BackHome
Refresh: OffView Personal Schedule
Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Poster #177 - Racial Discrimination Experiences and Responses of Chinese American Adolescents in Rural Communities

Thu, March 21, 2:15 to 3:30pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Chinese Americans comprise the largest Asian American subethnic group, and they number over 3.5 million (U.S. Census, 2010). Yet, they continue to be understudied in developmental science, particularly among the adolescent age group and among emerging immigrant communities in which Chinese immigrant populations are increasingly settling (Kiang & Supple, 2016; Tseng et al., 2016). Previous work has highlighted racial discrimination as one of the most common and significant stressors for adolescents from immigrant families (Portes, 1996), and these experiences could be especially harmful among more isolated, non-urban contexts. Besides, compared to African American parents, Asian American parents report engaging in less discussion about prejudice with their children (Phinney, 1995). Hence, there is a great need to focus more on how Chinese American adolescents experience racial discrimination, especially since they may be underprepared to cope with these negative interactions. Our study targets this understudied area and examines the types of discrimination these youth may face and the ways in which they report coping with such experiences. Our results and interpretation seek to formulate solutions for the youth who must navigate through such obstacles.
We gain insight into this important topic through in-depth focus group data from 18 U.S.-born Chinese Americans middle school students recruited from emerging immigrant communities in the Eastern and Southeastern regions of the U.S. About 88 % of the participants were male. Adolescents were asked a range of questions related to their experiences of racism in a one-hour discussion in one of three small groups led by trained interviewers. Our focus is oriented towards the different forms of discrimination that these youth face and their reactions and/or coping mechanisms in response to these events. Guided by grounded theory, research assistants categorized and coded the discrimination experiences that participants talked about and the ways in which they reacted to and coped with these events. Focus group data provides rich detail and valuable insight into these adolescents’ lives, as compared to more traditional survey approaches which has tended to be the norm in this limited area of research.
Adolescents reported various types of racial discrimination, which were organized into five primary themes: stereotypes, phenotype-based, language and culture-based, second-hand, and discrimination perpetuated by authority figures. In terms of reactions, two styles emerged—reactive and proactive. Reactive refers to adolescents’ reactions after being discriminated against, while proactive refers to coping mechanisms used to avoid or mentally prepare for possible future racial discrimination. Tables 1-2 illustrate brief samples of excerpts. To note, coping mechanisms differed between youth even when facing same type of discrimination. For example, some showed compliance and pride in certain stereotypes, while others strived to break the stereotypes. The type of discrimination and the perpetrators themselves posed additional challenges for youth to navigate. For instance, many adolescents said that they would just fire back when they experienced language-based discrimination, yet felt helpless if discriminated against by authority figures. Discussion of implications and ideas for future research will be provided.

Authors