Resiliency and the Hmong child growing up in Fresno: An ethnographic narrative with drawings
Author(s):
Carroll, Susanne Dennington
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Psy.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : California School of Professional Psychology - Fresno, 1996.
Pages:
199
Language:
English
Abstract:
This dissertation is an ethnographic exploration of the thoughts, feelings and resiliency of Hmong children growing up in Fresno. For 23 months, I lived in Little Ban Vinai, a Fresno California neighborhood named after the Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand. During this time, I spent both formal and informal time with nine children between the ages of 7 and 13. The children became "coresearchers" teaching me about their life and learning about mine. Through the children's drawings and the stories they would tell, certain themes emerged. I wove these themes into a narrative retelling reflecting the children's sense of time. The children's drawings compliment the story. The use of story allows for the complexity and paradox of their lives. The children illustrate and describe coming to America, going to school, relating to their families and friends, playing after school, celebrating holidays, going to church, as well as their ideas about love and marriage, their spiritual understandings, their fears of spiritual and human dangers, and their hopes for the future (possibly somewhere else). The children's story, like that of the Hmong people, is one of resilience in the face of numerous difficulties past and present. They are creative, persistent, energetic, and fiercely committed to each other as siblings, friends, cousins, and as immediate and extended families. Still, there are very real risks in their future. They live in a dangerous neighborhood where becoming either a part of or a victim of a gang is likely before adulthood. In addition, they face the challenging task of sorting through a myriad of conflicting world views, particularly in the areas of love and marriage, and spiritual understandings. In the future these conflicting world views could become points of conflict within themselves and between their relatives and friends. The importance of psychologists expanding their efforts to include prevention and outreach is discussed. Finally, the method is reviewed and recommendations made for future studies.