Better Support For Immigrants In The USA - Essay Example

All Immigrants need better support programs for cultural transition in the United s Introduction One of the most important factors contributingto population growth and cultural change in the United States has been immigration and the economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have given rise to various essential controversies in the contemporary American society. A reflective analysis of the history of immigration to the United States of America confirms that immigration has been so closely connected with the history of the United States itself and there are various factors, such as the American Dream, which have influenced immigration considerably. Significantly, the opportunity for economic improvement has been one of the most important motivations for immigrants in the United States. However, the immigrants have long been experiencing numerous challenges which turn up several issues, including work, education, and marital relationships. Cultural transition has been one of the most significant processes affecting the immigrants in the United States and this process of cross-cultural transition has given rise to several pertinent researches in the area. Immigrants in the United States belong to different countries of origin and dialects, and every group of immigrants has specific economic resources, educational systems, and class structures which keep the group distinct from other groups in the nation. The diversity in the cultural aspects of every immigrant population brings about numerous challenges with regard to cultural transition and the experience of the immigrants of Hmong culture in the nation illustrates these challenges. The current system of support programs for the cultural transition in United States prove to be deficient in meeting the numerous challenges raised by the cultural practices and beliefs of various immigrant groups. Therefore, a reflective exploration of the experience of the immigrants in the nation, especially the people of Hmong culture, affirms that all immigrants need better support programs for the cultural transition in United States. Cultural Transition in the United States: Immigrants need better support programs Cultural transition has been one of the most dominant processes affecting the immigrants in the United States and the various groups of immigrants experience unmerited incidents which affect the process of cultural transition. Most often, difference in the cultural aspects of the individual cultures come to conflict with one another and the culture of the immigrant population usually suffer great loss. The role of social and cultural support programs to deal with these issues of cultural transition is often emphasized in various studies and an analysis of the cultural transition experienced by different immigrant population suggests that the current support system is deficient to meet the several challenges raised by the process of cultural transition. The experience of the Hmong population in the United States best illustrates the deficiency of support system to deal with the issues of cultural transition. “The Hmong who have been uprooted from their homelands often experience prejudice and cultural conflicts in their new homes… Some medical treatments used in the United States are frightening to the Hmong. Operations are especially threatening because of rumors circulated in the resettlement camps that American people ate internal organs such as livers. Autopsies are also feared because they are believed to jeopardize reincarnation… In the United States, different skills are valued. Yet the loss of a people’s cultural heritage is a high price to pay for adaptation to a new land.” (Livo and Cha, 13-14) Therefore, the experience of the Hmong in the United States illustrates the need for better support system for the cultural transition of the immigrants in the country. It is fundamental to realize that the contact between diverse cultures has been an essential reality which is as old as recorded history, and cultural transition is a fundamental process to deal with some of the basic issues affecting the immigrant population across the globe. Significantly, the United States has been a nation which is known for widespread immigration and, as statistics suggests, about 12 percent of its total population were born in other countries. “Ethnic origins of the U.S. population are approximately 73% from Europe, 13% from Latin America, 12% from Africa, and 4% from Asia… A majority of immigrants now come from Asia, Latin America, and other non-European regions… A preference system operates in the selection of immigrants: family reunification, employment criteria, refugee status, and diversity. Recently, 67% were family reunification, employment based, and 16% were refugees.” (Berry, 26) The issues raised by the diverse cultural elements of the people have often been discussed in contemporary studies and many of them have pointed out the importance of cultural transition as a vital process to deal with cultural conflict. The immigrants in the United States usually find it difficult to deal with the challenges raised by cultural transition and they often realize that the necessity of acculturation and its accompanying difficulties are hard to cope with. Significantly, the identity of the immigrant population is threatened in the course of major cultural transitions and the experience of the Hmong population in the U.S. illustrates this factor very much. It has been noted that the same cultural traits of the immigrants which can be useful in the face of adversity can also crop up psychological and emotional difficulties in the process of acculturation. The experience of the Filipino Americans, who have been dealing with the necessity of acculturation and its supplementary issues, indicates the effects of cultural transition on the immigrant population in the country. Thus, an important problem facing this group has been their extreme family and group orientation which make it difficult for them to find ways to be involved in the new culture. Other factors adding to their already vulnerable state include their strong sense of shame and colonial mentality, the loss of familiar support networks, status etc. Similarly, their ignorance of legal and educations systems and legal immigration can create significant issues, like any new immigrants in the nation. One of the major problems affecting