Social Work Practice Research for the Twenty-First Century by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Methodology, Social Work
ISBN: 9780231512640
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2010-09-21T04:00:00+00:00

Less acculturated Mexican-heritage students (defined as Spanish language dominant or bilingual) reported lower levels of substance use at baseline and at post-treatment tests, while higher-acculturated Mexican-heritage students (English language dominant) reported higher baseline levels of substance use (Marsiglia, Kulis, Wagstaff, Elek, and Dran 2005). Program effects were confined to the higher acculturated students, with those participating in the intervention reporting much smaller increases in substance use (alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana) and less erosion in antidrug norms than those reported by the control group. The less acculturated students generally maintained their preexisting antidrug attitudes whether they were in the intervention or control group.

Acculturation appears to operate differently for Latino boys and Latina girls, with some aspects of culturally prescribed gender roles shielding youth from pro-drug use behaviors and attitudes (Kulis, Marsiglia, and Hurdle 2003). Acculturation was found to have a stronger effect in increasing the substance-use risk of Mexican-origin middle school girls than of their male counterparts (Kulis, Marsiglia, and Hecht 2002). These processes go beyond gender (male/female), as gender identity has a stronger explanatory power. Gender identity—especially in combination with ethnicity and acculturation status—was a much stronger predictor of behavior and attitudes than gender label alone (Kulis, Marsiglia, Chase-Lingard, Nieri, and Nagoshi 2008).

These protective and risk processes do not exist solely at the individual or family levels but are influenced by the broader circles of the child’s environment. Subsequent studies considered how factors such as geographic isolation, socioeconomic status, residential instability, and ethnic and racial residential concentration interacted with cultural processes that affect individual health trajectories.

Less-acculturated youth reported less substance use and lower adherence to pro-drug norms when they attended schools with a high enrollment of less-acculturated students (Kulis et al. 2004). A strong presence of recent Latino immigrant families in a neighborhood was identified as having an appreciable protective effect both in the substance-use rates of Mexican-heritage adolescents and in the effectiveness of the prevention program (Yabiku, Kulis, Marsiglia, Lewin, Nieri, and Hussaini 2007).

These social environmental effects highlight the existence of unique protective culture-based ecosystems. Generic or culturally neutral interventions may not be able to utilize the strengths or identify and address the challenges and vulnerabilities of communities. Culturally grounded interventions, in contrast, can identify existing protective and risk factors and address them through culturally grounded content and the modality of the intervention.

Among youth who were already using alcohol and other drugs at baseline, the program was also effective in promoting reduced or discontinued alcohol use (Kulis, Nieri, Yabiku, Stromwall, and Marsiglia 2007). These results show not only how the diversity of groups translates to different responsiveness to interventions but also how culturally specific intervention that accounts for group diversity can be effective.

At present, SIRC researchers are analyzing the results of an additional randomized trial also funded by NIDA/NIH to test the effectiveness of an adapted fifth-grade version of keepin’ it REAL with a large sample of Phoenix fifth-to-eighth graders. This version is also enhanced with lessons that address acculturation-related issues that may affect both immigrant and U.S.-born Latinos and other youths.

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