A Study of Haitian Mormon Converts Dwelling in New York City: a Cross-Cultural Perspective in Understanding, Interpreting, and Experiencing the Mormon Subculture
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1997 A Study of Haitian Mormon Converts Dwelling in New York City: A Cross-Cultural Perspective in Understanding, Interpreting, and Experiencing the Mormon Subculture Yvon Milien Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the Sociology Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Milien, Yvon, "A Study of Haitian Mormon Converts Dwelling in New York City: A Cross-Cultural Perspective in Understanding, Interpreting, and Experiencing the Mormon Subculture" (1997). Theses and Dissertations. 4943. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4943 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. A study of haitian mormon converts dwelling in new york city A cross cultural perspective in understanding interpreting and experiencing the mormon subculture A thesis presented to the department of sociology brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of science yvon milien 1997 by yvon milien april 1997 this thesis by yvon milien is accepted in its present form by the department of sociology of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirement for the degree of master of science 9 0ohn A seggar comwfeecommftfeemchair r cardellcandell3rdelladelladeil K jacobjacobsenjacobs6nn committee member darwin L thomas committee member 11f7 7 1 date stephen Pahrbhrhr depntdepontdptrpnt7 chair 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS acknowledgments iv LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS v LIST OF TABLES vi CHAPTER I1 introduction statement of the problem introduction to the problem significance of problem 4 CHAPTER II11 literatures REVIEW the context haitian popular beliefs cultural beliefs of haitian community in new york mormon cultural beliefs some differences between the two cultural beliefs conceptual framework defining terms cultures influence on understanding interpreting and experiencing assumptions research questions 24 CHAPTER III111 METHODS rationale for design definition of the population sampling sample design observational design interview dates and protocol criteria to decide type of adaptation data analysis test for validity and reliability 36 CHAPTER IV FINDINGS demographic characteristics background factors independent and dependent variables 66 CHARTER V discussion and conclusions theoretical orientation the data finding unanticipated findings and non findings limitations suggestion for future research applicability of findings 82 references 86 appendices 87 appendices A 90 appendices B 95 iiiilliliin acknowledgments this thesis was prepared under the supervision of dr john A seggar dr cardell K jacobson and dr darwin L thomas I1 wish to express my gratitude to all of them for their assistance and guidance in this exploratory study I1 am especially indebted to my advisor dr john A seggar whose encouragement was invaluable to the completion of this project special thanks is offered to the 12 haitiansHaitians who participated in this project I1 also would like to express my appreciation to dr lawrence A young dr lynn J england dr carol J ward and dr stephen J bahr for their wise suggestions finally a particular thanks to don norton from the english department for his help in the editing of this study any remaining errors of course are mine ivIV LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS figure 1 research model 22 figure 2 criteria for types of adaptation 31 figure 3 pattern emerged 71 chart 1 4 behaviors towards past traditions 576057- 60 V LIST OF TABLES table 1 age sexmaritalSex Marital statusbeliefsStatus Beliefs before 40 table 2 place joinslengthJoins Length of timeageTime Age converted 44 table 3 experience 55 table 4 analysis 62 VI CHAPTERCHAPTERI I1 introduction the LDS church is growing rapidly both inside and outside the united states many of these converts have been raised in cultures whose beliefs values and norms are inconsistent with those of the LDS culture such is the case for haitian converts the caribbean experience may be a great deal different from that of a euro american mormon due to the caribbeansCaribbeans african cultural heritage the caribbeansCaribbeans differ in cultural 1 background from people born into and raised in the mormon religion this may mean that caribbean converts as they make the transition into the new faith discard their original cultural practices alter them retain some element of them or develop folk piety the haitian peoples geographical background combined with their culture gives them a specific national culture haitian culture is an amalgam of french lineage african roots and caribbean heritage tracing its origins back to the mid 1500s for haitiansHaitians as for other caribbeansCaribbeans conversion leads to new experiences new practices new styles of life and new morals this is the case for haitian converts whether they joined the new faith in the united states or in haiti where they joined the church may also affect the transition into their new faith tee not utah mormon culture but the culture that comes straight from the beliefs 1 how do haitian converts understand interpret and experience their new religious practices and doctrines obviously culture influences peoples world views culture dictates a sense of necessity justification for action and way of thinking understanding interpreting and experiencing the realities of life this means that cultural patterns define or guide an individual toward culturally appropriate responses to their realities the major purpose of this study was to explore to what extent haitian converts develop folk piety practices that is to what extent do converts seek to establish a balance between past and new religious practices by retaining some element of their original culture and blending them with those of the new faith to produce a conglomeration of beliefs or practices no studies specifically focus on how liisllisLDSLIDS converts who differ in cultural background from LDSLIDS bomborn into and raised in the mormon religion interpret understand and experience their new culture and what type of adaptation they might develop in their transition process in the newly adopted culture this is an exploratory study to determine if a model based on understanding interpretation and experience can be developed however this study is structured in the traditional strategy of existing theories based on a priori research questions the choice of the traditional strategy was adopted to help the researcher focus the direction of inquiry and organize the data this study focuses primarily on these questions 1 how do haitian converts discard or alter their original haitian culture to adopt mormon culture 2 2 what role does understanding values and norms of the new faith interpretation of the new culture and experiences in the new culture play in the transition process 3 does it makes a difference if converts join the church in haiti or the US 4 what kind of varieties of folk piety develop within the LDS church during the globalization of mormonism especially in the caribbean area the actual total LDS membership in the caribbean area is 85000 or one percentpercent2percenta2 of the total membership of the church worldwide the haitian group may serve as a model group in understanding how the LDS church can approach countries in the caribbean and help its converts in the transitional process caribbean people share similar lifestyles beliefs and cultural understandings most native caribbeansCaribbeans strongly believe in supernatural intervention mysticism spirits and the like in the same way as haitiansHaitians do this is true for Jamaicajamaicansns dominicans cubans and trinidadiansTrinidad ians who believe in these types of folk religions for instance many of these caribbeansCaribbeans practice the santeriaSanmanteriateria a transformation of the enforced worship of the catholic saints into the veiled worship of spirit ancestors who were once slaves see wippler 1982 the santeriaSanmanteriateria practices and other africaafricann origoriginatedinatedabed cults such as trinidadstrinidadaTrinidads shango and brazils macumba are very similar to haitian voodoo haitiansHaitians are one of the caribbean ethnic groups who developed voodoo throughout their history haitian voodoo is the religion for the greater part of the source international winter 1996 vol 132 brigham young university 3 peasants and urban proletariat these two groups represent 85 percent of the population of haiti voodoo is a conglomeration of beliefs and rites of african origin which have been mixed with catholic practices in other words voodoo is a folk religion see metraux 1959 weil et al 1973 although roman catholicism is the official religion in haiti most haitiansHaitians continue to center their lives around the practices doctrines and traditions of their voodoo religion voodoo teaches them to believe in supernatural intervention mysticism and many gods and spirits called loas although the elite denigrate voodoo it still influences their belief systems A popular haitian expression explains this by claiming haiti is 90 percent catholic and 100 percent voodoo thus haitian converts to mormonism are individuals who are raised in a culture and a religious system that differs significantly from that of the