the immigrants in relation to cultural transition is the issue of adjustment disorders and there are numerous factors that are participants to these adjustment disorders. According to Evelyn Lee, they include “(1) losses experienced in the immigration process, including loss of status and financial security (with underemployment and reports of discrimination), loss of the extended family, and so forth; (2) changes in the traditional male-female roles; (3) discrepancy in the acculturation between first-generation and American-born later generations; (4) shame-evoking situations in the workplace; (5) ignorance of the country’s laws or cultural norms; and (6) illegal immigration status.” (Lee, 107) Therefore, it is fundamental to realize that the immigrant population in the United States, in general, deals with several issues of cultural transition and the support system in the country is often deficient to meet these challenges. A reflective exploration of the process of cultural transition in the United States confirms that all immigrants need better support programs for the cultural transition, and the experience of the Hmong population illustrates this fact effectively. Anne Fadiman offers a convincing illustration of the experience of the Hmong people in her book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors and the Collision of Two Cultures. In this book, which is the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction, the author presents the case of three-month-old Lia Lee who was taken to the county hospital emergency room in Merced, California. Following this, a chain of events was embarked on from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Foua and Nao Kao, the parents of Lia, belonged to a large Hmong community in Merced, refugees from the CIA-run ‘Quiet War’ in Laos. As the editorial review of the book indicates, “the Hmong, traditionally a close-knit and fiercely people, have been less amenable to assimilation than most immigrants, adhering steadfastly to the rituals and beliefs of their ancestors. Lia’s pediatricians, Neil Ernst and his wife, Peggy Philip, cleaved just as strongly to another tradition: that of Western medicine. When Lia Lee Entered the American medical system, diagnosed as an epileptic, her story became a tragic case history of cultural miscommunication.” (Book Review) A profound analysis of the case provided by Anne Fadiman makes it clear that both the parents and doctors of Lia wanted the best for her. However, there was enormous difference between their ideas about the causes of her illness and its treatment, which was highly detrimental to the recovery of the patient. Significantly, the Hmong realize illness and healing as spiritual matters linked to virtually everything in the universe. On the contrary, the medical community in the country marks a division between body and soul, and it is exclusively concerned with the body alone. “Lia’s doctors ascribed her seizures to the misfiring of her cerebral neurons; her parents called her illness, qaug dab peg--the spirit catches you and you fall down--and ascribed it to the wandering of her soul. The doctors prescribed anticonvulsants; her parents preferred animal sacrifices.” (Book Review) Thus, the author provides a vivid, deeply felt, and scrupulously researched description of the catastrophic encounter between the disparate cultures of the Western medicine and the Eastern spirituality, which is represented by the Hmong immigrants from Laos. In this brilliant study in cross-cultural medicine, Anne Fadiman offers a compelling illustration of the experience of the conflict in the Hmong culture which requires better support programs of cultural transition. Therefore, it is fundamental to realize that the cultural transition of the various immigrant groups in the United States requires better support programs and systems. It is fundamental to comprehend that cultural transition should accompany effective support programs which can help the people and cultures affected in the process and it can be realized in relation to cultural defense, which refers to a situation where religious identity and institutions act as a protection against the hostile force. The rates of religious identification, performance and belief etc support the concept of cultural defense. “Cultural transition works in a similar way, only the challenge to the group is provided not by the negative force or factor in the society, but rather by the process of cultural change, usually brought about by the migration of the affected group… Because the role of the migrant community has become problematic in some way, full integration cannot take place and religion remains a cultural defense mechanism against a majority society perceived as hostile.” (Herbert, 33) In this background, the role of better support programs to deal with the issues faced by the migrant community in the process of cultural transition becomes palpable. Conclusion The process of cross-cultural transition has given rise to vital researches in the field of social science and it is essential to realize that the cultural transition in the United States has resulted in various fundamental challenges faced by the immigrants. In a reflective exploration of the challenges faced by the various groups of immigrants in the U.S., one realizes that all immigrants need better support programs for the cultural transition in the nation. The experience of the Hmong population, as convincingly illustrated by Anne Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors and the Collision of Two Cultures, suggests the significance of support programs for the cultural transition in the United States. Works Cited Berry, John W. Immigrant youth in cultural transition: acculturation, identity, and adaptation across national contexts. London: Routledge. 2006. P 26. “Book Review.” The spirit catches you and you fall down: a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. Anne Fadiman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1998. Dec 07. 2009. . Herbert, David. Religion and civil society: rethinking public religion in the contemporary world. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. 2003. P 33. Lee, Evelyn. Working with Asian Americans: A Guide for Clinicians. Guilford Press. 2000. P 107. Livo, Norma J. and Dia Cha. Folk stories of the Hmong: peoples of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Libraries Unlimited. 1991. P 13-14. Read More