University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1986 Puerto Rican natural support systems : the feasibility of first mobilizing natural support systems to help Puerto Rican children with school problems prior to referral for special services : a case study of Holyoke, Massachusetts. W. Sydney Stern University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Stern, W. Sydney, "Puerto Rican natural support systems : the feasibility of first mobilizing natural support systems to help Puerto Rican children with school problems prior to referral for special services : a case study of Holyoke, Massachusetts." (1986). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 4234. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/4234 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]. PUERTO RICAN NATURAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS The Feasibility of First Mobilizing Natural Support Systems To Help Puerto Rican Children With School Problems Prior to Referral for Special Services: A Case Study of Holyoke, Massachusetts A Dissertation Presented By W. SYDNEY STERN Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION May 1986 School of Education Copyright by Willa Sydney Stern 1986 All Rights Reserved ii PUERTO RICAN NATURAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS The Feasibility of First Mobilizing Natural Support Systems to Help Puerto Rican Children With School Problems Prior to Referral for Special Services: A Case Study of Holyoke, Massachusetts A Dissertation Presented By W. Sydney Stern Approved as to style and content by: Alschuler, Chairperson Alan Swedlund, Member Mario D. Fantir)a, Dean School of Education 111 DEDICATION For Larry, who has been my partner throughout this work, and whose patience has been another lesson of this dissertation; For Sarah, our daughter, whose birth is a metaphor for the work created herein; And for Emily, her sister, who has been a teacher for us all, as well as a child. iv ABSTRACT TITLE MAY, 1986 W. SYDNEY STERN, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND M.Ed. BOSTON COLLEGE Ed.D UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Directed by; Professor Alfred Alschuler This dissertation is a study of Puerto Rican natural support systems and how they influence students with school performance problems. Puerto Ricans are a people with strong links to their culture, language and history. Their own unique complement of supports inludes extended family, religious groups, folk healers, merchants and social clubs. Home and community usually give the stability needed for children facing the school world. For many Puerto Rican children in the United States, these supports are fragmented by pressures of migration and acculturation, and thus do not operate effectively. School personnel in the United States often are unaware of the important influence of traditional family and cultural values on a child. When values taught at school V differ from home values, as they often do for Puerto Rican students, conflicts for the child arise. Many of the migrant families are under such stress they cannot provide the necessary support needed to work through such conflicts. School and clinical help for such children is, in many cases, minimally effective. What might be more effective ways of helping Puerto Rican children with school problems? Research for this project was done through literature reviews, field interviews of 15 Puerto Rican families, their children and human service professionals. The information gathered strongly suggests that a more successful approach to change for Puerto Rican children with school problems should come first from within the natural support systems rather than imposed from without. This will require a change in the way professionals perceive problems. People do not tend to think of community, family and school as one integral unit for a child. Thus solutions to problems fragment children rather than integrate them. The seven recommendations in this dissertation focus on combining community, family and school resources in a more natural configuration. The premise is that many Puerto Rican students are faced with problems that are not academically related but whose side effects show up in deficient vi performance. By working with the natural support systems, schools can focus on such underlying issues before they reach a crisis stage. This will leave the special education classrooms more time to work on actual academic difficulties. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication.• • • • • • • » • • • •XV Abstract . ^ Chapter I. INTRODUCTION.’.1 Statement of the Problem . 1 Questions to Be Addressed.4 Final Comment.5 II. THE BACKGROUND INFORMATION.7 Comments . 7 Description of the Island.8 The History.10 The Consequences in General.18 The Consequences as Relate to this Study . .23 Cultural Background.29 Roles in the Nuclear Family.29 Extended Family.35 Cultural Values.37 Religion.38 The Cultural Characteristics of Oppression: Paulo Freire's Theories and the Culture of Silence.42 Freire's Stages of Consciousness and the Culture of Silence.41 Behavioral Characteristics of the Culture of Silence.44 Migration to the United States.53 Some Statistics.53 Uniqueness of the Puerto Rican Migration .55 Migration Issues as Pertain to Holyoke . .57 Problems with Migration.59 Political Issues and Migration.63 Summary. Footnotes. III. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND NATURAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS.74 What Are Support Systems.74 Characteristics of Support Systems.78 Types of Aid... Four Basic Functions of a Support System. Levels of Support. ° One View of How Families Develop Their Own Unique Support Styles.88 Summary.90 What Are Natural Support Systems.93 When Natural Support Systems Do Not Work . .94 Conclusion.96 Footnotes.102 IV. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: PUERTO RICAN NATURAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS . 104 Four Types of Puerto Rican Natural Support Systems.105 Another Viewpoint.109 Combining the Theories: Delgado and Mendoza. 110 Puerto Rican Cultural Values and Natural Support Systems.Ill Conclusion.113 Footnotes.117 V. THE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE OF PUERTO RICAN CHILDREN AT RISK IN THE UNITED STATES.118 Overview . 118 Legal Issues . 118 The Federal Government Takes Action. 118 The State Government Takes Action. 122 The Puerto Rican Experience in Holyoke . 126 Types of Special Education Classrooms. 130 Project Prep . 131 The Formal Referral. 132 Teacher and Counselor Comments . 136 . 137 Summary. 141 Footnotes. 142 VI. METHODOLOGY Setting Up the Interviews with Families and . 145 Children... 149 Description of the Families.j * Criteria for Organizing the Data: Students . 157 Criteria for Organizing the Data: Families . 159 . 163 The Family Interview . 174 Interviews with Professionals. 176 Summary. 180 Footnotes. 186 VII. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. 187 Interviews with Professionals. .. • • The First Question: Natural Support ix Systems. 187 The Second Question; Natural Supports- Constructive or Destructive.194 The Third Question: The Schools and Special Education.197 The Fourth Question: Natural Supports Already in Place.2OI The Fifth Question: Further Suggestions. 203 Analysis of Interviews with Nuclear Families . 208 Culture of Silence and Special Education as Correlated to the Data.208 Other Factors for Examination.212 Mother's Educational Level . 213 School Behavior Change in Children After Parents Meet with Teachers . 214 School Absences.216 Single Parent vs Two Parent Families . 217 Intensity of Religious Involvement . 219 Close Knit Family Networks.220 Importance of Assessing for Culture of Silence Characteristics. 224 Family Support Networks.227 The More Abstract Interview Questions. 230 The First Question: What Are Children's Problems.230 Correlations Between Perceived Problems, Special Education and Culture of Silence.232 The Second Question: Are Parent- Teacher Techniques Effective .... 239 Correlations Between Discipline Strategies, Special Education and Culture of Silence.240 School Techniques.245 Summary. 248 Footnotes. 254 VIII. FINAL SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.268 Summary. Recommendations. One: Connect Currently Existing Resources Through Creation of a City Wide Bilingual Diretory and Para-Professional Resource and Referral Center Located in the Commununity.* Two: Research on What Makes Current X Programs Effective or Ineffective. 288 Three; Create a Facilitator Position within the School and Mental Health Facilities . 291 Gaining Access to the Natural Support Systems and School Professionals. 292 Responsibilities of the Facilitator with Families and Students . 296 Responsibilities in the Academic Sphere. 301 Recommendation Three as It Relates to Special Educa¬ tion . 305 Project Prep . 309 Summary of Recommendation Three. 311 Four; Use of Parental Skills . 312 Five; Assessing for Culture of Silence Characteristics; A Beginning Tool for Identification of Children at Risk . 314 A Pedagogy of Transformation . 316 What Can Be Done Now . 319 Six; Change Within the Academic Environment. 321 Creative Time for Teachers . 322 Courses Which Restructure How Teachers and Students Communicate and Interact With Each Other . 323 Increased Cultural Awareness of School Personnel As Exhibited Through