Greek, Lithuanian, Polish, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Ethnic Chinese. A 200-item survey was translated into nine languages and administered to a sample of 100 from each group, aged 50 and over. Part I consists of background and information in the assessment survey. Part II focuses on findings across ethnic groups, including demographics, language proficiency, employment/housing characteristics, interaction with family/friends, knowledge and use of social services. Part III discusses results within the individual ethnic groups. Here are some specific findings expressed in the Executive Summary. (1) A large number of Khmer elders are illiterate in their native language. (2) Cambodians, Vietnamese, and Filipinos reported a large number of health problems which restrict daily living. Thirty-two percent of the Vietnamese, 25 percent of the Cambodians, and only 8 percent of the Ethnic Chinese perceive themselves to be in poor health. (3) Many ethnic Chinese, Cambodians, and Chinese rated their mental health "fair" to "poor." Cambodian elders scored higher than ever reported on the CES-D Scale (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale). Authors urge caution. "More validation research is needed to assure that the instruments used . . . are appropriate for the Cambodians as well as other ethnic groups." (4) Ethnic Chinese reported the highest number of stressful events in the last six months. (5) Seventy percent of the Ethnic Chinese claim to have no close friends while two-thirds of overall sample have two or more close friends. (6) Wide ranges were found in unemployment rates among these minority aged. Twenty percent of the total sample were working. Highest unemployment rate (83 percent) was among the Ethnic Chinese; Cambodians had 65 percent unemployed, and Vietnamese 45 percent unemployed. (7) Ethnic Chinese and Chinese were the least aware of social services. Those most needing assistance with transportation were the Ethnic Chinese, Cambodians, and Vietnamese. Help with daily activities frequently needed. For example, Cambodians need the most assistance with laundry, the Ethnic Chinese the least.
Much data are available in the detailed tables at the end of this survey. Tables are arranged by ethnic group.

Zaharlick, Amy and Jean Brainard. 1989. "Women's Status and Fertility Transition Research: The Case of Laotian Refugees." Unpublished. Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University. 22 pp.

Zaharlick, Amy, Theresa Calip-Dubois and Stewart Jobrack. 1991. "The Influence of Socioeconomic Factors in the Fertility Transition of Laotian Refugees." Paper presented at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting. (16 pp.)

Home | About CYFC | Policy | Experts Database | Publications

Features | Events Calendar | Community Partnerships

Communities | Early Childhood | School-Age Children | Adolescents

Family Relationships and Parenting | Seniors and Intergenerational Issues

The Children, Youth and Family Consortium's Website is a forum for sharing information and exchanging ideas.
The Consortium welcomes diverse points of view. While we strive to maintain a high level of quality, research based information,
the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position of the Consortium or the University of Minnesota,
nor does the Consortium or the University recommend, endorse, verify or confirm information submitted.
Copyright 2002, © University of Minnesota Children, Youth and Family Consortium.