Being Well vs. Doing Well: Self‐Esteem and School Performance among Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Racial and Ethnic Groups

It has frequently been suggested that the academic achievement of minority students may be hindered by low self‐esteem in a white‐dominated society. Some researchers and theorists, however, have questioned such assumptions. The self‐esteem‐academic achievement issue is further complicated by the relatively strong performance of children of immigrants in general, and of children of Asian immigrants in particular. A substantial literature suggests that these children face insecurities and difficulties that are inconsistent with high self‐esteem. In examining data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we find that Asians do show the lowest levels of reported self‐esteem of the major racial/ethnic groups, but also the highest grade‐point averages. Black adolescents, on the other hand, show the highest levels of reported self‐esteem, but show relatively low grade‐point averages. In further examination, we demonstrate that despite this apparent inconsistency between school performance and reported self‐esteem, the two do have a positive relationship. Immigrant parental status, we suggest, has a complex relationship to school performance and psychological well‐being that can help to explain the apparent paradox.     

Educated in Romance: Women,Achievement, and College Culture (Book)

This article outlines a dialogical approach to understanding how South Asian-American women living in diasporic locations negotiate their multiple and often conflicting cultural identities. We specifically use the concept of voice to articulate the different forms of dialogicality-polyphonization, expropriation, and ventriloquation-that are involved in the acculturation experiences of two 2nd-generation South Asian-American women. In particular, we argue that it is important to think of acculturation of the South Asian-American women as essentially a contested, dynamic, and dialogical process. We demonstrate that such a dialogical process involves a constant moving back and forth between various cultural voices that are connected to various sociocultural contexts and are shaped by issues of race, sexuality, and gender.     

Gendered Projects of Solidarity: Workplace Organizing among Immigrant Women and Men

Drawing on an ethnography of organizing among Latina/o immigrant janitors in Los Angeles, I argue that constructing workplace solidarity between women and men is a dynamic, gendered project. I demonstrate both how this project unfolds and how it can be halted, with varying implications for gender and class inequality at work. Organizational restructuring upsets gender‐segregated divisions of labour making solidarity between women and men possible but restructuring also allows workers to reinforce gendered divisions and cultural distinctions. The mechanism pushing workers one way or the other is the degree to which the process of organizing recognizes gender inequalities.     

Conceptions of Immigrant Integration and Racism Among Social Workers in Sweden

Drawing on 22 qualitative interviews with social workers in Sweden, this article analyzes how social workers conceive immigrant integration and racism and tackle racism within their institutions and the wider Swedish society. The majority of the white social workers framed integration in relation to cultural differences and denied or minimized the role of racism in structuring their services and the ethnic relations in Sweden. In contrast, social workers with immigrant backgrounds were less compromising in discussing racism and assumed it as a problem both for themselves as institutional actors and as immigrants in everyday life and institutional settings. Social institutions in Sweden have been important actors in endorsing equality and accommodating differences. However, it is of paramount importance for social justice-minded social workers to identify and unsettle those structures and discourses that enable racist and discriminatory policies and practices against those groups who are not viewed as “core” members of the Swedish society. The absence of anti-racist social work within Swedish social work is primarily related to the idea of color-blind welfare universalism that is assumed to transcend the particularity of the needs, experiences, and perspectives of different groups in Sweden. While integration is envisioned and framed as a political project of inclusion of non-white immigrants, it tends to become a political device through which hierarchies of belonging are constructed. Following such conception of integration, cultural/religious differences and equality are framed as conflicting where cultural conformity underpinned by assimilationist discourses becomes a requirement for political, social, and economic equality.     

Addressing Wife Abuse in Mexican Immigrant Couples: Challenges for Family Social Workers

SUMMARY

In blended families, the two parents have a unique challenge to develop a united front (“WE”) in the face of “us” and “them” thinking. Without such a united front, the children will naturally manipulate the situation and further divide the blended family. The key to successful step-parenting is the development of a solid “WE” between two parents so that the whole family works together as a unit. Practical suggestions are given for development of this united front so that step-parenting can become a positive experience.     

