Asian American families' collectivistic coping strategies in response to 9/11.
Our study investigated the use of individualistic and collectivistic coping strategies among Asian American family members of victims of the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on September 11th, 2001. Interviews were conducted with 11 Asian Americans who had lost a member of their family in the WTC attacks. Using the Discovery-Oriented Research analysis (Mahrer, 1988), results indicated that Asian Americans utilized the following collectivistic coping methods to deal with their losses: individualistic coping, familial coping, intracultural coping, relational universality, forbearance, fatalism/ spirituality, and indigenous healing methods. Additionally, our research found that cultural stigmata, privacy issues, and lack of culturally responsive counselors were factors in participants not utilizing available mental health services. Implications for culturally appropriate services, counseling, and research are discussed.
Yeh
Christine J
CJ
Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. cy101@columbia.edu
Inman
Arpana C
AC
Kim
Angela B
AB
Okubo
Yuki
Y
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D047851:September 11 Terrorist Attacks / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires