Unit 3

For the past four decades, largest proportional increases in any ethnic minority group in the U.S.

76 percent growth for the decade 1990 to 2000

Growth in major urban areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Honolulu, San Diego, Chicago, Houston, and Seattle

Highest citizenship rates among all foreign-born groups (52 percent are naturalized citizens)

Contraction of two terms

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Self-designation preferred over “Oriental”

Refers to 40 ethnic or cultural groups or more

Bangladeshi Belauan BhutaneseBruneian

Cambodian Chamorro ChineseFijian

Hawaiian Hmong IndianIndonesian

Japanese Kiribati Korean LaotianMalaysian Maldivian Marshallese MicroneMongolian Myanmarese Nauruan NepalesNi-VanuatuOkinawan Pakistani PilipinoSamoan Singaporean Sri Lankan Tahitian

Taiwanese Tibetan Tongan Thai

Tuvaluan Vietnamese Saipan Carolinian

Solomon Islander

“Oriental” is considered offensive

Asian/Pacific is government designation

Groups prefer specific designation

Use of slurs or racial epithets are unacceptable

1. All alike due to similarities

2. Successful “model” or “super minority”

3. Viewed as “foreign” terrorists because of their religious affiliation or cultural dress

4. Misunderstanding cultural differences and practices

Very strong ties to extended family—three to four generations in same house

Culture shock leads to clannish behavior (e.g., Chinatowns, Koreatowns, etc.)

Father is the head of the household

Husband and wife both work outside of home

Children care for each other

Latchkey children are common

Often serve as translators

Direct communication to parent or adult

Underestimated and under-reported

Why?

Tjaden and Thoennes (2000)—12.8 percent reported being physically assaulted and 3.8 percent reported rape

Abraham (2000) —Community-Agency survey found over 1,000 South Asian women sought help for abuse and family violence

National Asian Women’s Health Organization (2002) found 16 percent of respondents reported pressure to have sex and 27 percent reported emotional abuse

1996 Chicago study of 150 Korean immigrant women—60 percent reported being battered

37 percent being battered once a month

Officers must take time to get information from witnesses, victims, and suspects

Strong family and group orientation

Considered “rude” and “loss of face” to say “no” to authority

High context in communication style—Key context and background important

Eye contact, gestures, and other nuances

May not display emotions as expected

Underreporting of Crimes

Differential Treatment

Asian/Pacific American communities gainingtrust with criminal justice system

Community policing in local neighborhoods by Asian/Pacific American officers

Recruiting aggressively and increasing

Asian/Pacific American peace officers

Getting positive cooperation from the community

Increasing the number of bilingual/biculturalpeace officers

Building community relationships and networks

Perpetrated by others within the same group

Human trafficking highlighted as majorproblem

Cooperation with worldwide police agencies

in six countries (Cambodia, China, Laos,Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam)