DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 229 459 VD 022 652,

AUTHOR Rogler, Lloyd H.; And OthersTITLE Research Issues concerning the Puerto Rican Child and

Family.INSTITUTION Fordham Univ'., Bronx, N.Y. Hispanic Research

Center.SPONS AGENCY National Inst. of Mental Health (DHEW), Rockville,

Md. Center for Minority Group Mental HealthPrograms.

PUB DATE Jan 80GRANT 1-R01-MH-30569-03NOTE, 14p., Some of the papers appearing in this issue were

presented at .the Puerto Rican FamilY InstituteConference (New York, NY, November, 1979).

PUB TYPE Reports General (140) Collected Works Serials(022)

JOURNAL CIT Hispanic Research Center: Research Bulletin; v3 nlJan 1980

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Adjustinent (to Environment); Birth Rate; *Ethnicity;,

*Family (Sociological Unit); Hispanic Americans;Identification,CPsychology); Intelligence Tests;*Mental Health; Puerto Ritan Culture; *Puerto Ricans;Socioeconomic Status .

ABSTRACT

This journal issue is a collection of papers describing research on Hispanic families conducted at theHispanic Research Center. Fordham University, New York. The first article, "Research Issues concerning thePuerto Rican Child and Family," by Lloyd H. Rogler, reviews two research projects oh health conditions andthe plight of Puerto Rican children and their families in New York City. The second article,"Intergenerational Change in Ethnic Identity in the Puvto Rican Family" by Rogler and Rosemary SantanaCooney, analyzes the ethnic identity of 100 intergeneretionally lihked Puerto Rican families in New Yorkand adjoining.states. In the third article, "Puerto Rican Fertility: An Examination of SocialCharacteristics, Assimilation, arid Minority Status Variables," Cooney, Rogler. and Edna Schroeder examineGoldscheider and Uhlenberg'i theory of differentials in minority groups, with emphasis on Pvertp Ricanfertility. The fourth article, "Workshop: Hispanic Intermarriage in New York City" by Eliza400 Coilado,reports on a workshop that addressed the findings and recommendations of Gurak and FitzpatrAgs monographoh Hispanic marriages in New York City in 1975. Ian A. Canino focuses on the impact of the ertYlronment4onmental health of Puerto Ricans in New York City in the fifth article, "The Puerto Rican Child: A Minorityat Risk." The sixth article, "Data Issues of the Puerto Rican Child Project." written by Brian Earley,evaluates data on the mental health of Puerto R4can children gathered from the Hispanic Research Center'songoing Puerto Rican Child Study. Rose Marte Hurrell's article, "The Intellectual Assessmerit of HispanicChildren; Problems and Alternatives." reviews intelligence tests for Hispanic children and recommendsalternatives to conventional assessment methods. The eighth article, "The Hispanic Child: AMultidimensional Approach to Mental Health" by Isaura M. Linares. discusses multi-disciplinary researChteam efforts and the appropriateness of this methodology in assessing the mental health of Hispanicchildren. The final article, "An Alternative Approach to the Study of Lower Socioeconomic Status, Urban'Puerto Rican Children," written by Damaris Lugo-Frey, reviews the literature on Puerto Rican children andsuggests an approach to studying the mental health needs of the Puerto Rican population that focuses onthis group's cultural strengths. (AOS)

0A

1,7

Research Issues Concerning the PuertoRican Child,and Family

"Research Issues Concerning,the Puerto Rftan Childand FaMily," by Lloyd H. Rogler

"Intergenerationa1 Change in Ethnic Identity'in thePuerto Rican Family,".by Lloyd H. Rogler andRosemary Santana Cooney

"Puerto Rican Fertility: An Examination of Soical Characteristics,Assimilation,.and Minority Status Variables," .by RosemarySantana Cooney, Lloyd H. Rogler, and Edna Schroeder

"Workshop: Hispanic Intermarriage in New York City," by ElizabethCollado

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

EDUC TIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

his document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating itMinor changes have been made to improvereproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions stated in this ttocunient'do not necessarily reprgent official NIEposition or poly-,

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTEDBY

hter-.

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION OENTER (ERIC)."

'The Puerto Rican Child: A Minority at Risk," by Ian A. Canino

"Data Issues of the Puerto Rican Child Project," hy Brian Earley

"The Intellectual Assessment of-Hispanic Children: Problems andAlternatives," by Rose Marie Hurrell

"The Hisianic Child: Multidimensional Approach to Mental Health,"by Isaura.M. Linares

"An Alternative App.roach to the Study of LowertSobioeconomic Status,Urban Puerto Ricah Childnen," by Damaris Lugo-Frey aniespagog%

RESEARCH BULLETINHispanic Research Center

. Fordham University, Bronx, New York 10458

Oft

jANUARY 1980 Vol. 3-No. .1

RESEARCH ISSUES CONCERNING ;

THE PUERTO RICAN CHILD

AND fAMILYBy Lloyd H. Rog ler,

Director of the Hispanic Research

Center, and Albert Schweitzer Professor

THIS ISSUE of the Research Bulletin isdevoted to reporting on the progress oftwo research projects now under way atthe Hispanic Research Center. The firsttwo reports included here are sum-marized versions of papers that werepres(Tted to the American SociologicalAssociation Meeting in 1979. Theydescribe some of the preliminary find-ings of a study on intergenerationalPuerto Rican families, a study whichantedates the establishment of theHispanic Research Center. When I

assumed the Albert Schweitzer Chair atfordham University, I was providedwith the opportunity to develop ideasand pose questions relevant to thepuerto Rican experience in New YorkCity. Thus, the intergenerational PuertoRican family study represented notonly the continuation of years of per-sonal field research on Puerto Ricansboth on the islknd and on the mainland,but also an ihtegration of previousstudies on the Pullto Rican family.

With the establishment of theHispanic Research Center; the need tointensify research oh all aspects of thePuerto Rican family became more ap-parent. The intergenerational PuertoRican family study, thus, became thefirst step in a program of researchfocusing on the Hispanic experience inthe United States. One of the firstproject5 undertaken by the Center wasto publish a study of the health con-

ditions of Puerto Ricans in New YorkCity. This study resulted in the Center'sfirst monograph and in a series okrecommendations concerning publicpolicy. The study highlighted the of terr-dramatic plight of i9ner city PuertoRican children, and pointed tO theurgent need for increasing research inthis area. Mindful of this need, the Cen-tei undertook its 'Puerto Rican childstudy devoted to investigating the par-ticular needs of Puerto Rican childrenin the mental health area. This projectis now in the data-analysis phase andthe reader will find here a 'series ofstimulating papers derived from that

study. These reports were originallypresented to the Puerto Rican FamilyInstitute Conference in New York Cityin November 1979.

AIL these studies ate, I believe, cen-trally relevant to issues of mentalhealth, public policy, and social prac-tice. We hope that the findings. of thesestudies on Puerto Rican families aridchildren will lead us ih the future tomodify, develop, or even discard someof the ideas with which we started, andincrease our policy-relevant knowledgeOf this vit al. aspect of the Puertb Ricanexperience in the United States.

"` 11,..10^ #,..!RESEARCH REPORT

INTERGENERATIONAL CHANGE IN ETHNIC IDENTITYIN THE PUERTORICANI FAMILY

By Lloyd H. Rogler, Director, Hispanic Research Center, and

Albert Schweitzer Professor, Fordham University,and

Rosemary Santana Cooney, Research Associate,

;Hispanic Research Center, and

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology,

Fordham University

)ITE. OF THE theoretical and em-rical importance of intergenerational

change in the analysis of ethnic groupsin American society, very little researchhas focused upon intergenerationalchange in ethnic identity. within thefamily. Generational comparisons areusually made between unrelated . in-

'dividuals, for exartiple, between ethnicgroup members born in a foreign coun-try (first generation), those botn in theUnited States of foreign al mixed paren-

3

tage (second generation), and thoseborn in the United States of native-bornmembers, of the ethnic group (thirdgeneration). An implicit assumption un-derlying these cOmparisons is that thedifference observed between suchunrelated individuals reflects changesoccurring within immigrant familiesSuch an assumption can be teqed onlyby studying the ethnic identity of par-ents and their.children directly.

This Paper present's an analysis of

eth.

Eic ideality based upon an intensivestudy of 100 intergenerationally linkedPuerto Rican nuclear familis in

metropolitan New Yoik and adjOiningstates, during the. period from 1973 to1976 It begins with the theoreticalpcx.tulate that ethnic identity is influ-enced by receptisoty to external influen-ces stemming from the host environ-ment and by length of exposure to thenew host environment. 0

This postulate justifies the inclusionof the following independent variables.'generation, education, age at arrival,length of residence on the mainland,sex, Puerto Rican composition of theneighborhood, and family cohesionThree important components of ethnic-identity inc luded in our study are sub-jective affiliation with Puerto Ricanvalues, mastery and use of the Spanishand English languages, and attitudinalpreferences for Puerto Rican culture.

We pose the following researchquestions. "(1) Are there significant dif-ferences in ethnic identity betweenparents and their Chddren? (2) Wheneach generation is taken separately,.what factors influence ethnic identity inintergenerationally linked parents andchildren? (3) What mechanisms con-tribute totintergenerationol change inethnic identity in the fa4?

At the bivariate level the findings forthe study group as a whole are con-sistent with the pattern of findings inthe hterature. Thus,in answer to our first'tgiestion, language usage, languageability, and attitudinal preference com-ponents show expected differencesbetween chddren and parents. Childrenare less likely to sPe'ak Spaahish withother persons, are less hkely to listen toSpaniA on tele.vision and ridio, reportless language ability in Span'ish and lessol a preference for Puerto Rican culturethan their parents. T h subjective ethnicaffiliation compone t* shows a

significant ditferencebetween childrenand only one -parent, ihe mother.Children were less likely to considerthemselyes exclusively Puerto Ricanthan (*her parent, but only the dif-ference betweenchildren and motherswas significant..

Before addressing the second andthird questions, we .examined thebivariate relationship of the indepen-.dent variables to ethnic idefitityseparately for mothers, fathers, andchildren. We found a surprising contrastin the importance. of education forparents and children. For both, parentseducation is significantly related to a

2

majority of the ethnic identity com-ponents, but for children education issignificantly related only to knowledgeof English.

We then undertook a closerexamination of the nature of therelationship between education andethnic identity. This revealed thatethnic identity declined with education',frorn no schoolikg through high schdolgraduation, but that the ethnic identityof those who had attended college,graduated from college, or went on topostgraduate training is similar to theethnic identity-of thOse who had onlygraduated from _high school.

In .contrast to 'the emphasis onbivariate whichrelationshipspredominates in the literature, our in-vestigation of variables affecting theethnic identity of niotherS, fathers, andtheir children uses an analysistechnique whtch assesses the indepen-dent contribution of each variable onethnic identity after theoretically priorvariables have been controlled Themost striking findings, of our researchare that both education, from noschooling to high school graduation,and age of arrival have significant in-dependent effects upon the ethnic iden-tity of parents and children (Question 2)and that child's education and age atarrival are signiftcantly and indepen-dently related to changes in ethnicidentity in the 'family (Question 3). Oncethese variables are controlled, theother independent variables are nolonger significantly related to' ethnicidentity

The fundamental importance of theage at arrival variable implicates issuesof substance and method The youngerthe peHon is upon arrival, the morereceptive, he or she is to inflUencessternming from the host society Onemechanism underlying the consister4finding of significant differences in

ethnic identity between generatipns,when generations are defined by birth-place of the*respondent and his an-cestors, is generational differences inage at arrival Moreover, age at arrival isalso a significant variable affectingethnic identity within generations dif-ferentiated by birthplace. Thus, ethnicidentity cannot be equated simply withbirthrilace of respondent and his an-

idcestors; rather, it varies acco ing toage of exposure to the new host en-vironment. .,..,.

Although the children's Puerto Ricanethnic identity is significantly less thanthat of their parents, the pattern of

A 4.

v

children's responses suggestsmovement tO biculturalism as oppcned

complete assimilation. Only 45 per-cent of the children consider them-selves to be exclusively Puerto Rican;the remaining children consider them-selves to bP part-Puerto Rican and part-American. Not even one of the PuertoRican chijdren Considers himself or her-self to be exclusively American.Children also tend to use both Englishand Spanish in speaking to family,friends, and neighbors as opposed toEnglish only The children with a goodknowledge .of English did nbt abandonSpanish and reported their knowledgeof Spanish to be better than average Interms of attitudinal preferences, the,children's responses are doser,lo 'nbpreference- than to preference :forAmerican culture .Only in terms of thelanguage used in the mass media do thechildren tend to rely more on Englishthan on both languages.

V,/e believe that the vitality ofbicultyralism explains why the strengthof ethnic identity remains stable withincreases in education after high schoolgraduation Duiing apprcrximately thelast fifteen years there has been a

°renewed awareness of and appreciationfor 'the «mtribution of immigrantgroups to d pluralistic Americ4nsociety Inthe ethniv- neighborhoods ofcities with large con( entration's of irn-migrant populations, such as New York,the mass culture's «debration ofethnk-ity converges upon andlegitimizes traditional ethnic-day events,from parades and the paying' of,homage to historical personages in thein-group, to art displays, concerts, andathletic eants Such eventS are a partof the political structure of the loc aleand represtqlt the collective products ofa multitude of ethnically-basedorganizations Thus, the celebration ofethnicity is an organizationalphenomenon.

We believe that graduation from highschool projects the person ,into thecelebration . of ethnicity through themedium of organizations. Such ex-

posure tends to stabilize ethnic- identity.The .suggestion is that persons withmore education participate more in.their own ethnically basedorganizations which haves directrelevance to their ethnicity; whether theorganization is ap action group pur-siNg goals eXternal to' itself or an epressive group focusing uplAsociability among , the members, thecelebration.of ethnicity is inextric'ably

tied to group participation. Crsequent-ly, we are left With the need to modifythe original theoretiaal postulate

gui ng the research by altering theov l(simple assumption that the hostsociety's 'environment uniformly

.

represegts a nonethnic force. liSahJuan is being AThericanized, it is no lesstrue that NeW York City is beingHispanicized

F!UERTO RICAN FERTILITY:

AN EXAMINATION OF SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS,

ASSIMILTION, AND MINORITY STATUS VARIABLESBy RoseMary Santana Cooney, Rese)arch Associate, Hispanic Research Center,.

and Assistant Professor, DepartMent of Sociology, Fordham University,

and

Lloyd H. Rogler, Director, Hispanic Research Center,'

-jand Albert Schweitzer Professor, Fordham UMversity,

and

Edna Schroeder, NIMH Trainee and Doctoral Candidate,

Department oi Soqzlogy, Fordham University

THIS STUDY EXAMINES "(the Gold-scheider and Uhlenberg theory of dif-fer4ntials in minority gthup fertility bymaking a direct assessment of the im-portance, of assimilation and mjnoritystaters variables on Puerto Rican Motilitybehavier before and, after controllingfor social characteristics. The majorpurpose. of Goldscheider and. Uhlen-berg's work was to challenge theprevailing thesis that ethnic fertility dif-ferences are explained solely by dif-.ferences in socjal, demographic, andeconomic attributes. Goldscheider andUhlenberg, proposed that minoritygroup status is An independent variableaffecting ethnic fertility differences.The dimensions of minority groupstatus discussed as relevant to ethnicfertility behavior included botb thecultural heritage of 'the group and thedifficulties minority group membersencorter in the struggle to improvetheesituation These difficultiel, com-bined with desire for acculturationand mobility, create insecurities. Tocounteract these insecurities and over-come the disadvantages associatedwith minority, group ..membership,childbeating may be limited ordeferred.

