Adapting to Context in Community-Based Participatory Research: “Participatory Starting Points” in a Chinese Immigrant Worker Community

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is increasingly being used to better understand and improve the health of diverse communities. A key strength of this research orientation is its adaptability to community contexts and characteristics. To date, however, few studies explicitly discuss adaptations made to CBPR principles and processes in response to community context and partners’ needs. Using data from our CBPR study, the San Francisco Chinatown Restaurant Worker Health and Safety Project, and drawing from literature on immigrant political incorporation, we examine the links between the contexts of the Chinese immigrant worker community, adaptations made by our collaborative, and study outcomes. In particular, we explore the concepts of contexts of reception and participatory starting points, which may be especially relevant for partnerships with immigrant communities whose members have historically had lower rates of civic and political participation in the US. We discuss contextual findings such as worker partner accounts of language barriers, economic and social marginalization, and civic skills and participation, as well as subsequent adaptations made by the partnership. We also describe the relative effectiveness of these adaptations in yielding equitable participation and building partners’ capacity. We conclude by sharing lessons learned and their implications for CBPR and partnerships with immigrant communities more broadly.     

Context and culture in the socialization and development of personal achievement values: Comparing Latino immigrant families,European American families,and elementary school teachers

We documented cross-cultural similarities and differences in values concerning personal achievement between Latino immigrant parents, a group of multiethnic teachers, and European American parents. We also explored intergenerational similarities and differences between parents and their fifth-grade children. The theoretical premise was that sociodemographic factors, such as education, drive cultural values, with more formal education associated with individualistic values and less formal education associated with collectivistic/familistic values. Responding to open-ended social dilemmas relevant to family life, Latino immigrant parents, averaging a fifth-grade education, responded more familistically than the more highly educated multiethnic teachers or European American parents. In contrast, no group differences in values showed up in situations where school practices do not directly impact family life. Intergenerational differences were few; but, in family-centered scenarios, European American fifth graders were significantly more collectivistic than European American parents, a finding that suggested the possibility that, in an individualistic culture, individualism is socialized with age.     

I Belong

ABSTRACT

This essay focuses on the experience of an immigrant returning for a visit to her home country after forty years. She describes her surprise at finding herself “at home,” her changed relationship to her family, and her desire to be buried in her ancestors' crypt. She alludes to the immigrant's fate of not belonging to either country.     

Immigrant Children in Austria

ABSTRACT

As a consequence of worldwide waves of immigration there is a permanent increase of ethnically mixed school classes in countries all over the world. However, there is a lack of empirical studies on interethnic relationships which differentiate immigrant children based on their countries of origin. The present paper focuses on these topics and provides data of both negative and positive aspects of interethnic interactions. Direct and indirect forms of bullying, friendship patterns, and peer acceptance in 326 native and 242 immigrant children aged 11 to 14 (57% native Austrian, 22% former Yugoslavian, 14% Turkish/Kurdish, 7% rest group) in 29 ethnically mixed school classes (6th and 7th grades) were examined. Bullying was measured via the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire and via peer nomination techniques, friendship patterns via self-ratings. Peer acceptance was defined by social preference scores on positive and negative sociometric items. According to peer ratings Austrian children were found to be more often victims (9%) and bullies (12%) of direct bullying than immigrant children. Prevalence rates in immigrant children varied depending on their country of origin between 2% and 8% for victims and 3% to 7% for bullies. Results suggested that Turkish/Kurdish children are at risk concerning their social integration in class (e.g., they had the fewest number of friends in class, reported higher levels of loneliness at school, and were less accepted by their peers compared to Austrians and former Yugoslavian children). Friendship patterns differed considerably between native children and children of the three immigrant groups. Findings are discussed concerning differences in integration strategies of immigrant children depending on their country of origin.     

Community Mobilization and Community-Based Participatory Research to Prevent Youth Violence Among Asian and Immigrant Populations

Many community mobilization activities for youth violence prevention involve the researchers assisting communities in identifying, adapting, and/or tailoring evidence-based programs to fit the community needs, population, and cultural and social contexts. This article describes a slightly different framework in which the collaborative research/evaluation project emerged from the community mobilization activities. As will be discussed, this collaborative, sustained partnership was possible in the context of the Center on Culture, Immigration and Youth Violence Prevention's (UC Berkeley ACE) community mobilization activities that brought the issue of youth violence, particularly among immigrant and minority populations, to the forefront of many of the community partners' agendas. The East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) was one of the partners that came to the table, which facilitated the community-based engagement/mobilization. UC Berkeley ACE collaborated with EBAYC to evaluate an after-school program and an alternative probation program serving a diverse youth and immigrant population, including African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. This article describes UC Berkeley ACE's community mobilization activity and the collaborative partnership with EBAYC, discusses how the evaluations incorporated community-based principles in design and practice, and presents some findings from the evaluations.     