Body Talk and Boundary Work Among Arab Canadian Immigrant Women

This paper places Latour’s (2004) concept of “body talk” alongside literature on symbolic boundaries to consider how the symbolic judgements and evaluations that comprise body talk frame the impact of structural pressures on the body. Drawing from individual and focus group interviews with 36 first-generation Arab Canadian immigrant women, this study shows that the female body, and practices of feeding and exercising it, are sites where structural inequalities embedded in the immigration process are materially experienced, resisted, and managed. In constructing boundaries between Arab women’s bodies in Canada and the Arab world alongside those of so-called “Canadian” women, we argue that women communicate their immigration and settlement struggles and recoup dignity otherwise compromised in the migration process—ultimately allowing them to frame their struggles as products of their moral integrity as immigrant wives and mothers. Through these findings, this paper demonstrates the role of body talk in framing the impact of structural pressures on the body, while simultaneously highlighting the centrality of boundary work to that framing.

     

Risk and Resilience of Immigrant Women in Intimate Partner Violence

Violence inflicted against women by their intimate partners presents an especially critical area of inquiry among battered female immigrants following the striking ethnic diversification after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. This article reviews contemporary literature of intimate partner violence; seeks to illustrate the current state of knowledge; and provides a conceptual framework that summarizes the unique experiences of immigrant women confronting the challenges of couple violence. Five underlying cultural and structural mechanisms influencing immigrant women's susceptibility, re-adjustment, and recovery were identified: (1) acculturation, (2) cultural mechanisms, (3) mental health, (4) structural elements, (5) legal contexts, and (6) social support. A synopsis of practice implications in the context of the literature is discussed.     

The Employment Status of Immigrant Women: The Case of Sweden1

This article presents an exploration of the employment status of various groups of immigrant women in the Swedish labor market in the period 1970–1995. Since employment is one of the key components for the integration of immigrants, it is interesting to study what factors determine whether or not immigrants become employed after entering Sweden. Numerous studies have analyzed the labor market integration of immigrant men, whereas the integration of women still has received less attention (Ekberg, 1983, 1991; Hammarstedt, 2001; Scott, 1999). This study can be seen as a contribution to an increase in the knowledge of the labor market integration of female immigrants in Sweden.     

Situational and Relational Factors Associated With Coitus During Vaginal Bleeding Among Adolescent Women

Menstruation is a normal, developmental event anchored in contradictory value systems. Although it demarcates a transition to womanhood, it is often associated with negative sentiments such as shame, camouflage, and discomfort. Certain behavioral expectations, including avoiding sexual intercourse, also accompany menstruation. Research generally has suggested that sex does decrease during menstruation. However, not all sexual activity is suppressed during menses; both individual and relationship factors provide influence. Accordingly, this study investigated situational and relational factors associated with the day-to-day likelihood of sex and vaginal bleeding among 387 (aged 14–17 at enrollment) adolescent women. Generalized estimating equation logistic regression, in SUDAAN 9.0, was used. Predictors of coitus and bleeding included recent sexual activity; past coitus/bleeding; marijuana use before intercourse; and higher partner support, higher sexual interest, and lower feelings of being in love. The findings highlight appropriate areas of focus for information, education, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention counseling.     

Doing Gender Well and Differently in Dirty Work: The Case of Exotic Dancing

This article explores how a group of exotic dancers do gender and manage the stigma associated with their work and identities. We draw upon stigma management strategies from the dirty work literature and illuminate the doing of gender in these strategies. We also contribute to the debate that gender can be done well and differently through simultaneous, multiple enactments of femininity and masculinity. We consider the experiences of 21 exotic dancers working in a chain of UK exotic dancing clubs and conclude that in order to be good at their job, exotic dancers are expected to do gender well, that is, perform exaggerated expressions of femininity. However, we also theorize that for some dirty workers, specifically exotic dancers as sex workers, doing gender well will not be enough to reposition bad girls (bad, dirty work) into good girls (good, clean work). Finally, we propose that doing gender well will have different consequences in different types of work, thereby extending our findings to other dirty work occupations and organizations in general.     

