Vietnamese Women's Critical Reflections on Their Adaptation to Living in the United Sates Mai Le Ho Del Buono
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The University of San Francisco USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center Doctoral Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects 2008 Vietnamese women's critical reflections on their adaptation to living in the United Sates Mai Le Ho Del Buono Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.usfca.edu/diss Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Del Buono, Mai Le Ho, "Vietnamese women's critical reflections on their adaptation to living in the United Sates" (2008). Doctoral Dissertations. 162. https://repository.usfca.edu/diss/162 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, Capstones and Projects at USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USF Scholarship: a digital repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of San Francisco VIETNAMESE WOMEN‘S CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON THEIR ADAPTATION TO LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education International and Multicultural Education Department In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Mai Le Ho Del Buono San Francisco, California December 2008 This dissertation, written under the direction of the candidate‘s dissertation committee and approved by the members of the committee, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of the School of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. The content and research methodologies presented in this work represent the work of the candidate alone. Maile Del Buono__________________________ 12/03/08________ Candidate Date Dissertation Committee Brian A. Gerrard___________________________ 12/03/08________ Chairperson Rosita G. Galang___________________________ 12/03/08________ Betty Taylor_______________________________ 12/03/08________ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I—THE RESEARCH PROBLEM……………………………………1 Statement of the Problem ....................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study ...........................................................................................4 Research Questions .............................................................................................4 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................5 Scope and Delimitation of the Study ..................................................................8 Definition ............................................................................................................9 CHAPTER II—REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE..............................................11 Introduction .......................................................................................................11 Adaptation and Acculturation of Immigrants ...................................................12 Feminist Perspectives of Gender Oppression ...................................................18 Vietnamese Women‘s Place in History ............................................................31 Vietnamese Emigration to the United States ....................................................34 Vietnamese Adaptation to Life in the United States .........................................37 Summary ...........................................................................................................40 CHAPTER III—METHODOLOGY .....................................................................42 Research Design................................................................................................42 Research Questions That Guided the Initial Dialogues ....................................47 Research Setting................................................................................................49 Research Participants ........................................................................................49 Data Collection .................................................................................................51 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................53 Protection of Human Participants .....................................................................54 Background of the Researcher ..........................................................................54 Summary ...........................................................................................................54 CHAPTER IV—FINDINGS .................................................................................57 Introduction .......................................................................................................57 Demographic Information .................................................................................59 The Common Shared Themes ...........................................................................63 The Unique Themes ..........................................................................................86 Summary ...........................................................................................................94 CHAPTER V—SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....98 Summary Findings ............................................................................................99 Other Findings ................................................................................................103 iii Recommendations for Educators, Practitioners, and Educators .....................106 Limitations ......................................................................................................110 Recommendations for Future Research ..........................................................110 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................113 APPENDICES .....................................................................................................123 Appendix A: Recruitment Flier ..........................................................................124 Appendix B: Letter to Prospective Participants—Vietnamese Version .............125 Appendix C: Invitation Letter: English Version ................................................126 Appendix D: Informed Consent Form ................................................................127 Appendix E: Participant Dialogues .....................................................................130 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Summary of Participants‘ Background ...................................................62 Table 2: What challenges to Vietnamese women face in adapting to life in the United States? ............................................................................................96 Table 3: What strategies do Vietnamese women use to overcome the challenges they face in adapting to life in the United States? ..........................96 Table 4: What recommendations would they offer to other Vietnamese women as they attempt to adapt to life in the United States? ..........................97 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS One of the greatest motivations while working on this study has been to arrive at this final stage. I now have the honor to write this page of dedication to the great people in my life that have helped me to accomplish this work. I would like first to dedicate this dissertation to my husband and children whose love, support, and encouragement gave me the will and strength to complete the study. To you, Barry, thank you for endless hours of editing and reading over these pages. To you, Catherine, thanks for the many trips to the City and waiting for mom to see her advisor at USF. To Don and Daniel, thank you for your great spirit and tech support. In addition, to Micah and Ben, thanks for your love and respect for Education. I would also like to acknowledge my parents and siblings for the years of their support of me in this endeavor. My sincere appreciation to Dr. Gerrard who profoundly helped me complete this study. His dedication and scholarship as a teacher inspires students to produce work beyond their expectations. I would also like to give my gratitude to Dr. Galang who helped me shape this study from the very beginning, and advised me throughout my years at USF. Thank you, Dr. Taylor, for your valuable guidance in this research. Many thanks to six beautiful Vietnamese women whose generosity and sincere voices gave life to this study. You are modern day heroes whose contributions to human history will help future generations of Vietnamese American women in the United States. Lastly, I wish to recognize those who have shaped and graced my life. I am inspired by life and the Divine. I thank my colleagues for encouraging me to be a better educator, woman, and community leader. vi 1 CHAPTER 1 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ―Conflicts arose in my family because women adapt, or desire to adapt, more quickly than men do. The fact that men do not want to change, culturally, and women do, creates an imbalance in the family system. This imbalance creates an imbalance in the Vietnamese community.‖ -Hyacinth. Statement of the Problem In a recent article on Vietnamese refugee women‘s identity, the authors point out that ―every person is a cultural being…and culture influences behaviors, thinking, feelings, attitudes, values,