Transracial adoption has been a controversial form of adoption since it came into vogue in the United States in the 1950s. In 1972, The National Association of Black Social Workers (NABSW) established a decree stating transracial adoption was akin to cultural genocide because they were concerned that under the tutelage of White parents, Black children would not learn the skills needed to survive in a racist society. Whereas the NABSW was looking out for the well being of domestic children of color, there was no corresponding advocate for children of color adopted internationally. Recognizing that large numbers of children are adopted from Asia, racism is still an issue for people of color and not all White people are aware of the extent that racism exists in our society, I set out to learn if and how White adoptive parents of Asian born children talk about race related issues within the context of the family. This dissertation shares the insights and experiences of White parents from nine families who adopted children from Korea and the Philippines. The goal of the study was to learn if and how White parents talk to their Asian born children about racism, how comfortable and confident they feel having those conversations and who they turn to when they need help in supporting their children around race related issues. The results indicate that before children reached adolescence, they were much more open and willing to share upsetting events with their parents. Pre-adolescent youth turned to their parents for comfort, support and guidance. During the teen years, communication between parents and children decreased thus limiting the parent’s influence about imparting wisdom about how to navigate race related situations. The final chapter offers recommendations for practice, research and policy.

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Communicating the Gospel and Culture to the younger Vietnamese American generations comes with many challenges. There seem to be many Vietnamese parents living in the United States who are concerned with their children losing their distinctive family cultural characteristics while living in another culture. The younger generation themselves find it hard to adapt to the American and Vietnamese cultures where they are living here. How can these young generations adapt to their new culture and not lose some of their distinctive family cultural and Christian religious roots to balance their lives? How can we help to communicate the Gospel and the culture to the young generation of Vietnamese Americans who need to discern what can support and enrich their lives in living in both cultures, Vietnamese and America? This thesis holds that it is important to maintain the Vietnamese culture which defines their identity and expresses who they are but also make use of the divine opportunity to learn the values and the beauty of the American culture. Cultural adaptation helps balance the values of both cultures and enrich knowledge about living within a diverse world. The thesis further proposes that using Vietnamese Christianity as their asset, young Vietnamese Americans are capable of this cultural adaptation. The Church have to put a gospel presentation strategy in place, follow a seven step pastoral strategy plan, and establish less costly centers which will be devoted to training Vietnamese men and women as spiritual directors and religious educators to aid the priests in ministering to the young generation. Parents need to understand the dual cultures of these young people and accompany the young generation mindful of their duality and the centrality of the gospel values. The younger generation of Vietnamese Americans have to open themselves not only to the two cultures but above all to the Gospel message of Christ. Their openness to divine guidance and endowments, in addition to the worthy human direction and church guidance coupled with good structures and programs will produce fruitful integration.

A feature length drama about an overbearing Chinese mother that discovers a troublesome boy lost among the slots and smoke of a local casino. Her relationship with her own adult son broken, she goes all-in to ensure this boy finds his mom again.

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In one of the most controversial and interesting election cycles in American history, Republican nominee, Donald Trump prevailed over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. To many, his victory was shocking, if not completely unexpected, yet the circumstances that catalyzed such a defeat lie in the characteristics of his supporters, made up of several classes, races, and identities. Among them are the multifaceted Asian American population – diverse ethnically and politically. This thesis aims to unravel the reasons for which many Asian Americans gave their vote to Trump on November 8, 2016 through distinctions between their ethnic groups and demographics. It also suggests that Asian Americans who supported Trump believe that they are different from other minorities – the “model minority,” and highlights the importance of nonprofit research that has disaggregated the Asian subgroups. With these observations and analysis in mind, the American public and politic can no longer reduce the voting behavior of Asian Americans to a monolithic entity.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the psychological development of South Asian masculinity in a diaspora that is depicted in Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and V.S. Naipaul’s The Mimic Men. Together, Kureishi and Naipaul construct a complete understanding of masculinity through childhood, adolescent, young adult, and adulthood. Chapter 1 explores the need to displace their father’s masculinity and seek better masculine models that align with the social norms of the diaspora. Chapter 2 establishes the motivation behind seeking peers to define the meaning of masculinity in a diaspora and the disadvantage of this pathway. Chapter 3 demonstrates two possible outcomes for South Asian men attempting to construct a secure masculinity. The difficulties these characters encounter when developing their identity is both a product of their diasporic environment and the lingering effect of colonization through the presence of hegemonic masculinity. They attempt to rectify the inadequacies in their masculinity by refuting a portion of their identity tied to being South Asian in order to better assimilate to the ideals of their diaspora. Ultimately, there are two possible consequences for South Asian men in a diaspora: one is to attempt to negotiate their position as a mixture of both the ideals of the diaspora and South Asian culture and the second is to continue to live a fragmented life of denying aspects of their identity tied to either the diaspora or South Asian culture.

<p> Minority populations in the United States (U.S.) suffer an unequal burden of morbidity and mortality due to health disparities. The purpose of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to identify factors associated with disparities in self-rated health (SRH) among Asian and Hispanic immigrants. The acculturation theory and intersectionality framework were used to select predictors of SRH that included age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, depressive symptoms, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, acculturation status, social position, and acculturative stress and discrimination events. A systematic review of the literature was completed and data from the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 2002-2003 National Latino and Asian American Study were reviewed. This study found that acculturation status was associated with reporting disparities in SRH for both Asian and Hispanic immigrants. Limited English proficiency and being foreign-born was associated with worse SRH for Korean, Chinese, and Mexican immigrants, and in aggregate samples of Asian and Hispanic immigrants, compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Additionally, limited English proficiency was associated with worse SRH for Vietnamese immigrants. Among Mexican immigrants, higher levels of acculturation were associated with better SRH. Other key findings among Mexican immigrants were that depressive symptoms, increasing age, female gender, and elevated CRP were predictors of worse SRH compared to U.S.-born, non-Hispanic Whites. However, female gender and higher CRP were not predictors of worse SRH when level of acculturation was controlled for. For Chinese immigrants, acculturative stress was associated with worse SRH in an additive model while the interactions between social position and discrimination, and between gender, acculturative stress, and social position and education were predictive of worse SRH in multiplicative models. In summary, age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status, depressive symptoms, CRP, acculturation status, social position, and acculturative stress and discrimination were associated with disparities in SRH among two ethnic minorities in the U.S. These findings can be used to improve awareness and understanding of these immigrant populations who are vulnerable to poor health outcomes. Additionally, outcomes can assist in developing interventions to reduce the influence of social structures on health and to capture the true complexities of immigrants&rsquo; lives.</p>

<p> The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the identity development of mixed race Asian students, also known as Hapas, and the influence of college environments of their perceptions of self. More specifically, this study will use Narrative Inquiry to gain insight into the lives and experiences of 20 Hapa students at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). In order to uncover the shared experience of Hapas on this college campus and to discern any specific activities or aspects of university life that contributed to their identity development while at Penn, I conducted 20 one-on-one interviews. I also conducted one focus group with 8 of the participants in order to observe the interactions between the students. This topic is relevant to student affairs administrators and faculty because of the rapidly changing demographics in the United States. Some projections estimate that by 2050, mixed race Asian people will represent the largest Asian constituency in the country, thus potentially changing the face of our campuses.</p>