Hispanic American Families

Gender Roles

Religion

Demographics

Median Age: Male Hispanics = 27.0 (Total = 35.2) Female Hispanics = 27.6 (Total = 37.8)

Median Age at First Marriage: Male Hispanics = 27.1 (Total = 27.5) Female Hispanics = 24.7 (Total = 25.9)

Marital Status

Hispanics vs. Total Population

MalesMore likely to have never been married (41.0 vs. 33.9)Less likely to be currently married (48.5 vs. 52.4)Less likely to be separated, widowed or divorced (10.5 vs. 13.7)

FemalesMore likely to have never been married (33.3 vs. 27.3)Less likely to be currently married (46.6 vs. 48.4)Less likely to be separated, widowed or divorced (20.1 vs. 24.3)

Compare & Contrast Hispanic Males & Hispanic Females

Gender Roles

Disclaimer

Sweeping Generalizations misleading

Beliefs influenced by country of origin, educational attainment, level of acculturation, and sex

Individual differences

Gender Roles in Hispanic FamiliesFamilismo: Family life is of primary importance

Well-defined, traditional roles

Men and women viewed as fundamentally different -- complementary

Man's realm = public, work and civic life outside home

Woman's realm = private, in the home and church

Strong connection between feminine gender and child bearing 

Idealized femininity: submissive, chaste, and dependent

Idealized masculinity: dominant, virile, and independent

Similar to Traditional Anglo American gender roles, but somewhat more conservative

Religion in Hispanic American Families

• Remember the Disclaimer!

• A majority of Hispanic Americans are Catholic

• Largest ethnic group within U.S. Catholicism

• But: Protestantism on the rise among Latinos

Hispanic Catholicism

Indigenous religious traditions + Catholicism of Spanish missionaries

Although dominant religion in Latin America, institutionally weak

More charismatic than Anglo Catholics

"Matriarchal core”:

With the historic lack of indigenous Latino priests, Hispanic women have been consistently the primary transmitters of the faith and exercised autonomous authority in the devotional life of their people. (Matovina, 2001)

Hispanic Protestantism

Growing trend of Hispanic conversion to Protestantism

Problems with Catholic ChurchWeak institutional tiesService needs not being met

Attractiveness of Protestantism, especially Evangelical

CharismaticStronger sense of family and fellowshipGreater number of native Spanish-speaking pastorsMore opportunity for independent lay participationMore welcoming of different cultural style of worshipGreater access to leadership roles within churches

Fiesta Spirit Moving the American Church

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sccIFC8joUs

Latino Population

1990 to 2000: 57.9 percent increase in the numbers of Latinos residing in the U.S.

1990: total Latino population living in the U.S. = 22.4 million.

In 2000, this number jumped to 35.3 million.

In 2050, the population is estimated at 81 million, or roughly one quarter of the population

Attitudes toward Latinos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqKvSxmUoVQ

• "Border Patrol" is a Flash-based game that lets players shoot at Mexican immigrants as they try to cross the border into the United States.• This is just an (extreme) example of racist, bigoted attitudes Latinos face• Many people make no distinction between nationalities or cultures

Latinos (and all marginalized individuals) in the U.S. are especially at risk for:

• Faulty thinking

• Internalization of stereotypes and bigotry

• Feelings of frustration and ensuing anger,

• Substance abuse issues

Problems frequently encountered when counseling Latino clients.

• Latinos are half as likely to seek counseling than non-Latino whites

• But they are twice as likely to wind up in a restrictive psychiatric institution

• The care they do receive is often inadequate or fails to meet specific needs

Considerations for Counselors

Understanding Terminology

Latino as an aggregate term for various

subgroups

Commonalities across subgroups

Intersections within individuals

Latino and … ?

SystemicConsiderations

Skin Color

Latinos range in color from “white to mestizo to mulatto to black.”

mestizo: A person of mixed racial ancestry, especially of mixed European and Native American ancestry

mulatto: 1: the first-generation offspring of a black person and a

white person 2: a person of mixed white and black ancestry. Sometimes

this word is considered derogatory, based on the etymology of the word

Implications for Mental Health

Common Concepts

Personalismo: personal space

Familismo: Ties to family. The good and the bad. Latino vs. American structures

Fatalismo: Fatalism

Platicando: Leisurely chatting which leads to rapport building

Other Counseling Considerations

Level of acculturation and mastery of English

Distinction between culture and pathology

The United States and DSMs

Misconceptions about why Latinos may not seek therapy: suffering as sacrifice and appearing strong

More likely reasons: money, mistrust, language barriers, time, legal status

Techniques

• Educate Yourself

• Acknowledge oppression when appropriate

• Expressing anger resulting from frustration

• Empathy

• See your client as an individual first

• Self-disclosure, trust, and rapport building

Techniques

• Use of dichos, or metaphor: “The person whose tooth is causing pain should pull it out”; “He who has never worn sandals is easily cut by the straps.”

• Narrative Therapy: “human dilemmas are manufactured in social contexts and are not embedded in humans themselves”.

• Stories of victimization are ideally transformed into heroic ones of survival.

• Sharing Rituals

Future Directions

Need for more counselors fluent in Spanish

Need for more empirically based outcome studies

Need for new tools and measurements

Undocumented Immigrants Video One Video Two

References

U.S. Census Bureau, "Hispanics in the United States”http://www.census.gov/population/www/ socdemo/hispanic/files/Internet_Hispanic_in_US_2006.pdf

Bedolla, L.G., Monforti, J.L.L., & Pantoja, A.D. (2007). A second look: Is there a latino/a gender gap?. Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, 28(3), 147-171.

Bernal,G. & Saez-Santiago, E. (2006). Culturally centered psychosocial interventions. Journal of Community Psychology 34(2) 216-25.

Eisenman, R., & Dantzker, M.L. (2006). Gender and ethnic differences in sexual attitudes at a hispanic-serving university. The Journal of General Psychology, 133(2), 153-162.

Hunt, L.L. (2001). Religion, gender and the hispanic experience in the united states: Catholic/ protestant differences in religious involvement, social status, and gender-role attitudes. Review of Religious Research, 43(2), 139-160.

Laroche, M.J. (2002). Psychotherapeutic considerations in treating Latinos. Harvard Review of Psychiatry 10(2), 344-53.

Matovina, T. (2001, September 14). Hispanic catholics: 'El futuro' is here. Commonweal, 19-21.

References

Organista, K. (2009). New practice model for Latinos in need of social work services. Social Work 59(4), 297-305.

Peña, M., & Frehill, L.M. (1998). Latina religious practice: Analyzing cultural dimensions in measures of religiosity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(4), 620-635.

Raffaelli, M., & Ontai, L.L. (2004). Gender socialization in latino/a families: Results from two retrospective studies. Sex Roles, 50(5/6), 287-299.

Ruiz, R.A., & Padillo, A.M. (1977). Counseling Latinos. Personnel and Guidance Journal 55(7), 401-09.

Sue, D.W., & Sue, D. (2008). Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ.

Semmler, P.L., Williams, C.B. (2000). Narrative therapy: a storied context for multi-cultural counseling. Journal of Multi-cultural Counseling and Development, 28(1), 51-60.