Helping Adolescents With Career Development: The Active Role of Parents

This article contains suggestions for counselors and parents regarding the active role parents can play in the career development of their children. These suggestions are based on the author's research on the intentional, goal-directed action of parents in influencing the career development of their children. In the context of an increasingly important role for parents and families in the development of adolescent children, three dimensions of the active role of parents are discussed: the intentionality and meaning attributed to career influence by parents and adolescents, the use of narrative, and sources of conflict.     

Gender Trouble in Town: Educated Women Eluding Male Domination,Gender Violence and Marriage in PNG

Following Zimmer-Tamakoshi's observations about educated Pacific women not wanting to marry their countrymen, I examine educated Papua New Guinean women's perspectives on marrying Papua New Guinean men. Women in this group avoid marriage because they fear such relationships will destroy their career prospects, compromise their economic and decision-making independence and force them to grapple with male jealousy and violence in the domestic realm. In short, educated Papua New Guinean women perceive partnerships with their countrymen as being more troublesome than they are worth. The women's attitudes and actions suggest an emerging trend with important implications for understanding (both) the relationship between gender and education and intimate relationships in Papua New Guinea.     

Doing Good and Feeling Well: Exploring the Relationship Between Charitable Activity and Perceived Personal Wellness

In this exploratory study into the relationship between participation in charitable activity and self-reported measures of personal wellness, social exchange theory was used to model factors that operationalize socioeconomic variables as costs, religious orientation and charitable orientation as rewards, and wellness as profit. Structural equation modeling was applied to data from the 2004 General Social Survey, including the Module on Altruism, to measure the effects, both direct and indirect, and infer knowledge from the results. Results suggest the indication of a relationship between charitable behavior and personal wellness is valid. Specifically, those who are more charitable and those with an enhanced religious orientation exhibit greater wellness. Results also indicate that charitable orientation acts as a mediating variable between income, education, religiosity, and wellness.     

The Grameen Bank in Bangladesh: Helping Poor Women with Credit for Self-Employment

Summary

Social work with poor women should include options for self-employment as avenues out of poverty. The Grameen Bank of Bangladesh exemplifies one micro-lending strategy to overcome traditional barriers and assist very poor women to earn an income and participate in the local economy. Credit lending principles combined with social development goals are highlighted, and the impact of this model discussed in terms of its success in alleviating poverty. Transferability of the model to the United States is discussed, and implications for social work offered.     

Professional Identities in Transit: Factors Shaping Immigrant Labour Market Success

Immigrant professionals comprise a growing segment within current migration waves, but the determinants of successful transnational skill transfer are poorly understood. In this paper, I offer a framework for the evaluation of these determinants, drawing upon three empirical studies among immigrant professionals from the former Soviet Union in Israel. I start by describing the social context of immigrant integration, including policies aimed at assisting skilled immigrants to get a fresh start on the local labour market. Next, I reflect on the nature of various professions in terms of their cultural and linguistic dependency, with the ensuing adaptive potential upon migration. I also tap into the main macro‐economic and institutional characteristics of the host society that may facilitate or hinder the initial entry and subsequent mobility of immigrant professionals within local organizations. I apply this analytical frame to the discussion of Israeli studies among immigrant professionals who represent three different points on the scale of cultural dependency: engineers (technical occupation), physicians (combining standard medical training with cultural skills) and schoolteachers (most dependent on language and local cultural codes). In every case, the resulting success or failure of occupational continuity reflects a complex interplay of context‐bound and individual factors, aggravated by the small size and rapid saturation of the local labour market.     

Reflexive Development: A Model for Helping Social Workers Contribute to a Sustainable Global Future

It is difficult for many social work students to grasp the importance they and their traditional client base play in global environmental issues. International development generally focuses on supporting human development through the development of natural resources. However, increased human consumption everywhere in the world is disrupting the global system upon which all life depends. Continued Western consumption habits are simply unsustainable. It is therefore incumbent that any increase in consumption, even in the ‘developing’ world, be considered in terms of global environmental sustainability; change must also occur within the developed world. To address this problem, reflexive processes that support transnational analysis and action must be developed. This paper suggests classroom activities that help students analyze and problem solve around this process of Reflexive Development.