Working with Diverse Youth and Families

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Working with Diverse Youth and Families

• Oregon YTP Conference
• Tiana Cadye Povenmire-Kirk
• Lauren Lindstrom

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• Why focus on issues of diversity?

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Why focus on issues of diversity?

• Increasing diversity in schools and communities
• Need to develop culturally competent career and
  transition services
• Focus area for OVRS and YTP TA team

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Statewide YTP Diversity Assessment

• Completed February 2006
• VR and school staff
• High Priority needs
• General cultural information
• Strategies for at risk youth
• Language information
• Working with immigrant families
• Community supports

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Introduction Activity

• What is your culture?

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A Matter of Perspective

• How did that feel?
• Were you able to finish?
• What was frustrating? Why?
• Before we discuss the perspectives of others, we
  must begin to understand our own.

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Introduction

• Brief History of diversity work
• - From stereotypes to understanding
• - Caveat for all to come
• My involvement and research
• - Risk and Resiliency
• - Diverse groups whats different?

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Research Questions

• What groups are studied and how?
• Are there similarities in contributive factors
  across different racial, ethnic, cultural, and
  economic groups? If so, what are they and how can
  they be manipulated?

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Research Questions cont.

• Are there group-specific contributive factors
  (of risk or protection) identified in the
  literature? If so, how do they differ across
  groups?
• How does gender interact with group membership
  with regards to the processes of resiliency?

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Findings Groups Studied

• Asian-American immigrants
• Latino youth
• Black African-American youth
• Youth from Urban areas
• Tremendous variations within each population

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Findings Methodology

• Quantitative
• Qualitative
• Mixed-Methods

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Findings Similarities Across Groups

• Family Involvement
• - Protective factor very important to all
  groups
• Community Involvement
• - Protective factor stake in community
• Cultural Identification Identity
• - Protective factor strong identification with
  home culture inoculates against negative impact
  of host culture

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Findings Similarities Across Groups cont.

• Discrimination
• - Risk factor experienced by all marginalized
  groups from the dominant culture, with extremely
  damaging effects
• But also from their home cultures as they
  begin to acculturate and become more White or
  more American.

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Group-Specific Factors

• Racial Identity Protective Factor
• - Replaced cultural identity for Black and
  African American youth extremely important to
  combat discrimination
• Socioeconomic Status (SES) Risk Factor
• - Urban youth of all races and cultures
  poverty includes its own matrix of risk factors

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Group-Specific Factors cont.

• Collectivist/Community-focused culture
• - For Latino and Asian American Immigrants
  culturally tied and extremely important in the
  planning and perception of individual goals and
  outcomes.

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Gender Issues

• Emergent theme across most groups
• Asian Females
• - Parental expectations
• - Family responsibilities
• - Restriction of social movement
• Latinas
• - Parental expectations
• - Family responsibilities
• - Restriction of social movement

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Implications for Practice

• Interventions must take into account the cultural
  values of their participants.
• In cultures that are more collectivistic,
  interventions should target a larger group,
  rather than an individual.

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Implications for Practice cont.

• Interventions should draw on the strengths
  inherent in more collectivistic cultures
• - Group-dependency,
• - Respect and
• - Tradition.
• Build WITH these strengths rather than against
  them.

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Implications for Practice cont.

• Practitioners should consider not only the
  cultures of our clients or participants, but also
  our own cultures.
• Be aware of what culturally-biased assumptions we
  may make about success and appropriate goals.

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Implications for Practice cont.

• Be aware and respectful of difference for it is
  in our differences that we find strength.

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Group Activity

• Utilizing both the information just discussed
  from the research and an acute awareness of your
  own perspectives and potential bias discuss the
  scenario assigned to your group.

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Regroup and Debrief

• What are some of the issues that came up?
• How did you discuss addressing the situation
  given your professional involvement?
• How did you find your own perspective and biases
  emerging through your discussion and reactions?

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A Call to Action

• I urge each of us
• Be ever aware of our personal perspective and how
  it affects our reactions to situations
• - How do I feel?
• - Where does that come from?
• - How does it affect my ability to deal with
  this situation?

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A Call to Action cont.

• Be aware of and sensitive to the values and
  perspectives of others consider
• - How might individual, family, or community
  values impact this situation?
• - How might these values be incongruent from my
  own?
• - How can I provide the most helpful, most
  culturally appropriate services to this
  individual or group?

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The Beginning

• Thank you
• For your thoughtfulness and willingness in this
  endeavor.
• Encourage this awareness as you continue to work
  with and for others in this world.
• Questions, comments, desire for further
  discussion?
• tcadye_at_yahoo.com