Introduction
About fifteen percent of the population in the United States is immigrants. Sixty percent of the immigrant groups locate their way from Asia. They are also referred to as the Asian Americans. Asian migration to the US was influence by the 1965 passage of immigrant Act; allowing people from China, Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, and India among other Asian countries migrate to the United States. The largest group settled at Hawaii. Today, Asian Americans are among the most established group of immigrants in the US (Cuéllar et al., 2000). This is because of their perception and virtue they hold about family, education, business and culture. These factors are essential for the Asian American’s physical and mental health status.
Many researchers have built interest in the culture and way of life of the Asian Americans. Their unique organization of family and social values are adorable. For example, they have a strong sense of family. As a matter of fact, they are the most people in the entire United States living in ‘family households’. This constitute to one among the practices that the Asian Americans have uphold. Furthermore, Asian Americans have a tendency to wait until one is mature enough to have children. Evidently, they constitute the larger group with fewer children compared to other ethnic groups in the United States. In education matters, Asian Americans are averagely the most learned group in the United States. They have higher education attainment and qualification to professional jobs than any other ethnic group.
Culture shapes individuals or a group of people to adopt a certain criteria of self expression to the outside world. It gives people the recognition that distinguishes them with other groups of people (Kurasaki & Okazaki, 2002). This comparison is healthy in matters of psychiatric issues. Therefore, as they hold a strong sense of humanity in their cultural practices, the Asian Americans are said to express somatic distress symptoms in a large proportion than the Native Americans. This has been argued in different ways. One is that this cultural group is a minor culture that is looked down upon on matters of public interest and concern. Another argument is that the Asian culture has poor linage and stigma of family and marriage life. These factors are responsible for the high rate of psychological distress that affects the mental health among people.
The bibliography of this literature as discussed above is from various resources. They include the Asian American alienation scale, a source that has been influential in publishing cultural analysis of the Asian immigrant groups in the US. Others include the American psychological association and bureau of statistics, art works and books written and published by Asian American authors as listed in the references below.
Questions
- What percentage does the Asian immigrants to the US represents in the country’s population.
- 100%
- 20%
- 15%
- The following countries are original homeland of today’s Asian American group in the Unites states except:
- Philippines
- Egypt
- India
- China
- Which of the following statements is TRUE about Asian Americans
- Asian Americans present about 75% of the United State population
- Asian American are less hit by mental distress compared to other ethnic group in the US
- Asian Americans have strong linage of family and marriage stigma
- Asian Americans are the only learned ethnic group in the United States
- A larger group of Asian Americans immigrated to the US as a result of the passage of the immigrant Act of:
- 1965
- 1656
- 1596
- 1956
- The following statement has been explained as the reason for mental health issues among the Asian Americans.
- Fairly living standards
- Lack of social intervention
- Encouragement of Asian Americans cultural practices
- Poor marriage life
References
Cuéllar, I., & Paniagua, F. A. (2000). Handbook of multicultural mental health: Assessment and treatment of diverse populations. San Diego: Academic Press.
Kurasaki, K. S., Okazaki, S., & Sue, S. (2002). Asian American mental health: Assessment theories and methods. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Lee, J., & Zhou, M. (2004). Asian American youth: Culture, identity, and ethnicity. New York: Routledge.
Uba, L. (1994). Asian Americans: Personality patterns, identity, and mental health. New York: Guilford Press.
