This article reconceptualizes white teachers' notion of their Asian-American students' racial identity. Forty urban Southeast Asian-American (SEAA) students and seven of their white European-American teachers were examined to determine how the students responded to the white teachers' assumptions about their identity. This study provides an…

This study reviews empirical data from the U.S. Census, American Community Survey (ACS) and academic journals to explore K-12 and higher educational outcomes pertaining to Southeast Asian American (SEAA) males. We argue that the empirical dismissal of SEAA males in social science research reinforces a longstanding agenda of structural neglect and…

Many factors interact to create barriers to dietary and exercise plan adherence among medically underserved patients with chronic disease, but aspects related to culture and ethnicity are underexamined in the literature. Using both qualitative ("n" = 71) and quantitative ("n" = 297) data collected in a 4-year, multimethod study…

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious global public health issue. At least one in three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused during her lifetime. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than three women in the United States die every day from physical abuse suffered at the hands of an intimate…

In this article, the author elucidates the identity work of Lao American urban, immigrant students, highlighting ambivalent identities that do not fit into notions of bicultural or binary identities. It examines the various discourses and practices that inform and shape the experiences and identities of urban, Lao American high school students. It…

Similar to other Asian American students, Southeast Asian American students are often stereotyped by the popular press as hardworking and high-achieving model minorities. On the other hand, Southeast Asian American youth are also depicted as low-achieving high school dropouts involved in gangs. The realities of academic performance and persistence…

The study described in this paper focuses on English language acquisition by adult Hmong Laotian immigrants in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program in a city in the Northeastern United States. Preexistent levels of literacy and second language familiarity are discounted as influences on the speed of students' acquisition of language.…

A questionnaire was given to 33 Indochinese (Vietnamese and Laotian) immigrant parents residing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in order to discover their views of the education their elementary school children were receiving. The results indicated that the parents were, in general, pleased with their children's education. Many felt, however, that…

The perceptions of Laotian refugee parents about what constitutes a "best teacher" were studied. The study focused on the Lao Loum ethnic group, and did not include members of Hmong or other ethnic minority groups. Twenty-eight Likert-based interviews were conducted with Laotian refugee parents residing in 5 states in the United States. Parent…

This paper was written in anticipation of the International Conference on Indochinese Refugees (ICIR), held in June 1989 in Geneva (Switzerland). The ICIR was convened to respond to chronic refugee problems in the region, first addressed in the July 1979 Meeting in Geneva on the Situation of Refugees and Displaced Persons in Southeast Asia. It is…

This collection of statistical data on the 90 Highland Lao communities in the United States is designed to help members of those communities and people working in refugee-serving agencies to better assist this refugee group. Information was provided by community leaders, state refugee coordinators, and county human resource officials in 1988.…

Upon arrival in the United States, the Southeast Asian "Boat People" faced a multitude of problems that would seem to have hindered their achieving economic self-sufficiency. Nonetheless, by the time of a 1982 research study which interviewed nearly 1,400 refugee households, 25 percent of all the households in the sample had achieved…

The resettlement experiences of a Laotian family in a Midwestern agricultural community is studied. The characters and places are fictitious, but the story is based on actual experiences of refugee families resettling in areas without a heavy refugee influx. The information is drawn from interviews with refugees of several nationalities and with…

This study attempts to determine the degree of economic self-sufficiency achieved by Southeast Asian refugees who have arrived in the United States since October 1978. Three groups of refugees (Vietnamese, Chinese from Vietnam, and lowland Lao) were interviewed in five sites across the country. The two particular aspects of economic…

The experiences of a Hmong man from Laos who has spent 15 years in the United States illustrate the possibilities of being both Hmong and American and demonstrate the acculturation process even as they show what it means to become American. The three values of resourcefulness, relationship, and respect are an integral part of the identity of Shou…