Cultural Schemas As Cultural Capital: the Fuerza and Flexibility of Latino Family Values
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Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship Winter 2017 Cultural Schemas as Cultural Capital: The Fuerza and Flexibility of Latino Family Values Shane Treadway Western Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Treadway, Shane, "Cultural Schemas as Cultural Capital: The Fuerza and Flexibility of Latino Family Values" (2017). WWU Graduate School Collection. 556. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/556 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Cultural Schemas as Cultural Capital: The Fuerza and Flexibility of Latino Family Values By Shane Treadway Accepted in Partial Completion of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Art Kathleen L. Kitto, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Joan Stevenson Dr. James Loucky Dr. Sean Bruna MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non-exclusive royalty-free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files. 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Shane Treadway February 27, 2017 Cultural Schemas as Cultural Capital: The Fuerza and Flexibility of Latino Family Values A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Western Washington University In Partial Completion of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Art By Shane Treadway February 2017 iii Abstract Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play an important role in providing social services to people worldwide, but where NGOs serve immigrants, there can be misunderstandings based on contrasts in the cultural backgrounds between the providers and the clients. This is a concern for the management of Rebound of Whatcom County, an NGO focused on providing support for families facing challenges. Discussions about child discipline and communication indicate that differences go beyond basic English-Spanish language translation, and seem to represent dissimilarities in the conceptualizations of family. The goal here is to identify the conceptual differences in the concept of family and the perceived impacts of these beliefs on use of services. Interviews, ranging from 30 to 45 minutes in length, were arranged with 5 English-speaking representatives of the NGO and 8 Spanish-speaking clients. They were transcribed and coded using NVivo software in order reveal patterns in the conceptualizations about family between these two groups. Naomi Quinn suggested that humans have the tendency to categorize experiences in schemas, patterns of thinking that are repeated and shared among individuals who share lives. Pierre Bourdieu argued also that economic needs greatly influenced the formation of these schemas; i.e., the social value or cultural capital of these schemas also determined their formation and use. Discourse analysis revealed that the concept of family for staff meant love, support, safety, and healthy community towards individual success. Clients emphasized home or casa as a sacred place, respect, and time with family toward the goal of family unity; the quickest route to success was hard work. These contrasts likely interfere with the exchange of ideas about issues such as good parenting and intergenerational communication. The translation of ideas into Spanish is not enough. Suggestions to improve service delivery included: schemas should be used to tailor the message to the clients especially when the economic benefits are also emphasized, Spanish- speaking leadership also improves the link between Rebound’s message and client needs. iv Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………. iv List of Figures and Tables………………………………………………….. vi Chapter I: Introduction…………………………………………………..... 1 Chapter II: Acculturation & Latino Family Values……………………….. 6 Chapter III: Cultural Capital, Schemas & Communication Gaps…………. 14 Chapter IV: Methodology…………………………………………………. 26 Chapter V: Analysis……………………..………………………………... 44 Chapter VI: Discussion..…………………………………………………... 102 Chapter VII: Conclusion…………………………………………………... 118 References……………………………………………………………..…… 120 v List of Tables and Figures Tables Table 4.1. - Spanish Word Frequency…………………………………………….. 43 Table 5.1. – Skills, Learning, Understanding Word Frequency ………………….. 51 Table 5.2. – Love/Amor Word Frequency………………………………………… 55 Table 5.3. – Healthy/Sano Word Frequency………………………………………. 65 Table 5.4. – Work/Trabajar Word Frequency……………………………………… 69 Table 5.5. – Yolanda’s use of the term “work” …………………………………… 71 Table 6.1. – Work/Trabajar Word Frequency (2) ………………………………… 105 Table 6.2. – House/Casa Word Use Comparison………………………………….. 111 Table 6.3. – Spanish Group and English Group Schemas…………………………. 112 Figures Figure 3.1. – Field Transition and Cultural Capital of Acculturating Agent ……… 24 Figure 4.1. – Coded Transcript Example…………………………………………... 36 Figure 4.2. – Spanish-Speaking Group Categories………………………………… 37 Figure 4.3. – English-Speaking Group Categories………………………………… 38 Written Questionnaire ……………………………………………….……………. 127 Semi-Structured Interview Questions …………………………………..………… 129 vi INTRODUCTION Latino Immigration Immigration to the USA often triggers in current U.S. citizens intense disagreement, mainly due to concerns about job loss (Correa-Cabrera and Rojas-Arenaza, 2012). Consequently, immigrants encounter various forms of resistance in their struggle to create sustainable livelihoods for themselves and families. The U.S. Census Bureau (2011a, b) estimates that there are about 40 million immigrants, 30% of which arrived from Mexico. Undocumented immigrants are estimated at 11.1 million, 60% of which are of Mexican descent (Passel and Cohn, 2010). Washington State’s portion of foreign-born was 6.6% in 1990, 10.4% in 2000, and 13.5% in 2013 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). Undocumented immigrants were estimated to comprise 3.3% of the state’s population or 230,000 people in 2012 (Pew Latino Center, 2014). Mexican illegal migration to the USA since the economic crash of 2008 has been zero or negative, but numbers are increasing from Central America (Massey et al., 2014). In 2014 Central America was (and likely still is) the source for many migrating to the USA from Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Much of this movement reflects the impact of U.S. policies in the 1980s that contributed to violence against citizens perpetrated by local regimes (Massey et al., 2014). Many Latino immigrants flee basic economic deprivation and find themselves cut off from vital social networks (Bathum and Ciofu Baumann 2007). Still other women and children are escaping domestic abuse and other forms of violence that often leave them traumatized (Kaltman et al. 2011). This is to say that the needs of Latino immigrants are diverse, serious, and the result of specific and complex socioeconomic contexts. This study focuses on migrant families and their desperate need for contextualized social service solutions (Stein and Guzman 2015; Johnson 2007; Brown and Souto-Manning 2008; Gonzales 2012). The U.S. Census Bureau (2011a, b) estimates that there are about 40 million immigrants, 30% of which arrived from Mexico. Undocumented immigrants are estimated at 11.1 million, 60% of which are of Mexican descent (Passel and Cohn, 2010). Benefits of family networks for new migrants include 1 accessibility to family based visas and increased opportunities for employment and credit acquisition (Immigration Policy Center 2013, www.immigrationpolicy.org). Thus, families support each other during the migration process and represent a group that tends to better transition to the U.S. society (Ayón and Naddy 2013). Where family networks have been compromised due to immigration, Latina women in particular have worked to cultivate new support communities (Bathum and Ciofu Baumann 2007). These communities often integrate the support of non-profit organizations as an additional means of strengthening family ties (Marsiglia et al. 2014). Rebound Many immigrant families either seek out or are referred to government social service agencies and non-profit social service organizations (NPOs) to gain assistance in restoring and maintaining positive interactions and cohesion among family members after significant life threatening challenges in the move to a new country (Hagan