Although Goldscheider and Uhly'berg discuss both the assimilation a ciinsecurity dimensions of minoritygroups, the influence of the insecuritydimension of minority status has not

.1,/ been directlymeaswed. Moreover,..the-I influence of assimilation as an in-

Pt

dependent fattor affecting ethnic fer-tility differentials has b'een largelyignored or equated with soCik, charac-teristics Thus, this study representrtheMost comprehensive examination todate of the Goldscheider and Uhlen-berg theory in the context of oneminority group

The Pata Set,-This research is based on data

gathered as part of ct larger projectfocused on continuity and change inthe Putrtp Rican family. Th e data setrepresents an in-depth study of twogenerations of Puerto Rican husbandand wife families of differingsocioeconomic 5titus in the New Yorkmetropolitan area The study covers theperiod-from 1973 to 1976" By dividing the data set into parent-generation pothers and child-generation daUghters/daughters-in-law;we have two samples.of Puerto Ricanwomen differing in ways fundamentalto studying their fertility behavior(These two groups.will be referred to asthe older and younger generation,respectively). The older generation,whose mean age is.53, have-completedchildbearing, while the youngergeneration, whos4 mean age is 29, are intheir primary childbearing ages

Thiii older generation were born andraised in Puerto Rico, and came to theUnited States in their mid-twenties.Thus, -their childbearing period overlapstheir residence in Puerto Rico and their

early years'on the mainland.The yotillger generation were

predominantly born on the mainlandor arrived during theirL pre-adolescentyears Thus, their childbearing periodreflects continuity within themainland's social environment.

For the older generation, the inflU-ence of_presently measured variables,especially the assimilation and minorityinsecurities variables, ,on past fertilityworks against finding strong relation-ships because of the time lag and .

becauge early childbearing occurred inPuerto Rico. for the youngergeneration, the measurements coincidetemporally with their childbearing yearsand residence in the United States.These niethodological considerationsmean that, in comparison to the oldergeneration, the younger generationrepresents a more adequate studygroup for the task of examining theGoldscheider arid Uhlenberg theory ofminority group fertility.

There is in fact a remarkably good fitbetween the younger generation'scharacteristics and the three precon-ditions Goldscheider and Uhlenbergargue should be present for the in-seaurities of minority status to depressfertility:

1) Acfulturative gains are accom-panied try a wish for acculturation. Thepattern of findings demdnstrating theacculturative gains of the youngergeneration over the older generation isstrong and persuasive according to the

3

acquisition of`Vise of, and exposure to jective:affiliation as exclusively PuertoEnglish as the host society's language; Rican, part-Puerto Rican and part-the values of familism and fatalism, as American, exclusively American, orwell as the modernity orientation; and other; Puerto Rican ipmposition _of

the'subjective affiliation with Puerto neighborhood;. and Puerto Rican corn-kican and/or American values. 'Dif- position of friends.ferences in the wish. for acculturation Minority insecurity variables include:can be inferred from other ets of itemsi belief that discrimination makes it hard-the younger generation of Puerto er for minority members to improve'Rican wiv'es is less likely than the older . the,ir -social situation; desire to live ingeneration to have a strong preference /neighborhoods with nonyeerto Ricansthat their children keep Puerto Rican while lMn'g in a predominantly Puertoways, less: likely to prefer lt,,,Lther Rican,neighborhood; and desire for non-children marry Puerto/lit, and less Puerto Rican friends while having none.,likely to plan to retur to Puerto Rico inretirement.

2) There is aniequalization of socialand economic chracteristics (par;ticularly kl the middle or upper socialctasses) and/or a desire for social andeconomic mobility Equalization Of

social and economic characteristics at,the middle class level is, also greater forthe younger generation. Indicative of adesire for upward social mobility is thefact that the older generation is lesilikely than the younger 'generation to',desire that their sons enter th0traditionally high-status 'Piofessions: Oflaw and medicine.

3) Ttie absence of-toth a pro-natalistideology and a norm discouraging theuse of efficient contraceptives Theyounger generation more thten thanthe older generatibn ,believe that it is

necessary -for husbands,. and wives to)iTit their procreation. In both

. generations there is an absence o(a pro-natalist. ideology and no 'cultural norm

.discour3ging the use of ,efficient con-,.

traceptivesIn sum, this pattern of findings

. demonstrates that theoretically theyounger generation fits the precon-ditions'required for an assessment ofthe theory

C.

VariablgSocial characteristics in this analysis

. include: age at first marriagj durationof all marriages, :employment beforemarriage, father's main occupation,woman's education, husband's presentoccupation, and wvan's present em-ployment status.

AssimilatiOn variables include.language spoken ivith hushand,children, and friends; languagepreferred on television and radio;knowledge of English? modernityOrientation; familism; fatalism;frequency 'of church ittendance; sub-

4

FindingsThe major findings of our study are

(1) The most important factor r.-- ,plaining.fertility is social characteristics.

The primary importance of social .

characteristics is consistent with thetheoret.cal and research literature onfertility havior. (2) Before controllingtor social characteristics, only two offile ten assimilation variables show a

.,

significant relatiopship with fertility forthe younger and /alder geneçationsOnly knowledge (*.English and PuertoRican coMposition of neighborhood aresignificant for the older generation. Foithe younger*generation, the only twosidnificant variables are frequency ofchurch attendance and Puerto Ricancomposition of neighborhood. The.'relatiowhips are in the expected direc-tion: a higher conceqratior"of PuertoRicans in the neighborhood, a lowerproficiency in English, and a 'higher,.frequency of church attendance all aresrelated to higher fertility. (3) Beforecontrolling for social characteristirr--minoi:ity insecurities is significant onlyfor the younger generation. For thisgeneration both perception of..disciimination and unfulfilled desirt..fornon-Puerto Rican'friends are significantand negatively related to fertility.

Given the priority of the relationshipof social characteristics with Jertilityan4 the known inter-relationship ofsu h social,characteristics as educationand occupation with the assimiletionvariables and possibly with minoritystatus variables, will the assimilationand minority status vartables signifi-

sandy increase our understanding of thefertility behavior of PUerto Rican

r-women once social characteristics arecontrolled? .

We find that for the older generationthe answer is no. For the youngergeneration both frequency of church at-

. . \

tendance and unfulfilled desire for non-Puerto Rican friendS have an indepen-dent effect on fertihty.

ConclusionIn Goldscheider and Uhlenberg's.

original discussion, the importance ofintegration into the CathOlic Churchwas highlighted In our study, after con-trolling for social characteristics, wefound that 'the only assimilationvariable ,signiticantly, related to fertilitybehavior of,The younger generation was.,the frequency of church attendance:While the influence of 'religious af-filiation on fertility may be declining inthe larger population, if is clear that thedegree of integration into organized.religion is still an important factor af-fecting the current lertility of PuertoRican wives. Goldscheider and Uhlen-berg's contention that striving forprimary group acceptance is associatedwith insecurities that manifest them-selves in-lowered ,fertility is supportedamong the younger generation by' thesignificance of the unfulfilled desire fornon-Puerto Rican friends, even after'controlling for social characteristicsand frequency of church attendance

it Rather than inferrindthat assimilationor minority status affects minoritygroup fertility behavior, we have beenable to demonstrate throUgh directmeasurement that certain aspects ofassimilation and minority status exert asignificant, independent effect on thefertility behavior of the younprgeneration of Puerto Rican wives. Atthe same time, the answer to thequestion of why some aspects and notothers are related significantly to fer-tili awaits research focusing upon thecomplex interpkay of. social andpsychol;gical processes in operation asthe afsecurities Of Ainority status areexperienced during assimilation The in-security hypothesis does supplement

'the importance of socioeconomic 'andassimilation factors for the youngergeneration .in what should be an everincreasing effort to understand morefully Tertility differentials of minoritygroups

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(continued on next page)

WORKSHOP:

HISPANIC INTERMARRIAGE IN NEW YORK CITYBy Efiobeth Collado, Staff Member, Hispanii Research Center

On ,February 1, 1980 the HispanicResearch Center was host to aWorkshoO held to discuss the findingsand recommendations contained in the'recently published monograph,Hispanic Intermarriage in New YorkCity: 1975 written by Dr. Douglas T.Curak and Reverend Joseplit.P. Fitz-patrick The Workshop attractedpublic officials, professionals fromvaried disciplines, and other personsiwith an interest in the welfare of theHispanic population of the city. Thereunion of such a diverse group resultedin a discussion centering uppnquestions regar ing Hispanic Inter-marriage as bro ght forth by the study.

