"They're Just a Part of My Family": The Perspectives of a Hmong Immigrant Adviser on Building Relationships With Youth

• In Event: 31.075 - Troubling Youth Leadership: The Complexities of Youth "Empowerment" Programs

Abstract

Purpose

The scholarship on community youth programs substantiates the importance of adults in structuring positive learning environments. We know less about the ways in which adults from different cultural groups conceive of their roles as advisors. This paper explores the role of culture in youth-adult partnerships. It is guided by the question: What are the beliefs and practices of a Hmong immigrant adult working with Hmong immigrant youth?

Perspective

The notion of youth leadership masks the importance of constructive relationships for creating opportunities for youth to cultivate competencies and engage as partners (Perkins, Borden, & Villarruel, 2003). The role of adult advisors in building relationships with youth has been described as “architect,” “captain,” “dreamer” (Mitra, Lewis, & Sanders, 2013), among others. Leading scholars especially highlight the import of adults making affective connections with youth (Zeldin, Larson, Camino & O’Connor, 2005). With few exceptions, research lacks attention to cultural views of relationships.

Methods

This paper draws on data from an ethnographic study of a community youth media arts program during a 2-month cycle. Research participants included Hmong youth and program staff. Ethnographic research underscores deep immersion in the everyday lives of participants to allow for nuance and depth of understanding.

Data analysis was guided by the constant comparative analysis of grounded theory procedures (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), which included open-coding, axial coding, and selective coding.

Data Sources

Ethnographic data sources include: (1) fieldnotes from thirty-nine observations (every session), including description of activities and behaviors and recounts of conversations; (2) documents such as work-products from the program (>50); and (3) in-depth, semi-structured interviews with six focal Hmong youth and one primary Hmong adult advisor.

Findings

Findings reveal the centrality of Hmong cultural notions of “family” for building relationships with and among Hmong youth. Multiple data sources illustrate an approach by the Hmong advisor that stress the importance of: (1) positioning himself as an “older brother” to the youth; (2) fostering a sense that he and youth are a family; (3) sharing personal experiences; and (4) emphasizing Hmong cultural values of interdependence, cooperation and collectivity. This cultural framing of youth-adult relationships offers insight into how youth programs may assist immigrant youth navigate bicultural identities.

Significance

This study will significantly contribute to knowledge about the function of culture and immigrant identity in youth programs. It will advance understandings of the perspectives of immigrant adults in building relationships with youth.


Mitra, D., Lewis, T., & Sanders, F. (2013). Architects, captains, and dreamers: Creating advisor roles that foster youth-adult partnerships. Journal of Educational Change, 14(2), 177-201.
Perkins, D. F., Borden, L. M., & Villarruel, F. A. (2001). Community youth development. School Community Journal, 11(2), 39-56.
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Zeldin, S., Larson, R., Camino, L., & O’Connor, C. (2005). Intergenerational relationships and partnerships in community programs. Journal of Community Psychology, 33(1), 1-10.

Author

• Bic H. Ngo, University of Minnesota