Preventing Children��s Aggression in Immigrant Latino Families: A Mixed Methods Evaluation of the Families and Schools Together Program

The effectiveness of the evidence based program, Families and Schools Together (FAST), was examined in two inter-related studies with immigrant Latino (Mexican) families in the U.S. In Study 1, we reported findings from pre-test, 3-month post-test, and 12-month follow-up surveys of parents and children participating in the FAST program. Families were selected from communities that were randomly assigned to either intervention or control groups. A total of 282 parents (263 mothers and 19 fathers) participated in either the intervention (140 parents) or control (142 parents) condition over the course of 3 years. Each of the parents had a participating focal child; thus, 282 children (144 females and 138 males; average age = 9.5 years) participated in the study. A primary focus of the research was to determine whether participation in FAST led to reductions in children's aggression. Using linear growth models, no differences were noted on aggression between intervention and control groups, although intervention children did show significant improvements in social problem-solving skills and perceptions of collective efficacy. In Study 2, we conducted two focus groups with ten FAST participants to explore whether other unmeasured outcomes were noted and to understand better the mechanisms and impact of FAST. All of the parents in the focus groups reported that FAST had helped them better relate to and communicate with their children, and that the greatest effect was on the behavior of their older children. Results are discussed in terms of cultural fit of the FAST program for immigrant Latino families and future directions.     

THE TRAINING AND GENERALIZATION OF SOCIAL INTERACTION SKILLS WITH AUTISTIC YOUTH

Two experiments were conducted to increase the initiations and duration of social interactions between autistic and nonhandicapped youths. Experiment 1 taught two autistic youths to initiate and elaborate social interactions with three age-appropriate and commonly used leisure objects; a radio, a video game, and gum. The students were first taught to use the objects and subsequently instructed in the related social skills. The youths generalized these social responses to other nonhandicapped peers in the same leisure setting. A second experiment trained a third autistic youth to emit similar social leisure skills. The use of the leisure objects and the related social skills were taught at the same time. The autistic youth learned these skills and generalized them to other handicapped peers in the same leisure setting. The importance of teaching generalized social responding in particular subenvironments was emphasized.     

A behavioral approach to coaching football: improving the play execution of the offensive backfield on a youth football team

Because of the emphasis on winning, the difficulties involved in assessing performance, and the lack of frequent and contingent reinforcement, a behavioral approach to coaching football was used. The players, all nine- or ten-year-old males, were members of an offensive backfield on a Pop Warner football team. Three frequently-run offensive plays were broken down into a series of five behaviorally defined stages, permitting construction of checklists suitable for observing the players during both game and scrimmage sessions. The intervention consisted of the presentation and explanation of the appropriate checklist, and frequent contingent reinforcement in the form of feedback and recognition for instances of desired play execution. Performance gains averaging 20% occurred for each of the three plays after, and not before, the staggered introduction of each intervention. The results suggest that behavioral specification and positive reinforcement of desired play execution is a viable approach to the coaching of football.     

A multidimensional, multilevel examination of mother and father involvement among culturally diverse Head Start families

In this study we examined the relationships between family demographics and level of satisfaction with school contact as possible determinants of multiple dimensions of family involvement in early childhood education. Participants included 171 urban, Head Start parents (108 mothers and 63 fathers). Results revealed that for mothers, having less than a high school education was negatively associated with levels of home-school conferencing. For fathers, primary language spoken in the home was associated with both levels of home-school conferencing and school-based involvement, with Polish- and Spanish-speaking fathers participating less compared with their English-speaking counterparts. In addition, fathers of boys reported higher levels of home-school conferencing. Involvement at school was significantly associated with level of satisfaction with school contact for both mothers and fathers. Multilevel analyses revealed parent gender and satisfaction as the most salient predictors of involvement at the level of the family. Implications for future research, as well as family involvement practice and policy, are discussed.     

Mexican American Adolescents’ Cultural Orientation, Externalizing Behavior and Academic Engagement: The Role of Traditional Cultural Values

This study of 598 7th grade students of Mexican origin examined the role of traditional cultural values as a mediator of the effects of immigrant status, Mexican cultural orientation and Anglo cultural orientation on adolescent externalizing behavior and academic engagement. Immigrant status of adolescents and their maternal caregivers uniquely predicted increased Mexican cultural orientation and decreased Anglo cultural orientation, and both Mexican and Anglo cultural orientation related positively to adolescents’ endorsement of traditional cultural values. Endorsement of traditional cultural values related, in turn, to decreased externalizing behaviors and increased academic engagement and these findings were replicated across adolescent and teacher report of these two outcomes. Tests of mediation provided further evidence to support these pathways. Findings support the central importance of traditional cultural values as a protective resource that explains why immigrant youth exhibit fewer externalizing problems and increased academic engagement when compared to their second and third generation peers.