In his welcoming statement, Dr. LloydH. Rogler, Director of the HispanicResearch Center, reiterated three*majorobjectives of the Center. Tpese are: (1)

' to conduct research on the mentalhealth needs of Hispanic populationi(2) to publish the findings of su

. research, and (3).to organize forums forthe discussion of issues affecting

It Hispanics in the United States'Because marriage forms a part of the

life cycle of most people, the study ofthis institution is' relevant to Hispanic

'rgental well-being, as Dr. Curak in-dicated in his presentation of an over-view of the study. He noted the centralpurpose of the study as being the in-vestigation of assimilation behavioramong Hispanic groups in New YorkCity. It was the interest in this processwhiO gave initial impetus to the under-taking of the study.

Reverend Joseph Fitzpatrick, who hasconducted studies on this topic in thepast, has lorg been interesied inassimilation p roc es se,s amongHispanics, ' particularly amcrg PuertoRicans He stqered the conversationtoward the explanation of those tableswithin the monograph which bestillustrated the study's major findings.

Intermarriage is a fundamental in-dicator of assigiilation and of the struc-ture of intergroup relations and, inmany cases, symbolizes the social,situation of the participants in suchunions.:The incidence of intermarriagedemonstrates ,that different subgroups

are interacting at a variety of levelsthe workplace, recreational sites, orplaces of intellectual exchange

The source of data used to measureintermarriage and, consequently, theassimilation' process were the 1975marriage records collected by NewYork City for administrative purposesThough such records are not main-tained for research purposes, New YorkCity's marriage recbrds.were found tobe more detailed than those kept byother jurisdictions in other parts Of thecountiy. These records have indicatedthat approximately 22 perCent of allMarriages in New York City in 1975involved Hispanics. 0

Outgroup marriages in the study in-volve five categories of people:Donienicans, Cubans, Pueto Ricans,

/South Americans, and CentralAme,ricans (incItIding Mexicans). Inter-marriage was operationalized by theresearchers as matrimony betv;yeenHispanics of the aarernentionedcategories (inter-HispaniC) as well aswith non-Hispanics, particularly third-generation Americans.

Relevant FindingsThe major points broughf to light by

the analysis show that intermarriagerates are high.-for various Hispanicgroups, and especially among thesecond-generation HispaniCs, many in-termarriages involve unions with third-generation Americans. First-generationDominicans, but especially the PuertoRican group, constitute the major ex-ceptions to this pattern.

Exogamous marriages were found tobe highly correlated withsocioeconomic status, as indicated bythe occupational position .of Hispanicgroup members The study found thatthose Hispanics with the largestoutgroup marriage rates consistentlyheld higher status occupations, A largerproportiorrof Cubans, South Americans,and Central _Americans are situated inwhite-collar. occupations than eitherDominicans or Puerto Ricans. In fact,Puede. Ricans were 'found to have thelowest occupational status of all the

7

Hispanic categories. Hence,Dominicans, Puerto Ricans andChicanos fall into the lower sectOr ofthe social pyramid while the Cubans,.Central Americans, and SouthAmericans are more On par with mid-dle class, white U.S. Americans.

Another determinant of outgroupmarriage was found to be residentialproximity or the density factor.Propinqujty affects the rates of inter-marrirage among all the categoriesstudied,but is particularly importantlforthe Puerto Ridan group. Where a par-ticular Hispanic group is found to be fdensely concentrated, the incidence of'intermarriagg decreases. Thus, thestrong relationship of group size andconcentration within a particulargeographic area to outgroup marriagecannot besoverlboked.

One of the reasons posed forlithe ex-ceptional intermarriage pattern amongPuerto Ricans is the large number ofPuerto Ricans residing in New York City.This situation very likely eliminates thenecessity or the desire'for Puerto Ricansto seek partners outside their. giAup. Apsychologist present, at the r..:-.ARrencefurther extended this theiis byproposing the argument :that perhapsthere is a sense of security obtained,bymarrying endogamously as oppos.ed toexposing oneself to the threats -andpressures whiCh may arise from'outgroup marriage. This psychologistsees intra-group marriage as amechanism which khances selfAsteemand self-worth for the individual:

fn terms of sesidetilial choice,"Reverend Fitzpatrick pointed 'out thatmany Hispanics who are -marryingexogamously are also' dispersing, tosmall cities near the metropolitan areain Connieficut, New Jersey,.and parts ofWestchester These new settlement pat':terns for Hispanics will probably lead toincreasing rates/ of intermarrge forfuture generadOns as the concentrationof available partners of the.same etbnicgroup is reduced ID' the dispersion fac-tor.

The discussion of the intermarriagestudy generated many questioris fromthe audience, one in particUbtr ad-dressing a shortcoming in the in-vestigatory process. _it was suggestedthat had. common-law or consensualunions been inclUded, the resultsproduced by the study might have dif-

/tered significantly from the conclusions4eached by only counting officialregistrations. Ole inclusion ofcohabitating couples could very likely

5

have yielded lower rates of exogamyamong Hispanics.

Another workshop participantt6at the incidence of

outgro p marriages may be attributedto an effort on the part of thoseHispanics who are non-U.S. citizens toregularize their status. Therefore,current immigration laws and the factthat a marriage license application doesnot require any information pertaining

4 to citizenship or immigration status ofthe applicant may be regardedpossible motivating factors which makeoutgroup marri ge attractive forHispailics

L.

RESEARCH REPORT

.The intermarriage study delves into.numerouS questions related to theassimilation process which need to befurther explored. Among the authors'recommendations is the necessity forstandardizing and expanding currentmarriage records with the aim of turn-ing them into more useful tools forresearch purposes. Of even greater it!)-portance, is the need to direct furtherattention to explaining the &stin-

tctiveness of the Puerto Rican inter-marriage pattern and its obviousvaziation with that of other HispanicgrotTri

Overall, the Conference obt/ined its

'4

objective for it provided the researChersthe opportunity to share their findingswith a diverse audience composed df

'parties interested in the Hispanic con-dition throughout the city whileallowing invited guests to contributetheir individual perspectives, criticisms,and opinions

The pUblication of research findings,although helpful, is not sufficient in it-self to influence policy makers.

Workshops of this kind; whichdisseminate research findings amongprofessionals and public officials .inspecific areas, contribUte in a concreteway to the fOrmulation of culturallysensitive public policies

Selected Papers on the Puerto Rican Child Study beingconducted at the Hispanic Research Center; presented at

the Puerto Rican Family Institute Conference,

New York, November 1979.

THE PUERTO RICAN CHILD:A MINORITY AT RISK

By Ian A. Canino, Research Associate,

, Hispanic Research Ceriter, and

Assistant Clinical Professor,

Department of Child Psychiatry,

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

THIS PAPER focuses specifically onthe interaction between the PuertoRican child .

in New York City 'and thesociety he lives in and on how this inter-action may produce undue stress thatprecipitates or sustains symptoms- ofmental illness.

