This study utilized a qualitative/phenomenological research methodology to examine the generational and transgenerational issues of five identified Japanese American families. To be included in this study, families were identified to contain at least one member who was interned during World War II or who had parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents who were interned. Semistructured interviews, including Adlerian lifestyle assessments, were conducted with the 28 research informants who represented the second, third, and fourth generations of their families.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

In the Spring and Summer of 1942, the population of West Coast Japanese were rounded up and forcibly moved from their homes to temporary camps and soon after to ten permanent relocation camps in the interior Western United States. This thesis traces the history of one such camp, the Tule Lake Relocation Center. In this thesis I argue that from its inception the Tule Lake Center was unique among the ten camps. The decision to build a permanent center at Tule Lake was based upon the unique potential the area provided for agriculture on a huge scale. The other permanent centers were located in remote inhospitable areas where large scale agricultural operations were impossible. The introduction outlines my key research questions and the methodology used. This section identifies my central theme, agriculture at the Tule Lake Relocation Center, and situates my own research within the existing scholarship on the Japanese-American Relocation. Chapter one is a review of the factors, including racial animosity, and wartime hysteria leading up to the decision to relocate every Japanese individual living on the West Coast. Chapter two discusses the little known history of how and why Tule Lake was chosen for a permanent relocation center. Chapter three documents the commitment of the War Relocation Authority to a massive agricultural project at the Tule Lake Center. Chapter four recounts the tumultuous registration period at Tule Lake. In the winter of 1943, the War Relocation Authority and the War Department combined to administer a loyalty questionnaire to every internee over the age of 17, revealing shocking disloyalty at Tule Lake. Chapter five discusses the decision of the War Relocation Authority to segregate Japanese Americans declared disloyal, and the choice of Tule Lake as the segregation center. Chapter six discusses the events, in particular the tragic accidental death of a farm worker, which led to the end of large scale agriculture at Tule Lake. In conclusion, I assert that War Relocation Authority blunders, including a lack of cultural sensitivity, led directly to the cessation of the agricultural project at Tule Lake Segregation Center.

A collection of three, interwoven short stories set in Japantown, San Francisco and the Topaz Internment Camp in central Utah during World War II. The pieces in this collection feature themes of cultural identity and the reconstruction of personal identity in times of change and crisis. Collection includes the stories "Moving Sale," "Evacuation," and "Resettlement."

Beginning in the 1930's a debate emerged within the American Anthropological Association over applied versus pure research. With a few exceptions the members refused to endorse or support the attempt to introduce applied anthropology as a discipline recognized by the Association. This refusal resulted in the creation of a separate organization, the Society for Applied Anthropology, in 1941. In order to prove the validity of their discipline the members of the Society needed an opportunity. That opportunity appeared with the signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forced removal of Japanese-Americans from the west coast. Members of the Society believed the employment of applied anthropologists by the War Relocation Authority would demonstrate the value of their discipline. When provided with this opportunity, however, applied anthropology failed.

This study examines the representation of Japanese American experiences in internment camps during World War II in children's and adolescent literature. This study focuses on a specific set of children's and adolescent books about one time period in the history of Japanese Americans. I have formulated two major research questions for this study. The first question: What are the characteristics of the selected children's and adolescent books about Japanese American experiences during World War II? The second question: How do the selected children's and adolescent books portray the experiences and responses of Japanese Americans during World War II?I selected fourteen books for inclusion in this study and analyzed the books related to my research questions. These books are organized into three genres: picture books, historical fiction, and nonfiction. The research methodology for this study is qualitative content analysis that includes methods for data collection and analysis and descriptions of the books and illustrations. I used the research questions to first examine books in each of the three genres and then make comparisons across the three genres.The findings based on the first research question include that the books are based on the research and experiences of both authors and illustrators and have a range of time periods from before the war to after the war. The findings also show that in the books, the authors and Japanese Americans express their criticism of Japanese Americans' experiences in the difficult situations related to the internment camps. They criticize the treatment of Japanese Americans by the U.S. government and discrimination against Japanese Americans.The analysis of the books based on the second research question provides insights into the experiences of Japanese Americans and how they felt, thought, and acted. The books portray the prejudice and discrimination faced by Japanese Americans from the point of immigrating to the United States and even after the war. The most important finding is that the books portray Japanese American children as creating lives of significance in the difficult conditions of assembly centers and internment camps.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Ann W. Burgess / Background: On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit the islands of Japan. Subsequent tsunami waves occurred as high as 40 meters above sea level and severely destroyed the nuclear plant in Fukushima. While it is known that both natural and manmade disasters impose physical and psychological distress on affected people, the impact on people's health of indirect exposure to a traumatic event has remained to be determined. This study investigates somatic and psychological stress reactions among residents in the United States and Japan to the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster from comparative perspectives. Study design: A secondary analysis of data obtained from the mother study which examined media use and health impact among those living in the United States and Japan at the time of the disaster. Results: Two groups of participants, Japanese Americans (n=297) and Japanese (n=1142), were analyzed. Japanese Americans reported higher psychological and somatic symptoms than their counterpart in Japan. Among Japanese Americans, income, the severity of somatic symptoms, and help seeking behavior predicted 38.2% of the variance in psychological symptoms. Among Japanese, age, income, help seeking behavior, and severity of somatic symptoms predicted 31.9% of the variance in psychological symptoms related to the 311 disaster. Conclusions: It is evident that indirect exposure to a traumatic event occurring in a distant place has significant adverse effects on people's physical and mental health. Therefore, clinical nurses and health care providers, especially in primary care settings, need to acknowledge the importance of screening for psychological distress among ethnic groups when a natural or man-made disaster occurs in their country of origin. Nurses can promote mental health by responding to stress related responses associated with disasters for those both directly and indirectly impacted. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-238).

This study examined how Japanese American elders conceptualize depression. Japanese American elders age 65 years and older (N = 120) were recruited from a senior center in Los Angeles, CA. Participants read a brief vignette that described an individual who met the criteria for major depression and then filled out a series of questionnaires. Counter to prior theories, these Japanese American elders emphasized that the interpersonal criteria contributed to the individual's problem to a lesser degree than the somatic, emotional, and cognitive criteria. These elders expressed Explanatory Models of depression that were similar to Western Conceptualizations of depression. The results also indicated that having an important role within one's family and higher activity levels tended to be related to lower Geriatric Depression Scale scores. Finally, acculturation, generational status, sex, educational level, and income were not related to problem conceptualization. Clinical implications and directions for future research were discussed. / Department of Psychological Science