Thesis (Ph.D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Sociology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-256).

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abstract: This dissertation explores South Asian American (SAA) emerging adult daughters' roles as their parents' reluctant confidants and mediators of conflict. Using Petronio's (2002) communication privacy management theory (CPM) as a framework, this dissertation investigates daughters' communicative strategies when engaged in familial roles. Findings from 15 respondent interviews with SAA women between the ages of 18 and 29 reveal daughters' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for role-playing within their families, such as inherent satisfaction and parental expectations, respectively. Additionally, findings highlight daughters' use of coping and thwarting strategies after they become the recipients of their parents' unsolicited private information. Namely, daughters engaged in coping strategies (e.g., giving advice) to help their parents manage private information. Likewise, they enacted thwarting strategies (e.g., erecting territorial markers) to restore boundaries after their parents (the disclosers) violated them. Consequently, serving as parental confidants and mediators contributed to parent-child boundary dissolution and adversely affected daughters' well-being as well as their progression toward adulthood. This study provides theoretical contributions by extending CPM theory regarding reluctant confidants within the contexts of emerging adult child-parent relationships and ethnic minority groups in America. Practically, this study offers emerging adult children insight into how they might renegotiate boundaries when their parents change the relationship by disclosing personal information. Information gleaned from this study provides SAA emerging adult daughters with an understanding of the ramifications of prioritizing their familial roles and being a reluctant confidant, in addition to potential avenues for remediation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication Studies 2012

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South Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing sub-groups within the Asian American population in the United States today. Between 1960 and 1990, the South Asian American population witnessed an increase of approximately 900% (Leonard, 1997). This increase in population also corresponds with the increase in South Asian American students enrolling in institutions of higher education. However, despite their physical visibility on college and university campuses across the nation, South Asian American students remain invisible in higher education research. Student affairs practitioners have a limited understanding of the unique needs and issues confronted by South Asian American college students. This qualitative study addressed the paucity of research on South Asian American college students by specifically exploring the college experiences of South Asian American women. In particular, the study examined the central intergenerational issues between first-generation South Asian mothers who immigrated to the United States as adults and second-generation South Asian American daughters who are currently enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. Secondly, it investigated the impact of these intergenerational issues on the identity development and overall college experiences of second-generation South Asian American female college students. Using a postcolonial, critical feminist framework, this study attempted to dismantle the one-dimensional, dominant narrative of South Asian Americans as the successful, high-achieving, model minority and present instead the multi-layered and complex narratives of these participants. Key findings indicated that the intergenerational issues between mothers and daughters were complex with both negative and positive impacts on the mother-daughter relationships, identity development, and the overall college experiences of the daughters. The transmission of culture and cultural values were primary ways in which mothers affected the identity development of their daughters. South Asian American peers and social networks were another significant source of identity development for the students. Additionally, narratives of both mothers and daughters revealed that the impact of the model minority image on women was qualitatively different than men where women had to often strive to fulfill simultaneous expectations of being a successful student and professional as well as conforming to the standards of being the model traditional South Asian wife and mother. / text

This study examined whether first-generation South Asian American college students are different from continuing-generation South Asian American college students in their college adjustment, as measured by the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire and their psychological well-being (PWB), as measured by the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB). The Asian population is one of the fastest growing minority groups in the United States. Despite being the third largest Asian subgroup, South Asians continue to be underrepresented within the educational and psychological literature. A review of studies shows that compared to continuing-generation college students (CGCS), first-generation college students (FGCS) are disadvantaged in terms of their demographic characteristics, pre-college preparation, knowledge about higher education, non-cognitive variables (e.g., self-esteem), and adjustment to college. Additionally, existing research shows that FGCS experience higher levels of psychological distress and lower levels of PWB. This study found that FGCS were significantly more likely to live and work off campus, have lower household incomes, and spend fewer hours per week participating in co-curricular activities than their CGCS peers. Furthermore, FGCS had lower levels of social and academic adjustment compared to their counterparts. Finally, while FGCS had lower mean scores on the SPWB than their peers, only the scores on the Personal Growth subscale were significantly different. Understanding and contextualizing the experiences of racial/ethnic minority students who are first in their family to pursue higher education will help educators and psychologists to identify, develop, and implement culturally appropriate instructional strategies, programs, services, and treatments. Consequently, this would help nontraditional youth transition successfully into college and thrive psychologically.

This research study quantifies and describes suicide among South Asian Americans (SAAs), an emerging population that are underrepresented group in suicide research. The purpose of this study was to examine key characteristics of suicide deaths among SAAs. Data were employed from DuPage County, IL, a county with a large SAA population. Following federal recommendations for disaggregating Asian American data at a granular level, four SAA researchers used name recognition to identify all SAA cases classified as suicide in the DuPage County coroner’s database from 2001 to 2017 (N = 38). Coroner’s reports were analyzed for contextual details and correlating factors specific to each suicide. Overall, 76.3% of victims were male and 45.0% were married. An analysis of the coroner reports established that 71.1% of decedents showed behavioral disorders that were predisposing risk factors for suicide including mental health diagnoses (57.9%), and a reported prior suicide attempt (21.1%). Among these decedents only 34.2% had received any prior psychiatric care. Significant errors in racial classification of SAAs, lead to a gross undercount of SAA deaths by suicide with 55% of South Asian suicides assigned to a different race or ethnic group. Future studies must increase the scope of this research to other geographic locations with high concentrations of SAAs and examine the risk factors for suicide among SAAs, one of the fastest growing ethnic populations in the U.S.

Typical identity stereotypes for South Asian Americans, such as the model minority myth, do not convincingly support a trajectory into K–12 education, as South Asian Americans are not readily seen as agents for social change. This qualitative study explored how South Asian American educators’ understanding of their ethnic and racial identity interplayed with their practice as critically conscious educators for social justice. Eleven participants who self-identified as social-justice-oriented were interviewed to share their experiences as South Asian American educators. Their responses revealed South Asian American educators develop their ethnic identity consciousness in complex ways, demonstrating self-awareness and subsequently draw upon their ethnic attachment and racialized experiences to perform as critically conscious educators, developing strong relationships with students from marginalized backgrounds and advancing equity in their schools. The participants’ positionalities reveal that South Asian Americans have tremendous potential as educators for social justice in education.