NCJ Number
132410
Journal
Child Welfare Volume: 70 Issue: 5 Dated: (September/October 1991) Pages: 571-580
Date Published
1991
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Since the fall of Saigon in 1975, hundreds of thousands of Indochinese refugees have resettled in the United States. Among them, the Hmong people of Laos are unique in that most would have preferred to return to Laos or stay in Cambodia, but were not allowed to do so by those countries.
Abstract
Hmongs' adaptation to life in the United States has been particularly difficult as they had been used to a simple, agrarian, isolated life in the highlands of Laos. Even children born in the U.S. (who are automatically U.S. citizens) are torn between Hmong family or "clan" (extended family) values which suppress individuality and American values which emphasize it. In Laotian agrarian life, children had been an economic asset; in American high-tech life they are a liability. The traditionally large Hmong families are difficult to support on public assistance or low-wage jobs. The political trauma they escaped from and the adaptation problems they have come to have now put the Hmong at high risk for mental illness. Helping professionals must thoroughly understand these and other factors in order to meet the needs of Hmong children. 17 references (Publisher abstract modified)