Starting with the unbOrn child and theinfant; some authors have postulatedthat the fetus may he vulnerable to theeinterpersonal tensions the mother Tayexperience; These have been describedas tensions stemming from maritaldiscord, tultural disintegration, f inan-cial difficulties, and conception out ofwedlOck. Other conditions that havebeen described as prciducing a noxiouseffect on the fetuPare the working con-ditions, of the expectant mOther and thewitnessi.g of violence by her. We knowthat these are some of the stress factors

6

affecting the inner-city womanIt is well known that maternal addic-

tion to drugs and alcohol producesnoxious effects in the new-born A

recent report has indicated a higherthan norMal incidence of birth defectsin children tOrn to alcoholic mothersInfants born to drug-addicted mothersevidence high rates of mortality andlow birth weight. Infant mortality ratesand low birth weight ratios are higherfor black and Puerto Rican babies thanfor white bal?ies, and are higher inNewYork City than in the nation as a whole.

This is particularly relevant becausestudies have demonstrated that lc* birthweight children are'significantly over-represented among the mentally sub-normal in later Life. This is coupled withthe fact that these ctiildren come frompoor areas where malnutrition is en-

in itself another cause oflessened intellectual capacity. We arethus speaking of a population that isalready constitutionally at risk ofmultiple physical illnesses and Who willlater be diagnosed in our mental healthclinics as having behavioral disturban-ces such as hyperactivity secondary tominimal brain damage, lead in-toxication, anemia, malnutrition, andmental retardation

AA any reports atttst to the enormousc

rtance of. the first five, years of lifeindividual's development In this

perIdd the child, through the develop-ment of self-esteem, individuation,trust, intellectual curiosity, sexual iden-tity, and a healthy family relationship,lays the groundwork frir his futuregrowth. However, there are many areas

of stress impinging upon this.process4The stress a newborn baby with all itsdemands, can cause in a family is wellknown If we are talking of a youngpoor family already in social upheaval',the r-nplications are enormous It is

reported that in 1974, 41 percent ofPuerto Rican babies in the ( ity wereborn out (7f wedlock and of these, morethan a third were born to teenagemothers. Statistics from 1974-75 show

increase in children under the age ofsix enrolled in some form of full or part-time day care program Let us hope thatthey are adequate and able to fulfill themultiple needs of these children sin«there are another 600,0(X) childrenunder the age of six whose existingarrangements of care are unknown

Of ther preschool children dying ofaccidents in the city, 71 per'cent diedfrom fire-related accidents in the horrw.Even more impressive is the fact that in

1974 more than one-half of childhomicide victims were children underseven (30 percent of them, PuertoRican) and approximately one-half ofabused children were under the age offive. In the South Bronx and other areasof New York City, the infant mortalityrate has been described as thgee timeshigher than the national average. Thoseinfants who do survive face an en-.vironment of poor nutrition, multiplechildhood diseases, poor housing, inef-fective medical care, and poverty ingeneral.

The impact of multiple familydislocations due to back-and-forthmigration and family mobility withinand without the neighborhoods and

1 within and without the family systemneeds to be considered Reports havebeen written on the difficulty an adultgoes through when mourning the loss ofhis culture and the vicissitudes of iden-tity he faces in confronting a newculture Healthy coaing mechanismsare required to adapt to a new neigh-borhood and family system. Compound-ing this situatioca is the high incidenceof Hispanic children removed fromtheir households arid placed in fostercare because of problems in the home.We know too well the many disputesbetween the family of origin, the fosterahome, the social agencies, and the legalsystem. They all converge to create achaotic situation for the child.

We now enter the school years of ourHispanic children. This is a time in thechild's development when he starts torelate to society at large. In 1974-75 theHispanic child accounted for 23 percentof the total school population in NewYork City The impact on these children

brought about by frequent shifting ofclassroom teachers, unfamiliar withtheir language and culture and thepaucity of adequate tests to evaluatetheir school performance need to befurther evaluated. Some authors havestated that voluntary mutism is

prevalent in kindergarten children ofimmigrant non-English-speakingfamilies.

The impact of discriMinati n, aninadequate school system un le tomeet the special needs of the Hi anicchild, and a hostile environment arethus liable to lead to school failure. IN,4s.no wonder then that a very high suspen--sion rate was found .among black and,Puerto Rican students in 197374.

Difficulties around dating and otherseXual mores that clash with thetraditional culture are conducive tostress in the Hispanic adolescent Thedifferences between the family's child-rearing practices and their children'snewly acquited set of values lead tochronic unresolved conflicts within thefamily lack of adequate recreationalfacilities and a paucity of part-time andsummer lobs for this population in-crease the difficulties If the Hispanichild or Adolescent develops mental

health .problems and is rWerred to anagency not adequately' sensitized toHispanic culture, then he or she will encounter language difficulties which willprevent the making of an adequatediagnosis and the establishment of ap-propriate therapeutic intervention.

It is no wonder then ..that Hispanicadolescents are reported to have morethan double the rate of psychiatrichospitalizations than non-Puerto Ricanadolescents. One report on the ad-

mission rates to state hosPitals in NewYork State states that there was a largerincidence of admissions of Puerto

'Ricans, especially of the young malepopulation, as compared to the rest ofthe population It was also found thatthe second generation of large ethnicgroups in New York State had lowerrates of first admissions than the firstgeneration. This was the opposite forthe Puerto Rican population. In-tergenerational gaps and conflictsbecome particularly relevant with this

e groupIn conclusion, social, environmental,

economic, and political factors are' ren-dering this particularly vulnerablepopulation-of children subject teracuteand potenpsychological an physical distress The

ally prolonged

urban Hispanic child needs mentalhealth programs relating 'to his cultureand ethnic background Adequatelystaffed multi-disciplinary bicultural andbilingual programs that deal with thecombined physical, psychological, andsocial needs of these children are few ornon-existent. Funded research to studymore effective primary interventionprograms and 'to develop better toolsfor assessment of this population is

urgently needed Active involvement ofHispanic mental health professionals isalso urged Finally, an invitation shouldbe extended to those countless num-bers of Hispanic children who havedealt successfully with principals,teachers, welfare workers, juvenileauthorites, mental health clinics,building superintendents, pimps, drugaddicts, sickness and separations andhave remained relatively unscathedThey will be our best tear hers

DATA ISSUES OF THE\PUERTO RICAN CHILD PROJECT

By Brian Earley, Research Associate, Hispanic Research Center

Dif Wrr()1111`,1c; of the PuertoRican Child 'study is that Puerto Ricanchildren experience greater soc io-environmental stress than do otherchildren, thus placing them at higherrisk to mental health problems Amongthe sources of this stress is the subor-dinate socioeconomic position of NewYork Puerto Ricans which is furthercompounded by the nature of themigration experienc e, -the existence of

TI

pervasive discrimination, and themultiple aajustments required bymovement into a highly influstrializedand urbanized Onvironment. In turn, allof the above factors impact heavilyupon the structure and functioning ofthe Hispanic family, thus putting itsfunction as a stabilizing agent in the lifeof the child in jeopardy.

The major objectives of the PuertoRican child stUdy are: (1) to bring

9

together the available data bearingupon the mental health of Puerto Ricanchildren, and (2) to review the clinical,socio-cultural, and epidemiologicalliterature relevant to the mental healthof Puerto Rican children We will thusbegin to create a mental health profileOf Puerto Rican children and toevaluate the quality of the availabledata.

