Cultural Influences on Self-determination
Project Overview
There is a growing focus in services for persons with disabilities on increasing their capacity and opportunities for self-determination. Virtually all self-determination initiatives and curricula are rooted in the American individualistic ethic, with its stress on such values as autonomy, independence, self-efficacy, self-responsibility, and so on. However, due to demographic trends, an expanding proportion of the population is of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) heritage and not oriented to the individualistic ethic, but rather to cultural values that prioritize group or family interdependence and achievement. This research project is designed to explore cultural influences on self-determination, providing a sound basis for improving the cultural competence of self-determination initiatives and curricula.
The primary research methodology will be focus groups, conducted with: (1) youth with serious emotional disturbances, (2) family members, and (3) educators. The youth and family focus groups will consist of members of the same CLD group (African American, Caucasian American, Japanese American, or Native Hawaiian), allowing in-depth exploration of cultural issues, while the educator focus groups will be mixed, serving to tap educator experiences with different CLD groups. Questionnaires will also be developed and completed by youth, family members, and educators. Although the primary goal of the research is to identify and describe self-determination from various CLD perspectives, for comparative purposes it is important to conduct the same research with Caucasian Americans (who are presumed to hold the “default” view of self- determination on which current initiatives and curricula are based). The data collected will be analyzed to identify common “cultural models” of self-determination for each of the CLD groups studied.
The research will be conducted at two sites, in Hawai‘i and Washington, DC, in partnership with Hawaii Families As Allies (HFAA), a nonprofit family-run support and advocacy organization for youth with serious emotional disturbances and their families (who are primarily of CLD heritage). HFAA will help to recruit research participants and schedule focus group sessions, and the Executive Committee of its Youth Council will serve as advisory body providing guidance for the implementation of project activities. During the project’s third year, data analysis will be completed and the results written up in a monograph and a number of articles, and also disseminated through conference presentations and this Web site.
Products
A project brochure is forthcoming, and briefs, articles, and reports summarizing research findings will be posted on this Web site beginning in the latter part of 2003.
Conferences and Institutes
Funded by
- Office of Special Education Programs
- Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
- U.S. Department of Education
