Chang, N.-Y., & Liou, T.-Y. (2009). A study of Latino parenting culture and practices: listening to the voices of Latino parents. Hsiuping Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 12, 1-36. Retrieved from http://ir.hust.edu.tw/bitstream/310993100/1599/1/12-01.pdf
The article studies culture and practices of childrearing in Latino families. As the authors write, “Traditional Latino parents, in general, may have more rigid parenting values compared to their Caucasian counterparts” (Chang & Liou, 2009, p. 1). The conducted study is based on the qualitative research. First, the authors provide a complete literature review regarding the main values of Latin culture and historical background of their living in the United States. Then, they explain the methodology of their research and analyze its findings. The results of the study show that in Latino families, the roles of parents are divided in the traditional way: mothers raise children, while fathers are breadwinners and family leaders. Furthermore, they accept communication as an integral part of the family dynamic. Latino parents are stricter than Caucasian ones and widely use the physical means of discipline in childrearing.
The article is timely and adds to the theme of differences in Hispanic and American parenting. Hispanic ways of childrearing are strongly connected with the main values of Latino culture: familism, respect, and personalismo. The article is published in the credible source – Taiwan scholarly journal – and, thus, should be accepted by the readers. It is well written and logically structured; the authors support their findings and provide their better understanding using academic literature review. In Appendixes, the authors give characteristics of interviewees and the used questionnaire. The completeness, clarity, and simple language of the article make it understandable even for people unfamiliar with the theme of the study.
De Lourdes Cortes Ayala, M., Bringas Molleda, C., Rodriguez-Franco, L., Flores Galaz, M., Ramiro-Sanchez, T., & Rodriguez Diaz, F. J. (2014). Unperceived dating violence among Mexican students. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 14, 39-47. Retrieved from http://digibuo.uniovi.es/dspace/bitstream/10651/25366/1/Unperceived%20dating%20violence%20among%20Mexican%20students.pdf
The article deals with the problem of violence and abuse in dating among Mexican youth. As the authors write, “Dating violence has been found to be influenced by many variables such as country, culture, sex and type of violence” (De Lourdes Cortes Ayala et al., 2014, p. 40). The level of dating violence among Hispanics is significantly higher that among Whites, and it is the issue of a high prevalence. The study was based on the questionnaire survey among 3,495 Mexican students. According to the results, more than 10% of them felt being abused, 20% were afraid of their partners, and about 35% were trapped in their relationships. The most spread forms of abuse were sexual, physical, and psychological ones. Furthermore, the study found that those students who answered that they were not abused in their relations still continued to experience its different forms.
The article is current, as its theme is closely connected with the special characteristics of Hispanic culture: machismo, collectivism, and familism. While American culture is based on individualism and equality, Hispanics continue to follow traditions regarding men’s domination and women’s self-sacrifice. Furthermore, high levels of immigration and deportation also contribute to the levels of dating violence. The authors are authorities on the issue, as they are academics working in Universities in Mexico and Spain. The source of the article is reliable, as it is the scholarly journal, and the article is in Elsevier. The authors base their study on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the obtained data. They seem objective, clearly explain the reasons for their research, provide literature review, and closely explain the methods of the study and its findings. The clarity, logical structure, and completeness of the article make it clear even for the readers unfamiliar with the theme of the research.
Deardorff, J., Tschann, J. M., Flores, E., & Ozer, E. J. (2010). Sexual values and risky sexual behaviors among Latino youths. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 42(1), 1-19. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2882187/pdf/nihms201988.pdf
The article studies sexual values of Latino youth. As the authors write, “One-size-fits-all interventions to reduce sexual risk-taking and promote positive sexual health strategies are not equally effective for youths from all cultural backgrounds, and members of a cultural group do not subscribe to that culture’s norms uniformly” (Deardorff et al., 2010, p. 10). However, sexual values of Latinos may be influenced not only by cultural values (religiosity and familism) but also by acculturation. The study was based on the empirical research of the focus group consisted of 839 American and immigrant Latinos aged 16-22. The results showed some differences with the previous scholarly research works. The distinction between the perception of sexual values and the necessity of condoms may be caused by the conflict of partly contradictory Latino and American values.
The article is timely because the Latino-American cultural distinctions can negatively influence the health of youth including Mexicans that consisted more than the half of the focus group. The authors are authorities on the issue, as all of them are professors or assistant professors in the University of California. The source of the article is reliable because it was published in the scholarly journal. The authors seem objective, as they follow their main purpose to study sexual values of Latino youth to ease HIV prevention efforts and hold that the reasons of their values lie in their culture and possible Latino-American cultural clash. The article is clear and logical; the authors state the problem and give its background, explain the methods and their study, and provide a careful analysis of the obtained results. Furthermore, they highlight the limitations of the study and the necessity of further investigations. The article seems to be written for the specialists in the spheres of health and human development.
Fisman. R., Iyengar, S. S., Kamenica, E., & Simonson I. (2008). Racial preferences in dating. Review of Economic Studies, 75, 117-132. Retrieved from http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/emir.kamenica/documents/racialpreferences.pdf
The article examines racial preferences in dating on the basis of Speed Dating and 412 participants of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian races. The results show that women have strong same-race preferences while men are less likely to pay attention to the race of the potential partner. In interracial dating, Hispanic men mostly prefer to date with White women, and White men prefer Hispanic women. For White women, Hispanic men are in the second place in interracial dating after Blacks, while for Hispanic women, White men are the preferable variant. At the same time, Hispanic men and women find their potential White partners more attractive than vice versa.
Gamoran, A., Lopez Turley, R. N., Turner, A., & Fish, R. (2012). Differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic families in social capital and child development: First-year findings from an experimental study. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 30, 97-112. Retrieved from http://familiesandschools.org/app/uploads/2014/10/Social-Capital_Hispanic_non-Hispanic-families.pdf
The article deals with the problem of children’s development in the American Hispanic families. Due to financial gaps and social isolation of Hispanics, their children experience problems with achieving success and access to “social capital.” The authors suggest the program Families and Schools Together (FAST) that aims to ease the cultural adaptation of Hispanics in the U.S. They investigate the proper structure of the program and study its impact on the child’s development. The authors write, “The results . . . confirm initial expectations about differences between White and Hispanic families in parent social networks” (Gamoran et al., 2012, p. 110). Hispanic children often experience the educational problems due to lack of involvement of their parents into educational issues.
The provided study is the first part of the series of studies related to the integration of Hispanics into American society and is current because the problem of cultural barriers and cultural assimilation really takes place. The cultural differences between Americans and Hispanics affect Hispanic immigrants and American Hispanics and especially their children. The authors of the article are authorities on the issue, as they are university academics. The source of the article is reliable because it was published in the scholarly journal and is available in Elsevier. The authors are objective, as the primary goal of their research is the development of FAST that is based on involving Hispanic families into the educational processes of their children, and the results and achievements of the program are evaluated without bias. The article is logically built and well structured. The authors provide a strong statement of the problem, literature review, and identify and explain the barriers Hispanic families experience in the United States. They clearly explain the idea and methods of the suggested program and its effects after the year of use. The results are supported by quantitative data and previous scholarly studies. The paper seems to be written for sociologists and educational specialists but can be useful for other researchers interested in the theme.
Mesquita, B., & Walker, R. (2003). Cultural differences in emotions: a context for interpreting emotional experiences. Behavior Research and Therapy, 41, 777-793. Retrieved from http://ppw.kuleuven.be/home/english/research/cscp/documents/mesquita/mesquita-walker-2003-cultural-differences-in.pdf
The article deals with the variety of emotions across different cultures. The authors mark three main emotional lines: European American, Mexican, and Japanese. The goal of respondents was to show emotions related to one of their unpleasant memories about the episode of life connected with humiliation or offense. As the result, Americans and Mexicans showed similar behavioral models based on blame and distancing oneself. In both cases, blame was connected with dignity, while distancing oneself was a bit different: for Mexicans, it was closely related to one of their cultural values, simpatia, while Americans showed aggression and dislike. As the authors write,
The prevalent responses in both the American and the Mexican group thus focused on changing the relationship with the other person . . . but they did so in partially different ways that promoted their respective cultural models: in the American context by confronting the other person and trying to influence their behavior, in the Mexican model by avoiding confrontation and escaping from the situation (Mesquita and Walker, 2003, p. 787).
The article is timely, as it reveals that the differences in American and Hispanic cultures have an impact on the behavioral models of their representatives. As the result, intercommunication between American and Hispanics may have the dominant features of Americans as Hispanics prefer to escape confrontations and follow the cultural model of sympathy. It can negatively affect the standing of Hispanics in American society, especially among youth that often provokes conflicts. The authors are authorities on the issue, as they work in the Department of Psychology at the Wake Forest University. The source of the article is credible, as it is the scholarly journal, and the article is in Elsevier. The authors seem to be objective in their study and support it with the previous academic research works. The article seems to be aimed at psychologists and behavioral specialists but would be useful for intercultural specialists and can be interesting for people who would like to expand their knowledge in the particular area.
Nelson, G., Lutenbacher, C., & Lopez, M. E. (2001). A cross-cultural study of Mexico and the United States: perceived roles of teachers. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 22(6), 463-474. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.514.9635&rep=rep1&type=pdf
The article studies cultural differences in Mexican and American school behavior. The authors claim that educational distinctions between two countries may be the reason for low graduation rates among Mexicans in the United States. The research is based on qualitative interviews with Mexican and Americans teachers and students between fourth and eighth grades both in Mexico and in the USA. The results show similarities in most factors except the role of the teacher. In Mexican culture, a teacher is a person of great value and respect, authority for the students. As the authors write, “a teacher in Mexico is more likely to be perceived as a relatively authoritarian but loving parent, one who is personally responsible for the learning of the students” (Nelson and Lopez, 2001, p. 471). Mexican educational system is based on following the teacher’s instructions and their accomplishment, while American teachers and students assume some liberties and negotiations.