In evaluating the data our concerns

7

io

were the following: How comprehen-ske is the available data? What areassuffer from a lack of data? What are thesources of these data -deficiences? Towhat extent might they be remedied?Finally, based upon the answers tothese ,questions, we ask, with whatreliability can conclusions be drawnfrom the available data tand where dothese, conclusions lead in terms ofdesigning further research?

During the initial stages-of this re-search, over fifty representatives ofpublic and private agencies, communitymental health centers, interested re-

searchers, and community groups wereinterviewed. These individuals wereasked to comment on the nature andavailability of their own data bases, andto suggest possible additional Sourcesof data which we might investigate.Among those contacted Afere the NewYork State Office of Mental Health, the.New York City Department of MentalHealth, the New York City Board ofHealth, the Foundation for Childpevelopment, the New York City Boardof Education, the Bureau,,. of ChildGuidance, and the Puerto Rican FamilyInstitdte. Very few were able to directlyprovide any suitable data ot refer us tosources which had usable data.

This phase of the project revealedthat relevant sources of data werenonexistent, incomplete, lacking inconceptual clarity, or. untabulated. Apoint often expressed was that person-nel and funding were inadequate forsuch endeavors,- or that the ocollectionof data on ethnicity was a potentiallycontroversial issue. This perspective,while understandable given the,pisuseof' such data in the past, presents amajor stumbling block to social re-

search in which there is a responsibleconcern for ethnic differences

Several sources of data did provideinformation regaa& the relativehealth status of Puerto Rican childrenThese were the Board of Education'sethnic census of handicapped childrenand the New York State Department ofMental Hygiene data on the use of localfacilities. Although we are stillanalyzing these data, we have found thatwhile Puerto Rican t hildren are notover-represented among handicappedchildren, they do exhibit a differentialpattern in regard to the type of han-dicap category to which they are

assigned: At the same fiche, their han-dicaps appear to be judged as moresevere than is the case with non-PuertoRican children. These findings s'uggest

8

that additional information regardingevaluation and placement procedures,program alternatives, andi, placementoutcomes.is needed for a comprehen-sive interpretation and evaluation of ,the health profile presented by the data.

For New York City, data on mentalhealth problems and retardAon byracial/ethnic group are available fromrecords kept by the New York StateDepartment of Mental Hygiene. Thesedata are based upon an .interview formcommon to all state-licensed facilities.It is the only available source of city-wide mental health data which includedemographic variables.

Our ongoing analysis of the datareveals that Puerto Rican childrendisplay considerably higher rates of

(admission interviews than do eitherblack or non-Hispanic white children.They also present unique patterns ofprior health service utilization, sourcesof referral, and symptomatology Thedata thus present Puerto Rican childrenas maintaining a distinct mental healthprofile

The major methodological difficultyconfronting the analyst is thewidespread lack of reporting of the in-

.terview form. The Department'of Men-tal Hygiene has estimated that for NewYork City during,'the fiscal year 1976-77,only 52 percent of 'all forms were sentto Albany. The rate of reporting alsovaries by borough, ranging from a highof 64,,percent reporting in Queens to alow of 37 percent in Man'hattan.Clearly, this is a major source of poten-tial bias.

Another area of difficulty for theresearcher is the voluntary status of cer-tain items on the form Questions onethnic identity present a difficultproblem for both interviewer andresttarcher The question on ethnic icren-

tity is never actually asked of the client;instead, the interviewer is directed tOmake this judgment based upon thecontent of the interview. For thisreason, a considerable portion of theclients are judged to be of unknownethnicity. The lack of racial/ethnic iden-tification is particularly icute amongchildren. The proportion of 'childrenaged 13 and under. 'of unreportedethnicity is 23 percent;twice the' overallrate. Among, children three years oldand less,.12 percent were of unreportedethnicity, compared to 35 percent ofthose children between 6 and 8 yearsold. These variations suggest that a,

policy or not reporting ethnicity mayexist among certain interviewers or atcertain facilities. We see then thatwhile data collected by the N.Y. StateDepartment of 'Mental Hygiene are themost extensive available, comparativeanalysis baslir upon these data mustproceed carefully with the researcheraware of the 'potentially misleadingmethodological ina&quacies of thedata-

In summary, the data collection phaseof the Puerto Rican project revealedthat very few sources of usfble data areprrently available for eamining thephysical and mental health of PuertoRican children It is equally ckar that alarge number of persons who deal with

. child-ielated issues woukd be interestedin such data; but that these individualsare generally unaware of how little dataare actually available. It is one of themain functions of the. Hispanic ResearchCenter in general and of the PuertoRitan Child Project in particular tosarry out the type of research neededbOth to document the existing researchdifficulties and to serve as a point ofreference from which further researchin such areas may be carried out.

THE INTELLECTUAL ASSESSMENT OF HISPANIC CHILDREN:

PROBLEMS AND ALTERNATIVES

By Rose Marie Hurrell, Research Assistant, Hispanic Research Center,

AN FXAMINATR)N of the literatureconcerning the intellectual assessmentof Hispanic children reveals a body ofresearch permeated with controversyThis controversy centers on the am-biguous nature of present-depsychological tests in assessing the in-

tellectual abilities of Hispanic and otherminority children. ,

In the past, the bulk of the researchdealing with the intellectual assessmentof Hispanic children has relied exten-sively upon the use of standardized in-telligent( tests or translations of these

tests. In general, results obtained fromstudies employing standardized in=telligence tests have indicated thatHispanic' children demonstrate an in-tellectual deficit, particularly whenverbal IQ tests are used as instrumentsof assessment. However, a number ofstudies using non-verbal intelligencetests have reported higher IQ scores inPuerto Rican, Mexican-American, andSpanish-American children.

Several studies have compared theperformance of Hispanic children onEnglish ahd Spanish versions of thesame intelligence test. In some' cases,stores obtained on the Spanish versionwere higher tharrscores obtained on thestandard English version. For the mostpart, however, the use of Spanish trans-lations has not resulted in higher IQscores for Spanish-speaking children.

A number of factors have been linkedto the .poor performance of Hispanicchildren on standardized intelligencetests. Low socioeconomic status hasbeen found to be an important.yariablein studies in which Puerto Rican andother Hispanic children, scoredsignificantly lower than other groups. Asecond factor commonly 'identified 'isbilingu'alism Early research concerningthe effects of bilingualism 'en in-telligence often resulted in. evidencesuggesting negative. consequences.However; recent trends indicate apositive relationship betweenbilingualism and intellectual develop-ment. Inferior test performahce has alsobeen linked, to attitudinal andmotivational factors which May beculturally determined. Finally, it: 'has-been demonstrated that characteristicsrelated to the examiner, such as ethnicgroup membership: and style of sf3d-m inistration, may influence test per-formance.

Because the research is characterizedby a diversity of approaches, methods,awl instruments, a number of dif-ficUlties are eticountered in attethptinga Meaningful interpretation of the data.Differences in the nature and Charac-teristics of the samples and, in somecases, lack of adequate conrrOlsserWusly hamper the drawing of s;alidconclusions The use of both verbal andnonverbal intelligence tests hasproduced findings which are incon-sistent and therefore difficult toevaluate. In addition, the influence ofcultural factors raises serious questionsconcerning the appropriateness of thesetests for use with Hispanic childrenWjiile the influence of cultural factors

on verbal tests has long ..,beenrecognized, recent research has in-dicated that nonverbal tests may be justas culturally loaded. Regardless of tetype of test, the operation of culturalfactors mandates cautious inter-pretation of test results.

In cases in which translations- havebeen administered, the 'failure ofSpanish versions to produce higher IQ'scores with Hispanic childrerr may berelated to difficulties associated withthe use of translations. Meaning may belost in translation or. the level of dif-ficulty may be altered. Tranilations alsoresult in problems regarding com-parability of norms and equivalence ofscores.

