Intersections of Culture, Migration and Intimate Partner Violence as Told by Migrant Youth

Like many other western nations, New Zealand has experienced significant migration since the mid-1980s. According to the most recent census, roughly one out of every four persons living in New Zealand is foreign born. The significant number of migrants to New Zealand of Asian and Middle Eastern ancestries has led to the development of rich and diverse ethnic enclaves. However, young people from these communities experience significant pressures to assimilate into western culture, which sometimes clash with parental desires to perpetuate cultural traditions. Drawing on 10 small group interviews conducted with 11 adolescent and 16 young adult female interviewees of Asian and Middle Eastern backgrounds in Auckland, New Zealand, this study examines how participants traverse culturally prescribed gender roles as they relate to intimate partner violence (IPV). Emergent themes from the study address participants' conceptualization of IPV, processes of learning IPV, and pressures to follow rigid gender-roles tied to IPV that are culturally embedded. The article closes with discussion on interpretation of research findings without perpetuating an Orientalist framework

Reconceptualizing risk

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 224-255).Also available by subscription via World Wide Webxi, 255 leaves, bound 29 c

“You got to do so much to actually make it”: Gender, Ethnicity, and Samoan Youth in Hawai‘i

Although a burgeoning literature exists examining the intersections of gender and race in adolescent research, little attention has been paid to Asian American or Pacific Island youth, and this is especially true for girls from these groups. This study surveys the issues confronting Samoan adolescents, with a particular emphasis on the problems facing girls. Utilizing focus group and interview data with Samoan community leaders, other key informants, parents, and adolescent girls (N = 42), this study highlights some of the ways Samoan girls negotiate a social terrain characterized by both racism and sexism. Participants discuss unfavorable biases in schools, unequal domestic gender roles, western legal confines, and a lack of positive role models as critical issues for Samoan girls in contemporary society