Family Moment

Family Moment

Family plays a decisive role in shaping the life and character of an individual. In fact, as a child grows up, it is important that an appropriate nurturing environment is selected to avert cases of social and psychological effects in the future (Parke & Kellam, 2013). However, there are instances where factors beyond family control can threaten to alter a life of a person for the worse. Growing up in a war zone, for instance, is a major cause of low quality of life, suicides, and violence.

Section 2: Influential Cultural Memberships and Identities

I was born in Genogram Vietnam and I spent a few years there. The timing of my birth coincided with a raging war that took decades to subside in Vietnam. All my family members came from the communist country though one of my grandfathers was a US martial deployed to Vietnam (Yum, 2011). He was one of the Victims of Vietnamese civil war, and he died in 1975 during its peak.  My other grandfather from the mother's side was a powerful commissioner in Kiengiang City, Vietnam. He understood the importance of education to a girl child, even at the time when Asia was shrouded in the darkness of gender inequality. Therefore, my mother was lucky to receive education and she later became a nurse. Heavy war casualties inspired her choice of profession as Vietnam War took its toll. My grandmother was a high school teacher. Thus, it is safe to conclude that I hail from a well-off family of highly educated personalities.

Class

While being a member of a middle-class family can be considered as an advantage or beneficial, it proved a challenge to me. I struggled to adapt to a War environment. Busy schedules of my family members including my father and mother meant that I could only spend less time socializing and interacting with them. I can partially attribute the challenges I still face to a weak family bond (McGoldrick & Hardy, 2008). By the time I was three years old, the situation in Vietnam got worse. It forced some of my family members to seek refuge in an Indonesian refugee camp. Resultantly, Indonesia became my home for nearly a decade, between 1989 and the year 1997. The conditions at the camp were neither pleasant nor fit for human habitation, but it was the only way to survive brutality back at my home country. While still at the Camp, I got a scholarship to study in the United States. My family members relocated with me, but my father resorted to staying to take care of my ailing old grandmother. War had ended in Vietnam during this time.

Region

Relocating to the United States marked a turning point in my life. At first, I anticipated being a citizen of a prosperous nation where I could seamlessly pursue my dreams. What I did not realize is that America has a contrasting culture, language, and way of life as compared to conditions back home. In a few months time after I enrolled in middle school, I encountered multiple difficulties that I at one time opted to quit learning.

Cultural Memberships Shaping My Identity

Ethnicity

Adapting to a new environment was not an option for me. As a student of Vietnamese ethnic background, I could not speak English and I hardly had a basic education (Berry, 2005). To make it worse, it took some time for me to establish friendship and strong relations with my colleagues and tutors. The conditions for my family were not good either, they experienced cultural shock and could not adapt quickly, given their advanced age. 

Religion

I struggled through high school but finally managed to graduate and win a scholarship to North Eastern University for Criminal Justice. I chose to pursue a career related to criminal justice having experienced violence and crime for the better part of my youthful life (Aldarondo, 2007). Before the end of my first year in the institution, a gang of rowdy students sexually assaulted me.  It was a beginning of the worst phase of my life. At one time, I contemplated committing suicide to end my streak of mystery and bad luck. The ensuing depression led to my dismal performance in academics as I could hardly concentrate or study. I opted for counseling therapy sessions buy it proved fruitless. I gave up on myself. I spent my time indoors Isolated from the public, friends, and even family members. In Asian culture and religion, virginity is important because it signifies purity. Rapists too away my purity, forever altering my mindset and the way I view all men. Fear gripped me and I became scared to even walk a few inches out of my home.

How Cultural Membership Shaped My interaction with others

Racism

Racism is a major issue in the United States.  The minority groups including African Americans, Latin Americans, and Asian Americans face challenges on a daily basis as they try to fit in a capitalistic society. For instance, when I was in high school, I found it challenging to form friendships and to collaborate with my peers because most of them were white. While this can be attributed to a language barrier, racism was a significant contributing factor. At one time, I overheard a one of the students expressing how she hated communist Asians including me. Assumptions like this propelled sharp divisions and contrast between my culture and that of my classmates hence a choice to join an Asian Community and Educations Center (Tedeschi et al., 2005).

Ethnicity

In my ethnic background, it is an abomination for a woman to engage in sex before marriage. As a student in the United States, I got engaged immediately after my graduation. A few months later I became pregnant before marriage. My father and mother in law rejected me soon learned that I was once a victim of sexual assault and had engaged in sex before marriage with their son. Resultantly, my interaction with my fiancé was cut short. I tried to terminate my pregnancy as my social relationships soured, but I was unsuccessful. In the end, I decided to bring up my child single-handedly.

Racism and ethnicity are interrelated. They are the core pillars of any culture or society. For example, most people of Asian origin prefer a dictatorial leadership as compared to European democracy. Besides, it is clear from my story that gender inequality is prevalent among Asians and people of Vietnamese ethnic background.

Family Influence

My family’s cultural background and the Vietnam’s situation during my childhood have affected my expression of emotions, child rearing practices and individualism in my line of work. I attribute my multiple attempts of suicide and abortion to a dysfunctional Vietnamese middle-class family structure. My moment would have been different if I received adequate care from my father and mother in a serene environment (Mirick, 2012). The mobility of my family from one country to the other resulted in my challenges in assimilation to different cultures as well.

Section 3: Theoretical Perspective

Theory of change is applicable in my case. I resorted to joining Asian Community and Center School as a reform strategy. I realized that for a positive experience in my life, I had to accept my past and forge ahead. I still had a life to live in spite of several setbacks in my past. My inspiration for change emanated from a need to provide a better care to my child and not to let my past dictate my future. It was a means of avoiding a repetition of my suffering and the continuity of a negative vicious cycle (Marris, 2014). Joining the community was the best decision I made. I have an opportunity to interact with people that understand my situation and assist me in my path towards recovery from humiliation, rejection, and depression.

Section 4: Self-Reflective Practice

The course content is applicable to my case. They form part of my journey towards full integration in the American society. Currently, my progress is steady as I have remarkably gained from the engagement.  Prior to course enrollment, I barely understood my weaknesses and strengths. I am gradually becoming more confident in my approach to challenges and in bridging a gap between my past and present with regards to cultural context, beliefs, and personal values through interactions with peers and instructors (Greenfield & Cocking, 2014).

References

Aldarondo, E. (2007). Advancing Social Justice through Clinical Practice. New York: Psychology Press.

Berry, J. W. (2005). Acculturation: Living Successfully In Two Cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(6), 697-712.

Greenfield, P. M., & Cocking, R. R. (2014). Cross-Cultural Roots of Minority Child Development. New York: Psychology Press.

Marris, P. (2014). Loss and Change (Psychology Revivals): Revised Edition. London: Routledge.

McGoldrick, M., & Hardy, K. V. (Eds.). (2008). Re-Visioning Family Therapy: Race, Culture, and Gender in Clinical Practice. London: Guilford Press.

Mirick, R. (2012). Reactance and the Child Welfare Client: Interpreting Child Welfare Parents' Resistance to Services through the Lens of Reactance Theory. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 93(3), 165-172.

Parke, R. D., & Kellam, S. G. (2013). Exploring Family Relationships with Other Social Contexts. London: Routledge.

Tedeschi, R. G., & Kilmer, R. P. (2005). Assessing Strengths, Resilience, and Growth to Guide Clinical Interventions. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36(3), 230.

Yum, J. O. (2011). The Impact of Confucianism on Interpersonal Relationships and Communication Patterns in East Asia. Communications Monographs, 55(4), 374-388.