Apart - from these difficulties,questions concerning th2 fairness andappropriateness of using standardizedintelligence ,tests with Hispanic childrenremain a central' issue. The narrowrange of ment4I abilities which aremeasured by intelligence tests, theirfailure to proyide measures ofqualitative differences in modes ofproblem-solving, their neglect of the in-fluence- of &cultural experienCes andsocializatiori practices on. attitude,motivation, and personality patterns,and their failure to consider the inter-dependence of mental functioning andpersonality structure have been cited as.a few of these limitatiohs.

It is evident that current assessmentmethods are inadequate, for use withHispanic children' as well as childrenfrom other ethnic minorities. The use ofstandardized intelligence tests, theprincipal instrument employed in moststudies: presents numerous problems.Attempts to resolve these problemshave resulted in -the development ofdifferent approaches which providealternatives to conventional assessmentmethods. Two of these aliproacheshold promise for use with Hispanichildren in particular.

The first approach is' derived fronll a

"Pluralistic sociocultural" perspectiveand provides, a technique which at-tempts to account tot:sociocultural fac-

,tors in the ev-alualfion of test, results.Currently being employed with.Mexican-American children, the approach calk

.for an individual's IQ score to be inter-preted in relation to both the standard-ized norms for the test and normsdeveloped for his or her ownsociocultural g'roup. The developers ofthis technique assert that the use ofmultiple normative frameworksprovides a more accurate estirriate ofintellectual ability.

The second approach is closely linkedto the developmental theories of JeanPiaget and focuses on the assessment ofdevelopmental levels of cognitive func-tioning, Research employing this ap-proach with Mexican-American childrenhas indicated that these children per-form within the range of expectedlevels of cognitive development forgiven ages. In addition, results have in-dicated no ethnic group differencesbetween the Mexican-Americanchildren and their Anglo-AmericancounterpartS.

Although progress toward solvingsome of the problems encounteredwhen attempting assessment ofHispanic childuen has been made,satisfactory solutions have not beenachieved At present, it is not clearwhether these solutions will requiremodification or abandonment ofcurrent assessment methods. It is likely,however, that attainment of thesesolutions awaits the emergence of newand innovative approaches. The resour-ces necessary for the development andevaluation of these approaches liewitnin the domain of systematic re-search, Initial steps, providing a neces-sary foundation have already beentaken. These steps are only a beginning,however, and must be extendedthrough continued research effort andapplication.

4P...o.'"`. -.J.'

THE ,HISPANIC CHILD:A MULTIDIMENSIONAL APPROACH TO MENTAL HEALTH

By Isaura M. Linares, Research Assistant, Hispanic Research Center

MENTAt!. HEALTH. RESFARCI-f continuesto be in an evolving estate of develop-ment, allhoughinincreasing awarenessof the importance of mentg health hasresulted in an acceleration' orscientific

ii

investiga'tion, This research, while to-cusing on.,both' the individual and thegroup aspects of mental health", has,proceeded from, and *employed themethodology of, several distinct per-

9

spec fives.Since mental health is determined by

a multiplicity of social factors, different

research orientations designed to

measure various social phenomena canpotentially yield information on mental

health issues 'Surprisingly, however, intheir research, few investigators have

taken a multi-dimensional approachthat would reflect the diversity of socialconditions and their influences uponmental health. '

Aware of the need for such studies,

the Hispani Research Center has astrong co mitment to research effortswhich r ffect the multi-dimensionalchaiacteristics of 'mental health, ThePuerto Rican Child Project is an exam-ple of this ongoing commItment ft at-

tempts to identify both the mentalhealth status and the mental health

needs of Puerto Rican children byevaluating the impatt of psychological,physical, environmental, and socio-

cultural factors on the development ofthe 'Puerto Rican child The proiect

.. adopts the perspecuve that an

assesspent of the mental health ofHispanic children must con5ider theimpact upon children of,. potentiallystress-laden social conditions Since the

,sources of stres's impacting upon urban,

low socio-economic children are multi-

dimensional and extensive, an

exaMination of the relationship existing

among 'these sets of fads is of con-siderable importance

A number of investigations have at-tempted to assess Hispanic children's

mental health status .r.i terms ofPsychological variables alone Althoughthe results of these investigations have

contributed significantly ,to the under-

standing of mental health, theY may be

misleading if analyzed without an

awareness of parallel research which

has proceeded from alternativeframeworks For instance, disorders of-

ten, diagnosed as being essentiallypsychologically based, SLR h as apathy,depression, loss of ambition, reducedattention span, irritability, and

sickliness may aiso be the consequenc eof malnutrition or undernutrition Aninvestigator examining SW. h disorderswithout considering the possible effectsof nutritional tiroblems might be led to

make erroneous conclusions about themental health of children suffering from

these conditions.Another important dimension which

cannot he ignored when assessing men-tal health needs is the role of theHispani« hild's environment Researc h

10

has shown that environmental fac-

tors such as living in. overcrowdedhousing .and deteriorated neigh-

borhoods may influence fdmily life,

child', rearing practices, and childdeveldpment At the same time, while,

environmental factors may have a

significant effect on mental health, they

may also have imporfant limitationswhen viewed alone

An example ot the relationship bet-ween environmental factors and niental

health is the research that has been

done concerning '-pica Pica has beendefined as the purposeful, habitual, find

eom pulsive appetite for non-food items'

such as clay, plaster, paint chips, anddirt Some studies have labeled pic a -a

psychological disorder, and sugwstpsychotherapy as a tfiatment for this

prOblem Such treatment may be help-

ful but :)t should not underestimate the

,reality that pic"a icalsoan environmen-tal problem If Hispanic children werenot obliged because of their socio-ecoc.Qmic conditions to live in lead-

deterjorated housing, there

would be less probability for the oc-ctirrence of pica The brain clamagecaused by this «mstant Tow-level ex-

posure to lead also creates'a medic al

pro b remAnother area whic,h should he «in-

sidered in the assessment of the mental

health needs of Hispanic 'children is the

importance of socio-cultural, patterns

Research has shown that socio-culturalvariation in family structure: parentalpractices, and ethnic background mayexert significantly different influenc es

On psychological development andbehavior. In addition, patterns of

emotional expressiveness, use. oflanguage, and soc ial functioning have

been found to vary according to

cultural groups Therefore, the properasSessment of the mental health needsof Hispan;c children can be conductedonly, with an awareness of the unique

;oc io-tultural patterns affecting. their

behaviorIn conclusion. assessment of Hispanic

children's mental health needs is oftencharacterized by the use of unidimk-.sional approac,hes These approac heshave typically «incentrated on one of

the following categories degree ofpsyc hological adjustment, the effectsof the child's physical health statu, the

influence of a particular environmental4etting, and the characteristics of socio-

c ultural patterns shared with othersAlthough researc h has indicated c er-

tain areas of werlap and ambiguityamong thyse a iec ts of menial health,few studies 'have attempted to fullyexamine the nature of theivelationship,especially as it pertains to ethnic ,and

rac ial minorities.While we recognize that many in-

vestie,ators have long been aware of theneed for a multi-dimensional approac h

to mental health rclsearc.h, the HispanicResearch Center believes that we mustdo more than «mtinue to repeat and

ac knowledge the need for sik h an approach The Puerto Ric an Chihli Prole( t

reflects this- view by utilizing the

resour«'s of cl, multi-disciplinarc re

sear( h team conysting of a i hild

psychiatrist, a soc iologist, an' an-thropologist, a flint( al psyc hologist, 'adevelopmental psychologist, and a

-soc.ial worker It is onl y. through a multidimensional perspec twe that ourresearch can come c lo'se to an a« urateassessment of the mental health needs

of Hispam« hildren

.41"...0"^ 11...._-.

AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH IO THt STUDY.Of

LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, URBAN PUERTO RICAN CHILDREN

By Damaris Lugo-Frey, Research Assistant, Hispanic Research Center

SIN( F A I AR( R of PuertoRic an and Other Hispanic c hildren livein poverty, an attempt to understandmore clearly the c hild from this

bac kground is essential in determining

more accurately the, mental health

needs of these c hildren 1 his Paper will

1

briefly disc ins some ways in. whic h the

Puerto Ric an c fluid qom a- lower,socioeconomic status, urban back-ground has been described in the

literature,a Vietes 1 ,

for example, in disc ussmgthe Puerto Ric an c adaptaticin to a

schooj setting, writes:"Fitt social and develOpmen-

. tal experiences have notprepared hiM cognitively noremotionally for the Americanschool...He is dependent andpassive, reeding more direction and

)structure than may

be available in a large classHe has had no social ex-periences to aid him' in in-teractions with a variety ofchildren. He is neither time-oriented nor tas'k-oriented. Hehas little investment, inworking for,future goals. Heresponds more to people thantasks. His functional IQ is

'lower than average even, when tested in Spanish and

on 'culture free' tests,although there is evidencethat it approaches average

' when he is given a great dealof encouragement andwarmth

Such a description is often typical of.how the lower socioeconomic levelPuerto Rican child is portrayed in theliterature. It presents a stereotypedview.

Montiel 2 , in writing on te Chicano" family, cfitieizes the negative manner in

which His hics and other minoritieshace n .described in the literature.Ad' ctives such as r'discouraged" and"culturally deprived' dominate theliterature. These viev:k focus on what isnegative rather than on the strengths ofthese children.

Stella Chess3, in writing about thecohcept of the "disadvantaged child,"questions the usefulness of the term.Acc6rding to Chess, "it assumes ahomogeneous group embracing alllower class youngsters. This lack cif dif-ferentiation prOduces not a diagnostictool but a stereotype. The stereotype,no matterAiow benevolently intended,ignores the rich diversity within agroup."

Riesscpan4 , argues that terms such asthe "disadvantaged child" emphasizeweakness, inadequaty, and deficiency.They perpetuate a negative vieW ofthese.0ildren. In looking at verbal andccignitive skills of inner city children,Riessmap cites research which is con-trary_to the popular belief thiit lowersocio-economic level urban children areless verbal than their middle-class eoun-terpailspn -word-association tests-inthis sfudy, inner city children tended to

,

give responses that were less conven-tional, more unusual, original and in-.dependent They also exhibited an in-crease,c1 flexibility and a tendency to bemore visual with language. It issuggested . by this research that thisflexibility with language and increasedsensitivity to visual, tac4jle, . and"kinesthetic cues evidenced in inner citychildren resemble many of the Charac-teristics fourvi in creative individuals.

Riessman also stresses that culturalvalues and beliefs tan be consilieredstrengths. His attempts to identify thestrengths of lower socioeconomic level,urban children, particularly how aspecific culture has its own strong points,provides a useful model for the studyof the Puerto Rican child. I would liketo suggest several values of the PuertoRican culture which can be consideredstrengths. It is hoped that thispreliminary discussion will stimulatefurther investigation into otherstrengths of the Puerto Rican culture.

One of the major strengths whichcharacterize the Puerto Rican culture isthe importance of the family. Respon-sibility to and concern for the family arevalues which are stressed within thisculture. The child thus learns tpdevelop a strong concern for and sen-sitivity to the needs of others.

Respect for an individual's worth anddignity as a human being is anothervalue often attributed to Puerto Ricanculture. This value underlies manyrelationships. and ' although one mayjoke with another person, it is expectedthat one will not offend the other per-son. One then wonders if this respectfor an individual's worth, regardless ofsocial status, Orovides a foundation fora more hurnanktie view of peoplewhich other ultural groups may notstress as stron ly.

Furthermore, the importance, of thee*tended fathily within Puerto Rican,culture can also be considered a

strength. Although there is a need toquestion the tendency in the literatureto idealize the extended family as asource of unceasing emotional support,extended.family support is evidenced in.varying degrees. This need notlimited to,one's natural family but canalso include others such as "com-padres" or godorents. The child is of-

P ten reminded that if anything shouldhappen to his parents, his gpdparentswill a'ssume his care. This could beviewed as an added source ofpsychological security for the cthld.

In conclusion, we have criticizedsome approaches to the sludy of urbanPuerto Rican children of lowsocioeconomic background, ap:proaches which have served to per-petuate a negative and stereotypedview of these children and which arenot useful in the assessment and treat-ment of Ole mental health neeth ? of thispopulation. An alternative approa.ch,one that focuses.on the strengths of thispopulation, has been suggested Byexamining the contributions of theculture and the immediate. urban en-vironment, "'we can begin to betterissess the strengths of Puerto Ricanchildrn Kiplacing arr emphasis on thestrong points rather than on theweaknesses of Puerto Rican, inner city'children, one will be able to provide amore useful and constructive foun--dation for appropridte interventions inmental health.References

1. La Vietes;-R.L., "The Puerto RicanChild". Basic Handbook of ChildPsychiatrY, Vol. 1, New York BasicBook s,

2 Montiel, M. "Chicanos in the UnitedStates: An Overview of Socio-Histori-cal Context and Emerging Perspec-tives." In, M Montiel (ed.), HispanicFamilies: 'Critical' IsSues for Policyand Programs in HL.rman Services.Washington, D.C.: CPSSMHO, 1978.

3 Chess, S "The Disadvantages of theDkadvantaged Child." AmericanJournal of Orthopsychiatry,1979, 39,3-4.

4 Riessman, F.,The Inner City Child,New York: Harper & Row, 197cl.'

H 1SPANIC RESEARCHCENTER;

RESEARCH BULLETiN .

The HRC is directed by Dr Lloyd HRoklm-41bert Schweitzer Professor inHumanities at Fordham 'University

The HR( operates under a researchgrant n RO1 MH 30569-03) from theMinority Croup Center of the NationalInstitute of Mental Health. TheResearch Bulletin invites commentsand news items from its readers. Let usknow what topics you would like tosee in future issues Addresscorrespondence to:

Stasia Madrigal, Editor, HispanicResearch Center, Fordham University,Thebaud Hall, Bronx, New York 10458TelePhone (212)9:33-223 3

12

A

N.Ew APPOINTMENTS

Itlispanic Research Center h'as made thefollowing appointments to its re.search staff

Dr. Giuseppe Costantino, psychologist, is

Chief Psychologist at the Lutheran Mental HealthCenter in New, York. He will be working with. the',Hispanic Research Center as a Research

Associate and in that capacity he win be the prin-cipal investigator of a three-year study, recentlyfunded by the National, 'Institute of MentalHealth, which will assess the effectiveness offolktale therapy in treating Puerto Rican childrenwith behavioral disorders

Dr. Anthony). DeVito, psychologist, is Assistant,Director orthe Counseling Center at FordharfUniversity. He wo4d with Dr. CiAppe Costantino in developinkkthe grant progral for theabove-miaRtioned sttA of folktale therapy intreating Puerto Rican children, He has been ap-pointed Research .Associate of the HispanicResearch Center Ind will continue to work withDr Costantino as methodologist and statiSticianfor the new study which will commence shortly

Dr. Ruth Zambrana, sociologist is Faculty In-

%sfructor tand Research Associate of the MountSinai School of Medicine, Department of Com-munity Medicine, DMsion of .Behavioral Scien-ces. As a Research Associaitt 'Of the HispanicResearch Center, Dr. Zambrana will developresearch, in the area of Hispanic women, with aparticular focus on -Puerto Rican single-parentfamilies. She is also in the process of organizing aconference Which will bring together researchersand practitioners who are interested in the paC-Ocular needs of Hispanic women in the areas ofhealth and labor force participation.

PANIC RESEARCH CENTERF RDHAM UNIVERSITYB ONX, NEW YORK 10458

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