The article is timely, as it adds to Hispanic-American cultural differences in the sphere of education. Hispanic culture is based on familism, and one can find it even at school, where students follow the instructions of their teachers like they follow the advice of their parents. Thus, it can be difficult for Hispanic immigrants in the United States to accept the educational models based on liberty and individualism and to succeed there. The authors of the article are authorities on the issue because they are university lecturers and college teachers. The source of the article is credible, as it was published in the scholarly journal. The information seems well researched and supported by the evidence from previous scholarly works and by the quotations from the interviews. The article seems to be written for teachers who have Hispanic students to provide a better understanding of their possible failures but can be interesting for people who want to expand their lore.
Varela, R. E., Vernberg, E. M., Sanchez-Sosa, J. J., Riveros, A., Mitchell, M., & Mashunkashey, J. (2004). Parenting style of Mexican, Mexican American, and Caucasian–non-Hispanic families: social context and cultural influences. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(4), 651-657. Retrieved from http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/peers_social_general/Varela_etal_2004.pdf
The article deals with parenting in Mexican, Mexican American, and Caucasian families. The research is based on the qualitative and quantitative studies of 150 families. As the authors write, “CNH parents reported less authoritarian parenting than MA parents” (Varela et al., 2004, p. 655). The results show that one of the key roles in parenting style in Mexican families is child’s gender, and authoritarian ways of childrearing for boys are more popular, while in general, parents preferred authoritative parenting style. Furthermore, Mexican immigrant families and Mexican American families demonstrated the more authoritarian style of parenting than families living in Mexico, and the authors suggest that belonging to ethnic minority may contribute to parenting style as much as cultural values.
The theme of the article is timely, as it expands the reasons for parenting differences in Hispanic and American families. The way of life of Hispanics and Hispanic Americans differs as depends on homeliness and environment. Determined by cultural values strict childrearing can be even stricter under the pressure of another culture and another country. The authors of the article are authorities on the issue, as they are academics from Mexican and American Universities. The source of the article is reliable, as it is the scholarly journal. The authors are objective; they clearly state the reasons for their research, explain its methodology, and closely analyze the obtained results also mentioning the limitations of the study and the necessity of further investigations. The information seems well researched and supported by the data from the previous academic studies. The authors seem to be writing to psychologists and sociologists who study the problem, but its clarity and logical structure make it clear even for people unfamiliar with the theme.
References
Chang, N.-Y., & Liou, T.-Y. (2009). A study of Latino parenting culture and practices: listening to the voices of Latino parents. Hsiuping Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 12, 1-36. Retrieved from http://ir.hust.edu.tw/bitstream/310993100/1599/1/12-01.pdf
De Lourdes Cortes Ayala, M., Bringas Molleda, C., Rodriguez-Franco, L., Flores Galaz, M., Ramiro-Sanchez, T., & Rodriguez Diaz, F. J. (2014). Unperceived dating violence among Mexican students. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 14, 39-47. Retrieved from http://digibuo.uniovi.es/dspace/bitstream/10651/25366/1/Unperceived%20dating%20violence%20among%20Mexican%20students.pdf
Deardorff, J., Tschann, J. M., Flores, E., & Ozer, E. J. (2010). Sexual values and risky sexual behaviors among Latino youths. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 42(1), 1-19. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2882187/pdf/nihms201988.pdf
Fisman. R., Iyengar, S. S., Kamenica, E., & Simonson I. (2008). Racial preferences in dating. Review of Economic Studies, 75, 117-132. Retrieved from http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/emir.kamenica/documents/racialpreferences.pdf
Gamoran, A., Lopez Turley, R. N., Turner, A., & Fish, R. (2012). Differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic families in social capital and child development: First-year findings from an experimental study. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 30, 97-112. Retrieved from http://familiesandschools.org/app/uploads/2014/10/Social-Capital_Hispanic_non-Hispanic-families.pdf
Mesquita, B., & Walker, R. (2003). Cultural differences in emotions: a context for interpreting emotional experiences. Behavior Research and Therapy, 41, 777-793. Retrieved from http://ppw.kuleuven.be/home/english/research/cscp/documents/mesquita/mesquita-walker-2003-cultural-differences-in.pdf
Nelson, G., Lutenbacher, C., & Lopez, M. E. (2001). A cross-cultural study of Mexico and the United States: perceived roles of teachers. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 22(6), 463-474. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.514.9635&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Varela, R. E., Vernberg, E. M., Sanchez-Sosa, J. J., Riveros, A., Mitchell, M., & Mashunkashey, J. (2004). Parenting style of Mexican, Mexican American, and Caucasian–non-Hispanic families: social context and cultural influences. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(4), 651-657. Retrieved from http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/peers_social_general/Varela_etal_2004.pdf
