Resettling Vietnamese Amerasians : What Have We Learned?
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2001 Resettling Vietnamese Amerasians : what have we learned? Mary Eileen English University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation English, Mary Eileen, "Resettling Vietnamese Amerasians : what have we learned?" (2001). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 5419. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/5419 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RESETTLING VIETNAMESE AMERASIANS: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? A Dissertation Presented by MARY EILEEN ENGLISH Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION September 2001 School of Education © Copyright by Mary Eileen English 2001 All Rights Reserved RESETTLING VIETNAMESE AMERASIANS: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? A Dissertation Presented by MARY EILEEN ENGLISH Approved as to style and content by: Kl e 111 Georg&E? Urch, Chair DEDICATION To all of the Vietnamese Amerasian children, now adults, who were so generous in sharing their stories with me. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to acknowledge George Urch, who as my chair, has been a kind and steady director of the final phases of this twelve year long process. His patience and kindness have been very important. I would also like to acknowledge Jack Wideman for serving as chair for many years and guiding my thinking about this subject as well as helping to refine my approach to the research. His unwavering support and thoughtful hours spent in conversation have allowed me to fulfill my dream of finishing this dissertation. I would also like to thank Ann Ferguson and Robert Miltz for agreeing to serve on this committee. I would also like to thank all of my Vietnamese and Vietnamese Amerasian friends who assisted me in conceptualizing this project and carrying out the interviews. Without their willingness to talk with me and teach me I would not have been able to do anything. 1 would like to thank all of the refugees in Massachusetts with whom I have worked: professionals, paraprofessionals and community members for their generosity in helping me to understand their experiences. In particular, I would like to thank Hongkiem Luong, my dear friend and colleague, and all of the members of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health Refugee Committee. The work that is being done and has been done with refugees by this group is a constant support and inspiration for me. I’ll be happy to return to the monthly meetings. Another source of support for me has been my dear friend and colleague, Margarita O’Neill. Magui has been an active member of my committee and a reliable and consistent support for me for many years. Our work together is an on-going project and 1 will be delighted to take on new and exciting projects with her now. When I first began this process, the people who were there for me every second of every day were my children, Joni Elizabeth Schriver, Kathryn Alice English and Adam Thomas English. Through all of our years as a gypsy band of four, I have never felt held back by mothering, but rather, cheered on by their love and presence. Thank you for showing me the power of connection and for being such wonderful traveling companions. Adam videotaped a couple of my interviews and assisted me in proof reading sections of the dissertation. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to acknowledge George Urch, who as my chair, has been a kind and steady director of the final phases of this twelve year long process. His patience and kindness have been very important. I would also like to acknowledge Jack Wideman for serving as chair for many years and guiding my thinking about this subject as well as helping to refine my approach to the research. His unwavering support and thoughtful hours spent in conversation have allowed me to fulfill my dream of finishing this dissertation. I would also like to thank Ann Ferguson and Robert Miltz for agreeing to serve on this committee. 1 would also like to thank all of my Vietnamese and Vietnamese Amerasian friends who assisted me in conceptualizing this project and carrying out the interviews. Without their willingness to talk with me and teach me I would not have been able to do anything. I would like to thank all of the refugees in Massachusetts with whom 1 have worked: professionals, paraprofessionals and community members for their generosity in helping me to understand their experiences. In particular, I would like to thank Hongkiem Luong, my dear friend and colleague, and all of the members of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health Refugee Committee. The work that is being done and has been done with refugees by this group is a constant support and inspiration for me. I’ll be happy to return to the monthly meetings. Another source of support for me has been my dear friend and colleague, Margarita O’Neill. Magui has been an active member of my committee and a reliable and consistent support for me for many years. Our work together is an on-going project and I will be delighted to take on new and exciting projects with her now. When I first began this process, the people who were there for me every second of every day were my children, Joni Elizabeth Schriver, Kathryn Alice English and Adam Thomas English. Through all of our years as a gypsy band of four, I have never felt held back by mothering, but rather, cheered on by their love and presence. Thank you for showing me the power of connection and for being such wonderful traveling companions. Adam videotaped a couple of my interviews and assisted me in proof reading sections of the dissertation. v In 1994,1 met the rest of my family, Peggy Perri, my companion of the heart and Daniel Perri- Bames, my other son. When Peggy and I met it was initially for the purpose of being a support for each other in finishing our dissertations. Peggy received her doctorate in 1998 and now, through her constant patience and support, it is my turn. Thank you for helping me to realize this dream. Daniel has been a wonderful creative addition to this project as video editor and proof reader. Julia Demmin was a wonderful writing coach and support for me during this process. Her understanding of the depth of feeling that goes into a project about the abandoned and orphaned children of war was of tremendous help to me. Janine Roberts, Beverly Daniel-Tatum and Grace Craig were also very helpful and encouraging to me in this endeavor. My friendship with Carol Owen has been an anchor for me in this work. Our collaboration and frequent peer supervision and commiseration had steadied my course and my heart many times. I would also like to thank and appreciate all of my friends who have witnessed my struggles during my time as a doctoral student. Cheryl Davis, who always reminds me to breathe and has helped in many other ways to smooth the rough places. Carol Potter, Betsy Hess, Janine and Molly Maland have offered years of encouragement to me and have spent years being patient about my availability. Thank you. When I began my application to the doctoral program, it was the month my father died, January 1989. In may of 1998, my mother also died. I would like to acknowledge that they taught me well that what you know can never be taken from you. I am grateful for their belief in me. Finally, I would like to thank my psychological parents, Johanna Plaut and Jack Wideman. Intending to or not, you have been wonderful parental substitutes for me and have helped me realize the value and power of nurturing, no matter when on life’s path it happens. I will also, in closing, thank the newest light in my life, Chloe Kathryn Schriver- Bullock. You have renewed in me my wonder at the whole world and allowed me, through you, to be again impressed by the power of love. vi ABSTRACT RESETTLING VIETNAMESE AMERASIANS: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? SEPTEMBER 2001 MARY EILEEN ENGLISH, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.Ed., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ed.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor George E. Urch How to assist the child survivors of war is a problem. One of the most traumatic injuries a child can suffer is the loss or displacement of their care-givers. The practical details of what constitutes a helpful intervention are unknown. Beginning in 1975, a group from S.E. Asia, some children of war, traveled to the United States as unaccompanied refugee minors. One purpose of this study is to discover what inner strengths and external resources enabled these young people to create a viable life for themselves in a strange new culture. Another purpose of the study is to explore ways in which therapeutic approaches to working with dislocated children of war can be strengthened and informed. A sub-group of the unaccompanied minors is the Vietnamese Amerasians. Between 25 and 40,000 Vietnamese Amerasians were bom to Vietnamese women and American servicemen between 1962 and 1975. An in depth, phenomenological interview was used to record the migration stories of these 11 children. The literature and the interviews supported the conclusion that a major predictor of positive adjustment was length of time the child had spent in the care of parents or parental substitutes before migration and the amount of stable foster care the child received after migration.